I read this scavenger hunt tag over on Confuzzledom and knew before I'd finished reading that I'd take part. I don't normally keep many books once I've read them, preferring to pass them on to be read and loved by someone else. But last year I kept all the books I'd read as I'd planned to take a photo of myself standing by the pile for my Books of 2017 post. And then I forgot.

I'm using this pile as my main hunting ground, so it's kinda relevant. Here's the photo, complete with a grumpy cat. Now I can get books back to their rightful owners and donate the rest.


Having looked through the books again I'm feeling rather nostalgic about most of them, passing them on one by one is easy, but to get rid of a huge pile all at once feels really hard. I am keeping a few, but I don't have space to keep them all, and even if I did I probably wouldn't read them again anyway. I've always thought that a book that is read only once is a sad thing indeed. That's probably why I prefer second hand books, well, that and the price saving.

Anyway, I tried to find out where this tag originated, it's possible it started on YouTube, but I failed to find the author, however in my search I did find a few more items for the list.

Here goes...


Find an author’s name or title with the letter Z in it
I though this would be tricky but as it turns out I had five in my pile. I enjoyed all of these books, having a Z in your name obviously makes you an interesting and imaginative person, ha!


Find a classic 
Why didn't I read this sooner?


Find a book with a key on it
This is in my TBR pile.


Find something on your bookshelf that’s not a book
There aren't many things on the shelves that aren't books. This little fella was given to be by a friend years ago, he's survived four house moves, and makes me smile as he sits there silently guarding my books.


Find the oldest book on your shelf
Oliver Twist, this belonged to my Dad, he was going to give it to charity but I snagged it from the box without him noticing.


Find a book with a girl on the cover
The Girl With All The Gifts. Excellent book. Now I just need to see the film. Do I get extra points for having the word 'girl' in the title too?


Find a book with a boy on the cover
I read a review by Char and was delighted to find it on one of my charity shop jaunts soon after. It's funny, uplifting, informative, and touching. Such a good book.


Find a book that has an animal on the cover
I like a bit of post-apocalyptic fiction.
 

Find a book with a male protagonist
"It follows a teenage boy named Seth who, after drowning in the ocean, wakes up alone on a desolate suburban English street in what he believes to be hell" classic Patrick Ness.


Find a book with only words on it
The Road was an exhausting read, it was so good. I was genuinely worried for the main characters at times, sometimes I had to read way past my bedtime to find out what happened next, other times I had to stop reading for fear of something awful happening. I wouldn't say it's an enjoyable read but one that, once started, you have to finish.


Find a book with illustrations in it
This is The Power by Naomi Alderman. It's peppered with illustrations throughout. This was given to me at Christmas, and was recommended so fervently that it was one of the first books I read this year.


Find a book with gold lettering
Another on my TBR pile.


Find a diary (true or fictional)
The Diary of Samuel Pepys. I remember learning about the Great Plague of London, and the Great Fire of London in primary school, and being fascinated. I don't often read non-fiction but I'm really looking forward to getting stuck into this.


Find a book written by someone with a common name (e.g. Smith)
Brown is the best I can do. This has been on the TBR pile for ages, it was recommended to me but I didn't get into it after reading the first chapter, I have too many other books vying for my attention, but I hope to get to it one day.


Find a book that has a close up of something on it
Close up of a face. This book was so interesting, it made me want to visit Guernsey.


Find a book on your shelf that takes place in the earliest time period
Set in 1527, in Rome and Venice, I really enjoyed this tale of a sharp-witted dwarf and his beguiling mistress.


Find a hardcover book without a jacket
Cute cover, and lovely illustrations throughout. I often dip in and out of this.


Find a teal/turquoise colored book
This is another on my TBR pile, isn't it a beautiful cover? I'm saving this for winter, and it'll probably take me that long to read everything else also on my TBR pile!


Find a book with stars on it
The Forgetting Time. I picked this up for 50p purely because I liked the cover. I know you should never judge and all that, but it was an enjoyable and interesting book.

Find a non YA book
Having visited the Elephant Sanctuary in Nairobi I wanted to read this autobiography by Daphne Sheldrick about her amazing life in Africa surrounded by and caring for animal orphans. Such an absorbing read.

And these are the additional categories I found

Find the longest book you own
Based on the number of pages this is the longest on my bookshelf. I have the Twilight series but I think I've only read the first three books. I can't remember, it's so long ago. I keep them because I feel I should read them all, but I might need to go back to the beginning and start again.


Find the shortest book you own
Unboxed by Non Pratt is the shortest book on the shelves. I read it in one sitting and it was utterly delightful. It has a lovely cover too.


Find a book with multiple PoVs
The story alternates chapters between Zak's story and Ana's. It's a lovely YA read, sweet, funny, utterly enjoyable. And the book itself is deliciously floppy, I like that in a book. I dislike stiff spines that need cracking in order for you to be able to read the pages comfortably.


Find a shiny book
It's hard to tell in the photo but the blue bits are metallic.

Find a book with flowers on it
This is Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver, the sequel to Delirium, the flowers aren't obvious on the cover but that's why I like it. It's a good series, the first and second books are the better of the three but all worth a read.

Let me know if you take part in this tag, I'll pop over and have a read.