Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Gimme an I...

I tackled my bookshelves this weekend--I needed to do some rearranging to make room for new books, as well as some decluttering and re-alphabetizing, and I noticed that I was missing a couple of letters of the alphabet in my small assemblage of authors. It didn't surprise me when I had no books by authors whose last names start with an X or Q, but it did surprise me that I was also missing I and U. Last names that start with those letters aren't that uncommon, are they? But then, when I tried to come up with some author names that begin with either letter, I came up blank. I couldn't think of a single one. (Can you?) I know there are some, but they don't exist on my bookshelves. Which struck me as a little strange. I mean, I have books for Z (Zafon and Zigman) and Y (Young), but not for I or U. It's a bookish incongruity. What about you? What letters of the alphabet are missing from your bookshelves?


14 comments:

  1. It's true, there are fewer authors for some letters -- my favourite "I" author is Frances Itani, a Canadian author who has a new book out right now (Tell) which I am just about to begin. For U, perhaps Ludmilla Ulitskaya, or Alison Uttley

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    1. All new authors to me. Just shows I need to branch out more. Thanks for stopping by!

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  2. The only author I can think of with a surname beginning with I on my shelves is Kazuo Ishiguro. I don't think I have books by an author whose surname begins with U! Great post, it's definitely got me thinking about my own bookshelves :)

    Gemma

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    1. I need to read Ishiguro! And who knew U would be such a hard surname to find?

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  3. The 'I' authors I have are Eva Ibbotson, Kazuo Ishiguro and Eowyn Ivey. For 'U' I have a book by the Croatian author Dubravka Ugresic. The only letter missing from my shelves is X, though until recently I had nothing for Y either.

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    1. Oh, I forgot about Eowyn Ivey. I read and loved her book, The Snow Child, last year. (I just don't own it.) I've never heard of Ugresic...what a U name! Thanks for commenting!

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  4. The only one I could think of with an I was Ibsen...and I haven't even read any of his stuff. I confess I did an online search and came up with one more: Washington Irving. Great post! I am going to have to see what letters are missing on my shelves!

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    1. Oh, Washington Irving! I should have thought of him. :) But I don't own any of his stories, so he still wouldn't show up on my shelves.

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  5. Ishiguro is great--and so is Ibsen! But what a difference is in setting and style. Ibsen's A Doll's House is a favorite, and Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go is an emotional twister.

    John Updike, Leon Uris, Thrity Umriger, Lisa Unger are good U's.

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    1. I did like Ibsen's A Doll's House, but I have to admit, I'm not a huge fan of Updike. I have been hearing Thrity Umriger's name mentioned a lot lately. Might have to give her books a try. Thanks for stopping by and commenting!

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  6. I was going to say Ishiguro, but everyone else before me has already suggested him. How about Inoue, another Japanese author (but one I've not yet read).

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    1. I'm writing it down. Thanks for the suggestion!

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  7. I'm so jealous that you have your shelves organised. Mine are just a big messy mess! I need to work on that.

    I've been wracking my brains and I can't think of any author that I've personally read whose surname starts with I.

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    1. I know! There's not very many of them. And about the shelves...it's my one OCD thing. I like my books organized (mostly so I can find them!).

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