When filling out my NaNoWriMo profile I was dismayed to discover that I couldn’t add any new books to the “favourite books” field, and that I haven’t added any in a long time, maybe since the first year I participated in NaNoWrimo. What that means is that it’s been years since I read a novel I really loved, aside from Harry Potter. That is just sad. Clearly, I have not been reading my share.

So, in the interest of doing better next year (since the 50 Books Challenge is a wash this year), I’m taking on another challenge: Annie’s What’s In A Name Challenge.

Those who take the challenge must choose six books to read in a year, each book’s title meeting a certain criteria (the criteria being decided by Annie). The books must be read between January 1st, 2008 and December 31st, 2008. (Check out Annie’s post for more info.) I’ve decided to read three books that are currently sitting unread on my shelves, and three books that I don’t yet own (which means I get to buy more books, heehee!)

MY “WHAT’S IN A NAME?” CHALLENGE LIST

1. A book with a colour in its title.
Scarlet (Book Two of the King Raven Trilogy) by Stephen R. Lawhead.

2. A book with an animal in its title.
Harrowing the Dragon* by Patricia A. McKillip.

3. A book with a first name in its title.
The Grand Sophy* by Georgette Heyer.

4. A book with a place in its title.
A Song For Arbonne* by Guy Gavriel Kay.

5. A book with a weather event in its title.
A Midsummer Tempest by Poul Anderson.

6. A book with a plant in its title.
Roots and Branches: Selected Papers on Tolkien by Tom Shippey.

*indicates books I already own.

Reading Scarlet will require reading Hood first, book one in the King Raven Trilogy. That’s fine by me since I’m going to take the 50 Books Challenge again next year. Tuck is not going to be out for quite awhile, I hear.

It was pretty tough finding a book I wanted to read with a weather event in the title! I ended up going to the Mythopoeic Society’s list of past Mythopoeic Fantasy Award finalists (a great resource for fantasy). A Midsummer Tempest won the MFA in 1975, yet sadly is out of print. How does that happen anyway?

It is typically obscure of me to choose Roots and Branches as my “plant” book title for this challenge. I’ve wanted to read one of Shippey’s works on Tolkien for awhile now, so I figured this was as good an excuse as any, hehe. This one is a selection of essays.

(via SeasonalPlume.net.)