BOTNS #282: BOTNS Summer Reading Bingo!

[Katie]

I just filled my first Bingo square, "Recommended in a BOTNS episode" reading the ARC of Station Eleven -- a lucky snag from BookCon's Random House booth last weekend. Due out in September 2014, it definitely lives up to the buzz. Thank you Ann and Michael for highlighting it in BOTNS episode #271. I highly recommend it! I will be thinking about this one for quite awhile. It could also fulfill the square "With a number in the title".

[Amanda]

I came here to the discussion board to see everyone's thoughts on one book = one square, and the answer I found was the one I was afraid of! "The Goldfinch" could have crossed off so many on my card!

"An audiobook"
"Currently on the bestseller list"
"Longer than 500 pages"
"That you started but never finished"

Man... I guess I will just go with "Currently on the bestseller list."

[Maureen]

For ellen. Ellen gilchrist

[Cathy]

Does anyone have any ideas for the "translation" square ... Without it being something heavy perhaps?

[Harmony]

This a great idea! My family of five is playing! One book per square and audiobooks count...I have a crazy commute. Looks like a blackout summer!

[Victoria]

Is that just a square for something translated from another language? I just read Perspolis and it was translated.

[Sarah]

Why not try one of the Scandinavian thrillers? They are translations and not all that heavy.

[Ellen]

I filled my first square!: Glitter and Glue by Kelly Corrigan for "Biography or memoir." :D

[Meg]

Sarah, that us exactly what I was thinking.

[Maria]

Super-fun idea! I've printed out two cards (agree with Marty - who plays bingo with just one!) and will allow one book to count for one square on each card if applicable - just like in number bingo :)

[Maria]

Sarah wrote: "Why not try one of the Scandinavian thrillers? They are translations and not all that heavy."

I can recommend Sara Blaedel, Jussi Adler-Olsen and Mikkel Birkegaard as some Danish alternatives. The latter has actually written an awesome crime novel featuring books! :)

If you're not keen on thrillers, The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared is one of the best laugh-out-loud books I've read in ages!

[Carey]

I've decided pink is the new red (-: I'm reading , and one of my squares is a book with a red cover. Hope this is kosher!

[Jana]

Cathy wrote: "Does anyone have any ideas for the "translation" square ... Without it being something heavy perhaps?"

I'm not sure about the "weight" of this one, but I'm going to read (even though I don't have a translated book bingo square). This is the same author as The Dinner, which I like to say that I devoured ;-)

[Cathy]

Merci beaucoup for all the translation suggestions ... Very, very helpful!

[Jana]

Cathy wrote: "Merci beaucoup for all the translation suggestions ... Very, very helpful!"

De nada ;-)

[Summer]

If anyone is still looking for translations, I really liked Please Look After Mom -



I also just finished Sayed Kashua's Dancing Arabs, but I don't know if this is for everyone. Having a background on the Palestinian/Israeli conflict would be helpful to reading this, as would knowing that he is not entirely serious about all his narrator's comments -

[Ann]

One of my favorite "popular fiction" translations is The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist. The Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan-Philipp Sendker is another, along with Please Look After Mom as recommended by Summer, above.

[Linda]

More reason to love this group is being proven by this thread - how honest you all are. Wanting to make sure that the letter of the game is observed. I think the spirit of it will abide.

What a wonderful group to belong to when so much of the rest of the world is conniving to get what can be had.

God bless you all. I'm sure She does.

[Melissa Wiebe]

Would love to participate, but due to the fact that I am basically "away" for most of the summer, it might not be doable.

[Laura]

The Housekeeper and the Professor by Ogawa is a translation and is a really lovely book. Recommended. (It's also on the the shorter side, for those who might be trying to fill the whole card. :)

[Andrea]

I'm having so much fun with my bingo board! I'm not strategizing - just seeing where my books fall and wondering if I'll manage a Bingo by the end of the summer. I'm having fun finagling books into categories. I just read an Amish romance by an Amish author and marked "By an author of a different culture" off on my board. That counts, right? I learned a lot about the Amish from the book, so I'm thinking yes :-)

[Melissa]

Andrea-- I am doing the same thing: reading what I planned to read and seeing what happens. And I am using books in my "to be read" pile I have under my nightstand (the pile grew to large to be on the nightstand)!

[Laura]

Melissa wrote: "Andrea-- I am doing the same thing: reading what I planned to read and seeing what happens. And I am using books in my "to be read" pile I have under my nightstand (the pile grew to large to be on..."

Melissa, my TBR has its own bookcase by my side of the bed. *grin* And since the TV/DVD stand has shelves, there may or may not be books on there, too. My lips are sealed.

[Maria]

Melissa wrote: "Andrea-- I am doing the same thing: reading what I planned to read and seeing what happens. And I am using books in my "to be read" pile I have under my nightstand (the pile grew to large to be on..."

Same here :) Have 6 on one card and 7 on the other already :)

[Andrea]

Cathy wrote: "Does anyone have any ideas for the "translation" square ... Without it being something heavy perhaps?"
I'm pretty sure TheElegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery was translated to English from French (someone please correct me if I'm wrong!). It is a beautiful book and while I wouldn't consider it light, I wouldn't call it heavy either. Middle-weight I guess?

[Tina]

Linda wrote: "More reason to love this group is being proven by this thread - how honest you all are. Wanting to make sure that the letter of the game is observed. I think the spirit of it will abide.

What a wo..."

You're a great cheerleader, Linda! Bless you, too.

[Amanda]

I have filled 4 of my squares so far, and 2 are almost ready to be filled once I finish those books. Do you know what has fascinated and shocked me...? All of the books I am currently reading and are interested in reading for this bingo are written by women. I had no idea. One of my squares is "By an author of a different gender" and when I first saw that, I said, "Oh, no problem at all." And somehow, it is a little bit of a problem.

Thank you, Ann and Michael, for this quirky little game. It has really given me some insight into my reading biases.

[Ellen]

Hehehe, Amanda, I'm finding the same thing (and have that same square.)

[Melissa]

Laura wrote: Melissa, my TBR has its own bookcase by my side of the bed. *grin* And since the TV/DVD stand has shelves, there may or may not be books on there, too. My lips are sealed. "

I was spring cleaning this weekend, so I am happy to report the "piles" are a little neater, but you are not alone: books live on every spare shelf in my room, too! :)

[Suzan]

Laura wrote: "The Housekeeper and the Professor by Ogawa is a translation and is a really lovely book. Recommended. (It's also on the the shorter side, for those who might be trying to fill the whole card. :)"

I second that! My sons had to read The Housekeeper and the Professor for high school English, so I read it also last year...and LOVED it!

Sue

Book By Book

[Suzan]

I love this Summer Book Bingo idea! I will go print out my card next. Should be fun.

I am also hosting a summer reading challenge, for anyone interested - the Big Book Summer Challenge - you only have to read a minimum of one book over 400 pages to participate. I love using summer to tackle some of the bigger books I don't have time for the rest of the year! Like others here, I also have an entire TBR bookcase!

Sue

2014 Big Book Summer Challenge

[Carey]

Anybody have any good suggestions for a cozy mystery? I'd love to read something set in present time w/a female protagonist. I started "Death by Cashmere", but I'm not so sure about it. Thanks!

[Amy]

Carey--I'm a fan of the China Bayles series by Susan Wittig Albert. I think those classify as cozy mysteries?

[Michele]

I'm going count one book for one square. For the "Found in a used bookstore" square, I'll have to substitute "Found in the library's used book sale". We don't have a bricks and mortar bookstore, new or used, in town. I'm a bit of an over-achiever, so I'm going for a blackout.

[Maria]

Carey wrote: "Anybody have any good suggestions for a cozy mystery? I'd love to read something set in present time w/a female protagonist. I started "Death by Cashmere", but I'm not so sure about it. Thanks!"

I love Maggie Setton's series. I think the first one is Knit One, Kill Two

[Laura]

Carey, if you scroll back through this thread, there were some other cozy mystery recommendations, and a link to an entire website devoted to listing that type of book. :-)

[Alex]

Does anyone have any good recommendations for a book with a red cover? I was thinking of The Rosie Project, but I already read that. Any other suggestions? Thanks in advance!

[Melissa]

Alexandra wrote: "Does anyone have any good recommendations for a book with a red cover? I was thinking of The Rosie Project, but I already read that. Any other suggestions? Thanks in advance!"

Me Before You has a red cover (that's how I fill that square)!

[Michelle]

Carey wrote: "Anybody have any good suggestions for a cozy mystery? I'd love to read something set in present time w/a female protagonist. I started "Death by Cashmere", but I'm not so sure about it. Thanks!"

How about the Alan Bradley series, starting with The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie?

[Valerie]

How fun! Printed my card today.

I want to recommend March for the graphic novel catagory. Just finished it and it was terrific.

[Lisa]

Alexandra wrote: "Does anyone have any good recommendations for a book with a red cover? I was thinking of The Rosie Project, but I already read that. Any other suggestions? Thanks in advance!"

Roses by G.R Mannering (fairy tale retelling)
Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi (just read for graphic novel square)

[Rachel W]

I'm having a lot of fun with this!! I finished We the Animals by Justin Torres a couple of days ago, it was my "book with a child on the cover" square. Now I'm reading Longbourn as my book borrowed from a library! :)

[Karen]

I've filled two of my squares: With a one-word title: and has been on my TBR for longer than two years: . This is fun!!!

[Readnponder]

Melissa wrote: "Alexandra wrote: "Does anyone have any good recommendations for a book with a red cover? I was thinking of The Rosie Project, but I already read that. Any other suggestions? Thanks in advance!"

Me..."
I have that square too. I'm going with "The Thief of Auschwitz", by a booktopia author from a year or so ago that's been in my stack.

[Linda]

Alexandra wrote: "Does anyone have any good recommendations for a book with a red cover? I was thinking of The Rosie Project, but I already read that. Any other suggestions? Thanks in advance!"

Redshirts

The Catcher in the Rye

America Again: Re-becoming the Greatness We Never Weren't

[Jillian]

My mom and I are both doing summer bingo! We are going to celebrate when we finish our entire board!

[Kelly]

I enjoyed The Invention of Wings (red cover)

[Linda]

Another red cover (how could I have forgotten this one) Glitter and Glue

[Victoria]

Martha wrote: "If anyone is looking for a recommendation for the "With only words on the cover" box, I am nearly done with Katherine Dunn's GEEK LOVE. I have seen it on bookshelves for years and thought it was a ..."

That book was discussed on the podcast not TOO long ago (this year) discussing that it was the book's 25th anniversary. I have not read it.

[Melissa]

I have four squares filled in! My Dad asked me what I win if I get bingo! I said the satisfaction if knowing I read some great summer books.