Pick-a-Shelf discussion

Official Game Period: 8 October - 4 November 2012

Object of the Game: To "spell-read" SHELF with the least number of books within 4 weeks.

Spell-Read "SHELF" by reading books with first word on title that started with the letter (ignoring the, a, & an) and
author's first name started with the letter and
author's last name started with the letter
S, H, E, L, and F.

For example, if you read Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco - you can ticked off:
1. First word of title started with F, and
2. Author's last name started with E.

The least number of books read will be 5.
The most number of books read will be 15.

A Quick Reminder that books read may NOT overlap between Games.

Reporting

Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco READ XX/XX
Title [2]

1. Title S
2. Title H
3. Title E
4. Title L
5. Title F
6. First S
7. First H
8. First E
9. First L
10. First F
11. Last S
12. Last H
13. Last E
14. Last L
15. Last F

2/15

Participants:


Amy - 10/15
Bea
Candiss
Coralie - COMPLETED 10/19
Dee
Ebony - 1/15
Karen - 5/15
Lyn M
LynnB - 8/15
Natasha - 3/15
Sam - 1/15
Susan - 2/15
Tien - COMPLETED 11/03

Updated 11/4 - End of Official Game Time ;)

The Fortunes of Richard Mahony by Henry Handel Richardson - READ 10/13
The Industry by Rose Foster - READ 10/09
Sailor Twain by Mark Siegel - READ 10/10
Glimmer in the Maelstorm by Louise Cusack - READ 11/03
Her Dark Angel by Felicity E. Heaton - READ 10/25
Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton - READ 10/26
Legend by Marie Lu - READ 11/02
How to Ruin a Summer Vacation by Simone Elkeles - READ 10/29

1. Title S
2. Title H
3. Title E
4. Title L
5. Title F
6. First S
7. First H
8. First E
9. First L
10. First F
11. Last S
12. Last H
13. Last E
14. Last L
15. Last F

15/15 - 11/03 COMPLETE

Surrender by Sonya Hartnett READ 17/10
Harriet the Spy by Louise FitzhughREAD 14/10
The Egyptian Years by Elizabeth HarrisREAD 19/10
Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel READ17/10
The Fish Can Sing by Halldór Laxness READ 18/10
Bonjour tristesse by Françoise Sagan READ 13/10

1. Title S
2. Title H
3. Title E
4. Title L
5. Title F
6. First S
7. First H
8. First E
9. First L
10. First F
11. Last S
12. Last H
13. Last E
14. Last L
15. Last F

15/15

why the heck not!!

Title
S
H
E
L
F

Author First Name
S
H
E
L
F

Author Last Name
S
H
E
L
F

0/15

I'm in the game!

(title) by (author)

Title
1. The Sunflower by Richard Paul Evans, read 10/11
2. Haiku for the Single Girl by Beth Griffenhagen, read 10/11
3. Title E
4. Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry, read 10/22
5. Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life by Richard Rohr read 10/28
Author's First Name
6. First S
7. First H
8. First E
9. Larry McMurtry - Lonesome Dove, read 10/22
10. First F
Author's Last Name
11. Santo, Courtney Miller - The Roots of the Olive Tree, read 10/20
12. Hamrick, Janice - Death on Tour, read 10/08
13. Evans, Richard Paul - The Sunflower, read 10/11
14. Last L
15. Last F

8/15

@Coralie: Great List! Surrender was amazing, I hope you like that one. The Egyptian Years sounds like something I'd like - do let me know what you think of it :)

@Dee: LOL - I know huh, what's one more challenge that we can't fit in?! ha ha ha

Question: Do we count or skip a, an, and the when they are the first word in the title?

I'm in too!

Title
S - Save Me
H - Half Blood Blues
E - Every Day
L - The Lock Artist
F - Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe

Author First Name
S - Steve Hamilton: The Lock Artist
H - Holly Black: Tithe: A Modern Faery Tale
E - Esi Edugyan: Half Blood Blues
L - Lisa Scottoline: Save Me
F - Fannie Flagg: Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe

Author Last Name
S - Scottoline, Lisa: Save Me
H - Hamilton, Steve: The Lock Artist
E - Edugyan, Esi: Half Blood Blues
L - Levithan, David: Every Day
F - Flagg, Fannie: Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe

15/15

6 Books
Challenge runs from Oct 8, 2012 - Nov 4, 2012

Candiss wrote: "Question: Do we count or skip a, an, and the when they are the first word in the title?"

Yes

Salt Fish Girl by Larissa Lai
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami
Everything That Rises Must Converge by Flannery O'Connor
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Fur Person by May Sarton
Grass by Sheri S. Tepper
Generation Loss by Elizabeth Hand
The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng
Bossypants by Tina Fey

Title
Salt Fish Girl - Larissa Lai
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World - Haruki Murakami
Everything That Rises Must Converge - Flannery O'Connor
Left Hand of Darkness, The - Ursula K. Le Guin
Fur Person, The - May Sarton

Author First Name
Sheri S. Tepper - Grass
Haruki Murakami - Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World
Elizabeth Hand - Generation Loss
Larissa Lai - Salt Fish Girl
Flannery O'Connor - Everything That Rises Must Converge

Author Last Name
Sarton, May - The Fur Person
Hand, Elizabeth - Generation Loss
Eng, Tan Twan - The Garden of Evening Mists
Lai, Larissa - Salt Fish Girl
Fey, Tina - Bossypants


0/15

Challenge completion date: 11/4/12 (This challenge was not attempted although I had planned to do it during challenge period.)

Books Read:
Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman Read 1/11/13
Fer-de-Lance by Rex Stout Read 5/13/13
Exit to Eden by Anne Rampling Read 6/4/13
Death by Darjeeling by Laura Childs Read 2/1/13
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith Read 4/17/13
The Trial of Abigail Goodman: A Novel by Howard Fast Read 7/17/13
The Boat Who Wouldn't Float by Farley Mowat Read 8/4/13
High Five by Janet Evanovich Read 11/16/13
The Bourne Sanction by Eric Van Lustbader Read 11/24/13
The Legend of Mickey Tussler by Frank Nappi Read 4/22/13

Title:
S - Saving CeeCee Honeycutt
H - High Five
E - Exit to Eden
L - The Legend of Mickey Tussler
F - Fer-de-Lance

Author first name:
S - Seth Grahame-Smith
H - Howard Fast
E - Eric Van Lustbader
L - Laura Childs
F - Farley Mowat

Author last name:
S - Rex Stout
H - Beth Hoffman
E - Janet Evanovich
L - Eric Van Lustbader
F - Howard Fast

Of course you're in, Bea. I do no expect any less from you ;)

Don't worry - even if you finish off the challenge slowly on your own time, as long as you finish, right?

author with one name - pick only first or only last name to count her? Eressë

I'm in. Can't help it! :)

Books
The Faithful Place by Tara French Read xx/xx
Stitches by David Small Read 10/25
The Last Days by Scott Westerfeld Read xx/xx
The Heaven Makers by Frank Herbert Read xx/xx
Too Close to Home by Lynn Easton Read xx/xx
Tilt by Ellen Hopkins Read xx/xx
Every You, Every Me by David Levithan Read xx/xx
1Q84 by Haruki Murakami Read xx/xx

Titles
Stitches by David Small
The Heaven Makers by Frank Herbert
Every You, Every Me by David Levithan
The Last Days by Scott Westerfeld Read
The Faithful Place by Tara French

Author's First Name
The Last Days by Scott Westerfeld
1Q84 by Haruki Murakami
Tilt by Ellen Hopkins
Too Close to Home by Lynn Easton
The Heaven Makers by Frank Herbert

Author's Last Name
Stitches by David Small
The Heaven Makers by Frank Herbert
Too Close to Home by Lynn Easton
Every You, Every Me by David Levithan
The Faithful Place by Tara French

2/15

1/8 books

begin date Oct 8, 2012
end date Nov. 4, 2012

last updated 10/25

Tien wrote: "Official Game Period: 8 October - 4 November 2012

The least number of books read will be 5."

Question: If a title includes two different letters, can both count? In theory, that would mean the least number wouldn't be 5. Fictitious example: The Lazy Summer, by Fanny Hummel -- could count in 4 places?

excluding the The - the instructions say the first word in the title

Dee wrote: "excluding the The - the instructions say the first word in the title"

Thanks, Dee. I totally missed that -- I've been looking at the entire title for all my books! Back to the drawing board.

Coralie wrote: "Surrender by Sonya Hartnett
Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
The Egyptian Years by Elizabeth Harris
Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
The Fish Can Sing by Halldór Laxness
The Heaven Make..."

Wow! You really made every book count! I think I may change my list and steal one or two ideas from you. :)

I'm definitely in!!! Plan to follow...To the shelves!

Title:
S - The Starlight Conspiracy by Steve Voake
H - The Hippopotamus by Stephen Fry - read 05/12/12
E - The Estian Alliance by M.J. Webb - read 16/10/12
L - London by Edward Rutherfurd
F - A Faint Cold Fear by Karin Slaughter - read 03/12/12

Author first name:
S - The Starlight Conspiracy by Steve Voake
H - King Solomon's Mines by H. Rider Haggard
E - London by Edward Rutherfurd
L - Torc of Moonlight by Linda Acaster - read 06/12/12
F - Notes on Nursing: What It Is, and What It Is Not by Florence Nightingale

Author last name:
S - A Faint Cold Fear by Karin Slaughter - read 03/12/12
H - King Solomon's Mines by H. Rider Haggard
E - Pawn of Prophecy by David Eddings - read 09/01/13
L - After Midnight by Richard Laymon
F - The Hippopotamus by Stephen Fry - read 05/12/12

7/15

5 books

Why not

Title
The Story of Doctor DolittlebyHugh Lofting
The Half-Made World by Felix Gilman
The Excursion Train by Edward Marston
The Lying Game by Sara Shepard
From Russia With Love by Ian Fleming - read 26/10/12

Author's First Name
The Lying Game by Sara Shepard
The Story of Doctor DolittlebyHugh Lofting
The Excursion Train by Edward Marston
Catch Your Death by Louise Voss, Mark Edwards - read 24/10/12
The Half-Made World by Felix Gilman

Author's Last Name
The Lying Game by Sara Shepard
Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris - read 20/10/12
Catch Your Death by Louise Voss, Mark Edwards - read 24/10/12
The Story of Doctor DolittlebyHugh Lofting
From Russia With Love by Ian Fleming - read 26/10/12

Books
The Story of Doctor DolittlebyHugh Lofting
The Half-Made World by Felix Gilman
The Excursion Train by Edward Marston
The Lying Game by Sara Shepard
From Russia With Love by Ian Fleming - read
Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris - read
Catch Your Death by Louise Voss, Mark Edwards - read

5/15
3/7 books

I'm in. I will fill in my list as I go along.

Reporting



1. Title S
2. Title H
3. Title E
4. Title L
5. Title F
6. First S
7. First H
8. First E
9. First L
10. First F
11. Last S
12. Last H
13. Last E
14. Last L
15. Last F

0/15

I'll have a go, but dont know how many of these I'll get through.

Title:
S The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Other Tales of Terror by Robert Louis Stevenson
H Howards End by E.M. Forster
E The Education of Little Tree by Forrest Carter
L The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
F Fifty Shades of Mr Darcy: A Parody by William Codpiece Thwackery read 9/10

Author first name:
S A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking
H Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding
E Howards End by E.M. Forster
L Peace Like a River by Leif Enger
F The Education of Little Tree by Forrest Carter

Author last name:
S The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Other Tales of Terror by Robert Louis Stevenson
H A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking
E Peace Like a River by Leif Enger
L The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
F Howards End by E.M. Forster

1/15
1/8 books read

Dee wrote: "author with one name - pick only first or only last name to count her? Eressë"

Interesting!
Yes, please pick one, first or last :)

Susan wrote: "I'm in. Can't help it! :)
1Q84 by Haruki Murakami Read xx/xx "

Wow, Susan, you're going to fit in 1Q84? Isn't that one massive book? Good Luck ;)

Tien wrote: "Dee wrote: "author with one name - pick only first or only last name to count her? Eressë"

Interesting!
Yes, please pick one, first or last :)"

lol, I figured - but felt like playing Stump the Chump ;)

Ebony wrote: "F Fifty Shades of Mr Darcy: A Parody by William Codpiece Thwackery read 9/10"

Firstly, well done, Ebony, for getting one down real quick!

That means you'd probably read it in a single sitting? Am interested in your view on the book...
I've to say that I love P&P but not willing to tackle FSoG (I do tend to stay away from popular books when they are popular, lol, I just like to be contrary ;) )

I went to the book page and saw someone pasted an image of the first few sentences and erm, it felt kinda wrong to do that to P&P. Nevertheless, there aren't many reviews yet so I'm curious about your view!

Tien wrote: "Ebony wrote: "F Fifty Shades of Mr Darcy: A Parody by William Codpiece Thwackery read 9/10"

Firstly, well done, Ebony, for getting one down real quick!

That means you'd probably read it in a sing..."

Yeah I read it in almost 1 sitting, started yesterday and finished early this morning while having my coffee. It's a really easy, quick read.

If you love P&P and hate FSoG (or are repelled at the thought of reading it), you will love this. It pokes fun at FSoG, mixing the two plots together, pointing out the laziness of the author of FSoG in regards to spelling, grammar, imagination. The S&M scenes of FSoG are pretty dull and just weird most of the time. In one S&M scene in FSoMD, Darcy is spanking Elizabeth with a toothbrush, a pencil and then a parsnip and Elizabeth is a bit underwhelmed by it all. The author points out the absurdity of it all quite clearly.

I read it not as destroying P&P (which is understandably a crime in and of itself) but as a critique of modern novels; is this style (FSoG) really what modern women want to read? Compare FSoG to P&P, how did we get from P&P being the must-read novel for women to FSoG? Where did we lose track of our literature, why on earth are we reading this rubbish?

I was laughing pretty much the entire time I read it, laughing at the people who took FSoG seriously and truly believe that it is good fiction.

Tien wrote: "Susan wrote: "I'm in. Can't help it! :)
1Q84 by Haruki Murakami Read xx/xx "

Wow, Susan, you're going to fit in 1Q84? Isn't that one massive book? Good Luck ;)"

Who knows how many of these I'll actually fit in! And that one is one of the few that's not doing double duty. So it could be replaced if I find one that doubles up with something else.

But I definitely plan to read it sometime .

Hmmm... It looks like I don't have much of a chance with this one, since Amy and Coralie have theirs planned to use only 6 books, and Karen will use only 7. I'll probably start if by some miracle I finish the mini-SAT before Game 4 is published. But if so, I'll definitely need to figure out how to combine some of mine better.

Susan wrote: "Hmmm... It looks like I don't have much of a chance with this one, since Amy and Coralie have theirs planned to use only 6 books, and Karen will use only 7. I'll probably start if by some miracle I..."

I've decided to just try to get through the list ... I know that I'm going to have way more than most. The books that interest me don't seem to fit more than one letter/section at a time :)

I am withdrawing from this game. Few of the books that I am reading fit.

Awww... Did I make it too big / challenging in restricting overlap of books?

Tien wrote: "Participants:


Amy - 3/15
Bea
Candiss
Coralie - 5/15
Dee
Ebony - 1/15
Karen
Lyn M
LynnB - 4/15
Natasha
Susan
Tien - 5/15

Updated 10/15"

I seem to be missing off this list Tien, can you add me (not that I've managed to complete any yet), thanks :-)

Finally got my first book done for this one with The Estian Alliance by M.J. Webb!

sorry, Sam, added you ;)

Tien wrote: "sorry, Sam, added you ;)"

Awesome, thanks Tien :-D

Tien wrote: "Awww... Did I make it too big / challenging in restricting overlap of books?"

I think it's actually sort of nice that smaller numbers of us are working on each game, since we're choosing different ones to participate in.

Susan wrote: "I think it's actually sort of nice that smaller numbers of us are working on each game, since we're choos..."

I do hope there's at least one to appeal to everyone :)
Although, I'm determined to complete all - I don't know how as I'm trying to fit in other things as well, this bodes 'epic fail!' moment, ha ha ha... I think, at least, I will complete SAT ;p Sleep is totally overrated!

I'm trying to complete them all too but I've got a feeling some are going to over-run. But as you say Tien, sleep is SO overrated! :-D

Sam wrote: "I'm trying to complete them all too but I've got a feeling some are going to over-run. But as you say Tien, sleep is SO overrated! :-D"

I'm sleep deprived as it is since I was awake between 3:30-5am - I think my toddler is coming down with something but still... reading vs sleeping - hhm... I know which I'd rather be doing ;)

At least you've got a good reason to be up at that time then, when I tell people I was up late/early reading they look at me like I'm crazy ;-)

Sam wrote: "At least you've got a good reason to be up at that time then, when I tell people I was up late/early reading they look at me like I'm crazy ;-)"

you know, at 5 -I was contemplating whether it was worth going to sleep at all since I had to be up by 6... you know where my thought was going... LOL

Could it be that you picked up a book instead...I've done that a few times myself. Well you know it does seem a waste of an hour lol ;-)

Sam wrote: "Could it be that you picked up a book instead...I've done that a few times myself. Well you know it does seem a waste of an hour lol ;-)"

It was a bit of a waste lol...

I have finished. I was really lucky that so many of the books I wanted to read fit so well into this game.

Congrats, Coralie!

Well done Coralie!! :-)

Congrats, Coralie!