BingoDog reads

A general thread to record your completed squares and ask for ideas about the ones you're struggling with.

Don't forget to fill in the wiki: https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/2024_BingoDOG

1 Food or Cooking
2 A book with an ugly cover
3 A book with nothing on the cover but the title and author
4 Features twins
5 A topic about which you have specific knowledge
6 Published in year ending in 24
7 Epistolary or diary
8 Big or little in title
9 A book from one of the libraries listed under the "Similar libraries" featured on your LT profile page
10 About friendship
11 Three-word title
12 Paper-based item in plot
13 Read a CAT
14 Short story collection
15 Person's name in title
16 Set in a city
17 A book with fewer than 100 copies on LT
18 Something written by a person of colour
19 Written by an author 65 or older
20 Featuring water
21 Involves warriors or mercenaries
22 Re-read a favourite book
23 Written in another cultural tradition
24 Something that takes place in multiple countries
25 Current or recent best-seller

I've noticed others questioning what is meant by #23 - written in another cultural tradition? Can anyone explain what is needed or give us some ideas of what they are going to read for this one. Thanks.

My own cultural tradition is about as WASPy as one can get, so I think that any book rooted in African, Asian, or Latin American culture would do. Depending on how stretchy you think the idea of "cultural tradition" is, you could argue that a book based in Jewish culture would fit the bill. Is there enough difference between my rural new England culture and that of someone from Minnesota, Kentucky, or New York City to count? I probably wouldn't go that far, but I'd find the discussion interesting.

Thanks, Keith. I have a book about 4 generations of Vietnamese women which should fit this square.

I plan to read Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich for that square since it incorporates elements of Ojibwe culture and mythology.

>3 KeithChaffee: From the discussion on the planning thread, that's certainly how I've read the prompt. I'm a similarly dull Anglo-Saxon, I'm aiming to be transported to somewhere far more exotic in that square!

>3 KeithChaffee: I think different regions of the USA have different cultures. For sure, the culture of New England differs from the Appalachian mountains of Kentucky, which differs from Louisville, Kentucky, small town Indiana or Chicago.

I have found this one on KU, A Leaf In A Small Town by Hana Yin. Weaves traditional Chinese stories and festivals into the narrative and goes between modern day and 1960s China. It is not on LT.

Can we start already, or do we need to wait for the new year?

I’ve been reading like crazy this month, but I don’t want to cheat.

>9 Xtrangeloop: It is your challenge. You can start anytime you want. That is what I love about this group. No rules, except the ones you set for yourself.

>9 Xtrangeloop: - There are a few people here who like to start on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day so - go for it!

>9 Xtrangeloop: >11 dudes22: Yes, I'll be starting my challenge today on Christmas Eve - although I don't know when I will finish my first book.

I've already started an historical romance BingoDOG because I read a book with twins in it, and who knows when I'll read another?

Lady Charlotte's Christmas Vigil Twins
Fortune Favors the Viscount Set in a City (London)

I read a series of short stories in Peanuts Christmas Countdown to fill in that square on my card.

I read Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb and it is also in the library of an LT member listed under "Similar Libraries" on my profile: patrickvdh, with whom I share more than 400 books.

Both of my first two books of the year (which I started last week but made sure to hold off on finishing until this morning) fit categories:

From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler has a person's name in the title.

The Thin Light of Freedom includes warriors.

Today I reread The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, which was one of my favourite books when I was a child.

Read my first Bingodog book of the year: Hafni fortæller by Helle Helle.
Registered by 8 members, so ticks of the "A book with fewer than 100 copies on LT" square.
Despite it being quite a good book , the low number of copies are not so strange give Danish is a very small language, and it was published in 2023.

I finished Once a Laird for a book with a three-word title.

The Two Lives of Lydia Bird by Josie Silver has a person's name in the title.

Re-read a favorite book: How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe, Charles Yu.

I read If You Give a Cat a Cupcake for Read a CAT square, and Peanuts Christmas Countdown for the anthology square.

My first bingo square goes to a book with under 100 copies on LT. I have the only recorded copy of Let the Snow Begin

I read a CAT: Six Characters in Search of an Author by Nobel laureate Luigi Pirandello for the January PrizeCAT.

>21 KeithChaffee: How to Live Safely is such a good book!

First Bingo square and first read of the new year is about friendship: Cackle by Rachel Harrison

I finished my reread of Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon, which features a lot of warriors fighting for Bonnie Prince Charlie.

I read The Gingerbread Cowboy for the "food or cooking" square. I am attempting to read all kids'/YA books for this Bingo card.

Epistolary or diary: The Civil War of Amos Abernathy, Michael Leali.

Square 5: a bestseller: The heaven and earth grocery store by James McBride, comments here.

From another cultural tradition: Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata .

She Shall Have Murder by Delano Ames is set in a city, London. Also a very enjoyable Golden Age mystery!

Read Omgivet af idioter by Thomas Erikson for the "A topic about which you have specific knowledge" square. Both because I have specific knowledge of being surrounded by idiots;-), and because I have been trained in the personality type model behind it , the DISC.

Read The Mountain in the sea by Ray Nayler for the "Featuring water" square. Science fiction about intelligent octopuses, AI, and what it means to be sentient.

I just finished Das Geheimnis der Weihnacht by Tomáš Halík. It was published last year and the author was born in 1948, so obviously he is older than 65.

>32 amberwitch: I did DISC training recently - it is fascinating how accurate it can be. We had to split into our groups and plan a children's birthday party and the trainer told us exactly what our plans would look like before she even saw them. We like to think we are individual but we are all somewhat predictable!

I read His Convenient Husband for a book with fewer than 100 copies on LT.

Using Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor for the POC square.

>34 JayneCM: We planned a journey to Mars - it was amazing how different the results were, and how easily you could identify the profiles of the different groups.

Three word title

The Traitor's Wife / Susan Higginbotham
4.25 stars

This is fiction during the times of Edward II and Edward III. It is told from the point of view of Eleanor, the wife of Hugh le Despenser, who was a favourite of Edward II for a while. Eleanor was only 13 when she married Hugh, but she seemed to be completely in love with him. However, he was often away, and apparently committed piracy (among other bad things). Still, he loved Eleanor and their children. He also may have “loved” the king. Later in the book, once Edward II is gone (he was likely murdered), and a teenage Edward III is ruling, it is really his mother and Roger Mortimer (her new lover) who rule through him. But they were ruthless, and when Edward was older, he was not going to go along with this.

This was really good. I think I’ve only read one other book (nonfiction) about this time period and these kings. (The focus of that book was on Mortimer.) It took a bit to get “into” this one since I was unfamiliar with the time period and the people, so I spent a bit of time at the start figuring out who everyone was. Also, there are so many people with the same name! The author tried to distinguish most of the time, but it was still sometimes a bit confusing. But still very good, I thought.

I listened to My Dear I Wanted To Tell You by Louisa Young, a World War One novel that features a lot of letters. Thus, I am using this for the square "Features a paper-based item in the plot".

I've read The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman for the friendship square.

For the "reread a favorite book" square, I revisited a Georgette Heyer novel I hadn't read in years, Faro's Daughter. As charming and fun as I remembered!

Set in multiple countries

Get Well Soon: History's Worst Plagues and the Heroes Who Fought Them / Jennifer Wright
4 stars

This book looks at various “plagues” (or diseases) over the years and how they were overcome. There are chapters on smallpox, the Spanish flu, polio, leprosy, syphilis, typhoid, and more. Not only does she talk about the diseases and how they affected people, but she included specific people stories for some of them, as well (“Typhoid Mary”, Father Damien at Moloka’i...)

This was published pre-COVID. I listened to the audio and although my mind did wander at times, I thought it was very good. She does pepper the book with humour. It was interesting to read about vaccines, etc, especially with COVID fresh in my mind. She does end on a positive/hopeful note, but it does make me curious about how she feels about how people have reacted to the COVID vaccine, particularly anti-vaxxers (she does talk a bit about vaccines and anti-vaxxers in her chapter on polio).

The Chanukkah Guest by Eric Kimmel for BingoDOG square "three words in title." This was a humorous tale of a lady who mistakes a bear for the rabbi, coming to dine with her, and feeds all the potato latkes to the bear! What is hilarious is the illustrations, in which the rabbi, when he arrives late in the story, looks quite like the bear!

Spoiled (Kimberly the Cat Series) by Rob Baddorf for BingoDOG "ugly cover" square. This story of a spoiled cat has many silly episodes which I can understand, since I am a cat owner (or perhaps they own me). It is a cute family oriented story and the first in a series about Kimberly the Cat.

Fewer than 100 copies in LT libraries: Guilty Creatures, edited by Martin Edwards; currently at 38 copies.

>43 LadyoftheLodge: Kimberly was funny, wasn't she? I will admit, the cover wasn't a favourite of mine either!

Wilkie Collins' Little Novels contains fourteen stories that each have a person's name in the title, so I am using that for the square. They were all quite charming and surprising.

Night Will Find You by Julia Heaberlin has fewer than 100 copies on LT -- 91 as of today.

Friendship

Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want to Come / Jessica Pan
4 stars

The author is a “shintrovert” (shy + introvert… a word she made up). She decided she was going to try a bunch of extroverted-type things over a year. She did things like learn to talk to strangers on the street or public transit, she joined a website/app to meet new friends (like a dating app, but to meet friends), took an improv class, forced herself to do some group networking, took a comedy class (with the end result everyone up on stage to perform their comedy), travelling alone, hosting a dinner party, and probably more I’m forgetting.

Pretty sure this book will appeal much more to the introverts of the world. I am one. As a kid and teen, I was even a shintrovert, but the shyness is (mostly) gone as an adult. Obviously (based on the title), Jessica includes some humour in her story. I think there can’t help but be humour, though, in some of these situations that she puts herself though. I admire that she was able to do all those things (comedy! Improv!), and she ended up enjoying most of it.

I read Mystery Cats for the short story collection square.

A book with an ugly cover: The Incomplete Enchanter, L. Sprague de Camp & Fletcher Pratt.

>50 KeithChaffee: Wow, they really were going for something, weren't they?

>51 christina_reads: I don't think it's even possible to keep the 2nd/4th fingers that erect while bending the 3rd finger that far.

>52 KeithChaffee: Except I can do it! No eyes though. LOL

>50 KeithChaffee: I won’t deny it’s ugly, but I love it!

>50 KeithChaffee: That definitely qualifies as an ugly and disturbing cover.

I read Demon Daughter by Lois McMaster Bujold for written by an author 65 or older.

12 - Paper Based Item in Plot - Yellowface
14 - Short Story Collection - Everything Inside
15 - Person's Name in Title - Amy & Isabelle
20 - Featuring Water - Tom Lake

>50 KeithChaffee: well that's set a very high bar for the ugly cover square! Can anyone beat that - and do we even want to see it!!

T. Kingfisher's Swordheart is the perfect choice for the warrior/mercenary square -- the hero is both a warrior and a former mercenary! Also, the book is an utter delight, so I highly recommend it!

>45 JayneCM: She was funny and so "catlike." I could imagine the entire story as an animated film!
>59 Helenliz: That cover is much uglier than the one on the book I read for that square. No comparison! But I am able to bend my fingers like that, and no spare eyeballs here to complete the look. What was the cover artist going for?

I read Moon of the Turning Leaves by Waubgeshig Rice for the "written in another cultural tradition" square.
This is a follow up story to the excellent Moon of the Crusted Snow although it is not necessary to have read the earlier book.

Ten years after an apocalyptic event left a small Indigenous community separated from what remains of the rest of the world, they find food is becoming scarce. A small group set out to find out if their historic homeland is a possible alternative. Without knowing what they might find, the 6-person team journey through northern Ontario to the place on Lake Huron that translates as “where the birch trees grow by the big water”. The trek of over 1000 kilometres is expected to take four months allowing them to be back before winter. They encounter all kinds of danger, not least being the extremist survivalist militia groups.

What makes this different from other dystopian stories is the Indigenous element. Rice describes the Anishinaabe culture well and the reader understands all they have achieved since the blackout. It was an unexpectedly moving story in which I got to know each member of the expedition and shared their ordeals and triumphs.

My book was an audio version with a superb reading by Bill Meresty. Because I read Moon of the Crusted Snow in print I intend to get the audiobook also read by Meresty.

>62 VivienneR: I'm looking forward to this, it won't be released in U.S. until late Feb!

My three-word title is Flash for Freedom! where our cowardly Victorian scoundrel Flashman gets embroiled in slave trading.

Author over 65 square: Necessary trouble : Growing up at midcentury by Drew Gilpin Faust -- 76 years old.

I've decided to use Aunty Lee's Chilled Revenge by Ovidia Yu for the "themed around food or cooking" block.

>63 clue: - I didn't realize that. I'll have to check with my sister to see if her library has it on order.

I read Chronicles of a Cairo Bookseller, I've decided to use it for 16, Set in a City, but it could also fit into 12 Paper-based item in plot. I may move it around later. >:-)

I've been looking for ugly book covers and found this: https://lithub.com/50-very-bad-book-covers-for-literary-classics

Made me laugh.

Love & Other Disasters by Anita Kelly is set on a cooking show, so I'm using it for Food & Cooking.

Year ends in 24 (2024)

The Night of the Storm / Nishita Parekh
4 stars

Jia is divorced and raising her 12-year old son, Ishaan, who was recently in trouble at school. So much trouble that her ex-husband is threatening to take him away from her. However, the urgent issue this evening is the hurricane coming toward Houston. Told to evacuate their area Jia and Ishaan are invited to Jia’s sister Seema’s place, not too far away. What they don’t realize until it’s too late is Seema’s area was also supposed to evacuate (though Jia does question that there are so few people nearby). Seema and her husband, Vipul, have also invited Vipul’s brother, Raj and his wife, Lisa. Also in the house is Vipul and Raj’s mother and Seema and Vipul’s young daughter.

When a neighbour urgently presses the doorbell to be let in, he is injured and needs help. Although Vipul does not like Rafael at all (they have had a number of disagreements), they let Rafael in, anyway. And things go terribly wrong.

I really liked this. There were, of course, also flashbacks to what led Jia to her divorce, Ishaan’s issues at school, and other things going on with Jia (including unwanted advances from Vipul). I did find the storm/”current day” scenes more interesting than the flashbacks, but of course the flashbacks were needed to figure out what was going on, in general. There were times I wasn’t a fan of Jia, as she did do some stupid things. I almost rated it a bit lower due to more focus on these flashbacks (when I’m really interested in the storm and the murder/thriller/suspense parts of the book), but the end brought the rating back up for me.

I read a short story collection for MysteryKIT which doubles for the short story collection/anthology square: Crimespotting - An Edinburgh Crime Collection.

For a three-word title: Three Graves Full by Jamie Mason, and bonus--it has the word "three" in the title as well!

For the three word title square I read First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston

For paper based item in the plot, I read Death of a Scriptwriter by M.C. Beaton.

>68 pamelad: I always wonder at some of the free ebook covers for classics - obviously they have no idea what the book is about!

I read Yellow Bird Sings by Jennifer Rosner for the "Three Word Title" square.

I read Arthi's Bomma for the "another culture" square. It would also fit for a few others, so it might get moved around. I am trying to read all children's books for my Bingo card this time.

I just finished Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany for the “something written by a person of color” square (and my personal “classic SF” category), a solid 4 stars from me.

For the book in similar library, I ended up reading 25 graphic novels - every album in the Franka series. I re-read the older ones, and read the newer ones for the first time. This ended up ticking quite a few boxes. If I did the same exercise with Asterix, Lucky Luke and a few other series from my childhood, I think I could probably do a whole Bingocard of graphic novels. I might return to that idea, but right now I think I am all good on the graphic novel front...
So:
1.9 A book from one of the libraries listed under the "Similar libraries" featured on your LT profile page: Iskanders sværd - Your Top 100 Similar Libraries: BibLar
1.10 About friendship: Den hvide gudinde - Franka lose her boyfriend, and her girlfriends are there for her
1.16 Set in a city: Gratis guld - Franka runs around Amsterdam to solve a mystery. And the mystery is related to an old movie resembling Thea von Harbous Metropolis - featuring a retro-futuristic Amsterdam.
1.17 A book with fewer than 100 copies on LT: Underverden - 13 copies
1.19 Written by an author 65 or older: Geheim 1948 - Henk Kuijpers is born in 1946, this is from 2016
1.21 Involves warriors or mercenaries: Rovmord - WWII soldiers
1.22 Re-read a favourite book: Mode-mysteriet
1.24 Something that takes place in multiple countries: Sølvflammen - USA, Mexico, Netherlands

All by Henk Kuijpers

I've filled three squares:

Features twins: The Magus by John Fowles
Features warriors/mercenaries: The Black Company by Glen Cook
Short story collection: The Best American Noir of the Century ed. by James Ellroy & Otto Penzler

I am using The Wives by Tarryn Fisher for the set in a city square. The book takes place in Seattle and Portland.

Set in a city

Against a Brightening Sky / Jaime Lee Moyer.
3.5 stars

It’s 1919 in San Francisco. When Delia and Gabe, Sophie and Jack (and their two kids), and Sam and Libby head to a parade, they never expected a riot to break out. Not only a riot, but then gunfire and explosions. Gabe and Jack are police so they go to help. Delia is a “spiritualist” – she can see ghosts; not only that, Sophie’s young son Connor sees them, too, but he is too young to do anything about it and they scare him. Delia does what she can to protect him. She also noticed the people who ended up rioting had something odd happen just before the riot. Once again, Delia and her friend Dora (also a spiritualist) must help Gabe solve this mystery.

I liked this. This is the third (and final, I’m guessing?) in a series. The POV changes between Gabe and Delia. Like the 2nd book, I think I liked Gabe’s storyline a bit better. I really liked the police officer, Jordan Lynch, whom they brought in from Chicago. There were a few times I really didn’t like Dora. I would continue with this series if it was to keep going (and would hope Jordan Lynch would continue to be in it, as well), but I see there aren’t (currently) more and this was published in 2015, so I’m not sure how likely another one is. It also kind of ended in a way that appears that there is unlikely to be more in the series.

>79 amberwitch: You did very well there. I think the idea of a card with all graphic novel reads sounds cool! I decided to read all children's books for my card this time, which I have never done in the past. I have accumulated my stack of books and they are all from my own shelves in our home book room.

I read Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats from a similar library on LT Square. The book is one of 485 books I share with MelodyCrim.

I finished The Night Hawks, which is in Soffitta_1's library. They are 4th on my list of similar libraries.

>83 LadyoftheLodge: I actually think I was inspired by your children's books challenge when I thought about doing a full bingo card of graphic novels, so thank you for the idea:-)

I've used The House of Doors by Tan Twan Eng for the multiple country square. It's set in the Malay States (now Malaysia and Singapore) and South Africa.

I've finished Spanish Dagger by Susan Wittig Albert for the "written by an author >65 sallylou61:" square.

I just finished The Wizard Hunters by Martha Wells, which is a three-word title.

POC author: The Vanished Birds, Simon Jimenez.

>86 amberwitch: That is good to know! Another idea I had is to see how many squares I can cover with each book, since some of them can be used for several different squares.

So I swapped Hafnia fortæller by Helle Helle to 1.1 Food or Cooking, as it is ostensible about a roadtrip around Denmark to eat smørrebrød (open sandwiches), and in reality is a women coping with a midlife crisis and divorce. There is quite a lot of focus on food and drink, in a kind of acute and tactile way that really sets the stage when you understand the cultural connotations.

1.12 Paper-based item in plot: Drowned country by Emily Tesh has three pivotal (paper) letters from a mother to a son. The first sets the plot in motion (asking for assistance in saving a young woman from a vampire), the second creates fault lines in the relationship between the two protagonists, and the third detonates them. Not as good as the first book in the series Silver in the wood, probably because it is told from the point of view of the less likeable of the two protagonists/lovers.

1.23 Written in another cultural tradition: When the tigers came down the mountain by Nghi Vo is historical fantasy set in a alternate China. Set in the same universe as The Empress of salt and fortune, this has the same understated poetry.

I read You Had Me at Hola by Alexis Daria for Set in a City, since you can't get much more city than New York.

I read King Charles III: A Little Golden Book Biography for the "

For the re-read a favorite book square, I re-read The Witch of Blackbird Pond

The paper-based items in Wilkie Collins' After dark are the manuscript which the painter's wife in the framing story writes to her husband's dictation, and the stolen letter in one of the stories in this book.

Twins

Let the Dead Keep Their Secrets / Rosemary Simpson
3.5 stars

It’s the late 19th century in New York City. Prudence and Geoffrey run an investigation business. An opera singer, Claire, comes to them to ask them to investigate her twin sister’s (Catherine’s) death. Her sister, also an opera singer, was married to Aaron who seemed to keep her from her family and, by his request, she had stopped performing/singing. Catherine had just had a baby and they are now both dead. Aaron remarried very quickly after their deaths, and now Prudence and Geoffrey worry about his new wife, Ethel (who is pregnant).

This continues to be an enjoyable series. I love that a woman is doing much of the investigating. Apparently there were a few women investigators with the famous Pinkerton investigation agency at the time, as well. The story didn’t grip me as much as the first two in the series did, but it did ramp up a bit toward the end. Definitely still enjoying it enough to continue the series. I didn’t mention it in my description, but Aaron had a photographer come take a post-mortem photograph of Catherine and their baby; I did know this happened, but only because of the Nicole Kidman movie “The Others” from the late 90s?, so that wasn’t a surprise.

Publication date ends in 24: Mislaid in Parts Half-Known, Seanan McGuire.

For the "featuring twins" square, the narrator of The Truth-Teller's Tale by Sharon Shinn is an identical twin, and much of the book centers around the sisters' relationship.

I read Cassandra at the Wedding for the Twins square and The Casuarina Tree for the short story collection.

For the Warriors or mercenaries square I read Oath and Honor: A Memoir and a Warning by Liz Cheney who I consider a political warrior. Ms. Cheney was concerned with about Trump's efforts to challenge the election results from the time even before the election, and his wide spread lies about winning the election. She urged Republicans in Congress and the Executive branch to agree that Biden had won the election. She became a hard working member/leader of the January 6th Committee even though she knew that it would probably mean her defeat in the 2022 Congressional election. She stressed the duty of government workers to respect and abide with the Constitution; something that Trump and his cronies were not doing.

I'm using Flashman and the Redskins for the "Read a CAT" square, which puts me within reach of a Bingo with my next book.

I have also finished Miss Marple – The Complete Short Stories and this gives me my first Bingo.

I read The Little Engine that Could for the "big or little" square. No Bingo yet though.

I read Rental Person Who Does Nothing by Shoji Morimoto for "written in another cultural tradition."

For Short story collection, I read the 21 short stories from Great Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe from the 1951 Pocket Books edition.

I just finished The Lily of Ludgate Hill by Mimi Matthews, which was published in a year ending in -24...2024, to be precise! It came out on January 16.

I just finished The Mousehole Cat by Antonia Barber, and gorgeously illustrated by Nicola Bayley. My daughter-in-law found this little treasure at the Cutty Sark gift shop in Greenwich, England. It fits A Three-Word Title and a book Featuring Water.

I finished A History of Treason, There are 14 people who have this fascinating book in their library, so I'm using it for the less than 100 people square.

For the less than 100 people square I read Onlookers: Stories by Ann Beattie, which has 28 members as of Jan. 23rd and was published in July 2023. This is a collection or unmemorable stories concerning Charlottesville around the time of the AltRight invasion. Very disappointing.

Short stories

Death Cruise: Crime Stories on the Open Seas / Lawrence Block (ed.)
4 stars

These are mystery short stories mostly set on cruises.

But. Short stories so mostly not memorable by the end of the book, though I really enjoyed most of them as I read them (hence the 4 stars, which is higher than I rate most short story collections). One had a short author’s note at the end, which made me happy because I did wonder (the story took place on the Queen Mary, and there were some interesting stats and uses of the ship during WWII). Unfortunately, one of the last stories (and potentially also the longest), I didn’t like, but almost all the others I really liked. Might help that I have enjoyed the cruises that I’ve taken, so the setting is familiar and enjoyable for me.

Finished The Minuscule Mansion of Myra Malone for title contains a person's name. Quite charming, if a tad slow. I like slow but not everyone does!

Couple of finishes.
The Seabird's Cry for the square featuring water
Supporting Cast for the short stories. This was excellent.

I just finished Cat Brushing by Jane Campbell for the “author 65 or older” square. I gave it 3 1/2 stars: It was a fairly depressing story collection about old women. I was hoping growing old wouldn’t seem so grim.

I don't expect to read any more books that will give me a Bingo in January so here are my totals

: Ugly Cover - Mouse and Dragon by Sharon Lee I thought this cover was both garish and unnatural
: Featuring twins - Cassandra At the Wedding by Dorothy Baker
: Specific knowledge of a subject - The Typewriter Girl by Alison Atlee
: A person's name in the title - Mrs. March by Virginia Feito
: Features warriors and/or mercendaries - A Little Hatred by Joe Abercrombie

YTD: 5 Bingo squares filled

I just finished Always Remember by Mary Balogh, who is an author over 65 -- she's currently 79, and the book just came out.

For the only author and title on cover square I read The Breach: The Untold Story of the Investigation into January 6th by Denver Riggleman (with Hunter Walker)

This thought-provoking story meets two BingoDog squares, Nos. 7 and 19. It is about a woman in England and a man in Denmark who develop a friendship through writing letters to each other. The author wrote the book at age 69, and it was published when she was 70. Meet Me at the Museum by Anne Youngson.

I read Before We Were Innocent by Ella Berman for the about friendship square.

I read Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark for written by a person of color.

Author of colour

Bluebird, Bluebird / Attica Locke
3.75 stars

Darren is a black man and a Texas Ranger. Though he is on suspension, he gets a tip that there have been two murders one county over – a black man and a white woman. Bodies found in the river a few days apart. Initially, he heads over just to see what things are looking like. Turns out there is an active chapter of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas (a modern-day KKK) in this small town where there hasn’t been even one murder in decades. When he does get the go ahead from his Ranger supervisor to help investigate, the local sheriff isn’t thrilled.

I mostly liked this, but some of the flashbacks to previous happenings didn’t completely hold my interest. I liked Darren, but didn’t like some of the other characters much. I feel like dark and gritty are good words to describe this one. I do plan to continue with book 2 at some point.

I'm using Eldest for the warriors or mercenaries. There are lots of fighters in this.

fewer than 100 c. on LT

Lottery of Secrets / Nadija Mujagic
4 stars

Lynn has won 5 million dollars in the lottery. But she doesn’t want to tell her abusive husband, Jimmy. She plans to donate the money to charity. She is sick and doesn’t want him getting his hands on any of the money. But then the threats start.

There are more layers to this than I’ve mentioned. I’m not sure how much I want to give away (even if much of it is revealed early on, and I think much more is said in some of the other reviews).

Lynn is a very unreliable narrator. I thought all the feelings she went through after winning (about winning) probably were legitimate, but stacked on top of that was all the abuse she’s suffered over decades. I wanted to know what was going to happen next. There was a surprise/twist near the end, but then it ended so abruptly, so that was disappointing, as it seems it is meant to continue in another book. If it wasn’t for the (non?) ending, I might have rated it a bit higher.

I've covered 4 squares in January:

1. I really can't believe I posted a 4 word title here!! I'll post an actual 3 word title in the next couple of days!

2. Ugly Cover - Person or Person's Unknown by Bruce Alexander (The Brown Cover)

3. Friendship - The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman

Book from a similar LT library: The Past Through Tomorrow, Robert A. Heinlein (shared w/parasol of doom)

Der große Ausverkauf has fewer than 100 copies on LT.

I listened to Der Klang meines Lebens by singer Patricia Kelly, which also fits the "fewer than 100 copies on LT" square. There are currently five copies.

For the 3-word title I read The King's General.

Stalking the angel is set in the city of Los Angeles.

I have one more for January for a total of 5: Lucky Thirteen by Iris Hattersey, author over the age of 65.

I read Cat Under Fire for the author 65 or over square. Shirley Rosseau Murphy was 68 when this was written.

Somehow I managed to fill six squares in January, although it's always easier for me at the beginning of the year.

2024 Publication- The Heiress
Three Word Title- Death on Account
Paper Based Item in the Plot Yellowface
CAT- Charming Billy PrizeCAT (National Book Award Winner)
Short Story Collection- After the Funeral
Person's Name in the Title- The Rachel Incident

I'm counting The Golden Age of Murder by Martin Edwards as a book with an ugly cover. Why do the murderers look like giant robots and/or ninjas? The artwork is taken from an old issue of a detective-story magazine, so I suppose it's an understandable choice. But that doesn't make it any less unappealing, at least to me!

I read A House for Hermit Crab by Eric Carle for "author over 65" and Gerald McBoing-Boing by Dr. Seuss for "name in title."

>108 marell: I just obtained a copy of The Mousehole Cat and the illustrations are lovely. Thanks for the BB!

>135 LadyoftheLodge: You are very welcome. I hope you like it.

>133 christina_reads: Hahaha they do look like giant ninjas! I hadn't thought about that when I read the book.

Paper-based item in plot

The Word Exchange / Alena Graedon
2.75 stars

It’s a little bit into the future and almost everyone uses a “Meme”, a recent handheld device that does pretty much everything, including coming up with language/words for people to use. Print dictionaries are almost at an end. Doug is working on the last one that will be printed, but when he disappears, he leaves a clue for his daughter, Anana. While she searches for him, Memes start controlling more and more of people’s language as they also need to pay for words (via “The Word Exchange”. Not only that, there is now a “word flu” making its rounds where people are not only not feeling well, they are garbelling their words.

I feel like I might have liked it better and paid better attention if I hadn’t listened to the audio. I got the gist of the bulk of what was happening, and was a little bit interested, but not completely. Hmm, in some ways (based on other reviews), maybe the audio was better? I didn’t notice too many super-big words that made it hard to understand, and I mostly didn’t have an issue understanding what people were trying to say when garbled words were coming out – that was likely easier due to hearing the “word” rather than reading it. Overall, I’m rating it just under “ok”.

I've read Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston for the block "written by a person of color". Excellent!

I've finished Look Alive Twenty-Five by Janet Evanovich for the block "nothing on cover but title and author".

I finished Public Reading Followed by Discussion by Danielle Mémoire for the “book with fewer than 100 copies on LT” (5 copies on LT as of right now), as well as my personal “books in translation” category. I gave it 3 stars—maybe I’ve been reading too much experimental fiction lately.

I'm counting Possession for epistolary or diary. While the whole book isn't written in this format, a large portion of it is made up of letters and journal entries, and the whole book is based on the discovery and investigation of these letters.

Read a CAT: Tinseltown by William J. Mann, which fits this month's HistoryCAT theme of "true unsolved mysteries."

I also just finished listening to the audiobook Our Wives under the Sea by Julia Armfield for the “featuring water” square. A strange, beautiful, and sad love story, but don’t go into it expecting science fiction or horror, just straight-up literary fiction with some weird elements.

I have read The Ice Maze for three word title - an intriguing middle grade series. And The Fraud for book from similar LT library - disappointed as this should have been an automatic love for me but it was too disjointed.

I read Uhtred’s Feast: Inside the World of the Last Kingdom by Bernard Cornwell, with Suzanne Pollak, for the Food and Cooking square. The book contains a brief history of England, fascinating facts about food in the Anglo-Saxon world with recipes, and three short stories, a fitting end to Uhtred’s adventures and the fabulous series.

>133 christina_reads: That's a good one for this square!

>146 marell: That sounds like a wonderful book.

I read The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig for the January CalendarCAT and am using it for the "Read a CAT" square.

I also read The Murder on the Enriqueta by Molly Thynne and am using it for the "Ugly Cover" square.



There must be worse ones, but I do think that it is ugly. The font is not very pretty, the picture of the ship was taken from an unfortunate angle and there is not enough contrast between the picture and the writing. To me, it's not an appealing cover at all! Moreover, the ship looks far too modern for 1929!

>148 MissBrangwen: Yes, that cover screams "I didn't have the budget for a cover designer, so I just did it myself in Microsoft Word."

I just finished Pairing Off by Elizabeth Harmon, a figure-skating romance that is set in multiple countries. Much of the book takes place in Russia, but several key scenes occur in the US, and there are a couple isolated scenes in other countries, including the Netherlands and Canada.

I can’t believe I’ve lived my whole life without reading this marvelous story, So Big by Edna Ferber. This book is story-telling at its finest. It hit the jackpot for three squares too: Only name of book and author on cover; Big or Little in title; Book published ending in ‘24. It was published in 1924, and the copy I read from the library was the Doubleday, 1924 edition.

I've slotted Nancy Campbell Allen's Kiss of the Spindle into the "Read a CAT" square, as it works for the February CalendarCAT, RandomKIT, and SFFKIT.

>150 marell: That’s such a coincidence! I was considering this for my ‘24 square also, largely because the Wikipedia article says it was inspired by the life of Antje Paarlberg, a historic matriarch of South Holland, Illinois, which is right next to the town where I grew up. I’m glad to hear you enjoyed it, though now I’m afraid I’ll look like a copycat! (Not really 😁, but I’m sure to read something published in 2024, just to get some variety on the BingoDog Wiki page. I’ll probably add it to my TBR for another time.)

For the current or recent bestseller square, I read The Woman In Me by Britney Spears, currently #11 on the New York Times list

>152 Charon07: Oh, I think you should definitely read it, especially considering your close connection to the place. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Only title and author's name on the cover: I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai

Three-word title: Shambling Towards Hiroshima, James Morrow.

>155 sturlington: The cover squares are particularly funny to - both this one and the ugly cover one - as they are so individual. I read an edition of I have some questions for you last year, and that cover popped up in my mind when reading your post. The cover on that edition was an obvious candidate to ugly cover instead:-)

I just finished Beyond These Walls: Escaping the Warsaw Ghetto - A Young Girl's Story and decided to put it in 'less than 100 copies on LT' - there are 34 members with copies. It could have also fit into 'set in a city' and 'author 65 or older' and hopefully I'll have other choices for those squares.

>157 amberwitch: This was the cover of my copy:



Was this also the ugly one, or was that a different cover? But yeah, it is all subjective--but fun!

>159 sturlington: I like that cover! I would've picked that book up in a bookstore and at least looked at the back cover!

I just finished My Sweet Folly by Laura Kinsale, a romance in which the main characters fall in love via letters. Since their correspondence kicks off the whole plot, I'm counting it for the "paper-based item in the plot" square.

I read My Father’s House by Joseph O’Connor, based on the true story of a resistance group in Rome, Italy, during WWII, led in part by the indomitable Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty. The group helped rescue escaped Allied prisoners, Jews, and many others. The story is told by different members of the group in their own voices which makes for a marvelous reading experience, in spite of the painful, tragic circumstances. The first book in a planned trilogy. I can hardly wait for the other two to come out. Read for Set in a City square, and also fit the February Random challenge.

>160 LisaMorr: >159 sturlington: I like that cover, too! :-)

>159 sturlington: That was the one. I thought there was some sort of image there in an ugly colour combination, but now that I see it again, I realise that it is just the letters that are 'running', and the cover actually only has the title and author.

Author is 65+: Mrs. Jeffries and the Midwinter Murders, Emily Brightwell (73 when the book was published).

I read The Elephant Girl for the center square, read a CAT, giving me my first BINGO. The book is for the February RandomCAT.

Features water

The Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter / Hazel Gaynor
3.5 stars

Unmarried and pregnant, Matilda is 19-years old in 1938 when she is sent across the ocean to live with a distant relative in Rhode Island, Harriet, who watches the lighthouse there.

One hundred years earlier, in England, a storm washed up survivors of a shipwreck, including Sarah. Sarah’s two young children died in the wreck. Grace Darling is the lighthouse keeper’s daughter who saw the survivors still in the water, so she and her dad went to help them. Grace become a local hero after this. (And apparently, Grace Darling was a real person.)

Matilda has a book on keeping lighthouses that she brings with her. The inscription includes one from Grace to Sarah and Sarah to (a different) Matilda.

I listened to the audio and it was good. I did lose focus at times, but I think I caught the main happenings in the book. Harriet also kept secrets and it took time for her to open up to Matilda. I liked her, though she did seem “gruff” at times. I liked all the characters, really. The women were pretty tough and self-sufficient – or certainly tried/wanted to be as much as they could in their time periods. There were a lot of characters, though, and there were times that it took me a bit to figure out which time frame and character’s POV I was listening to. It did say when the POV changed, but since I know my mind wandered some plus putting away the audio and picking it up later sometimes made it a bit tricky.

Hi! I feel like I want to jump in and try this, but I'm not sure what I do with the card. Is it just for personal use? I don't see anyone posting them?

Ok, I am answering myself. I added the card to my own challenge thread. I hope that's the right way to do it!

It is, and you add the colored "dot" as you read. I hope you enjoy Bingo!

>170 clue: another question - when people say they have a bingo, like > 166 above, does that mean 1) one square 2) one row/column or 3) the whole card?

Read Nights At The Circus for set in multiple countries.

>171 amberwitch: It usually means that you have one row or column.
Many of us try to complete the card in the course of a year as an overall goal.

I just read Little Deaths by Emma Flint for the square "Big or little in title".

I an enjoying it so far. I'm also happy to realize that although I just started in February, a few of the books I read in January actually work for some of the boxes. Can we use the same book for multiple boxes? I don't plan to, but I'd like to know what's possible. Also, name in the title is any proper name?

The three boxes I have so far are

17: Konfidans I think I'm the only one on LT with this in my collection.
18: The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks which I did not enjoy as much as I thought I would
19: La Gravitante which was published when the author was 72.

Am I supposed to also add these to the wiki? I'm not quite sure what the point of that is.

>173 MissBrangwen: thanks for the explanation - I thought I might have misunderstood when so many people already had a Bingo:-)

>174 purpleiris: I'm not sure if anyone is using the same book for more than one square or not, but I also think most people are pretty flexible and make their own "rules" for the game.

The wiki. Yeah, it's a nice place to look if you want ideas for some of the themes, I think. So, I appreciate when people add them. Not required, though.

Ah ok. Thanks! I will try to update it later this week.

Read a CAT

The Man Who Lived Underground / Richard Wright
3 stars

This actually consists of a novella-length story, plus a nonfiction essay. The short story is the one of the title. It’s set in the 1940s(?) (that’s when it was originally written, anyway), and a black man, Fred, leaving work, just having been paid in cash, is “arrested” by the police and “questioned”/tortured. Initially not knowing even what they police were talking about, it turns out the neighbours of the people Fred worked for had been murdered in their home earlier in the day. Fred manages to escape and moves underground via the sewers from building to building for a few days.

The essay talked about how the author grew up with his very religious Grandmother and how some things from that experience related to this story.

Overall, I’m rating it ok. The essay got pretty philosophical, so wasn’t all that interesting to me. The story itself was better, but also a little bit odd while Fred was underground. I definitely did not see the end coming (but maybe I should have?).

I have another question, if that's ok!

For the CAT, do we have to complete it to mark the square or just complete one book towards it?

>171 amberwitch: My Bingo was one diagonal column. I will now work on blacking out the card (filling in all the squares).
>179 purpleiris: The read a CAT square is one book that fits one month of any CAT.

>179 purpleiris: With regard to the Read a CAT. It replaces the "free square" on a bingo card, so I think it's meant to be pretty easy to fill.

I read A Fever in the Heartland for a recent bestseller.

My latest Early Reviewer snag fitted the square "about friendship": Super Friends! by Cale Atkinson from the Simon and Chester series.

Thanks for the info re the middle square. I think I am all set now!

I finished We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves and decided to put it against paper-based item in plot - there is a sub-plot where the narrator's mother gives her some journals and they go missing for most of the book, but she eventually finds them and we learn their contents in the end.

I could not sleep last night, so I knocked out a bunch of books for the BingoDog card and finally got a few Bingos.
Dog Loves Books for "paper item in plot"
Library Lion for "friendship"
How My Parents Learned to Eat for "multiple countries'
Grandfather's Journey for "written by POC"
The Little House for "reread a fave"
Miss Malarkey Doesn't Live in Room 10 for "in a city"
Miss Malarkey Won't Be in Today for "specific expertise"

I have finished Das Feuerschiff for the "features water" square. It is set on a lightship posted in the Baltic sea.

Vengeance by Benjamin Black fot the "featuring twins" square.
I love the way Black writes. This one, darkly melancholic, uncovers spite and malice, yet Black (aka John Banville) still makes Quirke’s investigation appear meandering, thoughtful. I’m sorry to say this is the last I have of this series. I’ll miss Quirke.

I have not reported my last four BingoDOG reads:

Epistolary or Diary: Susanna and Alice: Quaker Rebels by Leslie Mulford Denis -- the Susanna part is based on a boxful of letters which Susanna wrote during her trip in Europe -- could also have been used for the multiple countries square

Current or recent bestseller: Horse by Geraldine Brooks -- after being on the hardback bestseller for many months, was recently listed on the paperback bestseller list

Reread a favorite book: I Take Thee, Serenity by Daisy Newman -- a book which my mother recommended to me years ago, and which I have read/reread a number of times

Set in multiple countries: The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields -- set in Canada (Manitoba), the United States (Indiana), and the Orkney Islands.

I read Der tote Rittmeister (The Dead Cavalry Captain) by Elsa Dix, which takes place on the island of Norderney and thus features water, so I used it for that square. The characters spend time on the beach, go swimming and the North Sea is mentioned frequently.

I just finished The Book of Goose by Yiyun Li for the February Prize Cat and my personal “Tournament of Books” category, but it turns out it’s also “about friendship” for BingoDOG square 10. It’s not what I would have expected reading for that square. It’s complicated. I gave it 5 stars, but it may take a while before I can express my thoughts about it enough to write a review.

I finished The Devastating Boys by Elizabeth Taylor for 'short story collection'.

I finished When McKinsey Comes to Town: The Hidden Influence of the World's Most Powerful Consulting Firm by Walt Bogdanich and Michael Forsythe and put it under 'set in multiple countries.' McKinsey's influence was described in the US, UK, China, Saudia Arabia and South Africa

Set in a city (Los Angeles): Sleep With Slander, Dolores Hitchens.

For Bingo 24 - set in multiple countries I read this one:

A Man Called Intrepid by William Stevenson
Knowing I enjoy espionage novels, my neighbour lent me this classic true story. It became the first five-star read of the year.

For square 8, “big or little in title,” I listened to the audiobook of The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse by Louise Erdrich. I rated it 4 1/2 stars. It involves many of the same characters from others of the Love Medicine books, which I now want to go back and (re-)read from the beginning.

This is going in the “set in a city” Bingo square because London is such a strong feature.

The Late Train to Gipsy Hill by Alan Johnson
Johnson served as Secretary of State, Home Secretary, and Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer for the British government’s Labour Party. He showed a talent for writing with four volumes of memoirs that became best-sellers. Now with the same flair he has taken to writing mystery novels. As Russian gangs try to gain power in London, a young Ukrainian woman becomes a target. She is given some protection by an innocent admirer that draws him into the maelstrom too. A fast-moving, exciting thriller that holds the reader’s attention. I’m looking forward to more by Johnson. Highly recommended.

I finished One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich yesterday and decided to put it under 'person's name in title'; it could 've also gone under 'a book with nothing on the cover but the title and author' - I'm betting that I'll have more opportunities to read a book like that.

For the featuring water square, I read Murder At Teal Pond.

For the "featuring water" square, I read The Water Keeper by Charles Martin.

I (re)read The Sharing Knife: Beguilement by Lois McMaster Bujold for "re-read a favorite."

For square 3, “a book with nothing on the cover but the title and author,” I listened to the audiobook of The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ by Philip Pullman, which I gave 2 1/2 stars. I loved His Dark Materials, and I feel that Pullman could have done so much more with this story than he did.

I'm using Emil und die drei Zwillinge for the "about friendship" square, where Emil and his Berlin friends spend the summer holidays on the shore of the Baltic Sea.

I listened to Letters of Note - Love, which covers the epistolary square. This gave me my first bingo, yay!

Continuation thread can be found here: https://www.librarything.com/topic/358756

>50 KeithChaffee: That looks like a fun book. How was it?

>206 Xtrangeloop: You'll find my review here.

>207 KeithChaffee: Thank you!