🐾 BINGO-dogearedcopy 🐾

Yes, I am here just to play BINGOdog!
Since it's 2025, I'm going to try for all 25 squares:

Happy reading in 2025!

Happy reading and glad to see you ready to play along!

Hope you have fun playing Bingo!

Good luck!

Happy playing and reading!

Happy 2025 reading!

BingoDOG is one of my favourites every year. Happy Bingo playing in 2025!

B-I-N-G-O have fun playing the BingoDOG.

Good luck with the Bingo! Some of those squares look tricky.

Enjoy your Bingo reading!

025 and Bingo are made to go together! Enjoy.

Love the name of your thread, and '25 is definitely the year for Bingo!

Happy New Year and good luck with your reading.

Hope you are successful with your Bingo Card!

Enjoy your BINGO year.

At the end of last year, I randomized my spreadsheet of TBRs and marked the first 25 from the top as titles to be read in 2025. To get my reading year off to a fast start, I’ve been picking off the low-hanging fruit, i.e., short books. The first one for the BINGOdog card is for the square, “Totally Random”:

Love Story (written & narrated by Erich Segal) - Oliver Barrett IV, a 20-yo Harvard student falls for a Radcliffe music major, Jennifer Cavilleri in this tear-jerker romance set in the mid- to late 1960s. Told from Ollie’s POV, the story is as much an exposition of Ollie’s attempt to be his own man as it is about his feelings for Jenny. He tries to separate himself from his family’s old money legacy and the shadow that his father’s presence casts— with a stubbornness and antagonism that will both propel and challenge his relationship with Jenny. As for Jenny, she is emerging from a working class background into a promising future as a pianist; but she subverts her opportunities in favor of a life with Ollie. She adapts her own sense of self without regret and the pathos that Ollie experiences and will carry this grace throughout their relationship.
Published in 1970, the language and attitudes toward women and Italians seem abrasive now; but the brashness of youth rings true. While I might have interpreted the dialogue as being more teasing in tone had I read this in print, the author narrated the audiobook— so he either meant the tone to be truculent and/or he is terrible at conveying the lighter sense of banter. ⭐️⭐️⭐️-1/2

#TotallyRandom

The Mysterious Howling (The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place #1; by Maryrose Wood) - This first in a six-part children's book series introduces the reader to Miss Lumley, a 15-yo governess sent to Ashton Place to interview for the position of governess. During the initial sit-down, Lady Ashton and the head housekeeper behave sketchily: avoiding discussion of the children and pretending that there is nothing amiss. Nonetheless, without having seen any of the three children, Miss Lumley signs on and it soon becomes clear that the children are actually feral, in need of civilization as well as an education. Alexander (~10-yo), Beowulf ~8 years old) and, Cassiopeia (about five)-- dubbed the "Incorrigibles"-- were found on the grounds of the estate and Lord Ashton, for whatever reason, has decided to keep them ("Finders Keepers, Wot!?!"). The presumed orphans are brought into the nursery and the governess immediately confronts her challenges with naivety, optimism, an assortment of remembered adages from her mentor at the school where she trained and, a book of poetry. Chaos, humor, mystery, and a more than a bit of the absurd fill this story which takes place in England during the 1850s.
Stylistically, the book has a narrative voice that occasionally punches through to the twentieth century, and reminds one of A Series of Unfortunate Events with its asides to the reader. But it is less fatalistic even as strange, somewhat alarming people start to appear. This book ends on a cliffhanger of sorts: While you could stop after the first book, and be okay with not knowing how many of the teasers play out, you'll want to see if your suspicions are confirmed!
I started this on in audio (narrated by the late Katherine Kellgren) but ditched it in favor of the print. While Ms Kellgren's voice is perfect with her Kindergartner Teacher's tone and her clear enthusiasm for telling stories to children, it was a bit too much for me.
⭐️⭐️⭐️-3/4

#NonTraditionalFamily #Orphans

>17 Tanya-dogearedcopy: I read Love Story and Oliver's Story in the 80's and remember them being very sad and gripping.
>18 Tanya-dogearedcopy: Taking a BB for this book, it sounds delightful.

>18 Tanya-dogearedcopy: I read that one last year and enjoyed it...making a mental note to get book #2 from the library sooner rather than later!

The Poisoned Pilgrim (The Hangmans' Daughter #4; by Oliver Pötzsch; translated from the German by Lee Chadeayne; narrated by Grover Gardner) - In this operatically melodramatic story featuring corrupt monks, an automaton, experiments with lightning, shady merchants, creaky balconies castles, and treasure (whew!) there is a double mystery plot as the hangman/healer comes to the aid of a former soldier-in-arms turned monk. Jakob Kuisl's friend is falsely accused of murder and Jakob must find out whodunit before his friend succumbs to the pressures of the torture chamber and confesses. But there is more going on at the monastery at Andechs than meets the eye!
The writing is significantly better than the first-in-series, The Hangman's Daughter which suffered from excessive repetitions of phrases/descriptions-- though there is a remnant of this writing tic in this novel in that the reader/listener is constantly reminded that that the Dishonorable Hangman and his equally Dishonorable Wife, Dishonorable Daughter and, Dishonorable Grandchildren are in fact, dishonorable. The adjective was used so frequently that it began to feel like a title e.g., "The Honorable Judge Smith"!
Nonetheless, I enjoyed the story and am somewhat addicted to the stories as over-the-top as they are!
⭐️⭐️⭐️

#PublishedInALanguageNotYourOwn #Translation #German

Breakfast at Tiffany's (by Truman Capote; narrated by Michael C. Hall) - A novella written and developed in the 1950s when women were emerging from the strictures of pre- and post-war expectations of traditional femininity, this features a prostitute who divorces herself from her past and, in the environs of a bohemian NYC, seeks to define herself by her own lights rather than that from the male gaze. Holly Golightly is observed from an unnamed male protagonist viewpoint, someone with a sympathetic but nonetheless honest take on his friendship with the flawed and even somewhat tragic figure of his neighbor. I was surprised to see this had been in the works and published so soon after the war (WWII) as Holly's character seems very much a part of the radical 1960s image of women that has been handed down to use through the generations. This surprise only cements Capote's astute observations of the cultural shifts happening in real time.

Breakfast at Tiffany's This Classic film starring Audrey Hepburn has become iconic, cementing the image of a kooky party girl, Holly Golightly into our collective minds. The screenplay by George Axlerod is a huge departure from Capote's story: Instead of a character study of Holly's vulnerabilities and strengths, we have a rom-com. Hepburn's star quality and the movie's award-winning song, "Moon River"(Henry Mancini & Johnny Mercer) aside, this is a cringe-inducting adaptation of the story. Best to view this without reference to the original novella-- but Mickey Rooney's yellow-face performance was a disgrace then and now.

Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M.: Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and the Dawn of the Modern Woman (by Sam Wasson; narrated by Grover Gardner) - The whole reason for reading Capote's novella and watching the film was so I could have context for this book-- a biography and social commentary of Audrey Hepburn and the impact her role as Holly Golightly had and still has on the public's imagination. I'm usually not one for Hollywood biographies as many tend to come off as salacious tabloid churns but while superficial, drawing from already published materials (interviews and press clippings) this doesn't risk upsetting anyone's apple cart.
⭐️⭐️⭐️

#Hollywood #BreakfastAtTiffanys #AudreyHepburn #Movies

Three Hands in the Fountain (Marcus Didius Falco #9; by Lindsey Davis; narrated by Christian Rodska). Set in Ancient Rome and the campagna (countryside), Falco traces the water system of the city via its aqueducts— all in an effort to uncover a serial murderer whose victims' body parts surface in the water supply.

Lindsey Davis usually sets her stories either in the city of Rome itself or much farther afield in the Empire (Britain, Germania, Palmyra...) but this one straddles the urban setting with the more rural areas, albeit still within a couple horseback relays form the Coliseum. I'm definitely putting this one in the "City" column though as the countryside isn't so interesting in and of itself (no culture explored) as much as it serves as the backdrop for the aqueducts.

While the stories that explore the farther reaches of the Empire are colorful, often the author's research gluts the narrative and unwieldy character list needs to be kept to hand. The stories set on the streets of Rome and at Falco's apartments however, are more intimate and manageable. That said, as much as I long to go wander around the glory and ruins of Rome (but so far have only vicariously experienced them through film, museums and books), I would not turn up an offer to do a Roman Empire Tour based on Ms Davis' books.
⭐️⭐️⭐️-1/2

#APlaceYouveNeverBeen #AncientRome #CityOfRome #Italy

The Doolittle Raid 1942: America’s first strike back at Japan (Osprey Campaign #156; by Clayton K. S. Chun) - After Pearl Harbor, the US needed a mission that would check Japanese imperialism in the Pacific and bolster American morale. Jimmy Doolittle led 16 B-25 bombers into Japan, targeting military and industrial sites. A lot was demanded of the 5-man crews, the planes and the Chinese. Though the mission was a success strategically speaking and marked a turning point in the momentum of the war in the Pacific, it came at a price: All planes were lost, crews were stranded in Occupied China and there were casualties. Nonetheless, it was a remarkable feat of military training, planning, leadership and cooperation (Army & Navy). You can read through this like it’s a narrative but it’s really more of a reference book with photographs, charts, maps and, illustrations. It got a little dryly technical in a couple places but fairly comprehensive for a 96-page book! I have this amazing DK book of WWII maps but I was disappointed to discover there was no entry for the Doolittle Raid— so the Osprey book is a nice addition to keep on hand.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#OldestBookInYourTBR

The Six Wives of Henry VIII (by Alison Weir; narrated by Simon Prebble) - Henry's reign from his ascension at the age of 18 to his death in 1547 at the age of 55 was largely defined by his six marriages which were in turn premised on the birth of an heir:

1. He had his first marriage annulled because Catherine of Aragon did not provide a male heir (and in consequence broke off the Church of England from Rome). It should be noted that Henry came to think that this marriage was a sin and that he was being punished by God by not being blessed with a son;
2. His second marriage in his quest for a boy was headed for the rocks when Anne Boleyn produced another girl (and cultivated quite the enemies list);
3. His third marriage to Jane Seymour only ended when she died in childbirth (producing his only male heir, Edward VI);
4. The Anne of Cleves marriage was never consummated because he didn't like the looks of her (so no spare);
5. Catherine Howard was young (17-18-yo!), vivacious and promising as a future mother-- except her infidelities caught up with her-- so after a year a marriage, she lost her head. It's also suspected that at this time Henry was impotent;
6. And finally, Jane Seymour who he found great comfort in; but again, no issue. Interestingly, after the King'a death, she would remarry and almost immediately conceived at the ripe old age of 37.

Henry's reign would be remembered for the policies and seismic cultural shifts predicated on his need for a male heir. Collectively, his six wives would provide only three children: "Bloody" Mary, Elizabeth I, and Edward VI-- the latter who would not survive past his fifteenth birthday. So, "birth" as a theme and a few births actually featured :-)
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#FeaturesAbirth #MaleHeirs #FemaleHeirs #AHeirAndASpare

Oliver Twist (by Charles Dickens; narrated by Jonathan Keeble) - Classic story of the eponymous character, a orphan sent to the workhouse and fated to live a life of abuse, neglect, and extreme poverty. The author highlights the poor conditions of the poorhouses, the criminal underbelly of London, and the extreme vulnerability of women and children to the predations of others’ hypocrisy and greed. There are good people though, those who are shaken from their ambivalences and respond to the needs of individuals and/or humanity as a whole. In modern parlance, Dickens is woke and grinding a social justice ax.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#ChildAsMainCharacter

The Amber Spyglass (His Dark Materials #3; by Philip Pullman) completes the narrative arc of the His Dark Materials trilogy and it delivers epic battle scenes, heart wrenching moments of love and betrayal and, fantastical settings and characters (including angels, harpies and sail-birds— the latter of which have wings fore and aft instead of on either side of their bodies). Often listed as a children’s book, it doesn’t pull any punches in delivering sophisticated ideas like dark matter and religious oppression or, in incorporating sexual references (though nothing graphic). Though the ambiguity created in the previous two novels as to what “dust” is is not resolved satisfactorily (I came away thinking that there is a contradiction insofar as to how angels are factored in), overall this is an amazing SFF work for all.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#FeaturesWingedCreatures #Angels #Harpies #Tualapis

Two for the Lions (Marcus Didius Falco #10; by Lindsey Davis; narrated by Simon Prebble) - Marcus and his partner take on the role as revenue auditors for Vespasian and in the course of one case, become somewhat distracted by the death of a man-eating lion. From the Coliseum in Rome to the shores of North Africa, Marcus pursues leads wherever and whenever the opportunity strikes— some to comical affect, others tragic. Ms Davis usually sets herself stories either firmly in Rome or in some distant and exotic outpost but this time we get a taste of both: She renders the sights and crowds of the Coliseum in Rome vividly but with an equally artistic touch describes the heat and Punic influences on Triplotania in North Africa. When Marcus travels abroad, the passages take on the descriptive tone of a tourist and it’s easy to imagine the author transposing her own experiences from visiting these places to that of her protagonist. While this book isn’t the travelogue that Last Act in Palmyra is (the whole is a tour through the Hellenistic Decapolis), the wonders and travails of journeying through Ancient Rome are incorporated smoothly into the narrative. Marcus travels by boat (which he hates), horseback (uncomfortable), litter (he had a cold and his wife bundled him up in a hilarious outfit) and, when he can, on foot.
⭐️⭐️⭐️-1/2

#Travel #NorthAfrica #Boat #Horse #Litter #OnFoot

The Werewolf of Bamberg (The Hangman's Daughter #5; by Oliver Pötzsch; translated from the German by Lee Chadeayne; narrated by Grover Gardner) - In this historical novel set in 1668, Jakob Kuisl heads to Bamberg with his family to attend the wedding of his estranged brother. But when he gets there, the town is getting ginned up for a full-out werewolf hunt replete with torch-wielding posses and inquisitions. The story has all the now-familiar tropes of mad & corrupt priests, high points of gothic melodrama including a massive fire at the climax of the story, tension between science & superstition and, the familial bonds amongst a dishonorable class of hangman. What's different about this work from its predecessors in the series is that the writing has taken a giant leap forward editorially speaking and the research is artfully incorporated. Gone are the repetitive descriptions (e.g., Simon's love of coffee) and honorifics (e.g., "the Dishonorable Hangman") and in its place, a well-developed plot with fascinating history integrated into the mystery of the serial murders in Bamberg. My only quibble is that the conflict and rivalry between Jakob and his brother was overly drawn out and not as well resolved by the end of the book as would seem warranted after all that they went through in the story. Definitely the best of the series so far.
⭐️⭐️⭐️-3/4

#FeaturesFire #TorchWieldingPosses #MelodramaticFireScene

The Constant Gardener (by John LeCarré; narrated by Michael Jayston) - The activist wife of foreign service officer Justin Quayle has been brutally murdered en route to Lake Turkana. Scandal erupts has it appears that Tessa was in the company of a man not her husband— so the paparazzi are having a field day and the British Embassy in Kenya is in an uproar. Oddly calm throughout, is Justin himself. An Old school Etonian, he appears unflappable and less robust in temperament compared to his ambitious colleagues— so it is laughable when investigators question him as a suspect. But with fevered determination, he decides to find out for himself what happened. His quest takes him to points in the African continent, to Canada and back to England as he tracks down doctors, NGOs, old friends and, shady politicians. The title of the book comes from his steadfastness in his pursuit and his expert knowledge of gardens.
⭐️⭐️⭐️-3/4

#ProfessionInTitle #Gardener

The Love Hypothesis (by Ali Hazelwood) is a contemporary romance set in the research labs of Stanford University. The cover feature a cartoonish couple kissing with a lab table in the background.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#FurnitureOnTheCover #LabTable

A Witch’s Guide to Fake Dating a Demon (Glimmer Falls #1; by Sarah Hawley) - A Contemporary Romantic Comedy set in the fictitious, magical small town of Glimmer Falls in Washington state (USA). Mariel Spark is a witch born with a prophecy of great magic and power; but doesn’t quite meet the expectations of her family and friends. In casting a low-level spell, she accidentally summons a soul-bargaining demon, Ozroth the Ruthless. In order to save herself from embarrassment from her overbearing mother, Mariel claims the demon is her boyfriend. Since Ozroth cannot leave without concluding a bargain, he sticks close and things go from there as much as you would expect the fake dating trope to go. What started out as fun (puns and various awkward situations) wore thin after a while and; the soul bargaining workings weren’t as straight-forward as you might expect. Overall a bit too cute for my taste but it did serve a purpose: The cover is pale yellow and serves to fill the square, “Read a Cat”. The color-of-the-month for June in the ColorCat challenge is yellow.
⭐️⭐️⭐️

#ReadACat #CoverCat #Yellow

Kindness Goes Unpunished (Longmire #3; by Craig Johnson) - Four months after the events in Death Without Company Walt Longmire, Henry Standing Bear and Dog pile into a powder blue 1959 Thunderbird convertible and head to Philadelphia. Henry is presenting a series of historic photos showing the Cheyenne with Mennonites and Walt is tagging along and visiting his daughter, Cady (Dog is along for the ride! 😂 ). When Walt arrives though, his daughter has been seriously hurt in an accident that sends her into a coma and the Absaroka County sheriff is left with time and grief on his hands as well as the drive to figure out what exactly happened. Soon, Philly’s Finest from the Sixth District, the Moretti clan (Longmire’s deputy’s family) and Cheyenne spirits gravitate to Longmire as he endures beatings, lack of communication from those purporting to be on his side and, battles resignation and hope virtually every hour that Cady remains hospitalized.
Johnson paints vivid and sometimes glorious descriptions of Philadelphia; Dialogue is easier to follow than in the previous books in the series (or maybe I’m just getting used to it?) and; there are poignant moments which might bring a tear to the eye. But when Johnson isn’t talking about the Ben Franklin bridge or the way the rain feels as Longmire walks through the streets, the plot and action lines can feel sketched-in (lacking atmospherics or finer detail).
Looking forward to more titles in the series and hopefully getting back to Wyoming!

The cover of the book features a cowboy hat-wearing figure with a rifle in silhouette against a rising/setting sun in the grasslands. It doesn’t look like Philadelphia or any of the scenes on the book 🤷🏻‍♀️
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#SunOnTheCover #Rising/SettingSun

The Midnight Library (by Matt Haig) - Nora Seed decides to kill herself but caught between life and death at the stroke of midnight, she is offered an opportunity to address her regrets and explore her alternate lives. This is light science fiction fare in which time travel is presented as a discovery of the multiverse, a tree of decisions— but the emphasis is not on quantum physics as it is Nora’s self-discovery.
It’s reminiscent/a modern iteration of the film It’s a Wonderful Life and while I suspect that it’s perfect book club fodder (“GMA Book Club Pick” and, in fact a past choice of an online book club I was a member of for a couple years), the story left me feeling disappointed and dissatisfied with its whimsical style.

The title is derived from Nora’s choices being represented as books in a surreal library which extends indefinitely in all directions.
⭐️⭐️⭐️

#LibraryInTitle

Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time (by Dava Sobel) - Subtitle pretty much says it all! This is a short and concise story about the challenges in determining longitude and the 18th-century watchmaker, James Harrison who developed the first accurate chronometer. I know this sounds boring and prosaic but it’s really fascinating and Dava Sobel writes with a a light touch that actually conveys a lot of information. Still, not enough illustrations and no maps… the latter of which is really odd when you think about it for a moment.
A little less than thirty years ago, my husband and I were on a road trip and we popped an abridged version of this audiobook into our car’s cassette player. I know abridgments were often done but for the life of me I cannot figure out why in this case: it’s already so short and lean in its content! Anyway, short book, long title with ten words with four letters or more each; Seventeen if you count all 🙂
⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️

#LongTitle

The Club Dumas (by Arturo Pérez-Reverte) - Lucas Corso is an unethical book buyer who becomes a haunted book detective when he is asked to authenticate two manuscripts: One, a draft copy of a chapter in The Three Musketeers oeuvre by Alexander Dumas, père and; an occult book, The Nine Doors and the Kingdom of Shadows transcribed by Aristide Torchia in the 17th-century. It becomes apparent to Corso that the two mss are somehow connected and as he unravels not only the books' respective provenances, but the "how" and the "who" behind it all. Corso's investigations lead him from Madrid to Portugal to Spain and; his life becomes a melodramatic adventure with escalating danger. Tightly plotted with twists, an above-average touch of erudition (but not as exhausting as Umberto Eco) and illustrations to engage the reader, this is a book worth reading at least twice to appreciate its sophistication and cleverness.

⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️

#AuthorHasYourOrYourRelativesFirstOrLastName

The “Favorite Season” square was one I was having difficulty with as I don’t really have a favorite time of year: Each season has its equal measures of great things and not-so-treat things. Then, I was reading a short story (Divorce Horse (Longmire #7.5; by Craig Johnson)) and discovered in the Acknowledgements that the framework of the author’s series are the seasons of the year— so it takes 4 years of publication to cover 1 year in the characters’ lives. I don’t have to choose!

SUMMER Another Man’s Moccasins (Longmire #4) ⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️
FALL The Dark Horse (Longmire #5) ⭐️⭐️ ⭐️-3/4
WINTER Junkyard Dogs (Longmire #6) ⭐️⭐️ ⭐️-3/4
SPRING Hell is Empty (Longmire #7) ⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️-1/2
( “Divorce Horse” takes place over Memorial Day weekend) ⭐️⭐️ ⭐️-1/4

Geographically, I live in a part of the United Stares roughly on the same latitude and, while we have fewer deciduous trees than Wyoming, many of the topographical and weather elements are immediately recognizable.

#SetInYourFavoriteSeason

Every Deep-Drawn Breath: A Critical Care Doctor on Healing, Recovery, and Transforming Medicine in the ICU (by Dr. Wes Ely; narrated by Grover Gardner - The subtitle says a lot but underlying this is the premise that critical care in the intensive care units needs transforming! The debilitating effects of serious illness are often the side effects of the treatments themselves, e.g., sedatives and paralytics which can cause brain damage, muscle loss and mental health issues. There has been progress towards critical care management both in the hospital and afterwards, but also setbacks with limited resources and entrenched thinking. While I find some of Dr. Ely’s approaches to resolving these issues laudable and not unreasonable, the face of a pandemic proved how impracticable that his seminal work is (while ironically also proving his point). Still, there is hope and I for one plan to update my living will.

#MedicalTopic

Decline and Fall? (by Evelyn Waugh) - Waugh's first published work (1928) is a satire centering on England's public school system of the time and features the hapless figure of Paul Pennyfeather. Paul finds himself sent down from University (though by no true fault of his own) and ends up as a teacher at a boarding school for boys in the countryside. His colleagues are an equally unqualified lot but all seem to fail up in the system or at the very least, escape the full measure of their incompetence or wrong-doings.

Vile Bodies (by Evelyn Waugh) - Waugh's second work (published in 1930) features a few characters from Decline and Fall-- but as background characters to the the on-again/off-again relationship of Adam and Nina. The erstwhile couple is a part of the "Bright Young Things Set" in London, running around penniless but somehow also managing dinner and party invitations. Set in the 1920s, this satire targets the new generation of twenty-somethings who reject the mores of the Victorian & Edwardian Eras but haven't quite found their moral compasses or footing in an era of adventure and novelty (e.g., having a party on a dirigible!)

British satire is a challenge for me to parse out-- so on the occasions when I run into it, I just imagine Monty Python's Flying Circus performing the plot as script. Adding absurdist perspective to the irony of satire usually works out well but I couldn't escape the disappointment of the writing of either bool not being on same level of sophistication and tone as the author's arguably more famous work, Brideshead Revisited. It does go quickly though and in the edition of DAF that I read, the author's own illustrations were included which added some nominal interest.

Vile Bodies is my pick for "Newly in Public Domain" having been originally published in the U.S. ninety-five years ago (1930). I included a review of Decline and Fall as "... some of the minor motives will be clearer to those who have read the first book than those who have not." (Author's Note at the beginning of Vile Bodies)

#NewlyInPublicDomain

The Halloween Tree (by Ray Bradbury) - Eight boys from a small upper Midwestern town meet up for trick-or-treating but quickly notice that their friend Pipkin is missing! The boys, led by Tom Skelton, head out through the neighborhoods, across the ravine and up to the haunted house beyond where they expect Pip to catch up with them. Instead, a Mr. Moundshroud presents himself and the boys are led on a journey through time to understand the “how” of Halloween as well as to save Pip from danger.

The style of the narrative reads like an acid-based drug trip and correspondingly, the explanations of Halloween traditions are vague and suspect. I’ve only ever read The Martian Chronicles and a short story called “The Scythe” and thought of Bradbury as a hardcore SFF writer— so this psychedelic adventure with horror undertones was surprising — though the more I think about it I’m not sure why. ‘The Martian Chronicles’ has chapters that evoke horror and unease and the short I mentioned (written in 1943) certainly was the blueprint for the chapter about Samhain in this book. I thinks it’s the extreme surrealism that has caught me off guard.

Black-and-white ink drawings by Joe Mugnaini illustrate the text. The drawings are very detailed but not what I had imagined when reading the book at all.

Not for me but may appeal to the audience of 8-12 year olds for which it is intended.

#HolidayinTitle

Jack London: A Life (by Alex Kershaw) - Biography of the late-19th and early-20th century writer best known for the classics The Call of the Wild and White Fang. Kershaw’s book is comprehensive in its range— covering London’s childhood, marriages, career, business interests and, politics. Kershaw uses excerpts from London’s writings to show how London not only used his experiences in his work but revealed his interior life as well. There are other more in-depth biographies that focus on a particular aspect of London’s life and/or work but this is an excellent starting point that moves quickly.

#WritingAboutWriters #AuthorBiography

Blonde Bombshell (by Tom Holt) - A cross-genre book that blends science fiction and humor in the best tradition of Douglas Adams. Money disappears from high security vaults; A former scientist-turned-drunk-banker hasn’t really gotten over his dog being kidnapped by aliens when he was a kid; A brilliant coder who has revolutionized computer technology can’t recall anything with certainty more than five years ago and; There’s a planet out there really, really annoyed that Earth’s transmitted music is that loud and disruptive! Turn it down !
A large cast of characters (and no one is who they initially seemed to be!) and multiple threads come together on an adventure that spans galaxies and a couple of the world’s continents in a plot that’s fairly tight — but at 375+ pages, a little on the long side for that brand of absurdist satire.

#NonhumanNarrator

Blonde Bombshell (by Tom Holt) - A cross-genre book that blends science fiction and humor in the best tradition of Douglas Adams. Money disappears from high security vaults; A former scientist-turned-drunk-banker hasn’t really gotten over his dog being kidnapped by aliens when he was a kid; A brilliant coder who has revolutionized computer technology can’t recall anything with certainty more than five years ago and; There’s a planet out there really, really annoyed that Earth’s transmitted music is that loud and disruptive! Turn it down !
A large cast of characters (and no one is who they initially seemed to be!) and multiple threads come together on an adventure that spans galaxies and a couple of the world’s continents in a plot that’s fairly tight — but at 375+ pages, a little on the long side for that brand of absurdist satire.

#NonhumanNarrator

Not To Be Taken A Puzzle in Poison (by Anthony Berkeley) - John Waterhouse has been complaining of stomach ailments and suffers a particularly acute attack during a dinner party he is hosting. A day later, he is dead and within a few days it has been determined that he died from arsenic poisoning. This is a classic whodunnit from the Golden Age of Mysteries— with a twist. There is no detective, professional or amateur whose cleverness solves the mystery.
Written as a thirteen-installment story to run in John O’Londons in 1937-38, the readers were to solve the mystery with the clues provided. Cash prizes were awarded to those who successfully solved the puzzle, though in the end no one got it quite right so the prizes were awarded to those who came closest. (I will admit that even though I thought I gave it as close a reading as possible, and was able to dismiss the obvious red herrings, I did not get it right— so not even bragging rights for me!)
Fair warning: One racist comment, stereotyping of Austrian immigrants and, there’s a German in the mix who is, “of course” a Nazi.

My husband read this first and handed it off to me, saying that it was an interesting set-up and that I would probably like it since there aren’t hidden clues that would prevent me from solving the mystery (A pet peeve of mine is when the investigator in the story brings out special knowledge in the end that the reader could not have possibly known). Anyway, counting this as book recommended to me by a friend.

#RecommendedByAFriend

And that’s it! I ended up reading 28 books across 25 squares for a Bingo Blackout! Roughly half of the squares were filled will pre-selected books while the other squares were filled in as happenstance occurred while reading other books. If I had time, I would probably do a couple squares over with stronger entries or without using books from the same series. But I’m pretty pleased with the card overall and happy I was able to complete it before the US Thanksgiving holiday. I know most eyes are on next year’s cards but if you’re reading this, “Thank You!” It’s been fun and this year’s BingoDog toook me into some interesting reading territory! 🙂🎉📚

>45 Tanya-dogearedcopy: Congrats on finishing your Bingo card.

Congrats, Tanya. The Bingo Card is always fun to work on. 2026 is looking interesting as well.