2021 What's in a Name Challenge

Click here for guidelines and sign-ups

Host: Andrea @ Carolina Book Nook
Dates: 1 January - 31 December 2021

Here's another reading challenge I'm signing up for. I signed up for the 2020 What's in a Name Challenge, and did manage to read a few books. But since I never got any reviews posted, I feel like I sort of wiped out. So I'm going to try to do a better job with the 2021 challenge. 

As usual, there are six categories and the goal is to read one book for each category. These are this year's categories:

1. One/1 (examples: One Second After; The 100)
2. Doubled word (ex: In a Dark, Dark Wood; Wolf by Wolf)
3. Reference to outer space (ex: The Fault in Our Stars)
4. Possessive noun (ex: The Zookeeper’s Wife)
5. Botanical word (ex: The Language of Flowers; The Sandalwood Tree) 
6. Article of clothing (ex: Bossypants)
   

During the year I'll be tracking my progress and keeping all my lists over on my challenge blog (HERE).

What's In a Name 2020 Reading Challenge

Hosted by: Andrea @ Carolina Book Nook

Dates: January 1 - December 31, 2020

Click HERE for guidelines and sign-ups.

It's been a couple of years since I last participated in the What's in a Name Challenge. But I always enjoyed it, even though I didn't always manage to complete all the categories. (I think I enjoy making the lists of possible reads almost as much as doing the actual reading.)

So I'm signing up for the 2020 challenge. Basically, participants read books with titles that fit the requirements of six categories. I haven't made any firm decisions about what I'll read for each category, but I've got a few ideas:

Category 1: An ampersand – & (ex. Blanca & Roja, Rot & Ruin)

Arthur & George. Julian Barnes
Bellman & Black. Diane Setterfield
Daisy Jones & The Six. Taylor Jenkins Reid  

Category 2: An antonym (ex. Big Little Lies, Wicked Saints)

The Life and Death of Mary Wollstonecraft. Claire Tomalin
Night and Day. Virginia Woolf
Old New York (Four Novellas). Edith Wharton
Short Letter, Long Farewell. Peter Handke  

Category 3: 4 letters or less (ex. Feed, Vox)

Dust (Richard Jury #21). Martha Grimes
Hoot. Carl Hiaasen
Ubik. Philip K. Dick
Utz. Bruce Chatwin 

Category 4: A given/first name (ex. Tess of the Road, Flowers for Algernon)

Jane Eyre. Charlotte Brontë
Queen Lucia. E.F. Benson
The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn (Inspector Morse #3). Colin Dexter
What Maisie Knew. Henry James 

Category 5: Reference to children (ex. Baby Proof, Children of Blood and Bone)

The Children. Edith Wharton
The Children’s Book. A.S. Byatt
Wise Children. Angela Carter 

Category 6: One of the 4 natural elements – water, air, fire, earth (ex. The River at Night, The Name of the Wind)

The Book of Air and Shadows. Michael Gruber
Wide Sargasso Sea. Jean Rhys
The Wind in the Willows. Kenneth Grahame
Wolf Lake (Dave Gurney #5). John Verdon 

These are just possibilities, and it'll be interesting to see if I actually end up reading any of them. During the year I'll be tracking my progress and keeping all my lists over on my challenge blog (HERE).

Challenge Wrap-Up: 2016 What's In a Name? Challenge

The 2016 What's In A Name? Reading Challenge was hosted by Charlie @ The Worm Hole. I didn't do very well with this one. Of the six categories, I was only able to read books for three of them:

• An item of furniture: The Clocks (Hercule Poirot #34). Agatha Christie 
• A profession: Dreaming Spies. Laurie R. King
• A month of the year: The Last September. Nina de Gramont 

But even though, technically, I didn't complete the challenge, I did enjoy what I read. And had a LOT of fun making lists of possibilities! Thanks so much to Charlie for hosting.

Note: The 2017 edition of the challenge has been announced, and you can see the guidelines and sign up HERE.

More Challenge Sign-Ups

Since we're getting so close to the end of the year, I thought I'd go ahead and make it official with a few of the challenges I've been considering. All of these fit right in with my reading plans for next year, so I don't think they'll be too hard to keep up with. During the year, I'll be tracking my progress and keeping all my book lists over on my challenge blog (HERE).

ebook Reading Challenge 2017

Hosted by: Book Dragon's Lair

Click here for Rules and Sign-ups

Books for this challenge must be electronic (naturally), and must have an ISBN or equivalent. As the announcement page says: "If you can buy it or borrow it, it counts."

There are several levels for this challenge, and I'm going with "Byte" (10 books) even though I'm pretty sure I'll read more than that. (I love ebooks!)

You can view my progress HERE.

The 2017 New To Me Challenge

Hosted by: herding cats & burning soup

Click here for Rules and Sign-ups

What counts for the challenge: Anything that's "new" to you; for example...

• first time reading an author 
• first book in a series 
• first book you've read from a series (doesn't have to be book one) 
• first time trying a genre/subgenre 
• a debut book from an author (even if you've read them before)

Books need to be over 80 pages to count, and there's a minimum of 12 books for the challenge (but you can choose any amount over that). I'm going with "first time reading an author" and my goal is to read at least 20 new-to-me authors during the year. (View my progress HERE.)

What's In a Name 2017

Hosted by: Charlie @ The Worm Hole

Click here for Rules and Sign-ups

I didn't do very well with the 2016 edition of this challenge, so I'm signing up for 2017 and hoping to redeem myself. Besides, it's always so much fun trying to come up with book titles to fit the categories! There are six of those categories, and I don't really have any books set to read yet, so I'll just be picking them as I go. (View my progress HERE.)

What's In A Name Challenge 2016

Host: Charlie @ The Worm Hole

Dates: January - December 2016

See the challenge announcement/sign-up post HERE

I haven't participated in the What's In A Name challenge for a couple of years, but I'm signing up for the 2016 edition. It's always fun matching up books with categories, and it's going to allow me to read a few of the books that've been on my TBR pile for quite a few years now.

Although Charlie says it's preferred that books don't overlap with other challenges, she also says it's not a requirement. Which is good, because I'm pretty sure I'll be doing quite a bit of overlapping. This list is very likely to change during the year, but here's what I'm thinking about reading for each of the six categories:

1. A country in title: From Russia With Love, by Ian Fleming
2. An item of clothing: Death in a White Tie, by Ngaio Marsh 
3. An item of furniture: The Cabinet of Curiosities, by Preston & Child
4. A profession: The Nine Tailors, by Dorothy L. Sayers  
5. A month of the year: The Enchanted April, by Elizabeth von Arnim 
6. A title with the word "tree" in it: Silver on the Tree, by Susan Cooper 

During the year, I'll be tracking my progress over on my challenge blog (HERE).

The Rest of the Wrap-Ups: 2013 Reading Challenges

2013 Mystery/Crime Reading Challenge

Hosted by Amy @ The Crafty Book Nerd (now A Bookish Girl)

I read 13 books for the 2013 Mystery/Crime Challenge, but didn't manage to review them all.  Here's my list (with links to reviews):

1. Cat on the Scent. Rita Mae Brown
2. The Lost Symbol. Dan Brown
3. Cold Remains. Sally Spedding
4. Guilt. Jonathan Kellerman
5. Fer-de-Lance. Rex Stout 
6. A Fearful Madness. Julius Falconer
7. Inferno. Dan Brown
8. Death By a HoneyBee. Abigail Keam
9. A Fatal Likeness. Lyn Shepherd 
10. The Book of Secrets. Elizabeth Joy Arnold
11. Night Film. Marisha Pessl 
12. Double Indemnity. James M. Cain
13. Evil Under the Sun. Agatha Christie

2013 Outdo Yourself Reading Challenge

Hosted by The Book Vixen

For the 2013 Outdo Yourself Reading Challenge, I signed up at the "Out of Breath" level, and aimed to read 6-10 more books than I read in 2012.  As it turned out, I didn't quite make that goal.  But I read a total of 39 books, which was four more than I read last year; so I'm considering this a pretty successful challenge.  I won't list all the books here, but I've got a list over on my challenge blog if you want to take a look at the titles.

Vintage Mystery Reading Challenge 2013: Scattergories

Hosted by Bev @ My Readers Block

OK, I completely wiped out with this challenge.  I just never really got going with this one; never even got my "scattergories" figured out - so I'm admitting total defeat.  Sometimes these things happen.  I do apologize to Bev who did a great job of hosting.  I've already signed up for her 2014 Vintage Mystery Bingo Challenge, and I promise to try and do a better job with that one.  (Seriously!)

What's in a Name 6

Hosted by Beth Fish Reads

Here's what I read for the What's in a Name 6 Reading Challenge (with links to reviews):

• Category #1 (a book with up or down or equivalent in title):
  Evil Under the Sun. Agatha Christie
• Category #2 (a book with something you'd find in your kitchen in the title):
  Death By a HoneyBee. Abigail Keam
• Category #3 (a book with a party or celebration in the title):
  The Shooting Party. Isabel Colegate
• Category #4 (a book with fire or equivalent in the title):
  The Heat of the Sun. David Rain (See Review)
• Category #5 (a book with an emotion in the title):
  The Happy Hollisters. Jerry West (See Review)
• Category #6 (a book with lost or found in the title):
  The Lost Symbol. Dan Brown (See Review)

This has always been one of my favorite challenges, and I'm really sorry I didn't get more reviews written.  But I did read a book for each category, so for me it was a total success.  Especially since it helped me discover one of my new favorite writers, Isabel Colegate.

Well .... I think that's about it for my 2013 challenges.  All the hosts deserve a huge thank-you for doing such great work.  These challenges (even the ones I fail at completely) do keep me reading - my books-per-year count has definitely gone up since I've been joining them.  So I'll keep on signing up.  Which reminds me - I still have a few more sign-up posts to write!

What's in a Name 5

Hosted by: Beth Fish Reads
Dates: 1 January to 31 December, 2012

I had so much fun with this one in 2011, I can't possibly resist the 2012 edition. The idea is to read one book in each of the following categories:

1. A book with a topographical feature (land formation) in the title
2. A book with something you'd see in the sky in the title
3. A book with a creepy crawly in the title
4. A book with a type of house in the title
5. A book with something you'd carry in your pocket, purse, or backpack in the title
6. A book with something you'd find on a calendar in the title

See the announcement/sign-up page here.

At the moment, I'm considering these titles for the challenge, but the list will almost certainly change during the year:

1. Tyrannosaur Canyon. Douglas Preston
2. The Moonstone. Wilkie Collins
3. Spiderweb. Penelope Lively
4. Iron House. John Hart
5. The Glass Key. Dashiell Hammett
6. The Man Who Was Thursday. G.K. Chesterton

I'll be keeping track of my progress on my challenge blog here.