What's in a name? A Reading Challenge

Jacquie and I have been talking about trying something new here at Books @ LP Reviews and we've found the perfect opportunity in a new reading challenge for 2008. Annie of words by Annie recently announced the launch of What's in a name? It's a new reading challenge that starts on New Year's Day and goes all year long. From Annie's blog, here are her instructions:

Dates: January 1, 2008 through December 31, 2008

The Challenge: Choose one book from each of the following categories.

1. A book with a color in its title. Examples might include: The Amber Spyglass, The Red Pony, Blue Blood

2. A book with an animal in its title. Examples might include: The Hound of the Baskervilles, To Kill a Mockingbird, Julie of the Wolves

3. A book with a first name in its title. Examples might include: Jane Eyre, the Harry Potter books, Anne of Green Gables

4. A book with a place in its title. Examples might include: From Russia with Love, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Out of Africa

5. A book with a weather event in its title. Examples might include: The Snows of Kilimanjaro, Red Storm Rising, Tornado Alley

6. A book with a plant in its title. Examples might include: Where the Red Fern Grows, The Name of the Rose, Flowers for Algernon

--You may overlap books with other challenges, but please don't use the same book for more than one category. (For example, you can use The Red Pony for either a "color" book or an "animal" book, but not for both.) ...

To meet the challenge, Jacquie and I will read and review the following titles in 2008:

1. A book with a color in its title: The Amber Spyglass, by Philip Pullman (2000)

2. A book with an animal in its title: Good Dog. Stay, by Anna Quindlen (2007)

3. A book with a first name in its title: I Am Charlotte Simmons, by Tom Wolfe (2004)

4. A book with a place in its title: Night Train to Lisbon, by Pascal Mercier (2007)

5. A book with a weather event in its title: My God!! It’s a Cyclone, by Jackson Lewis Latham, Jr. (2005)

6. A book with a plant in its title: The Rose that Grew from Concrete, by Tupac Amaru Shakur (1999)

We're looking forward to the challenge, and to reading everyone else's thoughts.

Seasons Greetings and Happy New Year from Books @ LP Reviews!

Celebrate Banned Books Week

Google has developed a terrific resource for Banned Books Week, which officially started yesterday: check out their Banned Books resource page. Also, don't miss the American Library Association's Banned Books Week page, which is up and running all year long.

Both pages have lists of banned and challenged books, along with the reasons that these books were challenged or taken off of the shelves. You can find a lot of these books at your local public library, so check one out this week and celebrate your freedom to read!

Video Blog: Unscarred, by R.M. Hamilton

Yesterday, the Books @ LP crew took to Red Mountain and Vulcan Park to highlight R.M. Hamilton's debut Unscarred, which we recently reviewed here.

The Park is one of the premier destinations in Birmingham, affording a breathtaking view of Southside and the downtown to the north and the over-the-mountain community of Homewood to the South. You'll see downtown Birmingham in the below clip, as well as the Vulcan himself, standing guard over the city.

The music used here is an exciting new sound from Orka Veer, who graciously allowed us to use his piece for our blog. His track, "Bionic" serves as a nice backdrop to the scenes of the city.

Related links

• Read more about R.M. Hamilton - author's website | author's MySpace profile
• Listen to the music of Orka Veer - artist's MySpace profile

We've been quiet in August, but we promise more reviews in the month of September.