December ColorCAT: White

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas... *singingalong*

White is the colour of winter, with shiny white snow and icy landscapes. But white is also so much more than that.

White is often associated with purity and innocence, hence being the color of angels, priests's robes, or for wedding dresses. White is also the colour of new beginnings, such as for christening gowns. The Romans wore white togas as symbol for citizenship. White is traditionally worn by doctors and nurses, but also kitchen chefs and is closely connected to cleanliness.

Since the 20th century, white has been used in architecture, symbolizing modernity and simplicity. This is ecpecially mirrored in Scandinavian-style homes, where white often is the predomimant colour.

White can also be haunting, when you think of ghosts and the undead. You know the words "pale as a ghost", don't you?

White is a common surname and features in (mostly female) first names in many ways. Alba, Blanche, Fiona, Jennifer or Gwendoline are all taken from white in other languages. Or think of white flowers: Lily, Daisy, Camilla, Jasmine. Or maybe you prefer beautiful white pearl, so maybe Margarete?

You could also look at specific topics. Maybe dive into American history or politics featuring The White House. Or read about the non-violent resistance group The White Rose in Nazi Germany. The white ribbon is worn by supporters of violence againts women movements, which certainly provides us with various reading options.

Or you keep it simple and choose a book with a white cover.

Enjoy this year's last ColorCAT month - there's no need to wave the white flag! :)

>1 Chrischi_HH: What a great introduction to this month's ColorCAT. It got me thinking much more widely than I had been! It also gives us so much latitude to choose from among the many books on our shelves (I take the liberty of speaking collectively since I haven't yet met an LTer who didn't have oodles of books on their shelves).

Wow, the last ColorCat of the year - where did the time go? This has been a very fun and flexible challenge and I suspect we may see a ColorCat Challenge again.

I decided to go very literal with my choices for this theme and so I am planning on reading The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga and White Falcon by Elliott Arnold.

Maybe I should add what I would like to read, too: Genfaerd (Engl.: Phantom) by Jo Nesbø (my Danish edition is mostly white and I think the Oslo setting fits as well) and The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga, which has been on my to read list for a while.

For the second time this year I'm going with an editor's name for my ColourCAT first choice: Essential Muir: A selection of John Muir's best writings, edited by Fred D. White (which I'm pretty sure was a BB from somebody on LT, although I never remember who recommended what book!).

If I have time I'll also try and get to Bottled Up by Suzanne Barston, which has a mostly white cover.

I'm planning on Christmas Camp which has a mostly white cover.

I'm not sure I can work all of my challenges in this month but if I can I'll read The Time Between Us by Karen White.

I've got a couple to choose from - Murder in the White House by Margaret Truman or Grand Central: Original Stories of Postwar Love and Reunion by Karen White.

I have The Whites on my shelf, it would be nice to get to that one.

>1 Chrischi_HH: Historical note, a whiter than white toga (the toga candida) meant somebody was running for office (hence candidate). So that broadens choices.

Well, for starters I'll re-read The Hate U Give for my December book club. The cover is mostly white. But that is "cheating" a bit. I hope I have time to work in at least one more.
>3 DeltaQueen50: I agree this CAT has been lots of fun. I'd love to see it again in the future.

That is a great intro... and that cat! That cat in the snow! I adore that picture lol.

Anyhow, I'm planning on reading White Pawn by Stevie J. Cole, as well as Beasts of No Nation, which has a cover that's mostly an off-white, but for text.

Hmm, I may read Murder at Whitehall by Amanda Carmack and White Christmas with a Wobbly Knee by Andrea Frazier. Both work for the AlphaKIT as well!

>10 Robertgreaves: Thanks for that additional note, interesting!

>12 whitewavedarling: Thank you! I thought for a CAT we need a cat picture, too ;)

I'm planning on reading The Crimson Petal and the White, which also works for both AlphaKIT challenges in December. :D

I'm considering one or both of these Christmas murder mysteries: Murder for Christmas by Francis Duncan (a fair amount of "white stuff" on the cover!) and Mystery in White by J. Jefferson Farjeon.

White-covered options kicking around my house include:
The Book of Joy / Dalai Lama
Lost and Found / Elizabeth Hess
We Bought a Zoo / Benjamin Mee
Small Great Things / Jodi Picoult

My options for White are

The Whites by Richard Price writing as Harry Brandt
White Teeth by Zadie Smith
The Tree of Man by Patrick White

I will start with The Whites

And here it is, the first day of December. Happy white reading!

currently reading:

I finished Chrysalids and will add Ice Station Zebra for another white one.

Finished the amusing White Christmas with a Wobbly Knee by Andrea Frazer.

Finished The Whites by Richard Price. Police Procedural. A lot going on in this book. Rated it 3.5 stars.

Tomorrow There Will Be Apricots / Jessica Soffer
3.25 stars

Lorca is a teenager. Her parents are divorced and she cuts herself. She has been suspended from school and is now waiting to attend a boarding school. In the meantime, she is trying to find a recipe, her mother’s favourite, to cook for her. Victoria is an elderly lady who has just lost her husband to cancer. She is hoodwinked into giving cooking lessons, and Lorca joins in.

I’m waffling between ok and good on this one. I wasn’t sure what to expect from it, and it was better than I expected, actually. I felt really badly for Lorca, as no matter what she did, she never seemed to be able to please her mom. Have to admit, I thought the guy helping her was a bit unrealistic. There were a few “twists” at the end, only one that was more of a surprise to me. The book is told mostly from points of view alternating between Lorca and Victoria, but there are a couple of chapters thrown in from Joseph’s (Victoria’s husband) POV from years earlier. For those who like that sort of thing, there are a few recipes thrown in.

Read Murder at Whitehall by Amanda Carmack which was a decent mystery set in Elizabethan times. I would recommend it if you are really into that period of time.

Starting The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher by Kate Summerscale. The frame for the cover picture is white as are the spine and the back cover.

COMPLETED

Completed Amid the Winter's Snow which did double duty for AlphaKIT.

I have completed my first read for December's theme with White Falcon by Elliott Arnold.

>1 Chrischi_HH: Great introduction!

I'm planning to start off with The Christmas Train by David Baldacci that has a white cover.

I just finished Essential Muir: A Selection of John Muir's Best Writings, edited by Fred D. White.

I finished Heart Berries. And, with that, my ColorCAT is complete!

COMPLETED The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher by Kate Summerscale

love this!

I'm counting La fortune des Rougon here, because the folio editions all have white covers and spines (although there's also a detail from a painting on the front). My copy of Lethal White arrived today, but I don't know yet if I can finish this before the holidays.

Just finished In the Bleak Midwinter a cozy mystery leftover from the mystery challenge this year. Lots and lots of snow in the story line.

Finished White Pawn by Stevie J. Cole, which wasn't even remotely what I expected. I'll have to revisit my review/rating once I get past the initial surprise of what this book actually was, versus what I thought I was in for. Nevertheless, full review written...

Finished White Nights by Ann Cleeves. Number 2 in a crime series set in the Shetlands.

Just finished The Christmas Train by David Baldacci, a cute story for Christmas.

>39 VivienneR: That's a cute cover, too. I've got this lined up, too, and the cover is not even remotely as pretty.

>40 MissWatson: Did I read in another thread that you didn't like it? It was a bit silly but I stayed with it. My US geography is not good enough to be able to follow the journey without a map.

>41 VivienneR: Yes, I just couldn't get into it. I've picked up quite a few books and put them back, this week. Work is hectic at the moment, and I find I have less patience than usual.

ETC

>42 MissWatson: It must be catching; I've felt much the same way thanks to work in the past couple of weeks. Very annoying when I don't have the patience for reading :(

>43 rabbitprincess: I am so looking forward to the holidays! Today's the last day at work, and it's quieting down. Now all I need is to find a fluffy escapist book...

Elephant Company / Vicki Constantine Croke
4 stars

Jim (“Billy”) Williams went to live in the jungle in Burma in the 1920s and had such a connection with the elephants there, he stayed for decades. He was English and working for a teak logging company that used elephants as labour. Williams brought a kinder way of working with the animals, a way that seemed to work better for everyone – the company and the elephants alike.

The subtitle of the book talks about WWII, but that was only about the last 1/3 of the book, and not my main interest in the book, though it was a pretty amazing story in itself! I loved learning about the elephants and reading about the incredible things they do. Billy, himself, I found interesting, as well, and loved that he was in favour of training the elephants with positive reinforcement. Hard enough to read of the working animals (not there by their own choice), but Billy’s way with them made it better. He also opened “hospitals” for the elephants. The book had photos interspersed, and the notes at the end were actually really interesting – there were quite a few good tidbits and stories added in there.

Well, my book wasn't exactly fluffy, but fun: Brennerova by Wolf Haas has a mostly white cover and is av ery black, quirky Austrian mystery.

I read The White Castle of Louisiana by M. R. Ailenroc for this challenge. It’s a fictional account of life on a Louisiana plantation during and after the Civil War. It was originally published in 1903, and contains racist views about Negroes, and uses their dialect when they are speaking or telling their stories.

I finished Genfaerd (Phantom) by Jo Nesbo yesterday. My edition is - just like the whole series on my shelves - almost entirely white. It was the 9th of 11 entries in the Harry Hole series.

The Snow Queen / Mercedes Lackey
3.5 stars

Aleksia is the “Snow Queen” or “Ice Fairy”, one in a long line of snow queens – she took over for someone else in the position. This also makes her one of the Godmothers of the kingdoms. As she goes about her usual business, she discovers that someone seems to be impersonating her to do terrible things. She must find out who is doing this and put a stop to it.

This actually had a few different storylines, which made it a bit confusing for me at the start. I enjoyed the second half much more after one of the storylines wrapped up (Aleksia’s “usual business”) and the other two storylines (including searching for the imposter) joined up.

I won't get to the book I had planned but I will count one I read, Caroline: Little House Revisited by Sarah Miller

My last book of the year was The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga.