LoisB's BingoDog plans

***1. Translated from a language you don't speak/read - Three Bags Full: A Sheep Detective Story
***2. Reminds you of your childhood The Bobbsey Twins at the SeaShore
***3. Subject of you're unfamiliar - Call The Midwife
***4. Autism - The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
***5. About Languages - Flirting with French: How a Language Charmed Me, Seduced Me, and Nearly Broke My Heart
***6. About/with Scientists - Alexandra Horowitz: The Kindle Singles Interview (Kindle Single)
***7. Natural Disaster - On the Brink: The Inside Story of Fukushima Daiichi
***8. Major Historical Event - Narrow Road to the Deep North
***9. Correspondence/letters/epistolary - Ella Minnow Pea
***10. LGBTQ main character - Above The Thunder
***11. Protagonist of the opposite gender - The House on the Strand
***12. Set in a country other than your own - Belfast Noir
***13. Read A CAT - The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
***14. Animal is of importance - The Stolen Dog
***15. Based on fairy tale/myth - The Whale Rider
***16. Mythical creature - Burning Your Boat
***17. Prophecy, signs, or portents are important - Haroun and the Sea of Stories
***18. Genre bender - The Unfortunate Decisions of Dahlia Moss
***19. Inspired by another piece of fiction - The Eyre Affair
***20. Outside your comfort zone - Back Again
***21. Published in 1915 - Of Human Bondage
***22. Author as same name as your mother/grandmother - The Christmas Thief
***23. Owned for more than 1 year - In the heart of the sea : the tragedy of the whaleship Essex
***24. By an LT Author - Midwives
***25. Picked for you by someone else - The Madonnas of Leningrad

That book you chose for #19 sounds like fun! I love the name of the author, too - Holy Ghost Writer.

Oh no, Lois, have you read any of the HGW "books" before? I would very very very strongly advise everyone to stay far away from them!!

>3 .Monkey.: You nearly gave me a heart attack with that sentence, PM! I hadn't checked what book it was and who the author was but my brain automatically assumed "HGW" stood for H. G. Wells!

LOL! No, I won two of those "Holy Ghost Writer" (the stupid anonymous name is just a gimmick, they're even running some sort of "try and guess who it is to win..." I don't remember what) "books" (they're barely novellas) from ER, I requested the second because I'd won the first so figured, you know. But omg, there is a reason why they are self-pub! Horrible writing, rife with typos and errors, incredibly derivative, just, eep, stay away!

>4 PawsforThought: I did too, I've watched too much WH13 :)

>5 .Monkey.: I completely trust your judgement and vow to stay far, far away.

>6 electrice: Glad I'm not the only one to jump to conclusions.

Well, the five current LT ratings for that book are positive, anyway.

Well that person is rife with the sockpuppets/friend-reviews, so I don't doubt it. I know I alerted Jeremy to the issue with the first one I read and he was able to delete several, but the rest, while clearly fake given that all the LTER reviews were scathing and these others were glowing, weren't provable as fake so he couldn't do anything about it. Also you can see on that page all those people stuck their own reviews in the published review spot as well. Normal LT members know better.

>9 .Monkey.: Thanks for the warning. I think I will just move it to the trash bin!

I have replaced my choice for #19 with The Eyre Affair. It has the following tags:

alternate history (284) alternate reality (164) alternate universe (92) books (136) books about books (183) British (156) comedy (88) crime (111) detective (128) England (152) fantasy (1,320) fiction (1,709) humor (752) Jane Eyre (149) literary (89) literature (244) metafiction (97) mystery (768) novel (172) own (89) read (252) science fiction (398) series (198) sf (53) sff (79) speculative fiction (49) Thursday Next (599) time travel (307)

So, given that I don't understand the genre/sub-genres for the SFFFCAT, when months & themes are final, I would appreciate some advice as to where I might slot it.

>11 LoisB: I'd put it with alternative worlds, or whatever that category is called now.

I'll be using LShelby's bingo card. I moved it to post #1 on this thread.

I'm looking for suggestions for the following categories:

About Languages
LGBTQ main character
Animal is of importance
Based on fairy tale/myth
Mythical creature
Prophecy, signs, or portents are important

Your help is appreciated!

If you would like something fast and fun for the animal category, try the Chet and Bernie series, Dog On It. It's told from the dog's point of view. Embassytown is an amazing twist on language as we know it.

>15 mamzel: Thank you! I have added both recommendations.

For the Based on a fairy tale/myth, I would recommend Cinder by Marissa Meyer which is based on Cinderella or Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George which is based on The Twelve Dancing Princesses.

For mythical creature, if you aren't generally a fantasy reader, you might want to think about Tooth and Claw which is a parody of Jane Austen, a comedy of manners, with dragons instead of people.

I noticed Bleak Spring by Jon Cleary has been tagged "lesbian". The mythical, fairy tale, prophecy squares will give me problems too. I'll watch this thread for recs.

For fairy tale and myth suggestions, watch the SFFCAT in April! :) Also, I highly recommend anything by Robin McKinley, such as Beauty (Beauty & the Beast) or Spindle's End (Sleeping Beauty). And A Curse Dark as Gold by Elizabeth C. Bunce is a great retelling of Rumpelstiltskin.

>17 DeltaQueen50: >18 majkia: >19 VivienneR: >20 christina_reads:

Thanks for all your suggestions. I have incorporated many of them. So now the only one left to worry about is "Prophecy, signs, or portents are important ".

>14 LoisB: If you are still looking for something "About Languages," I have on my wish list Flirting with French: How a language charmed me, seduced me and nearly broke my heart by William Alexander. I am hoping it is as good as the reviews!

>22 Poquette: I have something in that slot, but I'll keep yours in mind, just in case. Many of the books I have chosen are outside my comfort zone, so I may need to retreat!

>14 LoisB: - somebody recommended The Lace Reader by Brunoia Barry for the prophecy, signs, or portents for me. Obviously haven't read it yet, but it's on my Bingo list for next year.

>24 LittleTaiko: I've read The Lace Reader. The author was a friend of someone who worked for me, so I received a signed ARC. Any other ideas?

What about Oedipus or Watership Down?

Watership Down - yes!

>25 LoisB: There's always Harry Potter!

>28 christina_reads: I'm trying to be the only person who has never read a Harry Potter book or seen a HP movie!

ROFL

Stopping by to wave hello and let you know I will be following your reading. I don't have any suggestions to help you out. I will probably be borrowing some suggestions others post here!

>29 LoisB: - I guess the two of us can hang out together in the 'haven't read Harry Potter' camp. ;-)

>31 lkernagh: Glad to have company!

3. On the Brink: The Inside Story of Fukushima Daiichi (set outside mycountry)

I fully intended to wait until January 1st, but curiosity got me! I peeked at On the Brink: The Inside Story of Fukushima Daiichi and couldn't put it down. mathgirl40 sent me the book and posted it on Book Crossing. I have posted my review there, but have not yet marked it available in case anyone on LT wants it. Let me know if you do.

Here is my review:

I rarely give a book 5 stars, but On The Brink: The Inside Story of Fukushima Daiichi is definitely worthy of that rating. Fukushima Daiichi (FDI) was the nuclear power plant in Japan, damaged by an earthquake in March 2011, and functionally destroyed by the subsequent tsunami. My upfront disclaimer is that I worked in the nuclear power industry for nearly twenty years as an Information Technology specialist at a large design/build engineering firm and became intimately familiar with the processes and data involved in the design and construction of a nuclear plant.

The catastrophic subject matter makes for a compelling read equal to that of many fictional thrillers. The author presents both facts and opinions in a clearly organized way – a major accomplishment when dealing with a technical subject. The translation was also exceptional. I think this book should be required reading for anyone in the nuclear power industry.

As I read the book, I saw obvious problems – the interference from the government, the reluctance of the power company's executives to be fully transparent in their communications, and the principles of engineering economics. In the nuclear industry, safety is key. Systems are designed to be fail-safe and to have backups. When design decisions are made, they are based on conservative estimates of statistical probability of occurrence. Unfortunately, the impact of a tsunami was severely underestimated, leading to the disastrous results at FDI.

I have to admire the operations teams. As you would expect from their culture, they willingly accepted the responsibility that was thrust upon them and responded to the best of their ability, saving Japan from a worst-case scenario. As I read about their efforts, I kept stopping to think about what could have been done with today's technology to help them.

In summary, I felt this book described the emergency response quite well. Regardless of your opinion on nuclear power, I think you will find this book compelling.

12. Call the Midwife ( Unfamiliar subject)

This was an interesting, somewhat compelling, occasionally humorous memoir of a professional midwife serving in the dockside slums of London circa 1950. It was well-written in a very personal style. She was in training in a convent of nuns dedicated to midwifery. She started as an agnostic and found God in the end. But, there the story ends! I would have liked an epilogue that summarized the rest of her life.

Lois, I'm following along!

Suggestion-wise, for the LGBTQ main character, I'd suggest Above the Thunder, which I'm guessing will work--there are four or five main characters, including one or two (depending on your definition of main) who is/are gay, and it's a wonderful read. Without doubt as to that quandary, I'd also suggest a novel by Halfway Home by Paul Monette and/or Acqua Calda.

>34 whitewavedarling: Thanks for the suggestions. I had chosen Fingersmith only because I like some of Sarah Waters other novels. If my library has Above the Thunder I will read that instead.

ETA: It turns out that I have to read Sarah Waters for the February BAC. But, I will try to get to Above the Thunder sometime soon.

22. The Christmas Thief ***

A cute , occasionally funny, cozy mystery - not a great piece of literature, but a quick, fun read.

>33 LoisB: I'm glad you approve of this book considering your background. I thought it was amazing that the only fatalities had nothing to do with the reactors. While some mistakes were made, a lot of good decisions were also made.

3. Call the Midwife
7. On The Brink
8. Narrow Road to the Deep North
12. Belfast Noir
13. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
22. The Christmas Thief

YTD



2. Reminds you of your childhood The Bobbsey Twins at the SeaShore
3. Subject of you're unfamiliar - Call The Midwife
7. Natural Disaster - On the Brink: The Inside Story of Fukushima Daiichi
8. Major Historical Event - Narrow Road to the Deep North
9. Correspondence/letters/epistolary - Ella Minnow Pea
10. LGBTQ main character - Above The Thunder
11. Protagonist of the opposite gender - The House on the Strand
12. Set in a country other than your own - Belfast Noir
13. Read A CAT - The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
22. Author as same name as your mother/grandmother - The Christmas Thief
25. Picked for you by someone else - The Madonnas of Leningrad

YTD



2. Reminds you of your childhood The Bobbsey Twins at the SeaShore
3. Subject of you're unfamiliar - Call The Midwife
7. Natural Disaster - On the Brink: The Inside Story of Fukushima Daiichi
8. Major Historical Event - Narrow Road to the Deep North
9. Correspondence/letters/epistolary - Ella Minnow Pea
10. LGBTQ main character - Above The Thunder
11. Protagonist of the opposite gender - The House on the Strand
12. Set in a country other than your own - Belfast Noir
13. Read A CAT - The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
21. Published in 2015 - Of Human Bondage
22. Author as same name as your mother/grandmother - The Christmas Thief
25. Picked for you by someone else - The Madonnas of Leningrad

April Update

14. Animal is of importance - The Stolen Dog

May Update

About Languages - Flirting with French: How a Language Charmed Me, Seduced Me, and Nearly Broke My Heart

Owned more than 1 yr - In the Heart of the Sea

Myths & Legends - The Whale Rider

LT Author - Midwives

About/with Scientists - Alexandra Horowitz: The Kindle Singles Interview (Kindle Single)

Outside Comfort Zone - Back Again (time travel)

Finally finished my Bingo card with {The Eyre Affair!

Congratulations!

>50 LittleTaiko: Thanks!

Yay, congrats on finishing your bingo! I have just one square left...hoping to finish soon!