I created Gentle Spectrums, after enjoying title and word games but finding rules narrrow. I love scavenger hunts through my shelves, that fit my reading fancy. I have many colour titles and would not abide a limit of one hue in a year. The thrill of matching books is to keep on adding them, isn’t it?
Six years ago, Gentle Spectrums solved that problem: the first group with unlimited colours! This remains the only one mixing that theme, with an easy-to-fill game of broad headings. I blended my favourite traits in an inclusive way. If you like my creativity and flexibility: join via this year’s beautiful butterfly logo!
Here are my ideas for the new selection of headings. Please visit again for the book reviews I link up to my lists.
(1) LIMITLESS PALETTE ~ COLOURS!
Include: colourful, colour, bright, light, iridescent, iridescence, dark, shade, hue, spectrum, rainbow, prism.
“Mystery Of The Black Diamonds” Phyllis A. Whitney 1954
“Green Eggs And Ham” Theodor Seuss Geisel 1960
“The Figure In The Shadows” John Bellairs 1975
“The Shadowy Horses” Susanna Kearsley 1997
“The Shadow Of The Wind” (“La Sombra Del Viento”) Carlos Luiz Zafón 2001
“The Lady In Blue” (“La Dama Azul”) Javier Sierra 1998
“The Amber Room” Steve Berry 2003
“Shades Of Earl Grey” Laura Childs 2003
(9) “Where Is The Big Red Doggie?” Norman Bridwell 1998
(2) CANADIAN
“The Great Airport Mystery” Leslie McFarlane 1930
“Bury Your Dead” Louise Penny 2010
“Night Travellers” Sandra Birdsell 1982
“Cirak’s Daughter” Charlotte MacLeod 1982
“The Hangman” Louise Penny 2010
“A Fine Italian Hand” Eric Wright 1992
“The Gargoyle” Andrew Davidson 2008
“There Was An Old Woman” Howard Engel 1993
“Tunnels Of Time” Mary Harelkin Bishop 2000
“Haunted Canada 3: More True Ghost Stories” Pat Hancock 2007
(11) “Haunted Canada 2: True Tales Of Terror” Pat Hancock 2005
(3) CONTINENTS
Titles that mention continents, books in or from continents other than yours, atlases, geography; spotlights other than of your continent.
“Payment In Blood” Elizabeth George 1989 (Scotland)
“Tears Of The Giraffe” Alexander McCall Smith 2000 (Botswana)
“Evan Help Us” Rhys Bowen 1998 (Wales)
“Masquerade In Venice” Velda Johnston 1973 (Italy)
“Aunt Dimity And The Next Of Kin” Nancy Atherton 2005 (England)
“Service For Two” Kate Kingsbury 1994
“Cardington Crescent” Anne Perry 1987
“Scottish Ghost Stories” Elliott O’Donnell & Tim Hunt 1911
(9) “Death In Hanover Close” Anne Perry 1988
“Central Line” Maeve Binchy 1978
“Echoes” Maeve Binchy 1985
(4) FASHION AND DECOR
Include titles containing words that go with fashion or home decor and books about these things as well!
“The Anodyne Necklace” Martha Grimes 1982 (“necklace”)
“The Secret Of Chimneys” Agatha Christie 1925 (“chimneys”)
“A Room With Dark Mirrors” Velda Johnston 1975
“Cloaked In Malice” Annette Blair 2012
(5) “Spellcasting In Silk” Juliet Blackwell 2015
(5) EDUCATIONAL
Look for words associated with education. Or the books may be instructional: manuals, school readers….
“I Wonder Why Trees Have Leaves” Andrew Charman & Tony Kenyon 1997
“Well-Schooled In Murder” Elizabeth George 1990
“Philly Stakes” Gillian Roberts 1989
“A Piece Of Justice” Jill Paton Walsh 1995
“Hallowe’en Trivia” Tonya Lambert 2010
“Clifford Counts 1 2 3” Norman Bridwell 1998
(7) “The Witch’s House” Charlotte Armstrong 1963 (university families)
(6) HOPE AND TRIUMPH!
A new one, with our kitty in mind, whom we pray is returned home to us this year!
“Survivors, True Death-Defying Escapes” Larry Verstraete 2003
“Life On The Other Side” Sylvia Browne 1999
“The Library Of Lost And Found” Phaedra Patrick 2019
(4) “Return To Tradd Street” Karen White 2014
“The Dog Who Rescues Cats: The True Story Of Ginny” Philip Gonzalez & Leonore Fleischer 1995
“Always Give A Penny To A Blind Man” Eric Wright 1999
(7) ANIMALS
“The Password To Larkspur Lane” Walter Karig 1933
“Stalking Lamb” Marian Babson 1974
“Wild In The City” Jan Thornhill 1995
“Different Dragons” Jean Little 1986
“The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be” Farley Mowat 1957
“The Heart Of A Horse: Poignant Tales And Humorous Escapades” Gayle Bunney 2003
“The Promise Of The Unicorn” Vicki Blum 2002
(8) “Meet My Cats” Lesley Anne Ivory 1989
(8) NATURAL ENVIRONMENT
“Clouds Of Witness” Dorothy Sayers 1927 (clouds)
“Mystery Mile” Margery Allingham 1930 (mile and marshland)
“Death In The Devil’s Acre” Anne Perry 1985 (acre)
“It Happened In Arles” Mabel Esther Allan 1964 (marshland)
“A Palm For Mrs. Pollifax” Dorothy Gilman 1973 (palm)
“The Night Gardener” Jonathan Auxier 2014 (gardener)
“The Dead Man In Indian Creek” Mary Downing Hahn 1990 (creek)
“The Secret Of Devil’s Cave” Jennifer Hale 1973 (cave)
“The Whispering Room” Amanda Stevens 2009 (bayou)
(10) “Fog Hides The Fury” Paula Minton 1957 (fog and ocean)
(9) THE ARTS
Fine arts, photography, music, film-making, poetry. Key words in titles, or books about these.
“Robert Service: A Great Canadian Poet’s Love Affair With The North” Elle Andra-Warner 2004
“The Last Word” Ellery Adams 2011
“Goodnight, My Angel” Billy Joel & Yvonne Gilbert 2004
“A Child’s Garden Of Verses” Robert Louis Stevenson & Erik Blegvad 1885
“Ghost Stories Of Hollywood” Barbara Smith & Arlana Anderson-Hale 2000
“The Kiss: Lovers’ Quotations And Romantic Paintings” Helen Exley (editor) 1995
“Norman Rockwell, A Sixty Year Retrospective” Thomas S. Buechner 1972
(8) “The Art Of The Muppets” Henson Associates 1980
(10) TOYS OR HOBBIES
Let’s make these well-established toys or hobbies, in title or contents.
“One Book In The Grave” Kate Carlisle 2012 (book-repairing)
“Splintered Bones” Carolyn Haines 2002 (horse-training)
“The Ghost Children” Eve Bunting 1989 (doll-collecting)
“The Bookshop Of Yesterdays” Amy Meyerson 2018
“Murder Pans Out” Emily Toll 2003 (gold-panning)
“Peril In Paperback” Kate Carlisle 2012 (a game-maker’s funhouse)
(7) “Ajax Penumbra 1969” Robin Sloan 2013 (riddle-solving, book archiving)
(11) HEALTHFULNESS!
Happy feelings, drink, food, exercise, medicine, energy, medical or spiritual professionals.
“Murder On St. Mark’s Place” Victoria Thompson 2000 (a midwife)
“The Coroner’s Lunch” Colin Cotterill 2004
“The Ghosts Of Popcorn Hill” Betty Ren Wright 1993
(4) “Darling, Pass The Darjeeling” Pauline Lawson 2004
~ ~ ~ ~
Here are our reviews!
https://cmriedel.wordpress.com/gentlespectrums-2019/spectrums-reviews/
Here is what I read for Gentle Spectrums last year.
https://cmriedel.wordpress.com/2018/02/12/carolyns-gentlespectrums2018/
RIEDEL FASCINATION 