Devon Book Club discussion

In the photos section you will find a Xmas book bingo card. The challenge is to complete it by end of Boxing Day from books you have read in 2015. Have fun and post when you've
a) completed any row
b) completed any column
c) completed a diagonnal that includes the centre square

If you can complete the whole lot shout FULL BOOKCASE

FULL BOOKCASE!

Ummm... bit embarrassing but I could complete this one straight off as I've read about 130+ books this year so was just a matter of finding the right book for each square:

First row:
A book with >500pages: Birds Without Wings by Louis de Bernières (625pages)
A forgotten classic: Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell
A book that became a movie: The Beach by Alex Garland
A book published this year: My Grandmother Sends Her Regards and Apologises by Fredrik Backman (pub 4/6/15)
A book with a number in the title: Six and a Half Deadly Sins by Colin Cotterill

Second Row:
A book written by someone under thirty: The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton. (she was born 1985 so was 28 when the book was published.)
A book that has non-human characters; The Number Devil: A Mathematical Adventure by Hans Magnus Enzensberger. one of the main characters is a "number devil". this is a children's book I read to my boys this year (I learnt a lot of number theory too!)
A funny book: The Little Old Lady Who Struck Lucky Again! by Catharina Ingelman-Sundberg.
A book by a female author: The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey
A book with a mystery: Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch

Third Row:
A book with a one-word title: Us by David Nicholls
A book of short stories: The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories by Ernest Hemingway (that was handy as I've literally just finished that one!)
Free square: The Lacunaby Barbara Kingsolver (one of my favourite authors)
A book set in a different continent: Etta and Otto and Russell and James by Emma Hooper. Set in Canada, North America
A book of non-fiction: Stop What You're Doing and Read This! by Carmen Callil et al. This was a book group read- a set of essays on why you should read (they were preaching to the converted...!).

Fourth Row:
The first book by a favourite author: Still Life by Louise Penny. Only discovered her this year but I have enjoyed every one of her Inspector Gamache books so far- I'm up to #5)
A book you heard about online: The Martian by Andy Weir. Discussed in this forum...!
A best-selling book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho ( it was hard to choose just one for this square!)
A book based on a true story: The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd. Based on the true story of the first female american abolitionist and one of her family's black slave girls.
A book at the bottom of your to be read pile: The Snowman by Jo Nesbø. this was at the bottom of my to-read pile when I picked it up as I needed something I knew I'd enjoy at the time. I also have his other books The Leopard and Headhunters currently at the bottom of my (large) pile.

Final row:
A book your friend loves: Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernières (always nice when a friend raves about a book you also enjoyed!)
A book that scares you: Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West by Blaine Harden. This was a hard category but I chose this book because what scares me the most is true stories that show how horrifically inhuman people actually are to each other. I can distance myself from horrific fiction but true stories are actually somebody's experience :-(
A book that is more than 10 years old: Dusk by F. Sionil José (published 28/4/1998).
The second book in a series: Dead Cold by Louise Penny (2nd in the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series, set in Canada).
A book with a blue cover: My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece by Annabel Pitcher.

Ellen wrote: "FULL BOOKCASE!

Ummm... bit embarrassing but I could complete this one straight off as I've read about 130+ books this year so was just a matter of finding the right book for each square:

First ro..."

Blimey - that was quick!! 130 books! One every other day - phew. you win the voracious reader of the year award.

OK - everyone else - please carry on with the challenge and give us your entries too.

Ellen wrote: "FULL BOOKCASE!

Ummm... bit embarrassing but I could complete this one straight off as I've read about 130+ books this year so was just a matter of finding the right book for each square:

First ro..."

Don't be embarrassed; that is so impressive! I bow... :)

Well done,Ellen -that's amazing. I could get a row or column if we are allowed to juggle the boxes around!

This is clearly a game for someone better organised than I am. I've probably read about 100 books this year, but at this stage I couldn't name many of them or remember anything about the authors, let alone the length of the books. Ellen must be sensible enough to keep immaculate records, which must become a very useful reference over time.

Ellen wrote: "FULL BOOKCASE!

Ummm... bit embarrassing but I could complete this one straight off as I've read about 130+ books this year so was just a matter of finding the right book for each square:

First ro..."
Wow Ellen!

I read the first in Louise Penny's series a few years ago and loved it! Must carry on with them next year. How do you remember them all?

Angela wrote: "Well done,Ellen -that's amazing. I could get a row or column if we are allowed to juggle the boxes around!"

Well, OK you can juggle if you have to...

I can do column 4
Early One Morning - published this year
Over - female author
A Riot of Goldfish - set in Japan
HHhH - based on a true story
Gormenghast - second in a trilogy

And row two
Rebecca Weeks
The Dust of Ancients - non human spirits in here
The Master and Margarita - funny in a satirical way
Elena Ferrante - female author
Enigma of China crime/thriller/mystery

struggling now! Lack of non fiction is a downfall

FULL BOOKCASE!

First row:

A book with >500pages: The Hanging Girl - Jussi Adler-Olsen. Latest in the Dept Q series. Scandicrime set in Denmark.
A forgotten classic: A Month in the Country - J.L. Carr
A book that became a movie: The Commitments - Roddy Doyle
A book published this year: Wolf Winter - Cecilia Ekbäck More scandicrime.
A book with a number in the title: One Fine Day - Mollie Panter-Downes

Second Row:
A book written by someone under thirty: The Night of the Mi'raj - Zoë Ferraris Born in 1991.
A book that has non-human characters; The Book of Strange New Things - Michel Faber
A funny book: Blood Sympathy - Reginald Hill
A book by a female author: Africa Junction - Ginny Baily One of the Devon authors I have been introduced to by this group.
A book with a mystery: Blood on Snow - Jo Nesbø

Third Row:
A book with a one-word title: Dodger - James Benmore Oliver Twist through Dodger's eyes.
A book of short stories: The Apple: New Crimson Petal Stories - Michel Faber Having read his latest book I went back to this book of short stories about the characters in The Crimson Petal and the white.
Free square: The Shut Eye - Belinda Bauer Difficult square to choose. Have never been disappointed by any of her books whether set on Exmoor, Wales or Devon.
A book set in a different continent: A Spool of Blue Thread - Anne Tyler
A book of non-fiction: Rich Desserts and Captain's Thin: A Family and Their Times, 1831-1931 Margaret Forster Set in Carlisle which spurred me to go in the summer. Never found the river though! Went on the Carlisle-Settle railway and travelled through some of the villages we have been seeing on the news. So sad.

Fourth Row:
The first book by a favourite author: Still Alice - Lisa Genova
A book you heard about online: Lacey's House _ Joanne Graham. Another Devon Book group 'find' which was sooo good.
A best-selling book: All the Light We Cannot See - Anthony Doerr
A book based on a true story: Chickenfeed - Minette Walters
A book at the bottom of your to be read pile: Funeral Food - Kathleen Taylor

Final row:
A book your friend loves: The Sandcastle Girls - Chris Bohjalian. Book about Armenia which was enthralling but upsetting.
A book that scares you: The Whispering: A haunted house mystery - Sarah Rayne Love this series - all pretty scary.
A book that is more than 10 years old: Alexander's Bridge - Willa Cather
The second book in a series: The Infidel Stain - M.J. Carter Set in India in the 19th centary. Very readable and very interesting.
A book with a blue cover: The Spring of Kasper Meier - Ben Fergusson Set in Berlin in the aftermath of ww2.

Sue wrote: "FULL BOOKCASE!

First row:

A book with >500pages: The Hanging Girl - Jussi Adler-Olsen. Latest in the Dept Q series. Scandicrime set in Denmark.
A forgotten classi..."

Wow! Fantastic. If I pressed you which woudl be your top 3 - and would you post them in the top reads for 2015 thread please?

Sue wrote: "FULL BOOKCASE!

First row:

A book with >500pages: The Hanging Girl - Jussi Adler-Olsen. Latest in the Dept Q series. Scandicrime set in Denmark.
A forgotten classi..."

Brilliant Sue. That's amazing.

Sue wrote: "FULL BOOKCASE!..."

Well done, Sue! Looks like some great reads there! :-)

B J wrote: "This is clearly a game for someone better organised than I am. I've probably read about 100 books this year, but at this stage I couldn't name many of them or remember anything about the authors, l..."
LOL! I'm afraid I am a compulsive list-compiler (to-do lists, shopping lists, to-read lsist... etc). I also use Goodreads to logs all the books I complete and I have a nifty app on my iphone called iReaditNow which I have used for a couple of years to log my reads and keep my to-read list up-to-date! But probably I just spend too much time reading...!

Ellen wrote: "B J wrote: "This is clearly a game for someone better organised than I am. I've probably read about 100 books this year, but at this stage I couldn't name many of them or remember anything about th..."

Is it possible to spend too much time reading?

Ian wrote: "Is it possible to spend too much time reading?
..."
my husband and boys would tell you "yes"!....

Ellen wrote: "Ian wrote: "Is it possible to spend too much time reading?
..."
my husband and boys would tell you "yes"!...."

So would mine!