Book Bingo Reviews 2023

And suddenly it’s 2024…. A new book bingo will soon commence, but first the reviews of the previous year.

Book Bingo Reviews 2023

Another year, another book bingo…

A book that was gifted to you, but was not on a wish list

Maya’s Notebook by Isabel Allende is an author I’ve read before, so it wasn’t a poor choice for a surprise gift from my brother. Unfortunately, this is my least favourite of Allende’s books so far. It’s the story of the teen Maya, who lives a life of drugs and crime and ends up on a remote island (which tells you nothing about what the book is like, but I don’t know how else to summarise it). I think it was the slow pace of the book that made it a bit hard to get through for me, and I was not really in the mood for a thriller. Otherwise, the book was overall a good one. I’m not going to re-read it, but I don’t regret reading it, and Allende is a great writer, so definitely check her out, if you haven’t, one of my personal favourites is Eva Luna.

A Hugo winner/nominee

The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells are now some of my new favourite books ever. Technically, All System Red was the book bingo book, but ASR just grabbed me by the throat and wouldn’t let go until I’d read the rest of the series. The story takes place in a future dystopian spacefaring world, so on paper it’s a lot of things I don’t usually like to read. Buuut… It was amazing. They are like action movies in book form, they are just so fast-paced and exciting. And I love Murderbot as a narrator, and their whole attitude of “humans and emotions eeeww… but I also kinda do like the humans, maaybee”. I am very seriously considering buying my own copies of the series, because I have borrowed them from the library three times by now. I definitely recommend this series, so give it a try, the books are mostly pretty short, so they are a quick read.

A book recommended by someone with a different reading taste

The Passengers by John Marss was recommended to me by my friend’s boyfriend at a Christmas lunch (We have very different tastes in books, though it was fun talking about favourite books with someone who had such radically different reading preferences). The Passengers is a sci-fi thriller about self-driving cars being hacked and set on a collision course, and the whole thing being streamed by the hacker to the public, so they can vote for who survives. The story was interesting, but (unsurprisingly) not really to my reading taste. The whole concept of televising people’s misery for entertain, it just makes me weary (this is also the reason I’ve never managed to read more than the first Hunger Games book). Though the book did bring up some interesting points on how a self-driving car must be programmed to what is the acceptable cost, if an accident is unavoidable, and the ethical issues this creates. This key feature was definitely the most interesting dilemma for me in the book. I did like it, but I’m probably not going to read anything else by John Marss.

A children’s book that was published more than 50 years ago

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett was a very slow-paced book and not a lot happened. A girl’s parents die, and she is sent to live with her uncle. She meets her cousin and they get into the garden. It was a very zen read for me, I read it mostly before sleeping, and there was a lot of descriptions of nature. The adults of the novel were mostly not that great at looking after children, as they mostly left them to their own devices, but that’s the adult outlook, I guess if they were more attentive, the children would have less opportunities for adventures. A very sweet book, I would recommend it if you are looking for a classic relaxing children’s book.

A book from your opponent’s bookshelves

Gothic Short Stories is a collection of short stories by a variety of author, and as such the quality and writing of the stories varies. Overall, they were mostly pretty good, and the collection is a great way to get introduced to a lot of different writers. There were definitely a couple I hadn’t heard of before. Gothic horror is probably my favourite kind of horror, because it mostly in the ambiance, so I don’t really find them too scary for me. I would recommend if you are interested in Gothic horror, but don’t want to commit to a full-length novel, but if you do want to commit to a novel, I personally like Dracula.

A book with a question in the title

Whose body? By Dorothy L Sayers. It was a good book, well-written and interesting, though the antisemitism and racism did drag it down somewhat. The book is the first in the Lord Peter Wimsey series, Peter Wimsey solves crime as a hobby (like Sherlock Holmes, miss Marble, Father Brown, etc.), so when a naked body shows up in his friend’s bathroom, he decides to get involved. I wouldn’t mind reading more by Dorothy Sayers but it’s not on the top of my to-read pile. If you are looking for a cosy mystery read, this one is pretty decent.

A book with one of your favorite tropes, but a genre you usually don’t read

The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer was a delightful read. Due to her father being out of the country, Sophy is staying wither aunt and cousins. She then proceeds to meddle in their affairs and love lives and delightful shenaniganry follows. I’ve never read regency romance, before but I really enjoyed this book, and I’m definitely adding more Georgette Heyer books to my to-read. The Trope is The Chessmaster (and I guess the trope Genre Savvy would also fit) I really like reading about people being exceptionally good at what they do (Leverage is my top 1 favourite comfort show), and while I don’t have any experience with the regency romance genre, it was great fun to read about Sophy setting up situations so they fall out in her/her cousins favour. If any of this sounds interesting to you, you should definitely read the book.

Re-read a novel/novella you were ‘forced’ to read in School or High School

I wasn’t looking forward to this category, because the books of choice for my “generation” in school (or possibly just my teacher’s preference) were either sad, tragic, social realism or historical realism or a combination of all of these. Thus, my choices of topics were: cancer, tuberculosis, starvation, chronic illness, mental illness/institutionalization, witch burnings (I remember this one especially well because one of the scenes made me physically ill, so I got sent home from school), but I digress. Anyway, I went with Starvation. Hungerbarnet [eng:~ The Famished Child] by Cecil Bødker is a historical novel about Denmark in the 1800 something, the main character is a boy who gets sent out to serve at a farm, because his family cannot feed him at home. While there he meets and befriend an orphan girl named Tinke. Then he finds out that Tinke is currently sharing a hovel with the rotting corpse of her mother and decides to bring her back to the farm he works for and the story goes from there. The book is not only about the physical hunger/starvation but also it’s about the children being starved for love. It was good and not as sad as I remembered, and it had a happy ending. If historical realism is your thing, and you’re interested in reading a middle grade book, this one is pretty good, or at least it’s not all doom and gloom.

A book you wish had existed for your teenage self to read

Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger, this was a difficult category for me, so I mostly chose the book, because I feel I would have enjoyed it more as a teen. The plot and the world were fascinating, but the story pacing was kind of stop and go, so every time I was getting into the plot, the pacing would slow down for some backstory. I think, if I had read it as a teenager, I would have absolutely loved it, even with the stop and go pacing, because I would have been closer to the main characters age. A pretty good read nonetheless, would recommend to a teenage audience. Sidenote: the illustrations are beautiful.

A book from your Goodreads recommendations

Fangs by Sarah Andersen was a very cute and funny story, but also pretty forgettable. It’s about a vampire Ellie and a werewolf Jimmy, who falls in love. If I owned the book, I think it would be the kind of story where I would read a couple of pages from time to time as a pick me up. It was nice to read a vampire/werewolf romance without the high-stakes, mortal enemies setup. I would recommend it if you are in the mood for a funny and adorable slice of life love story.

A book with an unreliable narrator

The Perks of being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky… I’m mad at this book, so I don’t have a lot to say. It’s a classic, but I cannot recommend it.

A book by an African author

The Famished Road by Ben Okri was a fever dream of a book and definitely the reason I lost. The story is about Azaro, who is a spirit child, and the things that he sees happening around with him. Azaro doesn’t take initiative in the story, it’s just things happening to him or things he is witnessing. I found the style disjointed and hard to follow. I don’t really think I got the book, and I don’t think I’m ever going to read anything written by Ben Okri. I really should have found a different book, but I was too stubborn to give up since I’d already suffered the first 100 pages at that point. I would recommend reading Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie instead, in my experience she is much more readable.

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Content Warnings

Maya’s Notebook: Addiction, rape, drug/substance abuse

All Systems Red: Violence, gun violence, death, murder, injury, slavery

The Passengers: Death, car accident, suicide, violence, murder, pedophilia

The Secret Garden: Racism, ableism, chronic illness, death of parent, racial slur

Gothic Short Stories: Chronic illness, conefinement, death, animal death, child death, emitional abuse

Whose Body?: Antisemitism, racial slur, panic attack, medical content, murder

The Grand Sophy: Antisemitism, gun violence, misogyny, sexism,

Hungerbarnet: Death of parent, starvation, abandonment, classism, mental illness, child abuse,

Elatsoe: Death, grief, car accident, racism, murder, animal death

Fangs: Blood, death, murder,

The Perks of Being a Wallflower: mental illness, sexual assault, drug use, homophobia, child abuse, suicide

The Famished Road: Violence, child abuse, domestic abuse, colonisation

Book Review: The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle

I chose to read this book purely because the title intrigued me and the summary on the back made it seem very interesting, which it was, but…. (Some spoilers)

Book Bingo Reviews 2022

Guess who won Book Bingo this year. I will attribute my victory to, on the one hand, the fact that one of the first books I read was Offline, which made me change some of my internet habits, and thus gave me more time to read. On the other hand, I really wanted to win this year, so I made a dedicated effort not to get too distracted by other books. Now, I better get started on the reviews. (No spoilers below)

An Asian novel – Before the coffee gets cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

It is really four “short stories” which weave together into a greater narrative. The story takes place in a small back-alley café in Tokyo, where if the circumstances are just right, you can travel back in time, but only as long as it will take your coffee to grow cold. It is interesting to see how differently the various character uses this opportunity to go back to the past, knowing that they cannot change it or the present. It’s a very emotional story/stories and I found myself tearing up a couple of times. I would recommend it, if you are looking for heart-warming and heart-wrenching stories, and want to feel Emotions.

Bram’tober: Dracula

Finally, I have reached the novel Bram Stoker is most famous for; Dracula. Everybody has probably heard about Dracula, and it hardly feels like it needs any introduction. The first time, I read it, I did not have a lot of expectations to the story, except (you know) vampires, and I was a bit sceptical at the beginning, because I could not quite figure out what was happening. Although, once I got further into the story, I was hooked and I ended up absolutely loving it.

Book Review: Piranesi

I don’t know how I feel about Piranesi by Susanna Clarke. On one hand, I’m glad I’ve read it. On the other hand, I probably wouldn’t have read it, if I had known more about it. And on the third hand, I can’t really see how it could be improved, so I have very mixed feelings about it. I’ll be working through my feelings below (so medium spoilers) 

Book Review: Always Never

This is going to be a very short review. I have been trying to read a bit more diversely than I usual do (outside of book bingo), and doing so, I have discovered some real gems, like this is one. Always Never [original title: Malgré tout] by Jordi Lafebre is a love story, but a very unusual one. (Some spoilers in the trigger warnings at the end of the post)

Best Reviewed Cold: The Initial Insult

The Initial Insult by Mindy McGinnis is a YA thriller, which is not a genre I read a lot of and those I have read has been “adult” thrillers, but if all YA thrillers are like this one, I’m definitely going to read more of them in the future. It is also a retelling of Edgar Allan Poe A Cask of Amontillado, so let’s start with a brief summary of that story. (There are some spoilers in the trigger warnings at the end of this post)

Book Review: Where the Drowned Girls Go

Where the Drowned Girls Go by Seanan McGuire was amazing, and it broke the formula for the series. Instead of exploring one of the worlds behind the doors, the “normal” world was expanded, and we got to see the dark mirror to Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children in the Whitethorn Institute (minor spoilers and trigger warnings below)

Book Bingo Reviews 2021: I Guess There is Always Next Year

I didn’t win, so next year will be the tie breaker. I’m not exactly surprised, because I cannot finish a book without starting three others. I guess I’m just not a one book person. Anyway, the reviews are below.

A Classical Science Fiction Novel

En verdensomsejling under havet [eng: Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea] by Jules Verne is the story of how professor Ignores-all-the-red-flags-for-SCIENCE! Aronnax together with his two companions, his assistant Must-categorise-everything Conseil and the Canadian Only-sane-man-here-why-don’t-anyone-listen-to-him? Ned Land are kidnapped (or saved from drowning, it’s debatable) by Captain All-the-red-flags Nemo. I loved it. It’s been a couple of years, since I’ve last read Jules Verne, so I knew I’d probably like it if it was like the other books, I had read. Jules Verne is a hard science fiction writer, so there tends to be lot of science stuff and calculation and in this case marine biology in his books. If that’s not your thing, you should probably read an abridged version. I’ll admit, I got a little tired of Conseil categorizing everything all the time, and there was many description of the food they ate, so I got hungry every time I was reading. However, I did really appreciate the lifelike descriptions of the Nautilus and the sea. Originally, I planned on reading Asimov for this category, but unfortunately there were no digitally available copies of his books at the library. Once I had finished the book, I discovered that there is a sequel, where the mysterious past of captain Nemo is revealed, I briefly considered reading it, but decided that I like my Captain Nemo as a mysterious crazy person. I would definitely recommend Jules Verne, if you want to read some classic science fiction, or an abrigded version if you want to skip some of the longwinded science.

A Book from NPR’s Book Concierge 2020