2012 Challenge: What's in a Name?

 

INCOMPLETE

This is my first year to sign up for the popular What's in a Name Challenge, now hosted by Beth Fish Reads. Click the button or the link for more details and to sign up.

Here's How It Works

Between January 1 and December 31, 2012, read one book in each of the following categories:

• A book with a topographical feature (land formation) in the title

• A book with something you'd see in the sky in the title

• A book with a creepy crawly in the title

• A book with a type of house in the title

• A book with something you'd carry in your pocket, purse, or backpack in the title

• A book with a something you'd find on a calendar in the title

My Books

Here are some possibilities from my TBR shelves.  Those I finished are in red, with links to reviews (hopefully).

TOPOGRAPHICAL:

• Swan Peak by James Lee Burke (reviewed here)
• Nickel Mountain by John Gardner

SKY:

• The Stars Look Down by A. J. Cronin
• Moonlight Mile by Dennis Lehane
• Mr. Sammler's Planet by Saul Bellow (reviewed here)

CREEPY CRAWLY:

• The Ghost Writer by Philip Roth
• Ghosts of Belfast by Stuart Neville

HOUSE:

• Out of the Shelter by David Lodge
• The Gate House by Nelson DeMille
• Home Truths by David Lodge (reviewed here)

CARRIED:

• The Gun Seller by Hugh Laurie
• The Black Book by Ian Rankin
  
• The People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks (reviewed here)

CALENDAR:

• The Year of the French by Thomas Flanagan
• A Month of Sundays by John Updike (reviewed here)

NOTE

Last updated on December 27, 2012. I came close to finishing, but never got around to a Creepy Crawly book.

State of the Blog: Part Two, the Authors

Four times a year, I do a review of the books I've read so far.  In January, that review covers all the books I read the last calendar year.

This is the second of my quarterly blog assessment posts.  This one takes a look at my author lists over in the right-hand column. The first part addressed my lists. Part Three will deal with the challenges I joined this year.

NOTE: If you are systematically reading the books of any of these authors, please leave a comment here or on the post for the author's list (click on the title below or in the right-hand column) and leave a link to any related post. I will add the links on the author's list post.

I recently split my author list into two parts: General favorites and Mystery favorites.  See here for discussion.

In 2011, I read 40 books by my favorite authors.  For the list of all 116 books I read in 2011, go here.

GENERAL FAVORITES

Kingsley Amis

• The Crime of the Century
• The Anti-Death League(reviewed here; a Burgess favorite; read for the Birth Year Reading Challenge.

Maeve Binchy

• Evening Class (1996)

William Boyd

• Brazzaville Beach (reviewed here; read for my 2011 Battle of the Prizes, British Version, challenge);
• Nat Tate: An American Artist 1928-1960 (reviewed here) 

Nick Hornby

• Shakespeare Wrote for Money

Elinor Lipman

• Then She Found Me

David Lodge 

• Therapy (reviewed here)

Ian McEwan

• Solar

Philip Roth

• The Human Stain (reviewed here)

C. P. Snow

• George Passant (originally titled Strangers and Brothers) (reviewed here)

Anne Tyler

• Breathing Lessons (reviewed here; read for my 2011 Battle of the Prizes, American Version challenge)

John Updike

• Beck: A Book (reviewed here)

P. G. Wodehouse

• The Indiscretions of Archie; 
• The Girl on the Boat

MYSTERY FAVORITES

Kate Atkinson

• When Will There Be Good News?
• Started Early, Took My Dog (reviewed here)

Lee Child

• Gone Tomorrow
• 61 Hours 
• Worth Dying For (reviewed here)

Dick Francis

• 10 Lb. Penalty
• Bolt
• Banker (reviewed here)
• Knockdown
• Break In
• Decider

P. D. James

• A Mind to Murder
• Unnatural Causes
• An Unsuitable Job for a Woman 
  

Donna Leon

• Death in a Strange Country

John Lescroart

• A Plague of Secrets (reviewed here);
• Treasure Hunt

Helen MacInnes

• The Hidden Target

Ian Rankin

• Strip Jack
• Knots and Crosses
• Hide and Seek
• Tooth and Nail 
  

Dorothy L. Sayers

• Clouds of Witness (reviewed here)
• Unnatural Death 

Julia Spencer-Fleming

• One Was a Soldier (2009) (reviewed here)

Opening Sentence of the Day: Side Trips From Cowboy

It's July 9, about half-way through the process of writing this book and nearly a year since Margetty and I went to the Big Hole and retrieved the black amulet.

-- Side Trips from Cowboy: Addiction, Recovery and the Western American Myth, by Sandy Compton.  That's an opener to catch my attention, although the title already did that.

Compton is the author of the novel, Archer MacClehan & the Hungry Now, sort of a contemporary Western adventure, and Jason's Passage: From the Blascomb Family Chronicles, a collection of three related short stories.




A Few More Pages hosts Book Beginnings every Friday.  The event is open for the entire week.

State of the Blog: Part One, the Lists

Four times a year, I review the books I've read to that point and see what kind of progress I've made on my books lists and reading projects.  This winter review session is always my favorite because it is a wrap up of the books read by the end of the last calendar year.

This is the first of three quarterly blog assessment posts.  This first part addresses the book lists. Part Two, coming soon, will take a look at the author lists.  Part Three will deal with the challenges I joined this year.

My book lists are over in the right-side column. These are now divided into Prize Winners and "Must Reads" and include lists of books I have read or intend to read for some reason or another. Also in the right-side column are lists of my favorite authors. I add to these lists of lists from time to time.

NOTE: If you are working on any of these lists, please leave a comment here or on the post for the list (click on the title below or in the right-hand column) and leave a link to any related post. I will add the links on the list post. 

In 2011, I read 47 books from my book lists.  The list of all 115 books I read in 2011 is here.

THE PRIZE WINNERS

COSTA BOOK OF THE YEAR

Books read in 2011: none

EDGAR AWARD

Books read in 2011: The Chatham School Affair by Thomas H. Cook (reviewed here).

JAMES TAIT BLACK MEMORIAL PRIZE

Books read in 2011:

• G by John Berger (reviewed here; read for my 2010 Battle of the Prizes, British Version, challenge);
• Brazzaville Beach by William Boyd (reviewed here; read for my 2011 Battle of the Prizes, British Version, challenge).

MAN BOOKER PRIZE

Books read in 2011:

1. G by John Berger (reviewed here; read for my 2010 Battle of the Prizes, British Version, challenge);
2. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (reviewed here; read for my 2011 Battle of the Prizes, British Version, challenge)

NATIONAL BOOK AWARD

Books read in 2011:

• Lord of Misrule by Jaimy Gordon (reviewed here; read for my 2010 Battle of the Prizes, American Version, challenge);
• Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier (reviewed here; read for my 2011 Battle of the Prizes, American Version, challenge); 
• The Hair of Harold Roux by Thomas Williams (reviewed here; read for my 2011 Battle of the Prizes, American Version, challenge)

NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD

Books read in 2011:one, Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (reviewed here; read for my 2011 Battle of the Prizes, British Version, challenge).

NOBEL LAUREATES

Books read in 2011: none.

ORANGE PRIZE

Books read in 2011: one, On Beauty by Zadie Smith (reviewed here)

PEN/FAULKNER

Books read in 2011: one, The Human Stain by Philip Roth (reviewed here)

PULITZER PRIZE

Books read in 2011:

• Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler (reviewed here; read for my 2011 Battle of the Prizes, American Version, challenge);
• All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren (reviewed here; read for my 2011 Battle of the Prizes, American Version, challenge);
• Tinkers by Paul Harding (read for Book Club)

THE "MUST READS"

1899 TOP 100

Books read in 2011: one, Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe (reviewed here)

ALL-TIME TOP 100

Books read in 2011: All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren (reviewed here; read for my 2011 Battle of the Prizes, American Version, challenge)

ANTHONY BURGESS

This list is from 99 Novels: The Best in English Since 1939 by Anthony Burgess, which I finally read this year. My review is here. 

Books read in 2011: 

• George Passant, the first volume of C. P. Snow’s 11-volume Strangers and Brothers series (reviewed here);
• Wise Blood by Flannery O'Connor;
• The Rebel Angels (Cornish Trilogy, No. 1) by Robertson Davies (reviewed here)
• The Anti-Death League by Kingsley Amis (reviewed here)

BBC'S BIG READ

Books read in 2011: one, Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy.

BOOK CLUB

Books read in 2011:

• Honolulu by Alan Brennert; 
• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (reviewed here);
• The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery;
• Tinkers by Paul Harding (Pulitzer winner)

COLLEGE BOARD

Books read in 2011:

• The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James.;
• Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe (reviewed here)

COOKBOOK LIBRARY

Books read in 2011:

• Classic Spanish Cooking: Recipes for Mastering the Spanish Kitchen by Elisabeth Luard (reviewed here) 
• With a Jug of Wine by Morrison Wood (discussed here) 

I've read many foodie books that weren't cookbooks.  I think I'll start a new list.

EASTON PRESS

Books read in 2011:

• The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James.;
• Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe (reviewed here)

ERICA JONG

Books read in 2011:

• Wise Blood by Flannery O'Connor; 
• We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson (reviewed here); 
• The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas by Gertrude Stein.

FRENCH CONNECTION

Books read in 2011:

• The Food of France by Waverley Root (reviewed here);
• Claude & Camille: A Novel of Monet by Stephanie Cowell;
• The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas by Gertrude Stein; 
• Meet Me in Venice by Elizabeth Adler;
  
• The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery;
• French Spirits: A House, a Village, and a Love Affair in Burgundy by Jeffrey Greene

GUILT LIST

Books read in 2011:

• One City's Wilderness by Marcy Cottrell Houle (reviewed here); and
• Maps and Shadows by Krysia Jopek (reviewed here);
• Started Early, Took My Dog (Jackson Brodie, No. 4) by Kate Atkinson (4/5; reviewed here);
• Because You Might Not Remember by Don Colburn;
• The Losing Role by Steve Anderson (reviewed here);
• Spinning the Law: Trying Cases in the Court of Public Opinion by Kendall Coffey;
• Real Women, Real Wisdom: A Journey into the Feminine Soul, edited by Maureen Hovenkotter (reviewed here)
• Very Bad Men by Harry Dolan (reviewed here); 
• Carry Yourself Back to Me by Deborah Reed (reviewed here);
• 42 States of Grace by Maureen Hovenkotter (reviewed here)

LT EARLY REVIEWERS

Books read in 2011:

• Shipwrecks, Monsters, and Mysteries of the Great Lakes by Ed Butts (reviewed here);
• Nat Tate: An American Artist: 1928-1960 by William Boyd (reviewed here);
• The Reluctant Detective by Martha Ockley (reviewed here);
• One Was a Soldier by Julia Spencer-Fleming (reviewed here;
• American Terroir by Rowan Jacobsen (reviewed here);
• The Hair of Harold Roux by Thomas Williams (4/5; reviewed here)

MLA'S 30

Books read in 2011: none.

MODERN LIBRARY

Books read in 2011: zero (finished this list a couple of years ago).

OBSERVER'S TOP 100

Books read in 2011:

1.  The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James; and
2.  Wise Blood by Flannery O'Connor.

OREGON BOOKS

Books read in 2011: none.

RADCLIFFE'S TOP 100

Books read in 2011:

• The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James;
• The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas by Gertrude Stein;
• All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren (reviewed here; read for my 2011 Battle of the Prizes, American Version, challenge)

ROSE CITY READER'S TOP 10

Books read in 2011: none so far. Who knows if the list will change this year.

VENICE BOOKS

This is a new list that I just created in 2011. I plan to make more progress in 2012 when I participate in the Venice in February Challenge.

Books read in 2011:

• Death in a Strange Country by Donna Leon;
• Meet Me in Venice by Elizabeth Adler

WELL-STOCKED BOOKCASE

Books read in 2011: All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren (reviewed here; read for my 2011 Battle of the Prizes, American Version, challenge)

2012 Challenge: Henry Green Week

 

FINISHED

Stu at Winstonsdad's Blog hosted a challenge-type event called Henry Green Week from January 23 to 29, 2012.  Click on the button or the link for more details or to sign up. 

I read Green's best-known book, Loving, because it was on the modern Library's Top 100 list.  It didn't knock my socks off, but I've been meaning to give him another chance.  So this event may be just what I need to find the inspiration to continue with the trilogy.

I have the second and third books of the trilogy, Living and Party Going, on my TBR shelf. I am going to read Living for this event.

UPDATE:  This challenge is completed. I read Living and reviewed it here.  I didn't like Living any more than I liked Loving.  I will probably finish Party Going one of these days because it is on my TBR shelf, but I'm not in any hurry.