Increased Readership...

Apparently names are much more interesting than books. I think the comments on the last two posts double the entire total of comments since this blog started. :) As I still (only?!) have about 20 weeks to go, feel free to continue to offer your input. I love many of the suggestions given because they reassure me that not ALL the names on my list are out to lunch.

Now on to books...

Currently reading: Tamar by Mal Peet.

This book is labeled as a "Teen" selection. It is about a 15 year old girl whose grandfather has just committed suicide. The book travels between Holland in 1945, with her grandfather working in the Dutch Resistance, and England in 1995, with Tamar (the girl) trying to discover her grandfather's secret past.

I really like this book, even though it has some language and sex "issues." I think it is a book that will challenge a thoughtful teen (and adult) reader, and is a book that doesn't simplify, romanticize, or glorify the very difficult content that it addresses.

Books to read:

Water for Elephants, Sarah Gruen (I think...)

This is the next read for Book Club #1. I read this book a few months ago already and loved it. I can't wait to reread it and talk about it. This book is about a(n almost) vet who ends up working for a circus in the 1930s.

The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver

This is the next read for Book Club #2. Again, it is a book that I have read before, but also a book that I loved. This novel is about a Baptist style minister who, against all signs that indicate otherwise, decides to take his family to Africa (the Congo) for mission work in the 1950s, I think. Each chapter is narrated by one of his daughters, and so the book has a very individual style and structure. This should be a book that provokes some great discussion.


(As a total aside, I love that my little site-counter map has a little dot in Korea now!)

The Baby Name Bible, Part 2

Here are the girls' names. Again, I don't necessarily LIKE all these names, nor am I seriously considering each and every one on this list, but these names caught my eye out of 50 000+.
Let me know what you think--what names should be on this list but aren't? Which names do you love? Which names do you hate? Any favourite combinations for first and second names?

Adara
Ailsa
Aly
Amalia
Amalie
Amelia
Anastasia
Anya
Anthea
Ardith
Audrey
Avril

Beatrice
Brielle
Brenna
Bronwyn
Bryony

Cadence
Cali
Calista
Camilla
Camille
Carys
Celeste
Charis
Claire
Damaris
Danae
Danya
Dara
Daria
Delia
Dolores

Eleanor
Electra
Eliza
Esme
Ezri

Feya
Fiona
Flannery
Freya

Galya
Gemma
Ginevra
Gioia
Gwen
Gwyneth

Jaeda
Janna
Jemma
Judith

Leda
Letitia
Livia
Lucy

Mauve
Magdalen
Maisie
Mara
Maris
Maura
Meredith
Muriel
Moriah

Neila
Nessa
Neva
Neve
Nicola
Nira
Nissa
Niva
Nora
Nyssa

Orla

Penelope
Philippa
Phoebe

Ramona
Renata
Roxana

Sada
Samara
Saskia
Simone
Sophia
Stella
Susanna

Tabitha
Tala
Talia
Tamar
Tessa

Vanessa
Vashti
Vivian

Willa
Winona

Xenia

Zara

The Baby Name Bible

Here's the unedited list that is the result of reading over 50, 000 baby names. I realize that not all these names are realistic choices given cultural associations, combinations with names of existing family members, etc. etc... And, don't worry, I don't necessarily LIKE all these names, but they caught my eye for various reasons. So, tell me what you think--what do you like? what do you hate? which ones did I miss?

We'll start with the boys' names.

Adam
Alistair
Ambrose
Amias
Amos
Andreas
Anthony
Anton
Asher
Atticus
Auden
Avi

Benjamin
Blaise
Bram
Byron

Caleb
Callum
Carson
Carter
Cedric
Chaim
Christopher
Colin
Colm
Conan
Corbin
Corin
Crispin
Cullen

Darren
Daron
Declan
Dexter

Eamon
Eli
Elliot
Emmett
Evan
Ewan
Ezra

Felix
Frey

Gabriel
Gareth

Ivan
Ivar
Ivo

Jaron
Jasper
Jerome
Jonah
Jonas
Julian
Julius

Lachlan
Landon
Laughlin
Lennox
Linus
Lionel
Lyle
Luther

Maddox
Malcolm
Marcus
Mason
Matteo
Matthias
Mendel
Mikko
Milo
Miles
Milton
Moshe

Nathan
Nathaniel
Niall
Nico
Niels
Nigel
Nolan

Owen

Padraig
Pax
Peter
Piers

Quentin
Quillan

Rani
Remy
Reuben
Ronan
Rowan
Rufus

Sasha
Seamus
Simeon
Simon
Thaddeus
Thomas
Tomas
Tobias
Tobin

Vaughn

Willem
William

Xavier

Zander

laziness

I do plan to keep this blog and post things occasionally. Busyness has kept me from doing any serious reading and laziness has kept me from writing anything about the books I have been reading.

One author that I am planning to revisit is Philip Pullman. I have read several of his fantasy books, but recently found a few children's books that he has written. In the next few days (weeks?), I hope to write something here about his writing--don't give up on me yet!