Wednesday, July 22, 2009

an apology and a contest

First of all, I'm sorry that I haven't been a better host. This year has just been really busy for me. Who knew life could be this crazy when you're only twelve.

Second, we've been hoping that the Mr. Linkys would come back, but so far they haven't. I noticed they are back on some blogs, but not on this one. And I'm not sure what to do about it. Many of you have left the links to your reviews in the comments. Thank you! I think that's the perfect solution for now.

And now finally, another contest. To be entered in the drawing for a $15 Amazon gift card, simply answer this question:

What do YOU think would make an interesting category for What's in a Name?

Drawing will be during the week of Sept. 1st.

24 comments:

Anonymous said...

How about a title that includes a food? (Ex. The Grapes of Wrath, The Saffron Kitchen, or The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie)

Emily said...

When I was twelve, my life was super crazy. Never fear.

Hmm, ideas for categories...what about titles that involve ordering words, like first, second, third, last, etc.? Titles that leap to mind for me include The Last September, The Third Man, and Final Harvest (Emily Dickinson poems).

Anonymous said...

For Mister LInky they have a blog post up. You need to remove a bit of script form the header of your blog and then send them a message to transfer you to the new server. They will then give you a new piece of script to use for your mister linky posts. You old links should come back up as well once the transfer is successful (I think mine did).

how about a book with your own name in the title?

Daphne said...

Sounds like you are not one to complain that you are bored and there is nothing to do (of course there is always reading!)!

How about a title that has one of the seven deadly sins:
Lust
Gluttony (excess or perhaps use an item of food)
Greed
Sloth (sadness, despair)
Wrath (anger, revenge)
Envy
Pride

Anonymous said...

Don't worry about being busy, we all are.

I love the food idea and the name idea.

A plant in the title?

beastmomma said...

I think it would be neat to include a title that included a country or city.

Chèli said...

How about a family member....
wife, husband, mother, father, nephew, son, that kind of thing.

Cara said...

Hey, good to hear from you again! And yes, life definitely is crazy from time to time....

Hm, categories....I think, something with numbers would be interesting. This could mean
1) a book with a number in its title (Fahrenheit 451, Five Quarters of the Orange, Three Bedrooms in Manhattan)
or
2) a title that consists of six words (or any other number)

Anonymous said...

Annie, don't worry about life being crazy. That's what summer is for--no obligations! : )

A category could be something from nature, like tree, river, hill, etc. All the other ideas look good too.

Gnoe said...

Yay, how mean of sequesterednooks to post just before me ;) I wanted to suggest 'landscapes': i.e. A pale view of Hills, Through the Green Valley, Little House on the Prairy etc.

Other suggestions that haven't been around in What's in a name 1 or 2:
- music > i.e. All That Jazz, Dance dance dance, Trumpet, Phantom of the Opera
- festivities > Larry's Party, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Easter Parade, Serpentine;
- earth & heaven > The Moonstone, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Cloud Atlas, The Wind in the Willows;
- furniture > King Arthur & Knights of the Round Table, The Cradle;
- meals/courses (in addition to the food category) > Breakfast at Tiffany's, Tea for Two.

I could go ooooooon ;) But I think that's enough! :)

btw I like Rhinoa's idea but there's really no book around with my name in its title...

I hope you find the time to RELAX as well! :))

wheresmyrain said...

no worries, life happens

whats in a name ideas?
hmn...
what about names with peculiar punctuation and/or spelling
like
elemenopea ( i forget how the author spells this one bt you get the idea)
wheresmyrain at yahoo dot com

Jean said...

This reminds me that I still have one last review to post. Note to self: Stop procrastinating.

Ideas: NAME, but not necessarily your own. ANIMAL, or have you already done this? ONE WORD TITLES (examples: Exodus, Labyrinth). LETTER (examples: World War Z; any Kinsey Milhone mystery by Sue Grafton). NUMBER (example: QB VII).

Beth F said...

Shoot. All my ideas have been listed:

Food
Plant
Name of person

Hummm: body of water?
(Walden Pond, A River Runs through It)

Go to Mr. Linky, and click support and send a help message that you need to get your links back. They will send you new code to the new server and all will be well and restored.

Lissa said...

Thanks Annie, I think you are doing a wonderful job, and this is a fun challenge. I'm finished my last book and wrote a wrap-up post. Not sure where it goes, so I'm going to put it here...

http://lissaslongyarn.blogspot.com/2009/08/whats-in-name-reading-challenge-wrap-up.html

Enjoy the rest of your summer, and I hope it's not quite as crazy as the first half! =D

Carl V. Anderson said...

I'm really disappointed about Mr. Linky as well. It looks like it is working on Dolce Bellezza's Japanese Challenge 3, but I'm thinking that she paid for it. I may have to do that for R.I.P. IV this year even though I hate spending the money. It is just too fun to have Mr. Linky and a real pain without it.

No need to apologize for your hosting. It has been a busy year, period, whether you are 12 or, um....40! I was a horrible host for Once Upon a Time this year just because things were way too crazy busy. I'm hoping things will calm down in the fall for all of us.

As for categories for the next What's in a Name:

1. One Word titles (like Neverwhere, Stardust)

2. Books that begin with the first letter of your own name. (So for me, examples would be Coraline, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, etc.)

3. Books written by an author with which you share a first or last name. (For me, Carl Anderson, I could choose a book by Carl Sagan, or one by M.T. Anderson for example.)

4. Books set in a place (real or imaginary) that you honestly would like to visit (Anything set in England or Ireland would work for me, as would Middle-earth, the moon, etc) This probably doesn't work the best for the 'name' part of What's in a Name though.

5. Books whose titles feature some mode of transport in the title (A Horse and his Boy, Rocket Ship Galileo, The Little Engine that Could)

6. Books written by authors under a pen name (Ruth Rendell writes under the name Barbara Vine, Stephen King has published stories under the name Richard Bachman, etc.)

These are just a few ideas. Possibly lame ones, but I'm giving it a try anyway!!! :)

Carl V. Anderson said...

Another idea, 2 word titles where the first word has to be "The", as in The Stand, The Terror

The Reading Momster said...

How about Animals?
The Curious Incident of a Dog at the Night Time

Paula said...

How about a body of water? Possibly books titled such things as 'Two Rivers', 'Lakehouse', etc...

Lisa Hill, ANZ LitLovers said...

What about a title that includes travel? Examples are The Travels of Maudie Tipstaff, English Passengers, Homecoming, or Out of Ireland, and I'm sure there must be many more.
Lisa (ANZ LitLovers)(http://anzlitlovers.wordpress.com)

Rebekah E. said...

What about a season: Summer, Winter, Fall, or Spring

Anonymous said...

This is a fun challenge 0:) How about any female/male name in the title - Emma, Jane Eyre, Oliver Twist etc. Wouldn't have to be a classic, these are just the ones that I thought of first.

Captain Nick Sparrow said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Captain Nick Sparrow said...

I know the contest is over, but I had a few ideas. What if you had a treasure hunt theme, and then the categories would be books with titles that have: something you would find in a kitchen, something you would find in a zoo, something you would find in a museum, etc.?

A book with a drink or a color in the title might be fun too.

Thanks for hosting the challenge. It's been fun for me!

retroredux said...

Thanks for hosting this challenge. It was a lot of fun to participate! I've finished and here's the link to all the reviews for What's In A Name Challenge.

http://retroreduxsreviews.blogspot.com/search/label/what's%20in%20a%20name%20challenge