Thanks to Madame Writer, on whose blog I found this tag. (She in turn traced the tag back to here.)
I undertook this challenge because I’m in favor of anything that makes me stop and think about the books that I own, read or unread.
1. Find an author name or title with a Z in it.
![cover: The Pigman by Paul Zindel](https://i0.wp.com/www.notesinthemargin.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/the-pigman.jpg?resize=149%2C200&ssl=1)
The Pigman by Paul Zindel
2. Find a classic.
![Cover: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott](https://i0.wp.com/www.notesinthemargin.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/little-women.jpg?resize=159%2C231&ssl=1)
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
3. Find a book with a key on it.
![cover: The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware](https://i0.wp.com/www.notesinthemargin.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/turn-of-the-key.jpg?resize=192%2C256&ssl=1)
S T R E T C H I N G
the prompt here
The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware
4. Find something on your bookshelf that is not a book.
![Moi statue and read sign](https://i0.wp.com/www.notesinthemargin.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/things-on-my-bookshelf.jpg?resize=512%2C311&ssl=1)
Left: a small moi (replica of the giant stone heads on Easter Island)
Right: a sign of encouragement made by RamonaClaire from rolled-up pages of To Kill a Mockingbird, my favorite book
5. Find the oldest book on your shelf.
![cover: Four Afloat by Ralph Henry Barbour](https://i0.wp.com/www.notesinthemargin.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/four-afloat.jpg?resize=172%2C256&ssl=1)
Probably Four Afloat by Ralph Henry Barbour. This is from my father-in-law’s childhood collection. The text is © 1907. I can’t find out when this version was published, but, as you can tell, it’s pretty old.
6. Find a book with a girl on it.
![Cover: 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami](https://i0.wp.com/www.notesinthemargin.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/1Q84.jpg?resize=192%2C256&ssl=1)
1Q84 by Haruki Murakami
7. Find a book that has an animal in it.
![Cover: Watership Down](https://i0.wp.com/www.notesinthemargin.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/watership-down.jpg?resize=152%2C238&ssl=1)
How about lots of animals: Watership Down by Richard Adams
8. Find a book with a male protagonist.
![Cover: Thirteen by Steve Cavanagh](https://i0.wp.com/www.notesinthemargin.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Thirteen-Cavanagh.jpg?resize=192%2C256&ssl=1)
How about a book with two male protagonists: Thirteen by Steve Cavanagh
9. Find a book with only words on the cover.
![cover: Ulysses by James Joyce](https://i0.wp.com/www.notesinthemargin.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/ulysses.jpg?resize=182%2C256&ssl=1)
This copy of Ulysses by James Joyce, which I bought in Dublin.
10. Find a book with illustrations in it.
![cover: Lorna Doone by R.D. Blackmore](https://i0.wp.com/www.notesinthemargin.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/lorna-doone.jpg?resize=179%2C256&ssl=1)
Lorna Doone by R.D. Blackmore. This was my father-in-law’s copy, inscribed June 26, 1912.
11. Find a book with gold lettering.
![cover: A Backward Glance by Edith Wharton](https://i0.wp.com/www.notesinthemargin.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/a-backward-glance.jpg?resize=213%2C256&ssl=1)
A Backward Glance by Edith Wharton
12. Find a diary, true or fictional.
![cover: Blue Diary by Alice Hoffman](https://i0.wp.com/www.notesinthemargin.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/blue-diary.jpg?resize=177%2C256&ssl=1)
Since diaries, both real and fictional, are one of my favorite things to study, my shelf contains a lot of books that fit this category. Blue Diary by Alice Hoffman is one of the best.
13. Find a book written by an author with a common name (like Smith).
![cover: Breakheart Hill by Thomas Cook](https://i0.wp.com/www.notesinthemargin.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/breakheart-hill.jpg?resize=159%2C256&ssl=1)
Breakheart Hill by Thomas H. Cook
14. Find a book with a close-up of something on it.
![cover: The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield](https://i0.wp.com/www.notesinthemargin.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/thirteenth-tale.jpg?resize=166%2C256&ssl=1)
This edition of The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield has a wonderful close-up of a stack of old books.
15. Find a book on your shelf that takes place in the earliest time period.
![cover: The Poetry of John Milton](https://i0.wp.com/www.notesinthemargin.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/paradise-lost.jpg?resize=183%2C256&ssl=1)
That must be Paradise Lost by John Milton, which takes place shortly after the creation of the world.
16. Find a hardcover book without a jacket.
![cover: The Prairie by J.F. Cooper](https://i0.wp.com/www.notesinthemargin.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/the-prairie.jpg?resize=220%2C256&ssl=1)
This old, undated copy of The Prairie by James Fenimore Cooper.
17. Find a teal/turquoise colored book.
![cover: Where'd You Go, Bernadette](https://i0.wp.com/www.notesinthemargin.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/bernadette.jpg?resize=157%2C238&ssl=1)
Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple
18. Find a book with stars on it.
![cover: The Island of the Day Before by Umberto Eco](https://i0.wp.com/www.notesinthemargin.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/island-of-day-before.jpg?resize=175%2C256&ssl=1)
Well darn, The Fault in Our Stars by John Green doesn’t have stars on the cover. But this edition of The Island of the Day Before does.
19. Find a non-YA book.
![cover: The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing](https://i0.wp.com/www.notesinthemargin.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/golden-notebook.jpeg?resize=159%2C233&ssl=1)
YA literature has only come into existence over the last few years of my reading life, so most of my books fit this category. I chose The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing because it was close at hand.
How about you?
Let me know if you decide to give this book tag challenge a try.
© 2019 by Mary Daniels Brown
Oh this is tempting! 🤦♀️
It was fun to do.