And suddenly it’s 2024…. A new book bingo will soon commence, but first the reviews of the previous year.
A book that was gifted to you, but was not on a wish list
“Babettes Gæstebud” [Trans. Babette’s Feast] by Karen Blixen. My mum bought me this book, unprompted at a flea market, because it was by Karen Blixen and she’s a famous Danish author. The plot revolves around a tiny coastal village in Norway, where two ageing sisters take in Babette, as a cook and housekeeper, after she fled from revolutionary France in 1871. Babette is a great cook, but faithfully cooks the sisters the food they can afford and are used to. But one day Babette finds out she won the lottery on her old ticket she brought with her from France, and she decides to spend all her money to invite the village for a home-cooked dinner with all the finest dishes she knew from home, which turns out to be an eye-opening experience for people.
The book has been on my bookshelf for a while, and it’s one of those books where I knew the title but had no idea about the plot. I’m not sure I’d say I enjoyed the book, but I also didn’t hate it, and even now months later I have no idea how I feel about this book.
A book recommended by someone with a different reading taste
“Moon Called” by Patricia Briggs. This book was recommended to me by a friend. Generally, we read a lot of the same books, but this type of book is where we differ. The book follows Mercy Thompson and is the first book in the series. Mercy is a mechanic, who is also a shapeshifting Coyote, with a werewolf neighbour. When a teenage boy, a newly changed werewolf, shows up at her shop asking for help, she finds herself drawn back into a world she had all but left behind. Overall, I liked the book just fine, but probably it is not something I’d ever pick up, on my own. As a general rule, I’m not a big fan of 1st person narrators, if they are too removed from me and if I don’t like their narration, I tend to have difficulty focusing on the plot. Which also happened in this case. I found Mercy to be too big of a showoff and a wannabe know-it-all, and the language felt a bit choppy at times to me. If that hadn’t been the case, I would have enjoyed the book a lot more. But if you are someone who enjoys the genre of this book, I’d say go for it.
A children’s book that was published more than 50 years ago
“Mikkel Ræv” (Trans. Mikkel the Fox) published in 1938. This book was given to my dad by his grandfather. The book itself used to be my great-grandfather’s when he was a kid, I think. It is a children’s book and is practically falling apart, and I don’t think I have ever handled a book that carefully. It tells the story of ‘Little Mikkel’ (the fox) whose family was killed by a poacher, and now he has to make a life for himself. The language and spelling in the book are very obviously from the 1930s, but still surprisingly easy to get, even if I read the first part out loud to myself to make it easier. The language is child appropriate, for the time, but I think there are more than a few things that young children these days would need explained. Overall, it’s a great story about woodland animals native to Denmark, and I think it’s a great, if a bit sad children’s book. But I wouldn’t have the first clue where you’d be able to get a copy.
A book from your opponent’s bookshelves
“The Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives in Your Home” by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor. This is the third novel published about the town of Night Vale, from the podcast “Welcome to Night Vale.” But unlike the other two books, a lot of the plot of this book takes place outside of the town of Night Vale. We follow one of its essential residents through her life, as we learn how she became The Faceless Old Woman who secretly lives in your home. I did like this book, and it was interesting seeing the origin story of this character, who we knew relatively little about despite how much she’s been featured on the podcast. If you are a fan of WTNV or just think a faceless old woman secretly in your home seems like an interesting main character, do go, and read it.
A book by an African author
“Prayer for the Living” by Ben Okri. The book is a collection of short stories that take place in various locations around the world, and it uses magical realism to constantly shift between reality and the otherworldly. There is a lot of symbolism that I feel like I might be missing, but I still enjoyed the stories, although I might have to re-read it one day in a print format because I might catch more of the symbolism and minutia if I were to read the book in a print form. The general theme of the stories is unrealism, and it aims to make you question whether what you see in the world is all there is.
The book is a collection of short stories that take place in various locations around the world, and it uses magical realism to constantly shift between reality and the otherworldly. There is a lot of symbolism that I feel like I might be missing, but I still enjoyed the stories, although I might have to re-read it one day in a print format because I might catch more of the symbolism and minutia if I were to read the book in a print form. The general theme of the stories is unrealism, and it aims to make you question whether what you see in the world is all there is.
A book from your Goodreads recommendations
”Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe” by Benjamin Alire Sáenz.
”Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe” by Benjamin Alire Sáenz. Two teenagers become friends over the summer, but as their friendship develops, they discover who and what they are as people and to each other. It’s very much a coming-of-age story, and it’s incredibly well-written. The best way for me to sum it up is, “so friggin adorable.” So, Read it! Better yet, listen to the audiobook, Lin-Manuel Miranda does a wonderful job, and you won’t even have to wait for the sequel, it’s already out there as well.
A book with a question in the title
“Do androids dream of electric sheep?” by Philip K. Dick. Honestly, I don’t have much to say about the book. It was underwhelming in a way for a book that I would describe as having an almost cult-like status. I’m glad to finally have read it, but other than that I have nothing much to say.
Re-read a novel/novella you were ‘forced’ to read in School or High School
”De Hvide Mænd” [Trans. The White Men] by Kenneth Bøgh Andersen. This book is a Danish, dystopian sci-fi story set in a future in which everything is very much survival of the “fittest and smartest”. Edwin, the protagonist, is nearing the end of his schooling knowing that if he doesn’t get his act together and manage to pass his classes the only thing waiting for him is the “white men”, whose sole job is to disappear those who no longer lives up to the standards required by society.
I read this book in school, and it has stayed with me ever since. It was one of the few books I enjoyed reading for class, and surprisingly I still enjoyed it very much. I very much recommend it, although I’m not sure it’s ever been translated into English.
A book with one of your favorite tropes, but a genre you usually don’t read.
“Spoiler Alert” by Olivia Dade. I was swaying between ‘secret identity’ or ‘fake dating to lovers’ but ended up going with the former. The book follows April, a fan and fanfiction author, who unexpectedly ends up on a date with Marcus, the star of the TV show April loves and writes fanfiction about, and as it turns out April is not the only one hiding her fanfiction or online identity.
I was also fully expecting this to be completely ridiculous, and it kind of is, but it’s also pretty cute. Most of the time, I felt like I was reading an AU fanfic, which in no way was a bad thing. Also, side note, if this was a fanfic the latter half of the story would have been rated explicit. Let’s just say, it felt inappropriate to listen to it in public and it made me worry that my Bluetooth earphones would suddenly disconnect. If this is a genre you enjoy, I know you’ll love it.
A book you wish had existed for your teenage self to read.
“Heartstopper Vol. 4” by Alice Oseman. To be completely honest, I could maybe have found another book, it just so happened that I hadn’t read vol 4 and this was the exact type of book I thought about. I swear it was happenstance. I very much enjoyed the Heartstopper series, and can only recommend them and the TV show on Netflix as well. For more of my rambles on this, look here: Book Review: Heartstopper Vol. 1-4. – Heart-stoppingly beautiful
A book with an unreliable narrator
“The Haunting of Hill House” by Shirley Jackson. The book follows Eleanor, who goes to stay at a supposedly haunted house to investigate the goings on with three essential strangersI don’t have much to say about this book, except that Eleanor is a weirdo, the repetition of “journeys end in lovers meeting” meant that the phrase kept rattling around my brain for about a month, and there’s a reason this book is considered a classic of gothic horror. I enjoyed the book and as usual with gothic horror, I kept waiting for the jump scare that never came. I recommend the book, and the Netflix TV show as well, although it is worth mentioning the TV show is vastly different from the book.
A Hugo winner/nominee
“The Three-Body Problem” by Cixin Liu. The book takes place in a fictional past, presence and future in which an alien civilization makes contact with Earth. I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, the plot has an interesting premise and I ended up learning a lot about actual computing of complex problems. On the other hand, I feel like the plot didn’t quite deliver on the premise, but that may have more to do with my expectations than anything else. I enjoyed the book over-all, but I’m not sure I’ll read the rest of the trilogy.
Our Thoughts in Transit 