BingoDog Reads, Part I

It doesn't look like anyone has yet started a thread to track BingoDog reads. I'm not sure how many posts before someone should start a "Part II"? I guess it's best if I do that so the link to the continuation thread will be here, as well. Not sure when is best to do that, but someone can feel free to let me know it's time. :-)

Here is the link to the wiki: https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/2026_BingoDog

>1 LibraryCin: Thank you for creating the thread, Cindy!

My new reading year always starts on Christmas Eve, and I have already covered several bingo squares. I love the beginning of the year when almost everything one reads fits one of the squares, still I was surprised at how easy the beginning was and that I even have my first bingo already. There were some years when it took me ages to get a bingo, even though I had already filled many squares.

Features senior citizens: The Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng - the novel is narrated by an elderly Malaysian man who is visited by an equally elderly woman from Japan.

Book with a tree on the cover: Her Christmas Kiss by Melissa McClone - there are several conifers on the cover in a winter landscape.

A book published before you were born: Prince Caspian by C.S Lewis was published in 1951, thirty-five years before I was born.

New-to-you author: A Pirate for Christmas was my first (and probably only) read by Anna Campbell.

A "green" book: One Green Field by Edward Thomas has the word "green" in the title and the cover is mostly green, too.

Read a CAT or KIT: I listened to The Biggest Secret by Mike Walker for the January RandomKIT.

A beautiful cover: The cover of A Holiday by Gaslight is one of the most christmassy covers I've ever seen. I think it is so beautiful and I fell in love with it when I saw it for the first time.



Word in the title that's an onomatopoeia: The Christmas Cuckoo by Mary Jo Putney - I was so happy about this one because I thought that I would have a hard time with this square. But then I listened to this book and suddenly realized that cuckoo was an onomatopoeia. Yay!

Thanks for getting us started, Cindy! I just finished The retirement plan. I am honestly not sure how I feel about it, but it feels good to have my first bingo square. And yes, it is great how almost everything fits when we first get started.

>2 LibraryCin: sounds like a fun read!

>3 MissBrangwen: You have read so many already! Impressive!

I plan on posting my choices at the end of each month, when I see which books I read fit which squares.

>4 purpleiris: I thought it was fun! it seems there were mixed reviews for it, though.

>5 lowelibrary: makes sense. That is generally my approach too - to maximize the coverage in correlation to the CATs and KITs I follow.

And also. Could someone pin this thread? It is so convenient, and I don’t think I can.

I'm starting January with Everyone on this Train is a Suspect, for the mode of transportation bingo square, and Murder in the Secret Garden, for the book set in a state next to mine (VA+MD).

>8 amberwitch: I'll ask the admin, Christina to pin it for us. Thanks for the reminder!

I have filled three squares already with my holiday reading:
published before you were born Menschen im Hotel by Vicki Baum
dead author Shadows on the Rock by Willa Cather
featuring senior citizens Frau Helbing und die tödlichen Weihnachtsplätzchen by Eberhard Michaely

>8 amberwitch: I've pinned it now!

So far the only book I've finished in 2026 is If the Duke Demands by Anna Harrington, which has a "tree on the cover" (in fact, several trees, though they're all in the background).

By an indigenous author: Future Home of the Living God, Louise Erdrich.

Today I finished Fallen into the Pit by Ellis Peters, which was "published before I was born" in 1951 ('80s baby here!).

I read Hazel and Gray by Nic Stone, which is difficult to categorize. It is a retelling of Hänsel and Grethel and LT says that it's Fiction and Literature, Fantasy, Horror and Teen, but although the atmosphere is a bit fairytale-like, I did not really spot any fantasy elements apart from one drug that does not exist in the real world as far as I know. There are horror elements, but to me it read much more like a thriller. Although the protagonists are teenagers, I would definitely not recommend it to that audience.

>12 christina_reads: thanks :)

I am attempting to read all children's books for my Bingo card this year, so I have been able to get through quite a few already.

By an indigenous author: Edenglassie Dual timeline, which is one of my bugbears, not great.

>18 Helenliz: Dual or split timelines are my pet hates too! And they appeared to be more prevalent recently.

>19 VivienneR: I agree! Another of mine is when a different person narrates or is featured in each chapter. I have difficulty keeping them straight.

>20 LadyoftheLodge: That's how my present book is formatted. The opening sentence of a chapter might begin by mentioning "she" - but doesn't identify which "she".

I read The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher for the “tree on the cover” square. It was fun—both funny and scary!

>19 VivienneR:, >20 LadyoftheLodge:, I knew I'd find like minded people in here. It's just one of those things that bugs me A LOT!

*Fairy Tale/Myth Retelling*
Strictly speaking, I don't know that Jack and Jill counts as a Fairy Tale, but I'm not sure if I'll get this square otherwise! I may replace this square later if another book fits better.

Down Among the Sticks and Bones

Starting the year, I'm continuing the Wayward Children series, the one I mentioned on my last thread about children finding doors to different worlds.

This prequel follows two characters from the first book on their journey to the world they fell into when they were eleven, and ends when they come back to 'our' world. My thoughts on this one were similar to my thoughts on the previous — I really enjoyed the world-building and characters, but wish the story itself was longer, and felt it was didactic at parts.

Planning to continue this series.

For the dead author square, I read Second Foundationby Isaac Asimov.

"Mode of transportation in the title": I used George Orwell’s Keep the aspidistra flying for this prompt.

>25 GraceCollection: Oh, I love this series but it's been a few years since I caught up on these books. Seanan McGuire is such a fun author in general. Thank you for the reminder!

For the "read a CAT/KIT" square, I read The Music Lesson by Katharine Weber, which fits both this month's ArtsCAT (painting) and RandomKIT (secrets).

I've finished my First Bingo square "features a senior citizen" with Aunt Bessie Finds by Diana Xarissa.

I read Rosie and the Dreamboat by Sally Thorne, which fits "Mode of transportation in the title".

I’ve read two books which would fit the “Road Trip” prompt. In The Rest of Our Lives and Run For the Hills the characters go on a road trip.

>34 lsh63: I just finished Run for the hills. I really liked it!

Marking off two more Bingos squares with this weekend's reading: A Bend in the River by V.S. Naipaul, who is a "dead author" (died in 2018), and Poppy Redfern and the Midnight Murders by Tessa Arlen, who is a "new-to-me author."

I've just finished To the Land of Lost Friends by Alexander McCall Smith for the "has something living on the cover" block (flowers)

I marked off 'fairy-tale retelling' with A Dark and Drowning Tide a few weeks ago. It was maybe a bit of a stretch, but it had so many fairy-tale elements including actual fairies that I just went for it.

For new-to-you author, I read Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto.

I've read The Sleeping Car Porter by Suzette Mayr for the "mode of transportation in the title".

I just finished They Will Drown in Their Mothers' Tears by Johannes Anyuru for the “book that has won an award” square. It won the Tähtivaeltaja Award, given by Helsinki Science Fiction Society, in 2019. It was a powerful, harrowing, amazing book. I first heard about it only when searching for prize winners for 2024 Category Challenge PrizeCAT, and I’m so glad I finally got around to it. Though it has a possibly SFnal touch to it, I think it’s best read as literary fiction.

It also occurs to me that I read my first book for the NonfictionCAT, Life's Edge: The Search for What It Means to Be Alive by Carl Zimmer, so I’ve got my free space covered now too.

My first Bingo square! Dead Author.

>42 VivienneR: One of my favorite Kinsella books. I hate that she fits the dead author square now :(

I read I'll be you this week for the new to me author. It was fine.

A new-to-me author is Lyndsay Faye, whose Jane Steele I just finished.

My first BingoDOG read is for the book of poetry square. I read A Poem For Every Summer Day.

My favourite poem of the collection was Refugees by Brian Bilston. A very clever way of looking at the world from opposite perspectives.
You can read it here: https://brianbilston.com/2016/03/23/refugees/

>45 JayneCM: - Great poem!

I have been reading books for kids to fulfill my BingoDog Challenge. Here are my selections so far.

A "green" book Peanuts Countdown to Christmas
A book of poetry Now We Are Six
New-to-you author Sarah Fabiny Who Was Norman Rockwell?
A book published before you were born Madeline
Book with a tree on the cover Jingle Bells illustrated by Michael Hague
Classic from another literary tradition A Child's Christmas in Wales
Something living on the cover Franklin Goes to School
Read a CAT or KIT (free space) Everything I Need to Know About Christmas I Learned from a Little Golden Book
A beautiful cover The Flower Alphabet Book
Book from an LT Legacy Library A Child's Garden of Verses

I read Vertigo by Amanda Lohrey. There is a woman on the cover, so I am using it for "Something living on the cover".

Flashman and the Mountain of Light has a great first sentence:

"Now, my dear Sir Harry, I must tell you," says her majesty, with that stubborn little duck of her head that always made Palmerston think she was going to butt him in the guts, "I am quite determined to learn Hindoostanee".

Otherwise, the usual fun, though very, very politically incorrect.

I've decided to use I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Enger for the block "set entirely or partly at sea" even though the book is set on Lake Superior. I'm pretty sure that's the closest I'll come to a book at sea.

For a beautiful cover, I read Believing by Zenna Henderson.

The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani has a "great first sentence": "Sophie had waited all her life to be kidnapped." Unfortunately, it's mostly downhill from there.

I read The Year of the Dog by Grace Lin for 'female author debut ' square. It is her first novel.

I just finished Remember That Day by Mary Balogh, which has "something living on the cover," or rather several things: trees, grass, and people.

>52 christina_reads: That is a great sentence. Sorry you didn't love the book. The title sounds familiar. I think I may have watched a film with that name. It obviously was not very memorable.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is listed in the LT Legacy Library of Carson McCullers. It could also be used for the award square, as it won the Hugo in 1954.

>55 purpleiris: The book was made into a Netflix film, but I'm not planning to see it.

I decided to use Theo of Golden by Allen Levi for the "difficult to categorize" block because it is for me. I looked at the various tags for the book and there are a few that fit. So...

I read Grandfather's Journey by Allen Say for the 'features senior citizens' square. It is one of my favorite books.

I finished The Daughters by Ben Rogers for the “new-to-you author” square. This was another excellent Early Reviewer win from the University of Nevada Press.

Great first sentence: I read Rachel Ignotofsky's middle-grade book Women in Science, which begins "Nothing says trouble like a woman in pants."

I've finished The Dirty Life by Kristin Kimball for the "a 'green' book" block.

The Secret Place by Tana French is a "green book": Green is prominent on the cover, and it's set in Ireland, the Emerald Isle. :)

I also read In Your Dreams by Sarah Adams, which is set in a state (Kentucky) that borders my own (Virginia).

I recently finished A Daring Arrangement by Joanna Shupe, which works for the "read a CAT or KIT" square. It fulfills the January ColoredCoverKIT because the cover contains prominent orange elements.

I read Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng by Kylie Lee Baker for the “something living on the cover” square. There’a a bat (and some flowers) on the cover of the edition I read:



If you have a strong stomach, I highly recommend this for horror fans.

*Tree on Cover*
Little Fires Everywhere



This family drama follows the picture-perfect Elena Richardson and her picture-perfect family, who reconsider everything in the light of Mia and Pearl Warren, who come into town following their own rules and befriend the family. Tensions in picture-perfect Shaker Heights are already raised regarding a custody battle between a Chinese mother and her 1-year-old daughter's rich, white, adoptive parents, until a house fire at the Richardson's gives everyone something new to talk about.

This story, unfolding in all directions from the house fire that opens the book, had me hooked from the beginning.

I thought the square "Difficult to categorise" would be difficult to fill, and then I ran across Dodger which is a delightful story with many facets that adults will probably enjoy more than kids.

I listened to Aegypt by John Crowley for the “great first sentence” square. I don’t know if I personally would call it great, but it’s very good, and I found it on the LT list Books with Our Favorite First Lines. The first line:

There were angels in the glass, two four six many of them, each one shuffling into his place in line like an alderman at the Lord Mayor's show.

Road trip book: I'm Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom, Jason Pargin.

In January, I filled in 6 squares.

Tree on cover - Tangerines
Something Living on the cover - Topsy's Big Escape
Published before you were born - A Day At the Zoo
New- to - you author - Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney
"green" book - The Green Mile: Two Dead Girls
read a CAT or KIT - The Secrets of Dumbledore

During January, I filled in 5 squares:

Something alive on cover - Wreckage Ridge bt Barbara Barker
Read a Cat or Kit - Dead of Winter by Darcy Coates
Published before I was born - High Wages by Dorothy Whipple
Retelling of a fairy tale - Winter's Child by Cameron Dokey
Dead author - Anna and Her Daughters by D.E. Stevenson

In January I read a lot of squares (it is true, the first ones are the easiest ones). Some were better than others.

I read:

1. Book set in a province/state bordering your own - Direct Descendant (Canada)
3. A "green" book - Splint og den blå gorgon (Environmental terrorists abducting an actress and getting into a tussle with the US Navy)
6. A book of poetry - Korte gruk I
7. New-to-you author - Hvorfor er lykken
8. Road trip book - Brigands & Breadknives
9. A book published before you were born - Gigi
10. Book with a tree on the cover - Alisik
12. Something living on the cover - the Dark archive
13. Read a CAT or KIT (free space) - The League of extraordinary gentlemen (SFFKIT januar was Adaptations)
14. Set entirely or in part at sea - En verdensomsejling under havet
15. Features senior citizens - The Impossible Fortune
20. Dead author - Midt i en Jazztid
21. Difficult to categorize - Katten der ville redde bøgerne
23. End it - Giæver og Iunker
25. Retelling of a fairy tale or myth - Kill the Beast

Published before I was born (1957)

I filled four squares in January:

Something living on the cover: Beguilement by Lois McMaster Bujold, has two people sitting on horses, plus some trees in the background
Published before you were born: Justine by Lawrence Durrell 1957
End it: Y is for Yesterday by Sue Grafton, last in the series
Award winner: A Kiss Before Dying by Ira Levin, Edgar Award for best first novel

Road trip

Das Geheimnis der Ordensfrau features Henmann von Mülingen, secular administrator of a convent, who travels from Königsfelden to the city of Constance, where the worldly powers have assembled to discuss who should be pope of the three who claim the throne. Our hero only wants a confirmation of land rights for his abbess, and once he has obtained the precious document he returns on a different route to his little bit of Aargau which has now gone from the hands from the Habsburgs to the Swiss Cinfederation.

Accidental double post, sorry.

I've filled two squares:

New-to-you author: Murder in the Gallowgate by Daniel Sellers
Tree on the cover: Family Secrets, Beth Farrar

I filled six squares in January.

Where the rhythm takes you has a beautiful cover. I love the bright colors and foliage. Unfortunately, I didn't love the book.

The retirement plan is Hincenbergs' first book.

I used Le Mirador aux étoiles for the CAT/KIT square because it has a family secret. I have no idea now which challenge that fits.

I had never heard of or read Janelle Brown before picking up I'll be you, so that's my new to you square. It was ok.

Run for the hills was my road trip book. I really liked that one.

Désorientale won a lot of awards when it was published.

I doubt I will be able to fill as many squares in February, but we'll see. I usually don't start thinking about what I should read for specific squares until the summer.

For the "from an LT Legacy Library" square, I read A Fine and Private Place by Peter S. Beagle, which is in Carl Sandburg's library.

I read Last Term at Malory Towers by Enid Blyton for the “End it” square.

I have a question about the Legacy Library square. Do I have to go into various Legacy Libraries and choose a book or is there somewhere on LT that will tell me if a book I'm looking at is part of a Legacy Library? I've never really paid attention to them, so have no idea how Legacy Libraries work.

Never mind! I just went to the book Keith mentioned and see that at the bottom it does say that it's in two legacy libraries. So I will keep an eye out when I'm reading older books!

For "onomatopoeia in the title," I read The Spirit Ring by Lois McMaster Bujold. The internet tells me "ring" is an onomatopoetic word (as in the ring of a bell), so although in this title the ring refers to jewelry, I'm counting it!

>84 purpleiris: If a book is a Legacy Library book, after its author on the main screen for the book, it will say legacy. If example, look up a book by Willa Cather.

>87 sallylou61: Well, technically that shows you that that author’s legacy library is cataloged on LT. The book itself might not be. (Of course, a lot of authors have their own books in their own legacy library.) For example, Hannibal Rising by Thomas Harris is in David Foster Wallace’s legacy library, even though Thomas Harris doesn’t have a legacy library cataloged on LT and so the legacy logo doesn’t appear at the top of the page. And conversely The Broom of the System by David Foster Wallace is not in any legacy libraries, even though the legacy logo shows up because David Foster Wallace’s legacy library is on LT.

To see that Hannibal Rising is in a legacy library, you need to look at the Members section of the work page, where you’ll see “Similar Libraries…”, “Legacy Libraries: DavidFosterWallace”, and “Recently Added By…”

>88 Charon07: Yes, that's what I realized after I posted this morning -- that if I scrolled down I could see in which Legacy Libraries the book I was looking at could be found. Thank you both!

I found my Legacy Library book by going into some of the LegLibs that seemed most likely to be simpatico with my own tastes. Whenever you look at another library in LT, there's a button near the top that allows you to see which books that library shares with your own. And since I have my ridiculously long TBR list in my own library, I was able fairly quickly to find a book in a LegLib that I'd wanted to read anyway.

>85 purpleiris: Thank you for asking and for finding and replying to your own question! I thought I'd have to take a look at individual legacy libraries, as well.

>90 KeithChaffee: That's a good way to go about it. If I still haven't found one by chance towards the end of the year, I will try this method.

Hi All,

I'm Florence, and this is my first post here, although I lurked a little last year, and before that I completed 20 out of 25 squares in 2024. This year I decided to give it a serious try, although I don't expect to fill all 25 spots.

My first square is Mon vrai nom est Elisabeth "Features senior citizens". In this memoir, the author is researching the family past and talks to many elderly relatives, including her grandmother. It could also fit the "New to me author" box, but I'm trying to keep the easy ones for later.

My second square is The Boy Bride by A. J. Demas for the February SFF kit: a little romance.

Book that has won an award

Thomas Mann published Buddenbrooks at the tender age of 25, and won the Nobel Prize for Literature for it in 1929.

A beautiful cover: Finished The Summer War by Naomi Novik

Beautiful cover (and beautiful book): The Orb of Cairado

I read Life at the center for the microhistory square. I doubt I will read anything else that fits. It's about a center geared towards Haitian immigrants in Boston, how it started, developed and the problems it eventually had. Interesting, but the book's organization did not make for an easy read.

Finished I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Enger. I could use this as a new to me author, end it, or difficult to categorize. For now, I'll put it in new to me author, depending on what else I read this year.

Highly, highly recommended. Really beautiful prose, great world-building, characters you fall in love with, and a story that will stick with me for a very long time.

Also, finished The Forest of a Thousand Eyes by Frances Hardinge and Emily Gravett. The story features a forest taking over the world, with beautiful green-tinted illlustrations and cover, so this will be my "green" book.

Frau Helbing und der verschollene Kapitän by Eberhard Michaely is set in Hamburg which is next to my state of Schleswig-Holstein.

For the "award winner" square, I read Robert A. Heinlein's The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, which won the Hugo for Best Novel in 1967.

I've managed to finish three more squares:
Features senior citizens: All the Lonely People by Mike Gayle
Dead author: The Heretic's Apprentice by Ellis Peters
New to me author: The Physics of Sorrow by Georgi Gospodinov

For the "end it" square, I read Five Days at Memorial by Sheri Fink, in which several lives are brought to an early end.

Something living on the cover: Intergalactic Exterminators, Inc..

I read Not the Kind of Earl You Marry, which is female author Kate Pembrooke's debut novel.

Beating about the Bush by M.C. Beaton for "Tree on cover"
This was typical Agatha Raisin. I’m sure there must have been times when even Beaton wanted to get rid of the acerbic Agatha but readers have been faithful. Now that R.W. Green has taken over the series it will be interesting to see if the character changes a little.

Out on the Rim has a stylised palm tree on the cover.

For "end it," I read Brother Cadfael's Penance by Ellis Peters, which is the final book in the Cadfael series. I think it's a really fitting conclusion...I definitely cried throughout the last chapter just because I was so full of feelings! I started this series sometime in my teens and have been slowly making my way through it, wanting to savor the experience. Now I'm finally done at age 40, and it's bittersweet to have come to the end! Luckily there is always the possibility of rereading!

For the "tree on the cover" square: Only This Beautiful Moment by Abdi Nazemian.

I read Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses by Robin Wall Kimmerer for the “green book” square. It has some lovely green moss on the cover, but more importantly, it’s “green” in its sensibility, as Kimmerer talks about the environmental impact of mosses and the ecological values of living with respect and reciprocity with our environment.

I filled in two more squares since I last posted in this thread.

A book that has won an award: Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier (Alex Award 2001)
Dead author: Olalla by Robert Louis Stevenson

Hello! I'm joining a little late, but I'm still going to "count" what I read last month.

January
- Published before you were born: Bloodchild and Other Stories by Octavia E. Butler, published in 1995 (7 years before I was born)

February
- Read a KIT or CAT: The Epic of Gilgamesh translated by NK Sandars, CultureKIT's "Work in Translation" category for February (translated into English from Sumerian, Akkadian, and Hittite fragments of the story)

set at sea
I have finished Olaf Braren which is set on the North Frisian island of Föhr, and the ever-present danger of the sea is a continuous background for the plot. The novel culminates in the February Flood of 1825, when the tidal islands off the coast were devastated and many lives lost.

One more square complete:
Mode of transpiration on the cover: The Haunting of Tram Car 015 by P. Djèlí Clark.

I read The Magic School Bus Inside the Earth for the “difficult to categorize “ square.

I read Maybe Tomorrow by Boori Monty Pryor, who is an indigenous author.

End It: Finished The Moonlight Market by Joanne Harris, which deals with ending a war

Hi, I'm new here. I've just started reading JADE CITY by Fonda Lee. The cover is *green* and *jade is green* too -- so this will be my *green book*.

I'll go over the rules again and read all the others as well. Happy to be here!

p.s. I like asterisks and (3) dots...

EDIT: I have a mystery book featuring a senior sleuth and I have many books with beautiful covers so I'm all set to go on those as well... :)

ANOTHER EDIT: Upon re-reading the rules I don't think Jade City works for my green book. I'll still read it but also I'll find another "GREEN" book which better qualifies - okay - so I've got a start good start on a couple anyway.

P.P.S. I'll read *THE GREEN FAIRY BOOK" by Andrew Lang for my "GREEN BOOK" -- sooooo -- three already to go and I'm half way there!

>124 rowendelle: We’re very much into interpreting the challenges as you see fit, and I think when “green” was suggested, it was explicitly said that “green” could be interpreted however you like. FWIW, in my opinion Jade City would count three times over: for having a shade of green in the title, for having a mostly green cover, and for being a part of the Green Bone Saga series. But your challenge, your rules!

BTW, if you use square brackets around the title, like this [Jade City], it creates a link to the book page, which is handy for people who are interested in the book you mentioned and want to find out more about it. Two square brackets can be used to link the author, and three for a series.

>125 Charon07:

Oh! Okay thanks.

deleted extra post

>125 Charon07: >124 rowendelle: We’re very much into interpreting the challenges as you see fit, and I think when “green” was suggested, it was explicitly said that “green” could be interpreted however you like. FWIW, in my opinion Jade City would count three times over: for having a shade of green in the title, for having a mostly green cover, and for being a part of the Green Bone Saga series. But your challenge, your rules!

I was the person who originally suggested green and I wanted to make it easy, so Charon has it right. You can interpret it however you'd like, so "Jade City" would be just fine, or "The Green Fairy Book" is good, too! Whatever works for you!

Dead author: Persuasion

>128 LibraryCin:

Thank you too LibraryCin!

>129 FlorenceArt:

FlorenceArt:

Hi and happy to see you here!

>131 rowendelle: Hi 🙂

The Praise of Folly is in no less than 15 legacy libraries.

>23 LibraryCin: I love this series! I have been to the Bodie Island Lighthouse many times. It is fun to imagine the apartment and library.

>133 witchyrichy: Oh, that's cool you've been there!

In February, I filled 3 more squares.
Female author's debut novel - Judy I Lin's debut novel A Magic Steeped In Poison
Award Winner - Every Heart A Doorway - winner of the 2017 Hugo award and others
Beautiful cover - Mur, The Kitty-Knight - I love all the oranges.

I ticked of four more squares in February, leaving 5 empty.
I read:
2. A book that has won an award: Pick a colour - I am not familiar with Canadian literary awarda, but it has won several; Giller Prize, CBC Best Canadian, Indigo Best Books of the Year
16. A beautiful cover: Modens Mestre - a book of the most promising and best performing Danish fashion designers at the beginning of the century

18. Microhistory: Dranella - the history of a Danish fashion company from establishment in the 1950 and to its closure. Several of the designers showcased in the previous book worked here at the start of their career.
22. Book from an LT Legacy Library: Babettes gæstebud - is part of the author Karen Blixens legacy library.

The remaining squares are:
4. Word in the title that's an onomatopoeia (see >49 MissWatson: Charon07: and >51 KeithChaffee: Tess_W:)
5. Book by an indigenous author - I need to find an Eskimo or Same author. Any suggestions are welcome
11. Classic from another literary tradition
17. Great first sentence
19. Mode of transportation in the title

>137 amberwitch: Last year I enjoyed To Shape a Dragon’s Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose. According to her blog, she is an "enrolled member of the seaconke wampanoag tribe". No idea if that falls under your criteria.

>138 FlorenceArt: Thank you for the recommendation! And it even looks like I can get it from the library. I think I remember her name - maybe a nominee for a Hugo or Locus or similar a few years back.

If I can’t find a more Scandinavian option this will be great.

I completed four Bingo books in February:
: Crashed by Timothy Hallinan - Onomatopeia
: The Last Woman in the Forest by Diane Les Becquets - set in a state or province bordering my own
: The Old Woman with the Knife by Gu Byong-mo - features senior citizens
: The Enemy Below by D.A. Rayner - set at sea

I listened to the audiobook An Elderly Lady Is Up to No Good by Helene Tursten for the “features senior citizens” square. I’d have enjoyed this collection of stories about a murderous old woman more if I’d been rooting for her, but she wasn’t a very sympathetic character.

>137 amberwitch: Please note that the word Eskimo is considered a slur, the correct term is Inuit (plural) or Inuk (singular).

If you are interested in reading Sami literature, last year's thread on Finno-Urgic peoples might interest you.

The Summer War is about ending said war, so I think I’ll use it for the End it spot.

>142 GraceCollection: please do not police my words, they are chosen with care.

For the "green book" square, I read Dangerous Visions, an anthology edited by Harlan Ellison. The 2024 edition is very green indeed:



And that gives me my first Bingo!

As I was preparing my March reading pile, I realized I had filled in another square that I did not list here.
"End" It - I Ate the Sheriff - it is the end of the series and contains another prominent ending.

>142 GraceCollection: thank you for speaking up :)

>147 Cecilturtle: please do not impose your own values on others. I don’t appreciate the culture imperialistic thing you’ve got going on.

>148 amberwitch: As I understand it (I wasn’t sure so I checked), Eskimo is an imperialistic term that was never used by native people and is rejected by them. May I ask why you insist on using it?

>149 FlorenceArt: >149 FlorenceArt: I reject the notion that a small minority of white woke social scientist activists has the right to the definition of a word. The people who has fabricated outrage of the use of the word are people who are busy virtue signaling on behalf of a group of people who they don’t know, and don’t belong to.
This is a sick form of social control dressing up as concern.

This gives me my first straight-line bingo!

A tree on the cover

>152 LibraryCin: Congrats on your Bingo!

>153 christina_reads: Thank you!

Our Book club read this month was The Hours by Michael cunningham which won the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction in 1999 so I'll be using this for the "won an award" square.

I have my first bingo line with Thésée by André Gide for a retelling of a myth!

This is a retell of Theseus's adventures by the hero himself as an old man. Theseus looks back at his life, with some derision when he was young: all brawn and bold action, and with some nostalgia when he was ruler of Athens: now measured, compassionate and dedicated to his people. He walks with other elders now like Oedipus taking stock of his decision, mourning the death of his wife and son. It is a simple tale but each word is precise and weighted where time and tone shift seamlessly until the final years. It is the kind of story that is worth reading through again so grasp all the elements and to put it back in the context of that grand, complex and rich tapestry that is Greek mythology.

I was trying to put my congratulations in one message, but forgot how to do it, so I separated them!

>152 LibraryCin: Congrats!

>156 Cecilturtle: Congrats!

>156 Cecilturtle: Congrats to you!

>158 purpleiris: Thank you!

>157 purpleiris: LOL! You just need to type the "carrot" (the angled bracket), then the number(s) of the message(s) you want to reply to.

I mean, reply to one of them and LT will automatically fill in the carrot and number, but you can just type in any additional ones.

>161 LibraryCin: That's what I thought, but for some reason it didn't work when I tried yesterday.

>159 purpleiris: >160 LibraryCin: Thank you!

I read The Correspondent by Virginia Evans, which "features a senior citizen" -- the eponymous correspondent is a woman in her 70s.

I read Angels Flight by Michael Connelly for Mode of transportation in the title. Angels Flight is a 118-year-old funicular that takes passengers on a short ride between Hill Street and Grand Avenue on Bunker Hill in Los Angeles.

I read Jane Yolen's The Devil's Arithmetic, which won the National Jewish Book Award for children's literature.

Finished The Blue Salt Road by Joanne M. Harris. It's a poignant folktale-style story featuring selkies set in Harris' Honeycomb/Nine Worlds universe.

I was very impressed with Mick Herron’s Down Cemetery Road which I read for the March ColourKIT, and decided to use it for the "read a CAT/KIT" square.

I read The Tale of Ginger and Pickles by Beatrix Potter for the ”dead author” square and Hop on Pop for the “onomatopoeia” square.

For the "set at sea" square, I read the 1948 YA series book Cherry Ames, Cruise Nurse by Helen Wells.

I read Virgins by Diana Gabaldon for the road trip book. The main characters undertake a road trip by carriage when they travel from Bordeaux to Paris and stop a few times along the way.

For "published before you were born," I read Isaac Asimov Presents the Great SF Stories 10 (1948). The collection wasn't published until 1983, but the stories were all originally published before I was born.

For the "end it" prompt, I have read Hell House where four people go to Maine to end the haunting of Belasco Mansion.

A new quarter seemed like a good time for a new thread...keep the Bingo conversation going here: https://www.librarything.com/topic/383292.

Finished The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest by Aubrey Hartman for "won an award". It was a Newbery Honor book in January 2026. Really lovely and unexpectedly funny book.