Bookshelf scavenger hunt // tag

Is it Friday already?! I don't know about you but this week has flown by so quickly for me! I've spent the past few days tweaking small features of my blog layout and planning future posts, but it wasn't until yesterday that I actually got around to writing this one. Oops.

The Bookshelf Scavenger Hunt tag was created way back when by TheLibraryOfSarah on YouTube and even though I'm about five years late to the party, I thought I'd give it a go!

- - -

Find an author's name or title with the letter "Z" in it

Game of Knowns by Dr Karl Kruszelnicki

Rather than picking a book by Markus Zusak or Suzanne Collins, for this prompt, I've selected Game of Knowns by Dr Karl Kruszelnicki. Dr Karl is a prominent science commentator on Australian radio and television and this is one of his 30+ books that uses science to answer your everyday questions about all aspects of life.

- - -

Find a classic

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll

This Barnes and Noble Leatherbound Classics edition of Alice in Wonderland is absolutely beautiful and it's one my most prized possessions.

- - -

Find a book with a key on it

Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor

Apparently, I don't own any books with a key on the cover? But Dreams of Gods and Monsters has a keyhole so it'll have to do.

- - -

Find something on your bookshelf that's not a book

As you can see, my bookshelf holds not only books but also a lot of my jewellery, old tennis trophies (lol), soft toys, and a variety of little trinkets. So you pick your favourite.

- - -

Find the oldest book on your shelf

Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta

A quintessential Australian YA novel. I picked up this movie tie-in edition of Looking for Alibrandi (published in 2000) at the Lifeline Bookfest earlier this year. I do own a bunch of older children's books and chapter books but they live on a different bookshelf in another room.

- - -

Find a book with a girl on the cover

Wreck by Fleur Ferris

So many books have a girl on the cover! This was the first one that I thought of.

- - -

Find a book that has an animal in it

Northern Lights by Philip Pullman

One of my absolute all-time favourite series, the world of His Dark Materials features dæmons - aspects of the soul that take the form of different kinds of animals. Also Iorek Byrnison (the greatest) and the other panserbjørn of Svalbard.

- - -

Find a book with a male protagonist

The Recruit by Robert Muchamore

Something about teen spies is just so appealing. Oh, how I wished that, like James, I could be recruited into a top-secret spy agency! Fun fact: when I was thirteen, I emailed Robert Muchamore to express how much I loved the series and he actually wrote back!

- - -

Find a book with only words on it

Invictus by Ryan Graudin

Like books with keys on the cover, books with only words on them are a rarity in my bookshelf. But I just finished reading Invictus as part of Spookathon and the cover is basically only words, right?

- - -

Find a book with illustrations in it

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

I also had this on my list of books to read for Spookathon but did I get around to it? No. *Sigh*

- - -

Find a book with gold lettering

Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton

Gold or silver foiling on books always looks so stunning! So shiny! (Like a treasure from a sunken pirate wreck.) (Ten points if you get that reference! BUT I DIGRESS.)

- - -

Find a diary (true or fictional)

Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison

Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging was THE book to be reading when I was thirteen! Well, this and Twilight. The film adaptation had just been released a few months earlier and my friends and I were lowkey obsessed. Words like "fab" and "nippy noodles" permeated our vocabularies and were bandied about constantly.

- - -

Find a book written by someone with a common name

Time Catcher by Cheree Peters

I read this book earlier in the year and, while I didn't mind the story, I really dislike the cover. I'm not a huge fan of the illustration style and something about the girl's hair just seems off to me. I can't explain it.

- - -

Find a book that has a closeup of something on it

The Fire Within by Chris d'Lacey

Fun fact #2: I used to be OBSESSED with dragons. Do I own the entire Dragonology collection? Yes, yes I do. I still maintain that we need more books about dragons.

- - -

Find a book on your shelf that takes place in the earliest time period

Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift

I haven't read Gulliver's Travels yet but a quick search informed me that it is set in the early 1700s. Which, now that I'm thinking about it, was a REALLY long time ago! It's kind of crazy that humans have been living for hundreds and hundreds of years but even crazier is that this is only a tiny fraction of the age of the earth!

- - -

Find a hardcover book without a jacket

An Illustrated History of Notable Shadowhunters & Denizens of Downworld by Cassandra Clare

I love the Shadowhunters novels with all of my heart so I just had to own this special companion anthology.

- - -

Find a teal/turquoise coloured book

Driftwood by Cathy Cassidy

I loved Cathy Cassidy books when I was a pre-teen - they are just so pure! And all of the cover illustrations are so cute!

- - -

Find a book with stars on it

Finding Wonders by Jeannine Atkins

Look at those constellations! Gorgeous, just like the poems inside.

- - -

Find a non-YA book

Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks

I think this is my favourite Nicholas Sparks book? But I've read sixteen?! What.

- - -

Well, that took longer than expected! Especially because a lot of my books aren't actually visible. (On every "book" shelf, there's a whole row of secret books hiding behind the ones in the front! And yes, it does present an issue if I ever want to read one of them.)

How many of these books do you have on your shelves? Let me know in the comments below and if you're reading this and want to join in on the fun, consider yourself tagged!

Niamh, xo.