Finished Three Days to Never by Tim Powers. First half was pretty dense and slow, but second half, when things were getting obvious, and plans finally getting into motion, were very interesting, and was able to read them in just a few days.

It meets criteria for at least 3 different Bingo boxes, not sure where to place it. Would decide it later. ( @[email protected] We can do that right? Move them around different boxes after reading more books?)

Now I have just started Sunreach by Brandon Sanderson and Janci Patterson. It's first of three novellas, which are between book 2 and 3. (Well, third novella is generally recommended to be read after book 3, but that's a separate topic). It's a small book, so hopefully will be able to finish it soon.

What about all of you? What have you been reading or listening to lately?

A regular reminder about our Book Bingo, and it's Recommendation Post

We will be unfeaturing those posts now, so they won't be sticky on the top anymore. They will be mentioned in each weekly thread though, and you can also check them in community sidebar.

Continuing Three Days to Never by Tim Powers, I was around first quarter mark before, but have crossed the half mark now. The books has gotten really interesting, will probably finish this week, if nothing comes up.

What about all of you? What have you been reading or listening lately?

A reminder about our Book Bingo. Take look, if you haven't already.

After reading a non-fiction book, do you beat yourself up over not remembering all that much? This is especially painful if the book took years to complete (e.g. Anne Applebaum's "Gulag").

It's a bit ridiculous to expect to become an Encyclopedia after reading something in passing too, though.

I feel as if working with a computer and using the internet daily destroyed my attention span, which is why I'm self concious about this.

Enshittification of Libby & Overdrive. This was long time coming. This deserves attention and we need more independent libraries.
https://tweesecake.social/@weirdwriter/112465274302648993

@bookstodon @books #books #ebooks

A very busy week, didn't get to do any reading at all.

What about all of you? What have you been reading or listening lately?

A reminder about our Book Bingo. Take look, if you haven't already.

Any recommendations for something like "Amusing Ourselves to Death" but written after the internet became mainstream?

Something recently had me thinking about the book "Amusing Ourselves to Death" that made me want to give it a re-read, and as relevant as the main ideas still are for today, I wondered if there is a more recent book that is just as well received on the topic of society's addiction to amusement.

My first experience was the Ready Player duology by Ernest Cline and the This Trilogy is Broken 4 book series by JP Valentine. I’ve also had many recommendations for Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman.

The Ready Player series was basically an ok story with a “hey, remember this thing from the 80’s‽” through-line. And while some of the jokes felt forced, the Valentine Series overall was a ton of fun and I couldn’t stop reading it.

What else have you really enjoyed? (This genre lends itself towards a couple of Bingo squares too. )

Bought couple of books for my young one, and just read through them.

• Read Race to the Rescue By Zanib Mian, book 2 of her "Meet the Maliks - Twin Detective". It's kinda like The Wimpy Kid, but about twin Muslim kids and their family.
• Read The Stonekeeper by Kazu Kibuishi. Book 1 of Amulet series. A 9 book series of graphic novels for kids.

What about all of you? What have you been reading or listening lately?

And how many of you are taking part in our Books Bingo? Any progress yet?

I think it's a tobacco trial. The main character is the wife of one of the jurors? I think the bad guy / big company is trying to buy the jurors out by using the services of the wife

• Official Thread Link Here
• Commentary

Have you really enjoyed reading a work that qualifies and want to recommend it to others? This is the prime spot to help people out with those recommendations.

The way this thread works is that this thread will contain one top level comment for each Bingo square. In order to preserve the organization and readability of this post, please limit recommendations to only replies on those top-level comments. We will be removing comments that don't follow this rule for for this specific post.

You can scroll through the thread or use the links above if your reader supports comment linking directly.

Reminder, Please DO NOT make comments that are not replies to a prepopulated top-level comment. Your comment will just be removed without any additional info.

Want to read more, but need motivation or direction? Want to gamify or expand your reading? Try book bingo! Our hope with this challenge is to provide a fun way for you to keep up with your reading goals throughout the next 12 months.

How does it work?

The goal is to read something that fits the theme for each bingo square in any single row, column, or corner diagonal of your choice (one work per theme/square). If you would like to, you’re welcome to complete the entire card (or multiple cards). But to clarify, normal bingo rules apply, you only need 5 in a row for a bingo.

Since this is about helping you along in your reading journey, there’s no requirement to read any particular kind of work. Prefer a different format, like graphic novels or audio books? Go for it. Want to read in a different language? Cool. Only have time or energy for single short stories. That’s fine, too. You can read fiction of any genre, nonfiction of any topic, books of poetry, or whatever else interests you, as long as it works for the square. We wanted this to be as open and flexible as possible, to be welcoming to as many people as possible.

We hope you’ll participate in the community throughout the year by sharing how you’re doing with bingo, helping others with suggestions, and posting your feelings about what you’re reading in dedicated threads or the weekly "What are you reading?" thread.

In mid-April, 2025, we'll put up a turn-in post to collect what everyone's been reading; we'll be using that thread to put together a summary, once the bingo period ends. Additionally, if there's a way to provide community flair or some other recognition to participants, that's how we'll determine eligibility. So, if you want to be counted and/or recognized, please make sure to contribute to that post, even if you've made other bingo posts or comments during the year!

Rules

• You must read a different work for every square you complete, even across multiple cards. There is no conflict, however, with overlapping other reading challenges that aren't associated with c/Books.
• Repeating authors on the same card isn’t forbidden (especially for the “There Is Another…” and “Same Author, New Work” squares), but we encourage you to read as new to you or different authors for every square on a card.
• Likewise, we encourage you to primarily read things you haven’t read before.
• If you’re having trouble filling a certain square, we’ve provided a few alternates you can substitute in (see below). Please limit your substitutions to one per card.
• The 2024 Bingo period lasts May 1st, 2024 – April 30th, 2025. Anything you finish during that time period is eligible, as long as you were no more than halfway through on May 1st.

Upping the Difficulty

Want an additional challenge? Try one of these, or come up with a variation of your own (and share them!).

• Hard Mode: Each square description includes an optional extra restriction to the theme, which you can do or ignore on a square-by-square basis. It's up to you!
• Genre Mode: Read only one genre.
• Review Mode: Write a review (ratings alone don’t count) for the books you read for bingo, either here on c/Books, a personal blog, Bookwyrm, The Storygraph, Hardcover.app, or elsewhere.

The Card

Link to a bigger copy

The Squares

Row 1

• 1A - Older Than You Are: Published before your birthdate. HARD MODE: Published before 1924.
• 1B - Water, Water Everywhere: The title refers to some form or body of water. HARD MODE: Not liquid water.
• 1C - What’s Yours Is Mine: Theft, piracy, fraud, or espionage is a major topic or plot point. HARD MODE: No MacGuffins.
• 1D - Family Drama: Family is important, but sometimes it's also the cause of problems. Family dynamics are fundamental to the narrative. HARD MODE: Involves three or more generations of family members.
• 1E - It Takes Two: Written by two or more authors. HARD MODE: Written by three or more authors.

Row 2

• 2A - New Release: New for 2024/2025 (no reprints or new editions). First translations into your language of choice are allowed. HARD MODE: This is the first work you've read by this author.
• 2B - Plays With Words: Written in a stylistically unconventional way. HARD MODE: Fits the definition of Experimental Literature.
• 2C - Independent Author: Self-published by the author. Works later published though a conventional publishing house don't count unless you are reading it before the switch, and it's republished before April 30th, 2025. HARD MODE: Not published via Amazon Kindle Direct.
• 2D - Bookception: Features a book-related aspect. HARD MODE: Something other than a book, like an author or library.
• 2E - Disability Representation: A main character has or gains a disability to which they must adapt. This disability must be grounded in reality: if a 4,000 year old Prince of the Shokan lost an arm, that would count; if he became a werewolf, it would not. HARD MODE: The piece is at least partially from their perspective.

Row 3

• 3A - Eazy, Breazy, Read-zie: A light, popcorn-worthy read that’s not real deep (see also “beach read” and “airport novel”). HARD MODE: You actually read it while on a vacation/staycation.
• 3B - Stranger in a Strange Land: The primary PoV is dropped into a completely unfamiliar situation or location. HARD MODE: Not portal fiction or isekai.
• 3C - One Less: A book that’s been on your TBR list for a long time. HARD MODE: Overlaps with at least one other bingo square theme.
• 3D - There Is Another…: Not the first in a series. HARD MODE: Series has 5 or more entries.
• 3E - LGBTQIA+ Lead: A main character identifies as LGBTQIA+. HARD MODE: Includes a significant romance between characters that identify as LGBTQIA+.

Row 4

• 4A - Now a Major Motion Picture: The work has been adapted into a show or single episode, movie, play, audio drama, or other format. HARD MODE: The adaptation is regarded as better than the original work.
• 4B - It’s About Time: The passage or manipulation of time is a major theme or plot driver. HARD MODE: Backward in time, not forward.
• 4C - Award Winner: Has won a significant literature award. HARD MODE: More than one award.
• 4D - Mashup: A combination of two or more genres or non-fiction topics. HARD MODE: Unusual combo, like fantasy thriller.
• 4E - Local to You: The author lives in or writes about a location local to you (city, state, province, territory, etc.). HARD MODE: The author has spent a significant amount of time there, but wasn't born there.

Row 5

• 5A - Debut Work: An author’s first work. HARD MODE: The author is widely regarded as having a profound impact on the genre/topic.
• 5B - It's a Holiday: Takes place during a specific holiday, which is significant to the plot. HARD MODE: Not Christmas, a fictional variation of Christmas, or other winter festival.
• 5C - Institutional: Set at a non-commercial institution or facility, like a school, science lab, or prison. HARD MODE: Not a school.
• 5D - Minority Author: Minority or LGBTQIA+ author. A minority can be any member of a generally underrepresented population where you live. HARD MODE: Minority and LGBTQIA+.
• 5E - Among the Stars: Features space, astronomy, or stardom. HARD MODE: The title references the theme, too.

Alternates

These are available as swaps if one of the categories is difficult for your chosen genre, or if it fits better with your reading preferences. There is no obligation to do these otherwise.

• Same Author, New Work: An author you’ve read before, but a series (or standalone) you haven’t. HARD MODE: Give an author you didn’t like a second chance.
• She Blinded Me With Science: The author has a background and degree in a hard science. HARD MODE: More than one post graduate degree.
• Pseudonymous Work: Published under a pen name. HARD MODE: The author generally never writes under their own name.
• Translated: Not originally in your native tongue. HARD MODE: Has been translated into at least ten other languages. This Wikipedia page is a good place to start for widely translated works.
• A Change in Perspective: Written in third-person perspective. HARD MODE: Second-person perspective.

Resources

If you make or find any bingo-related resources, ping or DM me so I can add them here. Thanks!

• 2024 Bingo Recommendations List
• The Storygraph Reading Challenge - You don’t need to use The Storygraph or any other reading tracker to do this challenge, this is just an additional support tool for those interested.

Appreciation

• This challenge is inspired by, but totally separate from, the one run by r/Fantasy on Reddit. We deeply appreciate the past organizers and the work they did that we are now benefitting from.
• Thank you for so much to misericordiae for the design and production of the card.
• 2024 bingo card font credits: Bungee Shade, by David Jonathan Ross; Roboto Condensed, by Christian Robertson.

His notable works include The New York Trilogy (1987), Moon Palace (1989), The Music of Chance (1990), The Book of Illusions (2002), The Brooklyn Follies (2005), Invisible (2009), Sunset Park (2010), Winter Journal (2012), and 4 3 2 1 (2017). His books have been translated into more than forty languages.

Hi all, I’m taking over the weekly c/Books post this week to talk about what’s happening on the First of May.

But first things first, my update…

I’m finishing up Illumination by T. Kingfisher. I only found her within the last 2 years, but I’m loving all of her stuff.

On to Bingo. In 2 days, in the morning (US Central Time because that’s where I live), I’ll put up a post with details for Bingo. Our hope is to provide a some additional motivation or even gamification of reading over the next year. There are 25 categories that we’ve tried to craft to be flexible no matter what your chosen genre or category are. We’ll additionally have a post where you can find or post recommendations for each category. And throughout the year we’ll post check-ins for those who are participating.

Dresden, Misericordiae, and I are excited and hope you’ll join us.

A fix-up (or fixup) is a novel created from several short fiction stories that may or may not have been initially related or previously published. The stories may be edited for consistency, and sometimes new connecting material, such as a frame story or other interstitial narration, is written for the new work.

I'd just never heard the term before this article popped up last night. Thought maybe it might be a new thing for some of you, as well!

Whole series is fully translated to German.

Back in the mid 90’s Steve Perry wrote Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire and an orchestral soundtrack was published to go with it.

Since then, If I’m getting in to a book where I’m just focusing on reading (vs reading while I wait for an appointment for example) I like to try and match music with the style of book I’m reading. I have playlists where Gritty detective action gets groups like Street Cleaner, classic Fantasy gets soundtracks like this from The Elder Scrolls steampunk gets Lindsey Stirling and space operas get soundtracks from games like Halo or movies like Interstellar.

Do any of you do anything similar and if so do you mind sharing what you pair?