What's in a Name 5

This is the fifth edition of the What's in a Name challenge, organised by Beth Fish Reads. It's one of  my favorite challenges, just because I love making the original lists of possibilities. The categories are always so cool!

The challenge requires 6 books, one per category, to be read in 2012. Head on over to the challenge post for the details.

I've participated in the second, the third, and the fourth and here are my possibilities for the fifth:

A book with a topographical feature (land formation) in the title: The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean Auel

A book with something you'd see in the sky in the title: The Girl Who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen

A book with a creepy crawly in the title: The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

A book with a type of house in the title: The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery

A book with something you'd carry in your pocket, purse, or backpack in the title: The Last Little Blue Envelope by Maureen Johnson

A book with a something you'd find on a calendar in the title: April Witch by Majgull Axelsson, The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

2012 Bookish Goals

Happy New Year everyone and welcome to my first post of 2012! I've been taking my time thinking about what I want this year's reading to be about and here's what I came up with:

• I will only participate in a couple of challenges. I will no longer participate in any of the more general challenges, in any case. I haven't been even trying to complete them so there isn't much point. What I'll miss about participating in challenges is making lists so maybe I'll just make some lists for myself of books I want to read per genre this year... Hmmm, that sounds like fun!!

• I would like to a participate in a read-along or two in theory, but I'm afraid of committing to something so specific, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to keep up and I don't want to put any extra pressure on myself because I don't have time to read. I'll see how it goes, maybe I'll try one and see how it goes.

• I want to re-read several books this year. I haven't re-read anything in years and there are so many books that deserve it.

• I want to read more classics. Now, this one is on my list every year, but it's always true.

• I want to vary my reading more. I read mostly young adult and fantasy these days, which I think is because I'm so tired and generally overstretched all the time. But I want to make more of an effort to read more non-fiction and more non-YA or fantasy fiction.

• I want to read more graphic novels - I like them, but read only one or two last year... I want to change that.

• I want to read more poetry. Kailana was talking about this recently and it made me think. I used to love poetry, even used to write some (generally horrible) poems myself, but haven't read a single poem in years. Thing is, I think that poetry is way more fun to read in a group so that you can analyse together, so I'm waiting for someone to organise an event or read-along or something. :-)

• I want to read the books I got for Christmas this year, as well those via the Book Blogger Holiday Swap. I generally save them for later, but then later never comes and they become part of my overflowing shelves.

Most of all though, I want to continue to enjoy my reading. I find that if I set too many goals then I end up forcing myself to read books that maybe I'm not in the mood for at that particular time. I don't want, I want to love my reading time. This means giving up on books that simply aren't doing it for me and not feeling guilty about it!

That's it, I think. I'm off to make some of my lists now!

Books Read in 2012

April
20. Before I Go To Sleep by S.J. Watson
19. The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
18. The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz
17. Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris
16. One Last Summer by Catrin Collier

March
15. Molly Make Believe by Eleanor Hallowell Abbott
14. The Last Little Blue Envelope by Maureen Johnson
13. Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
12. Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella
11. From Dead to Worse by Charlaine Harris
10. All Together Dead by Charlaine Harris


February
9. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
8. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
7. Girls in Pants: The Third Summer of the Sisterhood by Ann Brashares
6. The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender


January
5. Crossed by Ally Condie
4. Murder Runs in the Family by Anne George
3. The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street by Helene Hanff
2. 84 Charring Cross Road by Helene Hanff
1. Love Walked in by Marisa de los Santos