I don’t know how this got started, but I am seeing posts pop up all over the book-blogging world, listing book titles that spell out the blog’s name, and I think it’s such a fun exercise – naturally, I wanted to join in so I raided my bookshelves to see what I could come up with.  I’ve got a tough blog name to spell out, but I did my best–

C – Cannery Row, by John Steinbeck.  This is my favorite Steinbeck, and I’ve actually been to Cannery Row!

O – Outer Banks Mysteries and Seaside Stories, ed. Charles Harry Whedbee.  Growing up, my family vacationed on Hatteras Island almost every summer, and one of my favorite vacation traditions was attending a campfire on the beach in which the Cape Hatteras National Seashore Rangers would play their guitars, sing songs and tell ghost stories from a series of books edited by OBX resident Judge Whedbee.  I loved the stories and collected the whole set of five books – for sale in the Hatteras Light gift shop – over multiple summer trips.

V – Village School, by Miss Read.  Miss Read is one of my favorite comfort authors and I’ve turned to her in good times and bad.  Village School was the first Miss Read I ever picked up, and it’s such a delight.

E – Emma, by Jane Austen.  There was going to be an Austen in here.  I’m on record as saying Emma is not my favorite of her books (and I know some view that as sacrilege) but any Austen is better than not-Austen.  And I do love me some Mr Knightley.

R – Rule Britannia, by Daphne du Maurier.  This is my old, somewhat battered, copy from high school, when I was on a serious du Maurier kick.  I still love her, and chose to spend my thirtieth birthday in Cornwall because of du Maurier.

E – Emily of New Moon, by L.M. Montgomery.  Another mandatory author!  Emily of New Moon was my childhood favorite book (so much so that I named my daughter after the heroine, although sometimes I joke that, had I known she’d grow up to be a redhead with a wild imagination and a fiery temper, I’d have named her Anne).  I still love it and re-read it regularly.

D – Doctor Thorne, by Anthony Trollope.  I haven’t read this one yet, but it’s high on my list, because I loved the first two novels in the Barchester series (this is the third) and I’m itching to watch the television adaptation but won’t until I’ve read the book.  I hear great things and if it’s even half as good as Barchester Towers, I know I’m in for a treat.

I – It’s Hard To Be Hip Over Thirty, by Judith Viorst.  A recent purchase (and read), I did really enjoy this witty book of poetry about married life in the 1950s and 60s.  A bit sour sometimes, but then I’m a bit sour sometimes.

N – Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen.  Another Austen!  Can never have too many Austen novels, can we?  (If only there were more than six.)  Northanger Abbey is one of my favorites, and I recently made my book club read it.  Not everyone finished, but we all enjoyed trashing the Thorpes and drinking wine at the next meeting.

F – French Lessons, by Peter Mayle.  This is another one I haven’t read – I’m saving it, because I’ve read most of Mayle’s Provence books and I adore them so much.  I don’t want to live in a world in which I’ve run out of Peter Mayle books, so I am rationing.  I’m probably not going to be able to wait much longer to tear into this one, though.

L – Little House on the Prairie, by Laura Ingalls Wilder.  Another formative childhood book.  I was obsessed with the pioneer life as a child (and even dressed as Laura Ingalls for two Halloweens in a row – I had a gorgeous costume, hand-sewn by my grandmother).  I know that there are some problematic elements to the Little House books, but I still love them for their spirit and vivacity and the picture of a bygone way of life that is so foreign to me.

O – One Fine Day, by Mollie Panter-Downes.  Another one I’ve not yet read, although I loved (and savored) Panter-Downes’ war correspondence in London War Notes.  I’ve heard wonderful things about this slim little volume and I can’t wait to curl up with it.

U – Under Wildwood, by Colin Meloy and Carson Ellis.  I’m cheating a bit, because although I went through my bookshelves with a fine-toothed comb, I couldn’t find a book title beginning with U on there.  So this is my kindle, since I have Under Wildwood in electronic format.  (I’d like to collect the Wildwood Trilogy in hardcover, though.  All in good time.)

R – Rilla of Ingleside, by L.M. Montgomery.  Another Montgomery, of course!  I have a whole shelf dedicated to Maud, so it shouldn’t surprise you to see multiple picks on this list.  Rilla is one of my favorites of the Anne series (not quite at the level of the first three, but up there).  I have fond memories of lying on my stomach in my bedroom loft, (spoiler alert!) flooding the house over Walter.

There you have it!  COVERED IN FLOUR – in books!  That wasn’t easy – particularly the V and U.  (I’ve occasionally considered changing my blog name now that this is no longer a cooking blog, and maybe I should have.)  What books spell out your blog name?  Will you join in?