What's In A Name Challenge 2014

This is a fun one. I've done the What's In A Name Challenge in the past and I liked it. It's been a while but  I thought I'd sign up again. This year it's being hosted by The Worm Hole.
The categories:

• A reference to time - The Here and Now by Ann Brashares
• A position of royalty - The Secret Kingdom by Jenny Nimmo
• A number written in letters - The Girl Who Soared Over Fairyland and Cut the Moon in Two by Catherynne M. Valente
• A forename or names - Of Triton by Anna Banks
• A type or element of weather

What's in a Name 4 Challenge - COMPLETE

Beth Fish is hosting the What's in a Name Challenge once again and I enjoyed it so much this year that I'm doing it again.  Challenge runs from January 1 to December 31, 2011.


COMPLETED 7/12/11

Read one book in each of the following categories:

1.A book with a number in the title: Once in a Full Moon by Ellen Schreiber
2.A book with jewelry or a gem in the title:  The Ring of Solomon by Jonathan Stroud
3.A book with a size in the title: Hero at Large by Janet Evanovich
4.A book with travel or movement in the title:  Linger by Maggie Steifvater
5.A book with evil in the title: Wicked Appetite by Janet Evanovich
6.A book with a life stage in the title: Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma

This Lullaby (e-book)

Remy doesn't believe in love after watching her mother marry five different times.  She has rules about how relationships should go and in what order.  Now she is getting ready to leave for college and she doesn't want to have any attachments before she goes.  That is until she meets clumsy, adorable Dexter and she wonders if she might have been wrong all along.

I had no illusions about love anymore.  It came, it went, it left causalities or it didn't.  People weren't meant to be together forever, regardless of what the songs say.  p.48 e-book

I feel really bad.  I liked This Lullaby, but I didn't love it.  It was okay.  It was good, not great; it was sweet, but not affecting.  I think I'm too old for this book.  I don't say that a lot about YA, but I think I would have loved this book when I was 16.  It was a sweet book, very predictable.  There was nothing surprising about it for me.   I wish that it had expounded more on some of Remy's real issues like what happened to her at that party and the fact that her mother never really explained her father to her.  I think it was missing a few key plotlines.  For me, it was like listening to a teen conversation and wanting to say "No. No.  This is how it works,"  but you can't because they have to find out for themselves.  There was a distinct lack of adults in Remy's world to help her which is the source of her problems.

But like I said, I liked it, but I didn't love it.  16 years ago though, I would have thought it was brilliant.

Hogwarts: Muggle Studies
What's in a Name
Library
YA

Alive and Well in Prague, New York

Matisse is dragged to a small town in upstate New York when her father's Parkinson disease starts getting worse.  She is unhappy to leave her friends and her way of life in New York City, but mostly she is unhappy with dealing with her father's condition.

I stomped out of the kitchen.  It's great to know that your mother is amused by an attempt on your life.  p.17

I felt really bad for Matisse.  Everything around her is changing and she has no choice in the matter.  And her beloved dad is shuffling around the house dealing with his disease and his depression.  And her mother is pretending that everything is ok.  As a teenager, Matisse feels like she has no control over anything and then she is stuck in a "hick" town that has none of the sophistication she is used to.

I like how she tries to gain control by picking friends and trying to find a boyfriend.  Like these things will give her some control and make her feel better.  Luckily she picks the right friend, unluckily she picks the wrong boy.  But Matisse has some self-respect and knows how to handle herself so it was nice to see a strong female protaginsit in a YA.

Hogwarts: Muggle Studies
What's in a Name
YA

What's in a Name? Challenge (3) - COMPLETE

 MOAR Challenges!  The What's in a Name Challenge is hosted by Beth at Beth Fish Reads and it looks so cool.  So here I go.


So here's how it works: Between January 1 and December 31, 2010, read one book in each of the following categories:

COMPLETED 6/23/2010

1. A book with a food in the title: Donut Days - Lara Zielin +
   
2. A book with a body of water in the title:  The Dead-Tossed Waves - Carrie Ryan
   
3. A book with a title (queen, president) in the title: A Little Princess - Frances Hodgson Burnett *
   
4. A book with a plant in the title: The Mystery at Lilac Inn - Carolyn Keene *+
   
5. A book with a place name (city, country) in the title: Alive and Well in Prague, New York - Daphne Grab +
   
6. A book with a music term in the title:  This Lullaby - Sarah Dessen

Other Things to Know

• Books may be any form (audio, print, e-book).
• Books may overlap other challenges.
  
• Books may not overlap categories; you need a different book for each category.
• Creativity for matching the categories is allowed.
• You do not have to make a list of books before hand.
• You do not have to read through the categories in any particular order.
  
• There will be a single prize at the end of the challenge. Readers who complete the challenge and write up a wrap-up post (or wrap-up comment) are eligible. I'll figure out a way to make it international.

*cross over with another challenge
+ own