BingoDog reads part 2

A continuation of the 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 finished Aunt Bessie Decides by Diana Xarissa for the "Name in the Title" blosk.

Using Pearls before Swine for the 3 word title.

I have finished Der kleine Mann, which is The Little Man in English.

For "A book about friendship" I am using Summer in February by Jonathan Smith, which tells the story of Alfred Munnings, Laura Knight and other painters and associates and their time before World War One in Cornwall.

I read a play Sanite Belair for the "warriors and mercenaries" square. I have started on my "ugly cover" book, but it's slow going!

It Takes Two To Tumble has a pair of twins among the prominent secondary characters, so I'm counting it toward that square.

I just finished Paula Byrne's The Genius of Jane Austen: Her Love of Theatre and Why She Works in Hollywood. I'm not an Austen expert by any means, but I've read all her novels multiple times, as well as several biographies and nonfiction books about her era. I also wrote my undergraduate thesis on Austen's comedy and its relationship with theater -- in fact, I'm pretty sure I used the earlier version of Byrne's book as a source! So I am considering this a "topic about which I have some knowledge or expertise."

>8 christina_reads: That is such a good topic for a thesis! It sounds so interesting.

>9 MissBrangwen: It was fun to write, although I'm sure I would cringe to read it now!

I finished The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield yesterday - what a great read - which works great for 'features twins'.

I read The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis, which features twins (Shasta, the protagonist, finds out that he is the twin brother of the Prince of Archenland, and thus a prince, too - in the end of the novel he is reinstated as the heir of the king, as he a few minutes older than his twin brother.).

Person's name in title: Cocktails with George and Martha, Philip Gefter.

Written by a person of color: Passing by Nella Larsen

I read The Puzzle of the Paper Daughter for the "water" square, since the girls take a trip on a ferry to Angel Island.

I've read The Last Masterpiece: A Novel of World War II Italy by Laura Morelli. It has only 42 copies on LT.

I've read Walking With the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement by John Lewis for the POC author BingoDOG square.

I have not listed any of my squares here yet. I’ve filled quite a few already in January & February. No bingos yet though.

Features twins: The Magus by John Fowles, 4*
Epistolary or diary: The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill, 3*
Current or recent bestseller: Book Lovers by Emily Henry, 3*
Topic you have experience with: Retinitis Pigmentosa: The Lighter Side by Patti Taylor, 3.5*, I have RP, so very familiar with this topic
Person’s ame in the title: Mrs. Pollifax Pursued by Dorothy Gilman, 3.5*
Less than 100 copies on LT: Orlando People by Alexander C. Kane, 3.5*, my copy brought the total to 14
Paper item: The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow, 4.5*
Author 65+: The Cook of the Halcyon by Andrea Camilleri, 3.5*, he was 94 when this was published in 2019
Short story collection: The Best American Noir of the Century ed. By James Ellroy, 3*
POC author: A Master of Djinn by P. Djeli Clark, 4.5*
Set in a city: The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley, 4*
Features warriors/mercenaries: The Black Company by Glen Cook, 3.5*

I just read the charming Yours from the Tower by Sally Nicholls -- definitely recommended for fans of historical fiction! It's an epistolary novel set in the late Victorian era, but I'm actually going to count it for the "book about friendship" square, since the friendship between the three main correspondents is at the heart of the novel. (Plus, I already have Janice Hallett's The Appeal on deck for the "epistolary or diary" square.)

I just read one of this year's Caldecott Award winners, Big by Vashti Harrison, which features a young black girl who was happy when she was small but is bullied when she get big. She finally accepts herself as she is. It is based on the author's personal experience. I'm using it for the BingoDOG square, Big or Little in title.

Warriors or mercenaries

North and South / John Jakes
4 stars

This is set in the decades leading up to the American Civil War. It focuses on two families: the Hazards, living in Pittsburgh, and the Mains, who own a plantation (and slaves) in South Carolina. George Hazard and Orry Main become best friends when at military school in the early 1840s(?). They fight together in the Mexican War, then retire from the military. George does marry, but Orry falls for a woman who is marrying a brutal slave owner.

Years later, George’s youngest brother, Billy, and Orry’s young cousin, Charles, head to the same military school together (though they have known each other through the families’ friendship for a while now)… but now the school is much more divisive along North/South lines with slavery/politics being the issue.

Orry’s brother, Cooper, is very much against owning slaves and he marries a woman from the North. George’s sister, Virgilia, is a staunch abolitionist and gets in Orry’s face whenever the Mains visit. Billy has fallen in love with Orry’s youngest sister, Brett, though he had a brief flirtation with a sister, Ashton, just slightly older. Brett really is the marrying type vs Ashton’s flirtatious ways.

There is a lot going on in this long book and a lot of North/South mixing between the families and their friends/acquaintances. It’s not often I rate a book this long (over 800 pages) this high, but I really liked this one all the way though (though it was a bit tricky at the start to get a handle on who was who!). There is even more going on (and more characters) than I’ve detailed in my summary. This is the first in a trilogy. I assume the others are also very long, so it might be a while before I get to the next, but I will definitely read it at some point. I’ve never seen the miniseries, but would like to; I hadn’t realized Patrick Swayze is in it!

I read Ragnarok by AS Byatt. As she was in her 70s when she wrote this, I'm using it for the author aged over 65 square - and that gives me my first 2 lines.

>22 Helenliz: Nice! I think I've filled 14 or 15 squares so far but have yet to get an entire line. :)

>14 sturlington: One of my favorite books! :)

Ok, I just finished a book for the ugly cover square. I had to add it to the database, though, and it's not showing up yet.

I read A Man and His Cat 02 for the written in a cultural tradition square. The book is printed in the traditional Japanese Manga fashion.

I won't finish any more books that will count for February so here are the Bingo Squares that I filled this month:

: Epistolary - The Which Way Tree by Elizabeth Crook
: Less Than 100 Copies on LT: Escape of the Amethyst by C. E. Lucas Phillips
: Read a Cat: Providence by Max Barry
: Friendship: The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
: Set in a City: The Girl on the Stairs by Louise Welsh

That's a total of 10 squares filled - no bingos yet.

I thought the ugly book cover would be the hardest: I hate to call anything ugly. But the cover of The Thing ABout Life Is One Day You'll Be Dead showed in my Kindle library: black background with badly scribbled white text. A fascinating book but an ugly cover.

Finished The Windup Girl last night and will count it towards 'written in another cultural tradition' - Thai and Buddhist cultures are prevalent throughout the book and are tied to the plot.

I just realized that my latest read, The Murder of My Aunt by Richard Hull, works for the "epistolary or diary" square. Most of the book is the diary of the main character, with a few chapters written from another character's POV.

Person's name in title

Victoria / Daisy Goodwin
4 stars

This is a fictional account of Queen Victoria from right around when she turned 18 years old (just before she became queen) until she got engaged to Prince Albert, only a year or two after she became queen. So, it focused initially on her (strained) relationship with her mother (in part, due to her mother’s involvement with power-hungry Sir John Conroy). When Victoria became queen, the prime minister at the time, Lord Melbourne, advised her, despite his reputation with women and people worried that he would influence Victoria politically. The story then shifted to her meeting her cousins Ernst and Albert.

I listened to the audio and thought this was very good. In the past few years, I’ve read some about Victoria, so I don’t think anything in this book came as a surprise, but it was interesting and I feel like the author’s writing style is easy to “read” (or, in my case, listen to!).

Oh! And >31 LibraryCin: gets me my first Bingo!

A book featuring water that I finished: American Mermaid by Julia Langbein

I just finished The Spear Cuts through Water by Simon Jimenez for square 21, warriors or mercenaries. It’s a beautiful and moving fantasy, both epic and personal in scope, and I loved it. 5 stars.

Two and Two are Four by Carolyn Haywood for a book featuring twins. I read most of the books by this author when I was a child, but I missed this one!

Since Crow Planet by Lyanda Lynn Haupt fulfills both PrizeCAT and CalendarCAT this month, I'm going to use it for the Read a CAT square.

I read The Hanging Garden by Ian Rankin, book 9 in the Inspector Rebus series. It is set in Edinburgh, so I am using it for the "Set in a city" square.

I've finished The Morisot Connection by Estelle Ryan for the "Less than 100 copies on LT" square.

Features water: Ice, Amy Brady.

Big or little in the title

Little Fires Everywhere / Celeste Ng
3.75 stars

Reread. Originally read as an audio in July 2022 (Rating at that time: 3.25 stars).

Photographer Mia and her teenage daughter, Pearl, move around a lot. Now, they have rented the upstairs of a house from the wealthy Richardson family. The Richardsons have four teenage children. Pearl and Moody become good friends, and Pearl spends a lot of time at the Richardson’s place. Meantime the youngest Richardson, Izzy, seemingly not well-liked by her parents or siblings, takes a liking to Mia and wants to learn about photography from her. Things become heated between the families when a friend of Elena Richardson’s (the mother) adopts a Chinese baby, and Mia knows something about this baby and her biological mother.

I had forgotten the bulk of the book, and I only read it again for my f2f book club. I did prefer the ebook to the audio, for sure, although like with the audio, I still found the first half of the book moved very slowly. The second half picked up for me quite a bit. There is a pretty big moral issue in the second half of the book that made things a little more interesting.

I finished Barabbas and will put it against "book from LT 'similar library'" - it is in Leseratte2's library (we share 268 books).

Do you think synonyms of big and little would do? Small, great and grand........ The only possibility I've thought of so far is Little Man, What Now? by Hans Fallada, which would be a worthwhile read, but I'd like to find something lighter.

I am tempted to read something from the Little Miss or Little Mr. collection for that square. I love those books!

Die rätselhaften Honjin-Morde is currently a bestseller in Germany.

I just read Catherine Lloyd's Death Comes to Bath for the "features water" square. The principal murder victim dies by drowning, and one of the main characters "takes the waters" as a health treatment.

I read The Spoilt Kill by Mary Kelly and am using it for the "Three word title" square.

I read Changes for Samantha for the “similar libraries” square. Three squares left for a “cover all.”

I read Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier for square 9, which is in the library of our own sturlington, whose library is in my top 10 similar libraries on a weighted basis.

I read The Appeal by Janice Hallett for the epistolary square and enjoyed it. Warning! It's an engaging mystery but it's not fair play.

The Cuckoo's Child by Marjorie Eccles

Marjorie Eccles was born in 1926. Her most recent book was published in 2021, which is a good effort indeed! She is still living, so perhaps there will be another. The Cuckoo's Child was published in 2011, which makes her about 85 at the time.

I read Lanny by Max Porter for square 15, person's name in title. Like his earlier book that I read, Grief Is the Thing with Feathers, it’s almost a prose poem, very strange and beautiful.

I've decided to use Kindred by Octavia Butler as "written in a different cultural tradition." Even though Butler was a 20th-century science fiction writer, she was deliberately writing in the tradition of the slave narrative for this book.

Filled some more squares:

Features water: Reckless Girls by Rachel Hawkins
Big or Little in title: The Littlest Library by Poppy Alexander
Only has author & title on cover: The Beauty of Dusk by Frank Bruni
Published in year ending in 24: Mislaid in Parts Half-Known by Seanan McGuire, 2024

I'm using Plain Murder for the ugly cover square. It's certainly not a terribly attractive cover, even if ugly feels a bit harsh.

I read The Bigger They Come by Erle Stanley Gardner, which has the word "big" in the title.

I also finished Rose Daughter by Robin McKinley for the "book from an LT 'similar library'" square. I share the book with barefootsong, who I think was #4 under my weighted list of similar libraries. (#1-3 were somewhat skewed by the fact that I have an LT category for DVDs as well.)

>56 christina_reads: Can someone explain what the different categories of similar libraries mean? Weighted, raw, etc. Or point me to where to find that info. Thanks!

>57 purpleiris: I found this in the wiki:

“ Members with your books
“Lists other LT members who have similar libraries. The list is a link to their profile, followed by the number of books you share over their total library size. Clicking on the numbers will take you to a catalog view of the books you share. 'Raw' lists members with the absolute highest number of shared books. 'Weighted' puts more emphasis on sharing obscure books.”

And this in a topic in the New Features group:

“The "recent" option is back, for "Members with your books" on your profile. It shows recent members who have considerable overlap with your books. The list is organized by how recently the member joined. (It doesn't have a set timeframe, but is composed of the 50 most-recently joined members who make it onto your top 1,000 similar members list, minus private libraries of course.)”

I just finished listening to Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth for square 11, three-word title. It was disappointing: all buildup and no delivery. I gave it 2 1/2 stars.

>58 Charon07: Thank you!

I finished The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and it fits the March HistoryCAT, AlphaKIT and PrizeCAT and since I couldn't find another spot for it, I will put it under Read a CAT.

It occurred to me that the book I just finished for the March PrizeCAT, Piranesi by Susanne Clarke, can count for square 7, epistolary or diary, as it’s told in the form of a journal.

I think I must have close to the maximum number of squares you can cover without getting a bingo in any direction. But the book I’m almost done with should score me my first bingo!

>62 Charon07: The maximum number of squares you can fill and without having a line is 19. I think that probably takes more planning than getting a line. But I do know what you mean about seeming to have an awful lot filled before you get a line.
Good luck!

>63 Helenliz: Twenty, I think. Fill in everything except the five squares along one diagonal, for instance, and you won’t have a bingo anywhere.

>64 KeithChaffee: You're right. Not sure how 25 - 5 = 19, but I'll attribute it to not having had coffee!

>63 Helenliz: >64 KeithChaffee: Well, darn it, I’m only 7 away from anti-Bingo, but I’m so close to the end of this book, it would be cheating not to count it!

I read Death of a charming man by M.C. Beaton for "author over 65".

Sadly, I'm a long way from any bingo lines.

Short stories: Win Some, Lose Some by Mike Resnick.

I finished Dancing Bears: True Stories of People Nostalgic for Life under Tyranny by Witold Szabłowski, which I’m counting for square 23, written in another cultural tradition. More properly, it’s written about another cultural tradition and written in the time-honored journalistic tradition, but it gives me my first bingo, and the author is from one of the countries he writes about, so that counts, right?

>69 Charon07: You set your own rules, so well done on that first line. >:-)

For recent/current bestseller I read The Quiet Tenant by Clémence Michallon

It’s impossible to credit Michallon’s assertion that Aiden - kidnapper and killer of multiple women - is charming, well-liked, an all-round nice guy. He has kept a woman hostage in his shed for five years for crying out loud! There are plenty of defects in this novel, in the writing, plot, characters, and pace. It was like watching paint dry and I almost gave up a few times but kept on reading in the hope it would have a dramatic end.

The second-person writing style was a tad annoying, although I can appreciate that it helps “you” experience the situation.

I read Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis for a book with nothing but the title and author on the cover. To be fair, there are also some abstract shapes and colors, so it might be a bit of a stretch...but frankly, I think this is the best I'm going to be able to do for this square.

I read Redwood Court for the POC author square.

Reread a favorite book: The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith, reread for a book club I just joined.

I'm using Get in Trouble for the square "3 A book with nothing on the cover but the title and author"



I think that's as good as I'm going to get for this one.

Would we consider a Sami author for the person of colour square? They are an indigenous Swedish minority.

I read Disillusioned by Benjamin Herold for published in a year ending in 2024.

I just finished Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer, which is a "current or recent bestseller" -- it reached #2 on the New York Times Best Sellers list in 2023. Not terribly surprising, since the book grew out of a viral TikTok series!

I've finished Letters from Skye by Jessica Brockmole for the "Epistolary or diary" block.

I read Blood Betrayal by Ausma Zehanat Khan for the "written by a person of colour" square.

I read Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston, which is a recent bestseller (it was published in 2019 but also was in the bestseller lists last year because of the film version).

I also read Homecomings by Isabella Hargreaves, a collection of short stories that are set in England, Australia and New Zealand, so I used it for "Something that takes place in multiple countries".

For the takes place in multiple countries square, I read Still Alive by Forrest Galante, a wildlife biologist and conservationist.

I read The Hill We Climb by Amanda Gorman for the POC square.
It is only one poem, but it is published as a single book, so I am counting it - I am going to read her collection of poetry next, though.

>76 JayneCM: I think you are good to go with that.

I read The Secret Ingredient by Laura Schaefer for the "only title and author on cover" square. Without the book jacket, it fits.

Just one more square to go for a "cover all." I am looking for a children's book that is a recent or current best seller. How far back do we go for "recent?" Please help, and suggest titles or authors.

>84 LadyoftheLodge: Thank you!

Finished my Bingo card today for a "cover all" with all children's books for my selections. The final square was "current or recent bestseller" and it was The Day the Phones Went on Vacation. Phones down!

That's excellent, well done!

I finished Watership Down over the weekend and I think I will put it under 'about friendship' - the rabbits who left their warren to go to Watership Down were definitely friends who really cared about each other. Doesn't have to be human friendship, right? ;)

>87 LadyoftheLodge: Congratulations on covering the card.

>87 LadyoftheLodge: Congrats to you!

Another cultural tradition

Daughter of Calamity / Rosalie M. Lin
2 stars

Jingwen is a dancer in Shanghai in the 1930s. Her grandmother, who raised her, is a doctor… and works for one of the local high ranking gangs. Jingwen does errands for her grandmothers to make extra money; this is dangerous as these errands often involve gangsters. She dances in the evenings where men buy dance tickets to dance with the girls, and during the day, she is learning a routine with a group of dancers (none have had formal dance training) so they are not well-known nor particularly sought after.

An American doctor-turned-businessman dances with Jingwen one night and charms her (and/or vice versa?)), but at the dance, there is a horrifying scream. One of the other dancers is crying on the floor and when she turns her face up, they see her lips have been cut off.

The next day, the building and dance company Jingwen is dancing with during the day has been bought and she, herself, is going to be the next star of the company. They are switching from ballet to traditional Chinese dancing (this type of dance is new to all the dancers).

There is a lot going on! It does all end up meshing together, with Chinese mythology and fantastical elements weaved in, as well. The mythology was told like a story-within-a-story (which I’m not a fan of), so I kind of skimmed that. Also not a big fantasy fan, so the fantasy stuff didn’t peak my interest, either. The book was very dark. I like horror, so the “type” of darkness in a book doesn’t always bother me, but dark mysteries, for example, are not always appealing to me. The darkness in this book also didn’t “do it” for me. I really didn’t like any of the characters in the story, either. So, this one is definitely not for me.

>89 LisaMorr: The square just says "friendship" not "human friendship", so bunnies being buddies seems perfectly sensible.
Been a long time since I read that.

>93 Helenliz: My logic as well! I can't believe it took me so long to read it - I've had it forever!

>90 lowelibrary: >91 LibraryCin: Thanks! I am not sure yet if I will start a second Bingo card.

For set in multiple countries, i used The Last Cato by Matilde Asensi. The book takes place in Vatican City, Italy, Greece, Egypt, Israel, Ethiopia, and Turkey. I might have forgotten a country or two in there, there was a lot of travelling going on here.

During March I read two books that I am counting towards the Bingo:

: From a similar LT library - The Witch Elm by Tana French
: A POC author - Citizens Creek by Lalita Tademy

This gives me 12 filled squares - no bingos yet.

>97 DeltaQueen50:. I have 13 filled squares without any bingo. At the beginning of the year almost all of my reading resulted in a filled square, but not recently.

Just looked at your card and saw a bingo: the diagonal from lower left to upper right. I consider filled in diagonals as bingos. (I know some people do not look for them.)

>98 sallylou61: Wow, I totally missed that diagonal line! Hooray - I have completed one line - hopefully will fill in more this month.

Warriors or mercenaries: The Regional Office Is Under Attack!, Miguel Gonzales.

For published in a year ending with 24, I read Cold by Drew Hayden Taylor published this year.
The story begins with a plane crash in Canada’s frigid northern wilderness before taking on a supernatural twist based on an indigenous myth. I really enjoyed this darkly funny novel, a mashup of murder mystery, adventure, but mostly horror.

Featuring twins: Never Saw Me Coming by Vera Kurian

I finished Chenneville by Paulette Jiles for the 'recent bestseller" square.

Epistolary (about half the book, anyway)

The Story of My Life / Helen Keller
3 stars

This is Helen Keller’s autobiography (for about the first half). Then, it includes some of the letters Helen wrote to various people. Helen, of course, was both blind and deaf in the late 19th century as a child when she and a teacher had a breakthrough as her teacher, Annie Sullivan, was trying to teach her to communicate. Helen grew up to become very educated and published more than one book.

I listened to the audio, and it was ok, but I did lose focus more than I would have liked. It turns out Helen loved books and reading, which was interesting. It was kind of repetitive between the biography portion, then much of what was in the letters had already also been mentioned in the autobiography. Helen Keller was a pretty impressive woman.

I wasn’t planning it, but I just finished The War with the Newts by Karel Čapek, and I think it’s suitable for square 24, something that takes place in multiple countries. It’s pretty global in setting, but the action from time to time focuses on people (or newts) in specific cities or countries across the world.

I read The Wager by David Grann for Water and Maman's Homesick Pie by Donia Bijan for food/cooking.

Only author/title on the cover: Hollywood and the Movies of the Fifties, Foster Hirsch. That gives me my first bingo!

I have finished Der letzte Satz which was a bestseller in Germany in 2020.

ETA: Oops, I completely forgot that I have already filled this square. Sorry! Instead I'll put it in the "similar library" box. I share 613 books with BerndM.

I read Assaulted Caramel by Amanda Flower for the "food or cooking" square.

I've just finished The Echo of Old Books by Barbara Davis for the square "features a paper-based item in the plot".

>107 KeithChaffee: Well done, keep going.

>108 MissWatson: I do that too, think I have a perfect fit, then realise I've already filled that square!

>111 Helenliz: It's a bit annoying, isn't it?

My re-read of a favourite book is Post Captain where Jack Aubrey goes from riches to debt and to riches again.

For the "short story collection" I read Antarctica by Claire Keegan.
An early volume of short stories that show Keegan’s fantastic talent that will become familiar in her later work.

Today I finished The Underground Library by Jennifer Ryan and will use it for the "published in a year ending in 24" square.

The Record Keeper by Charles Martin will fill the square for "features twins" which I hadn't realized when I started reading it. I thought I'd have a hard time filling this square.

I read Sooner or Later Everything Falls into the Sea by Sarah Pinsker for square 14, a short story collection. I tend not to read short stories, but this was a great collection of science fiction stories, though, in fairness, I preferred the longer pieces. Pinsker’s style of SF is humanistic and literary rather than hard science.

I read The Blind Earthworm in the Labyrinth by Veeraporn Nitiprapha, translated from Thai to English, for "a book written in another cultural tradition". It is set in Thailand and is influenced by Thai classical theatre and Thai soap operas.

Filled two more squares:
3-word title: In Ashes Lie by Marie Brennan
About friendship: The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

I listened to the audiobook of Girl, 11 by Amy Suiter Clarke for square 2, an ugly cover. In fairness, it’s a thriller about a serial killer, so I think the cover was intended to be scary looking. It took me about half the book before I figured out that’s a picture of a caster bean plant rather than some sort of bloody chicken foot with pom-poms.

Edited to fix touchstone.

I'm using The Exvangelicals for Ugly Cover because something about the color scheme and font combination annoys me, and except for the cross-shaped X it doesn't seem to reflect the subject matter or themes.

I really liked the book itself, though!

I'm counting Spy x Family, vol. 1 by Tatsuya Endo as a book "written in another cultural tradition." The author is Japanese, and the book is the first installment of a manga series, which is a culturally specific genre with foreign (to me) conventions.

Paper-based item in the plot: Looking Glass Sound by Catriona Ward. The item is a manuscript.

I've been distracted a bit from the Category challenges by the Hugo nominees, but in the meantime I seem to have ticked of all but two bingodog reads.

Right now I am reading Brene Brown in Danish, Dare to lead I guess the English title is, for the square "A book with nothing on the cover but the title and author"

And I am looking for something for "Big or little in title". Maybe Little sister by David Hewson will do, since I got that one on the shelves already.

A few of the Hugo nominees that I used for a BingoDog challenge:
A Power Unbound by Freya Marske: Features twins
Ivy, Angelica, Bay by C. L. Polk: Published in year ending in 24
And for the Current or recent best-seller I read System Collapse by Martha Wells, although she withdrew it from the competition.

I had a really hard time with the ugly cover square, but ended using Burnout by Emily Nagoski.

I picked 'featuring water' for Magic in the Wind by Christine Feehan because it takes place in a seaside town, and the two main characters live on a cliff over the beach, with the sounds of the ocean always present.

And for 'POC author, I finished The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story created by Nikole Hannah- Jones.

Still no bingo, but getting closer...

I've just read a historical romance that features a mercenary, Sinfully Yours by Kathleen Ayers. He had to give it up in order to become a romantic hero.

I used Foxgloves and Hedgehog Days by Daniel Blajan for the specific knowledge square. Mostly my specific knowledge is concentrated in how frustrating a garden can be.

During the month of April I read four books that fit my bingo squares:

: Third Girl by Agatha Christie - author was 65+ when book was published
: Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus - A recent bestseller
: The Little Shop of Found Things by Paula Brackston - The words "big" or "little" appear in title
: Miss Cecily's Recipes for Exceptional Ladies by Vicky Zimmerman - involves food or cooking

Set in multiple countries: Merlin's Keep, Strictly speaking, most of the action is set in two (England and Mustang), but we also enter Tibet briefly.

One more bingo square for April: Five for Sorrow, Ten for Joy for 'only title and author on cover' - still no bingos, but I've got 5 lines that only need one!

I am counting How To Train Your Humans for the square - A topic about which you have specific knowledge. I have a lot of knowledge and experience with being trained by my cats.

For my area of specific knowledge, I read the Crochet Stitch Dictionary by Sarah Hazell.

I just finished listening to the audiobook of the thriller/mystery Mirrorland by Carole Johnstone for square 4, features twins.

Finished Dare to lead by Brene Brown, for “A book with nothing on the cover but the title and author"

For "food or cooking", I have read Mörder mögen keine Matjes where an iconic North German snack plays an important role, the Fischbrötchen (fish in a bun). Matjes are salted herring and a popular filling for the bun.

For "involving water" I read The Survivors by Jane Harper
I was looking forward to this book mainly because it’s set in Tasmania, my sister-in-law’s favourite place, And even though I’ve never been there, Harper has a remarkable knack of creating a sense of place and it was easy to imagine the small beach community. However, I found the story slow and kept losing concentration, making it necessary to put it down for stretches. It became a long read.

I read The City and the City by China Miéville for square 16, set in a city, and what a city (or cities) it was! The cities of Beśzel and Ul Qoma exist in the same time and place, but the citizens coexist without ever acknowledging that they’re aware of the other or else face dire consequences, which makes for some interesting policing challenges in this noir detective mystery.

My favourite job was when I worked in a polar research library where I was able to indulge my love of books about Arctic regions. Fiction or non-fiction, I find them all fascinating.

For this square I read Hypothermia by Arnaldur Indridason

This was a tantalizing investigation for what was clearly a suicide. Inspector Erlundur suspects there is something else even though the woman was intrigued by the possibility of life after death. Fortunately he has time on his hands. He’s also intermittently investigating an old missing person case. The father of the young man who went missing has visited Erlundur regularly for thirty years to find out if there has been any progress. Now elderly, he has little time left. Indridason has captured the character of Iceland and the freezing Icelandic conditions that feature in this moving story.

The novel ends with Erlundur at last heading off to the region of Iceland where his brother was lost in a blinding snowstorm.

Smut: Two unseemly stories by Alan Bennett for "Reread a favourite”
I read this about ten years ago and remember enjoying it a lot so it was a natural for this square.

This is my original opinion - it hasn’t changed: Although Bennett's two "unseemly" stories involve sex, his portrayal has a down to earth quality that avoids indecency or eroticism. At the same time they are generously laced with humour that is tinged with a poignant element. Bennett's writing is never blatantly obvious, but rather it weaves many emotions that beautifully reflect reality. I enjoyed The Uncommon Reader more, but as usual, Bennett has created a thought-provoking work with subtle undertones.

I'm trying to complete my card (long way to go) because I don't want to have a sprint at the end of the year.

Heidi for reread a favourite (which I feel needs no introduction!)
The Book Cat for set in a city - a sweet book about Morgan, the real book cat of Faber and Faber publishing during World War II.

Epistolary or diary: The Cherry Robbers by Sarai Walker -- The story is told in diaries.

I'm down to the last two impossible squares, and have filled "a topic of which you have specific knowledge" by stretching the definition. I'm about to do the same for "big or little in title" and am reading The Enormous Room by e e cummings because enormous and big are cousins and it's a classic. In the past I'd read books I wasn't interested in, just to fill a square, but these days I'd rather bend the rules. If later on I come across books that fit the squares better, I'll replace them.

I am using Die Erlebnisse des Polizeiagenten Schipow bei der Verfolgung des Schriftstellers Tolstoj for the epistolary square, because the letters exchanged between the various bureaucratic levels involved in the secret police observations take up half the pages of the book.

For the three-word title I read Some Maintenance Required by Marie-Renée Lavoie translated by Arielle Aaronson

Laurie’s parents call her their miracle child because she was born when they had long given up the idea of having a baby. Her mother works in the booth of a hospital parking lot, filling every spare moment reading books. Father works at a garage. Set in 1993 when Laurie was working at a restaurant to save money for university, she took a neglected, potty-mouthed child under her wing, feeding her and teaching by example. Simultaneously, Laurie learns about rules of life in her grown-up world. This is a beautiful story, simple and heartfelt, filled with delightful characters and optimism.

This was my fourth book by Lavoie and I’ve loved every one of them. This one gets five stars.

For the only title and author on the cover square, I finished my reading of George Orwell: Complete & Unabridged.

Fade Away by Harlan Coben
For the “ugly cover” square, this was an all round loser. I don’t know if it was the clichéd writing, the bad audiobook narrator, or the topic, but I found this dull.