What's in a Name? 3 Challenge Wrap-Up

I have so many books that I've read lately, but I'm in a bit of a slump.  I'm not in the mood to post my thoughts on any of the books so I keep procrastinating and finding other things to post.  I do have to do a wrap-up post for the "What's in a Name? 3 Challenge" hosted by Beth Fish Reads, so at least I feel like I'm doing something productive.

This challenge had six different categories.  Book selections had to have in the title a word that qualified in one of the categories.  This challenge ran January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2010.

Here were my entries for each of the categories.

Music Term:  Plainsong by Kent Haruf
Plant:  A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
Place Name:  Amsterdam by Ian McEwan
Title:  The Ice Queen by Alice Hoffman
Body of Water:  The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
Food:  The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

There were a few books that I wouldn't have picked up on my own had it not been for this challenge.  The book that surprised me the most was The Old Man and the Sea.  My only experience with the book was hearing how boring it was so I went into it with low expectations.  I really loved it.  Amsterdam was a Man Booker Prize winner so I thought I was in good hands.  I was let down by that book.  I still think McEwan is a brilliant writer, but the wretched characters made an emotional connection to the book difficult.  Plainsong was my shot in the dark.  I had no ideas about the book before picking it up.  I had never seen a review of it.  For all I knew, it could have been terrible.  I found it at the library and gave it a shot and was not disappointed.  I was glad to have discovered Alice Hoffman through this challenge.  I love her style and look forward to reading more from her in the future.