Showing posts with label Bingo 2019. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bingo 2019. Show all posts

Sunday, 29 December 2019

Wrap up of my 2019 challenges - let's see how I went!

It's that time of year when we look back over our challenge pledges and see how we went.

You can read my 2019 sign up post here 

My first one was the Book Lover Book Review Aussie Author Challenge. 

 
I signed up for Kangaroo level:
4 x female authors, 4 x Male authors, 4 x New to me authors, 3 x genres.
My completed challenge was:
38 x Female authors, 5 x Male authors, 26 x New to me authors, 8 x Genres. With a total of 43 books read.

I was happy with the results here but I definitely need to increase my male Aussie authors in 2020.

You can see the full list of books here

Next up was the Australian Women Writers Challenge. 

I nominated to read and review 30 books for this challenge.
My completed challenge was 38 books read and reviewed.

You can see the full list of books here

A new challenge for me this year was the Ginger Mum and Company A - Z challenge.

Read a book for every letter of the alphabet. I managed to read 23 of the 26 letters.
Check here to see which books I read and what letters I missed. 

Another new to me challenge was the Book Bingo challenge hosted by Theresa Smith Writes , Mrs B’s Book Reviews and The Book Muse.
 
I was a slightly worried about this one but I did manage to finish the whole bingo card of 30 books. You can read my wrap up post here
 
My final challenge was the Aussie Readers Group (on Goodreads) annual colour challenge. Read 2 books each with covers of 6 different colours. 
You can see the books and covers I chose here 

Well that's a wrap for 2019. Some challenges I will be sticking with in 2020 and some I will be dropping but I am sure I will pick up a couple more.
Look out for my 2020 challenge sign up post coming soon. 

 

 

Saturday, 21 December 2019

Book Bingo 2019 end of year wrap up #BookBingo

Book Bingo is a reading challenge hosted by Theresa Smith Writes , Mrs B’s Book Reviews and The Book Muse. Over the course of the year each participant was required to read 30 books relating to the squares on the bingo card. I had a lot of fun trying to find books that were already on my TBR that fit into each category. I didn't want to buy new books if I could help it.
The year started off fairly easy with so many categories to choose from but I knew there were a few I would struggle with such as nonfiction, author over 65 and book written more than 10 years ago. Quite often it was not a matter of not having a book to read but finding time to read the books. Anyway I did manage to finish the full card and I am very pleased with myself.
Below is the full list of books read for the challenge.


Book with a red cover - The Ex
Beloved classic - Brer Rabbit Again
Novel that has 500 pages or more - The Butterfly Room
Novella no more than 150 pages - Christmas With the Boss
Prize winning  book - Exit West
Book by an author with same initials as you - Victoria James - Christmas with the Sheriff
Non Fiction book about an event - Renia's Diary
Fictional biography about a woman in history - Making Trouble - Tongued with Fire
Memior about a non-famous person - Wish You Were Here
Book written by an Australian woman more than 10 years ago - Odd One Out
Themes of Science Fiction - Rogue
Themes of culture - Tidelands
Themes of Justice - In a Great Southern Land
Themes of Inequality - The Librarian of Auschwitz
Themes of Fantasy The Ruin of Kings 
A book with a place in the title - The Cinema at Starlight Creek
A book set in the Australian outback - Home at Last
Book set on the Australian coast - Sixty Seconds
Book set in the Australian mountains - The Pink Snowman
Set in an exotic location: The Christmas Lights
Written by an Australian man -  The Secrets She Keeps
Written by an Australian Woman - The Wrong Callahan
Written by an author under 35 -  Baby
Written by an author over 65 - The Invention of Wings 
Written by an author you've never read before: Louis & Louise
Literary Fiction -  Bridge of Clay
Crime -  Death of an Old Girl
Historical - The Glovemaker
Romance -  The Secret Son's Homecoming
Comedy - Our Stop


I will definitely be joining in again for 2020 and I urge everyone to join in next year. There are really no hard and fast rules and sometimes the categories are open to your interpretation making this a fun relaxed challenge.  

#BookBingo2019

Saturday, 7 December 2019

Book Bingo - Round 25 #BookBingo

Book Bingo is a reading challenge hosted by Theresa Smith Writes , Mrs B’s Book Reviews and The Book Muse. Every second Saturday, book bingo participants reveal which bingo category they have read and what book they chose. 

This week I have chosen the category ''Comedy"



A Comedy

For this category I have chosen "Our Stop". This is a light easy to read Romantic Comedy or RomCom. Daniel see a cute girl on his train every morning and instead of talking to her (because that would be weird) puts an add in the love connections column in the paper. Nadia reads it and answers. The story goes back and forward with a few times their paths actually crossing and almost crossing and they don't realise. Laura Jane Williams has included a few relevant dating topics without sounding preachy. Lots of fun and laugh out loud moments.

You can read my full review here 


#BookBingo2019

We have come to the end of Book Bingo for 2019 as the last category has now been filled. Next fortnight we will all have a wrap up of the books we have picked over the year.

Thank you to Theresa, Amanda, Ashleigh, Claire, Jenny who have all made this such a fun challenge to participate in. I'm looking forward to next year's challenge.

 
 

Saturday, 23 November 2019

Book Bingo - Round 24 #BookBingo

Book Bingo is a reading challenge hosted by Theresa Smith Writes , Mrs B’s Book Reviews and The Book Muse. Every second Saturday, book bingo participants reveal which bingo category they have read and what book they chose. 

This week I have chosen the category ''Non-Fiction book about an event"




A Non-Fiction book about an event:

For this category I have chosen "Renia's Diary". This is the true diary of a young girl from the the age of 15 to 18 during the German occupation of Poland. What I loved, but was also extremely sad, about this diary was Renia was writing this in the moment, as opposed to after the event as some diaries are written. She was oblivious to how bad things were going to get.
You can read my full review here  




 #BookBingo2019












Saturday, 9 November 2019

Book Bingo - Round 23 #BookBingo

Book Bingo is a reading challenge hosted by Theresa Smith Writes , Mrs B’s Book Reviews and The Book Muse. Every second Saturday, book bingo participants reveal which bingo category they have read and what book they chose. 

This week I have chosen the category ''Book by an author with the same initials as you"
and as we have had to do a few double up weeks to fit all the categories in I am also doing "A book set in the Australian mountains".



A book by an author with the same initials as you:

For this category I did a quick search on Amazon to find an eBook I could read and came across Victoria James. What a great find! She has a whole swag of novels in the romance genre and I picked Christmas with the Sheriff the first book in her Shadow Creek, Montana series. 
I absolutely loved this best friends to lovers story. It's such a well worn trope but who doesn't love a happily ever after ending.
Julia is shattered after the death of her husband and son and flees her home town to live in the city. She returns five years later to spend Christmas with her in-laws. When she runs into best friend, now town sheriff, Chase, sparks begin to fly. But Julia is not ready to open her heart to loss again.
Victoria James knows how to bring out the emotion with themes of child neglect, loss and deep seated wounds but the story also has uplifting themes of family, community and second chances. 


My second category is:

A book set in the Australian Mountains:

I searched my shelves for a book to fit this category and came across this cute chapter book I purchased through Big Sky Publishing.
The Pink Snowman by Alan Horsfield is set in the Blue Mountains. 

It's snowing in the Blue Mountains and Krystal is bored...but not for long.
After a disasterous attempt to build a snowman, Krystal and her friend Jasper find themselves with a puzzling problem.
Not only has their snowman come alive, now he's turning pink, and he's not happy about it! 

This was a fun little chapter book with a couple of facts about snow and a few dad jokes thrown in and a touch of magical realism. 



#BookBingo2019

   

Saturday, 26 October 2019

Book Bingo - Round 22 #BookBingo

Book Bingo is a reading challenge hosted by Theresa Smith Writes , Mrs B’s Book Reviews and The Book Muse. Every second Saturday, book bingo participants reveal which bingo category they have read and what book they chose. 

This week I have chosen the category ''A beloved classic"
and as we have had to do a few double up weeks to fit all the categories in I am also doing "A book written by an Australian woman more than 10 years ago".



A beloved classic:

For this category I have chosen 'Brer Rabbit Again by Enid Blyton'

I'm so glad I pulled this down from my shelves after many, many years. I remember as a child thinking how funny and tricky Brer Rabbit was. You would think a fox would be wily and cunning but Brer Rabbit outwits him every time and he can't quite figure out how.

"There is a trick somewhere!" thought Brer Wolf to himself.
"Brer Bear knew there was a trick somewhere. But what it was he could NOT think." 

The animals fight, steal and plot against each other and Brer Rabbit always comes out laughing in these wits against brawn tales.
Anthropomorphism has always been and will continue to be a part of children's literature. Using animals to act out real life situations can be less confrontational for children.

My much loved copy. At some stage the dust jacket has become torn so I have cut it out and sticky taped it to the cover. 😃

A book written by an Australian woman more than 10 years ago:

For this category I have chosen 'Odd One Out by Monica McInerney'
Published in 2006.

I would like to thank another bingo participant Jenny for this book idea. I wasn't sure what I would read for this category preferring to find books on my shelf rather than buy more. When I saw Jenny use this book I knew I had it on my shelf and it was the perfect choice.

Sylvie Devereaux comes from a Sydney based family of successful, artistic people. She was the dogsbody always running around doing jobs for her mother and two sisters. She organised their lives and she was good at it but they didn't appreciate her. Her older brother lived in Melbourne. She didn't see him often but he was always on her side. He encourages her to come to Melbourne for a holiday. Away from all the hectic organising Sylvie gets a chance to reevaluate her life.

I loved Sylvie immediately. She had a heart of gold and even though she was being manipulated by her family I don't think the family could see how they were treating her. She really needed to stand up for herself.
The story is full of natural banter and humour which makes for an easy and fun read. It's not all plain sailing for Sylvie as she has some highs and lows before she finally decides to do what she wants to do in life.
The character of Great Aunt Mill is wonderful. She is in her 70's. Her health is declining a bit and some of the family may think she is a bit loopy but she is always there for Sylvie with some sound advice and a few handy hints.



 #BookBingo2019

Saturday, 12 October 2019

Book Bingo - Round 21 #BookBingo

Book Bingo is a reading challenge hosted by Theresa Smith Writes , Mrs B’s Book Reviews and The Book Muse. Every second Saturday, book bingo participants reveal which bingo category they have read and what book they chose. 

This week I have chosen the category 'Themes of Science Fiction'



Themes of Science Fiction:

For this category I have chosen 'Rogue by A.J. Betts
.


Rogue is set in 2119 a dystopian world that was only 2 Billion people. I enjoyed Betts first novel 'Hive' which ended on a cliff-hanger so I was eager to read the sequel 'Rogue' to see how the story would pan out. I was not disappointed 'Rogue' was action packed, fast paced and easy to follow.

You can read my review of Rogue HERE


#BookBingo2019
 

   

Saturday, 28 September 2019

Book Bingo - Round 20 #BookBingo

Book Bingo is a reading challenge hosted by Theresa Smith Writes , Mrs B’s Book Reviews and The Book Muse. Every second Saturday, book bingo participants reveal which bingo category they have read and what book they chose. 

This week I have chosen the category 'A Prize Winning Book'



A prize winning book:

For this category I have chosen 'Exit West' by Mohsin Hamid
.


I really wanted to use 'Boy Swallows Universe' for this category and I've had it waiting on my TBR pile but time got the best of me and now we are nearing the end of book bingo I'm starting to struggle with the time to read books that fit each category.


Exit West fits perfectly even though I found the writing a bit strange the concept of the book is very timely; refuges fleeing war torn countries looking for a better life but coming up against prejudice and suspicion.

Exit West has a long list of Literary awards:  Booker Prize Nominee (2017), Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Fiction (2017), National Book Critics Circle Award Nominee for Fiction (2017), Andrew Carnegie Medal Nominee for Fiction (2018), Folio Prize Nominee (2018) Kirkus Prize Nominee for Fiction (2017), Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Fiction (2017), Brooklyn Public Library Literary Prize Nominee for Fiction (2017), International Dublin Literary Award Nominee for Shortlist (2019), Aspen Words Literary Prize (2018) 

You can read my review of Exit West here 


 #BookBingo2019

 

 

Saturday, 14 September 2019

Book Bingo - Round 19 #BookBingo

Book Bingo is a reading challenge hosted by Theresa Smith Writes , Mrs B’s Book Reviews and The Book Muse. Every second Saturday, book bingo participants reveal which bingo category they have read and what book they chose. 

This week I have chosen the category 'Themes of Culture'




Themes of Culture:

For this category I have chosen 'Tidelands'
by Philippa Gregory.


Tidelands is set in 1648 and the culture of that era runs throughout the novel.
Harvest festivals, religion, marriage and food are some of the cultural elements in the story.

You can read my review of Tidelands here 



#BookBingo 2019

 

Saturday, 31 August 2019

Book Bingo - Round 18 #BookBingo

Book Bingo is a reading challenge hosted by Theresa Smith Writes , Mrs B’s Book Reviews and The Book Muse. Every second Saturday, book bingo participants reveal which bingo category they have read and what book they chose. 

This week I have chosen the category 'Book with a Red cover'




Book with a Red Cover:

For this category I have chosen The Ex by Nicola Moriarty.
It's pretty self explanatory why I've chosen this book..... the cover is red!! 

This is a thrilling page-turner about a woman that enters a relationship but finds that the ex-girlfriend is in denial and cannot let go. Things get really crazy when she finally confronts her.
 
You can read my review of The Ex here 



 #BookBingo 2019

Saturday, 17 August 2019

Book Bingo - Round 17 #BookBingo

Book Bingo is a reading challenge hosted by Theresa Smith Writes , Mrs B’s Book Reviews and The Book Muse. Every second Saturday, book bingo participants reveal which bingo category they have read and what book they chose. 

This week I have chosen the category 'Fictional Biography about a woman in history '.



Yay! I've managed to get two full rows completed. Once again I need to thank Theresa and Amanda for posting their book bingo early and reminding me it's that time again. The fortnights come around so fast.

Fictional Biography about a woman in History.

For this category I have chosen Making Trouble - Tongued with Fire by Sue Ingelton. This was an imagined history of Harriet Elphinstone Dick and her partner Alice C Moon. Two women that started women's gyms in Australia and also introduced Physical Education to girls schools. I don't know whether to thank them you not, I hated PE at school 🌝
 
You can read my full review of Making Trouble  here


#BookBingo 2019

 

Saturday, 3 August 2019

Book Bingo - Round 16 #BookBingo

Book Bingo is a reading challenge hosted by Theresa Smith Writes , Mrs B’s Book Reviews and The Book Muse. Every second Saturday, book bingo participants reveal which bingo category they have read and what book they chose. 

This week I have chosen the category 'Memoir about a non-famous person '.



Memoir about a non-famous person.

For this category I have chosen 'Wish You Were Here' by Sheridan Jobbins

After the devastating end to her marriage Sheridan decides to drive across America in a shiny red sports car. Heartbroken and unprepared she is determined to find herself.
I enjoyed Sheridan's story of love, loss and finding herself. It was fun to be on the journey with her and such a joy to know she found her happy ending.  

You can read my full review of Wish You Were Here HERE 


 #BookBingo2019

 

Saturday, 20 July 2019

Book Review & Book Bingo - Round 15: The Invention of Wings (Historical Fiction)

Book Bingo is a reading challenge hosted by Theresa Smith Writes , Mrs B’s Book Reviews and The Book Muse. Every second Saturday, book bingo participants reveal which bingo category they have read and what book they chose. 

This week I have chosen the category 'A book written by an author over 65'.



Book written by an author over age 65.

The Invention of Wings 
by Sue Monk Kidd 
(born August 12th 1948)

Publisher: Tinder Press 
Publication date:7th January 2014
Pages: 373
Format read: paperback
Source: own read


Sarah Grimke is the middle daughter. The one her mother calls 'difficult' and her father calls 'remarkable'. On Sarah's eleventh birthday, Hetty 'Handful' Grimke is taken from the slave quarters she shares with her mother, wrapped in lavender ribbons, and presented to Sarah as a gift.

Sarah knows that what she does next will unleash a world of trouble. She also knows that she cannot accept control over another human's life as a birthday gift. And so, indeed, the trouble begins ...

A powerful, sweeping novel, inspired by real events, and set in the American Deep South of the early nineteenth century, THE INVENTION OF WINGS evokes a world of shocking contrasts, of beauty and ugliness, and of righteous people living daily with cruelty they fail to recognise. Above all, it celebrates the power of friendship and sisterhood against all the odds.
  





The Invention of Wings is a fictionalised tale of Sarah & Angelina Gimke. Sue Monk Kidd drew inspiration from the sisters real-life exploits, grafting fiction into truth to tell their story.

These two women were the first female abolition agents. Sarah was the first woman in the United States to write a comprehensive feminist manifesto, and Angelina was the first woman to speak before a legislative body. They not only paved the way for the abolition of slavery but also made inroads into women’s rights.

There was quite a lot of hype when The Invention of Wings was published and I’d read a lot of glowing reviews with words like heart-breaking, powerful and disturbing so I was expecting an emotional read. However I was quite underwhelmed. The emotion was missing and the significant attention to the development of the main characters pulled away from the main topic of the story; the harsh treatment of slaves and their right to freedom. I felt a lot of the atrocities, the fear, hunger, diseases, cold, brutal treatment and rape, were dulled down.

The story is told from the point of view of Sarah Gimke and Handful, a young slave girl, given to Sarah for her 11th birthday.
I tried to put myself in Sarah’s shoes; a female from a white aristocratic family. What would I do?
I can never in anyway imagine myself in Handful’s shoes – being owned and having no rights what-so-ever.

The Invention of Wings was a solemn tale, a major part of American history. It is a story of standing up for what you believe and speaking out, but ultimately a story of hope.


🌟🌟🌟
 My rating   3/5

#BookBingo2019