What’s in a Name 5 (2012)

I have signed up for the What’s in a Name 5 Challenge!  Clicking on the above button will take you to the official site so you can learn all about it.  But the important stuff is the categories:

1. A book with a topographical feature (land formation) in the title: Black Hills, Purgatory Ridge, Emily of Deep Valley
2. A book with something you’d see in the sky in the title: Moon Called, Seeing Stars, Cloud Atlas
3. A book with a creepy crawly in the title: Little Bee, Spider Bones, The Witches of Worm
4. A book with a type of house in the title: The Glass Castle, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, Ape House
5. A book with something you’d carry in your pocket, purse, or backpack in the title: Sarah’s Key, The Scarlet Letter, Devlin Diary
6. A book with a something you’d find on a calendar in the title: Day of the Jackal, Elegy for April, Freaky Friday, Year of Magical Thinking

So, my options CURRENTLY in my HOUSE for each of these quick cat descriptions are:

TOPOGRAPHY:   Oliver Sacks’ The Island of the Colorblind, I’ve rejected Two Rivers because it technically is not a ‘land formation’ and I have doubts about roads, too, so I’m not choosing Revolutionary Road.  Darn.  A River Runs Through It, however….  The land part is what the river runs through so the topography here is IMPLIED?!  yes?

SKY:  Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell – Reading in March with Erin of Erin Reads.  I’m committed here.  Yay!

CREEPY-CRAWLY:   HELP!!!   I hate spiders but I was thinking that Patterson’s Along Came a Spider would work and then I could see the flick. Unfortunately, this is not on the shelf at my local library but I could ILL it.  I’ve already read Little Bee and that other Bee book Secret Life of.

HOUSE:  Lots more here than I thought there would be.  Anyone read any of these?   I might even re-read HOUSE by Tracy Kidder which I will mention is “AAAaaaaawwwwwweeeeesssssssooome”.  I’ve got The Woman on the Roof * by a Nebraskan writer, Mignon Eberhart and there’s also Elizabeth Berg’s Open House.  AND, Daphne DuMaurier’s Jamaica Inn.  I’ve been wanting to read this forever.  I own Ape House, too, but forgot to pull it for the photo.

POCKETABLE:  Nothing on my shelf fits this…   Help requested here, too, please.

CALENDAR:  I’ve got Anita Diamant’s Day After Night so I’m going with that at this time.  But Fire Season might work.  And there’s Rites of Spring which works for my John Cusack Challenge.

OK, your turn!  What are you selecting or what can you recommend?  Throw ‘em at me.  

* ROOF is only a ‘piece’ of a house so maybe that won’t qualify…

HIdeinWhitetoSkipLine

Copyright © 2007-2011. Care’s Online Book Club. All rights reserved. This post was originally posted by Care from Care’s Online Book Club.  It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Diamonds, a short list

In order to complete the What’s in a Name 4 Challenge, I have to read ONE MORE book  – one that has a gem or jewel in the title.

Or just give up and count this one.  Earlier this year, I had dipped into:   Cat in a Diamond Dazzle by Carole Nelson Douglas. I didn’t quite get half way when I put it aside and then…  LOST the book. I can’t find it anywhere. Truthfully, I wasn’t too into it. It has a similar feel to the Stephanie Plum books which I got bored with after #11.

But I really want to finish this challenge! I don’t have any other books on my shelves that have a jewel-y title.  So I am going to make an executive decision (await the verdict from the challenge gods and suffer the consequences). Half a book will have to count.

This is one of my most favorite challenges!  Is it yours?  I have not had a good challenge-accomplishing kind of year, so I’m reaching for something/anything that will make me feel good about 2011 from a literary perspective.

On that note, I would like to point out OTHER ‘diamond’ books that maybe might qualify – but these still are reaches. Perhaps this is a public service to anyone else needing a gem and having time to read it…

First, I’ve read ONE book prior to blogging that had DIAMOND in the title:

Barren Lands: An Epic Search for Diamonds in the North American Arctic  by Kevin Krajick.

Considering it is set in cold climes, it’s amazing I finished it. But it’s GOOD!  It’s a thrilling fascinating nonfiction adventure of the race to find diamonds in Canada and keep them OUT of the hands of that famous diamond cartel. I recommend it. I would recommend it over Cats and Dazzle.

and another book in my goodreads MyBooks list referencing DIAMONDS is:

Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend: Women Writers on Baseball   edited by Elinor Nauen, which was something I found on the interwebs that reminds me of a young lady named Abbey who might also enjoy it.  Probably more than I would.  *smiles*   She might be taking a break from baseball in 2012 but I know it’s in her heart.

Finally,

the next book IS on my list and has been read or listed on the tbr by many of my friends:

Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies  by Jared DIAMOND.  I scooped this up at a library sale for $2, knowing it is a nonfic title that many people have said nice things.  Sure, ‘diamond’ isn’t quite in the title, but it IS on the cover. It’s in the house…  I still have 25 days left in this month, this year.

May you all sparkle and shine like diamonds this holiday season!  Your blogging friendships are diamonds in my literary jewelry box.  Now go sign up here for What’s in a Name 5.

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HIdeinWhitetoSkipLine

Copyright © 2007-2011. Care’s Online Book Club. All rights reserved. This post was originally posted by Care from Care’s Online Book Club.  It should not be reproduced without express written permission.