2w ago

Official Turn In Post for Bingo 2024!

Congratulations, and thank you for participating in the inaugural Book Bingo for c/Books@Lemmy.World!

If the existence of this bingo is a surprise to you, or you want to revisit the guide, see this link.

If you would like to join us for 2025 bingo, we'll be posting information on the morning of May 1^st, US Central Time (UTC -5)!

There are 2 official ways to submit your card and be recognized:

Fill out the web form we made using Tally, which will organize the data for us. Completing the form will also give you a Markdown-friendly list to copy and post in this thread if you would like.
Or, if you would prefer, comment in this thread with your list of completed squares, including the titles/authors you read. Here is a list of squares for reference/copypaste:

ADDITIONAL POINTS TO READ BEFORE TURNING IN YOUR CARDS!

Questions? Please ask!

Turn-in Guidance

Please make an effort to spell titles and author names correctly! For titles with more than one author, please separate author names with a comma. This will help with data compilation for a bingo stats thread coming later!
If you didn't do a square, don't list it. Please leave incomplete squares completely blank on the Tally form.
You can substitute any square, but please remember: only one substitution per card. On the form, there's a substitution dropdown for each square. If you accidentally choose a substitution for the wrong square, please de-select the substitution to clear it.
Please make a note if you did a square on hard mode. On the form, there is a hard mode checkbox for each square.
Only turn in your card(s) once you have finished with bingo; do not submit a card still in progress. If you're using the Tally form, there is a review page before submission; please make sure that you click submit after double-checking your entries! You cannot edit your card once submitted, so if you realize you've made a mistake, please post in this thread to notify us.

More than one card?

If you did more than one card, and are submitting via Tally, please differentiate your username for each additional card. For example, I would list my first card under "JaymesRS@literature.cafe" and my second under "JaymesRS@literature.cafe - 2".

Timeline

Submit your finished card(s) by May 1st, 2025! This thread and the Tally submission form will remain open until 12 noon, US Central Time (UTC -5) on May 1^st as a courtesy, so please make sure your cards are turned in by then, so they can be counted.

Reward

Any five in a row is considered a win! Your only reward this year (as of the time of posting) is the warm glow of satisfaction and bragging rights. However, our ultimate plan is to recognize bingo participation with a flair-like system when supported by Lemmy in the future, so we plan to calculate completion retroactively whenever that's available.

In Closing

Again... HERE IS THE LINK TO THE TALLY FORM TO TURN IN YOUR CARD (or you can comment in this thread). The form goes live on April 17^th, 2025, and both it and this thread close around noon on May 1^st, US Central Time (UTC -5). Be sure to get your card(s) in before then!

Thanks to everyone that participated this year! This was a fun challenge to put together for us. If you are interested in helping to coordinate the bingo challenge or related resources, please reach out to the moderators of !books@lemmy.world and let us know!

17 comments

There's probably a way to engineer a bingo here by reclassifying things that fit multiple boxes. I just put things in the better fitting or more interesting category.
1A: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd -- Agatha Christie. Missed Hard mode by 2 years. Old enough to read via wikisource. Everything else here was read in dead tree format.
1C: The Quantum Spy -- David Ignatius. Quantum computing, espionage thereof, and USA-China relations. Very Macguffin.
1D: Secrets to the Grave -- Tami Hoag. A single mother is brutally murdered. Her young daughter witnesses and survives the attack. Investigators wonder who the father is.
2C: Hannibal Fogg and The Supreme Secret of Man -- Tahir Shah. Hard Mode Published by and available free at http://secretum-mundi.com/
2D: The Cartographers -- Peng Shepherd. Hard Mode. About the 1930 General Drafting highway map of New York state, with the Agloe copyright trap. Additionally, includes a discreet, but significant shout-out to Ursula LeGuin's Lathe of Heaven.
2E: Boar Island -- Nevada Barr. A main character suffered a severe spinal injury (in a previous book, while mountain climbing with Anna Pigeon). She can walk with technological assistance. Boar Island was not designed for the mobility impaired; they move there for her teenage daughter's comfort, not her own.
3B: The Scent of Death -- Andrew Taylor. Hard Mode The narrator is a English clerk, assigned to New York City for the duration of the book, during the American Revolution. (I didn't look up the hard mode criteria, but assume it isn't this.)
3D: A Column of Fire -- Ken Follett. Follows Pillars of the Earth and World Without End in the Kingsbridge series.
4A: Gone Girl -- Gillian Flynn. I haven't seen the movie, but am told they made one.
5E: The Illustrated Man -- Ray Bradbury. Short stories, the majority of which involve extraplanetary travel, interstellar in some cases.
AltA: Fatal Error -- F. Paul Wilson. I read Implant some years ago, but nothing of his recently or from this series. Order matters in this series; don't start here.
AltB: Bones to Ashes -- Kathy Reichs. The author is a well-credentialed and academically respected forensic anthropologist who cares about getting the science right in her novels.
AltC: Demon Crown -- James Rollins, ne James Czajkowski
AltD: Inferno -- Dante Alighieri tr. Allen Mandelbaum. Hard Mode. I couldn't read it in the original Italian.
- Nice! You could move AltC to 4D and 2C to 5D (or just use your substitution square and put AltD in there), and get D column. (Demon Crown's military thriller + scifi might count as unusual for 4D hard mode, idk.)
  I looked up some of these because of your summaries. Did you have a favorite?
  
  Row 1 is also still in play since I'm currently in progress on one of the books from your card, Relic.
  Roger Ackroyd and Gone Girl were both recommended by someone who thought I'd like them. She's often right about things, and was this time too. Scent of Death most exceeded my expectations and also gets a favorable review. The first-person narrator and detailed descriptions of colonial NYC made for a very immersive setting. No particular order among them, but that's my top 3.

I planned out a full card...and then didn't finish it. Here's the "C" column books I read to complete my bingo:
1C - What's Yours is Mine: Alexandra Rowland - Running Close to the Wind
2C - Independent Author: Michelle West - Hunter's Redoubt
3C - One Less: Baroness Orczy - The Scarlet Pimpernel
4C - Award Winner: Larry Niven - Ringworld
5C - Institutional: Victor LaValle - The Devil in Silver
With a shout out to column "E", which I almost made it through as well. Thanks so much for putting this together--it was a lot of fun, even if I didn't meet my goal of reading all the books. I'm looking forward to planning my 2025 card!
- Way to go! I'd be interested to see your full card if you'd be willing to share. Did you have any books that really stood out good or bad? Did you have a favorite or least favorite square? Any suggestions for the future?
  
  Of course, here was my planned card, happy to share and hope it'll be useful for someone else if there are any repeat squares next time. Probably my favorite book from the card was Running Close to the Wind by Alexandra Rowland. I really didn't expect it to be as funny as it was, but I laughed out loud quite a bit. I ended up recommending it to all my friends afterward. I used the recommended thread, but I tried to pull as many books as possible from my TBR, to make some additional progress there as well, and almost all of these should qualify for hard mode.
  1A - Older Than You Are: Hope Mirrlees - Lud-in-the-Mist 1B - Water, Water Everywhere: J.V. Jones - A Cavern of Black Ice 1C - What's Yours is Mine: Alexandra Rowland - Running Close to the Wind 1D - Family Drama: John Steinbeck - East of Eden 1E - It Takes Two: Stephen King & Owen King - Sleeping Beauties (not hard mode)
  2A - New Release: Heather Fawcett - Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands 2B - Plays with Words: Anthony Burgess - A Clockwork Orange 2C - Independent Author: Michelle West - Hunter's Redoubt 2D - Bookception: Jasper Fforde - The Eyre Affair 2E - Disability Representation: Lois McMaster Bujold - The Curse of Chalion
  3A - Easy, Breezy, Read-zie: T.J. Klune - The Lightning-Struck Heart (not hard mode for me, sadly) 3B - Stranger in a Strange Land: Edgar Rice Burroughs - A Princess of Mars 3C - One Less: Baroness Orczy - The Scarlet Pimpernel (hard mode with 1A) 3D - There Is Another: Adrian Tchaikovsky - Salute the Dark 3E - LGBTQIA+ Lead: K.J. Charles - The Magpie Lord
  4A - Now a Major Motion Picture: Mario Puzo - The Godfather 4B - It's About Time: Rob Grant - Backwards 4C - Award Winner: Larry Niven - Ringworld 4D - Mashup: Aliette de Bodard - The House of Shattered Wings 4E - Local to You: Jonathan Lethem - Gun, with Occasional Music
  5A - Debut Work: Ralph Ellison - Invisible Man 5B - It's a Holiday: Ray Bradbury - The Halloween Tree 5C - Institutional: Victor LaValle - The Devil in Silver 5D - Minority Author: Samuel R. Delany - Trouble on Triton 5E - Among the Stars: Christopher Paolini - To Sleep in a Sea of Stars

Here was my list:
1A: Older Than You Are - Lud-in-the-Mist by Hope Mirrlees 1B: Water, Water Everywhere - The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton 1C: What’s Yours is Mine - The Thief Who Pulled on Trouble's Braids by Michael McClung 1D: Family Drama - We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson 1E: It Takes Two - Kill the Farm Boy by Delilah S. Dawson, Keven Hearne 2A: New Release - The Butcher of the Forest by Premee Mohamed 2B: Plays With Words - Ella Minnow Pea: A Progressively Lipogrammatic Epistolary Fable by Mark Dunn 2C: Independent Author - Swordheart by T. Kingfisher 2D: Bookception - The Tea Master and the Detective by Aliette de Bodard 2E: Disability Representation - Hawkeye Omnibus by Matt Fraction & David Aja 3A: Eazy, Breazy, Read-zie - Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman 3B: Stranger in a Strange Land - A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers 3C: FREE SPACE: One Less - The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy 3D: There is Another… - The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik 3E: LGBTQIA+ Lead - Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu 4A: Now a Major Motion Picture - Big Fish by Daniel Wallace 4B: It’s About Time - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by F. Scott Fitzgerald 4C: Award Winner - A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers 4D: Mashup - Manga Classics: Macbeth by Julien Choy, Crystal S. Chan, William Shakespeare 4E: Local to You - The Unlicensed Magician by Kelly Barnhill 5A: Debut Work - This Is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone, Amal El-Mohtar - A Change in Perspective 5B: It’s a Holiday - The Thanksgiving Visitor by Truman Capote 5C: Institutional - They Called Us Enemy by Steven Scott, George Takei, Justin Eisinger 5D: Minority Author - The Night Masquerade by Nnedi Okorafor 5E: Among the Stars - Binti by Nnedi Okorafor
- Did you end up liking The Butcher of the Forest? I thought it was wonderful, even though the last couple of pages felt very tacked-on.
  Any clear least favorite from your reads?
  
  I didn't enjoy Lud-in-the-Mist, but I think that more has to do with my current level of focus. It was too slow. It was written well.
  Butcher was right up my alley.

Here's my list:
1A: Older Than You Are - The House on the Borderland by William Hope Hodgson
1B: Water, Water Everywhere - The Bell in the Fog by Lev AC Rosen
1C: What’s Yours is Mine - The Spy Who Came in from the Cold by John le Carré
1D: Family Drama - Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan
1E: It Takes Two - Roadside Picnic by Arkady Strugatsky, Boris Strugatsky
2A: New Release - Crypt of the Moon Spider by Nathan Ballingrud
2B: Plays With Words - Dark Star by Oliver Langmead
2C: Independent Author - There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm
2D: Bookception - Malice by Keigo Higashino
2E: Disability Representation - Death in the Spires by KJ Charles
3A: Eazy, Breazy, Read-zie - Hold the Dark by Frank Tuttle
3B: Stranger in a Strange Land - On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers
3C: FREE SPACE: One Less - A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
3D: There is Another… - Auberon by James S.A. Corey
3E: LGBTQIA+ Lead - Weak Heart by Ban Gilmartin
4A: Now a Major Motion Picture - To Catch a Thief by David Dodge
4B: It’s About Time - The Butcher of the Forest by Premee Mohamed
4C: Award Winner - Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark
4D: Mashup - City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett
4E: Local to You - Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
5A: Debut Work - Neuromancer by William Gibson
5B: It’s a Holiday - Dark Harvest by Norman Partridge
5C: Institutional - Relic by Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child
5D: Minority Author - The Spite House by Johnny Compton
5E: Among the Stars - The Last Gifts of the Universe by Riley August
Stats I thought were interesting: 10/25 were off my TBR pile; 18/25 hard mode. Most read category: horror, followed by scifi (including multi-genre works).
This was fun!
- Wizard of Earthsea was the first real "Fantasy" book I read and we did it in 6th grade for class. It arguably is a big part of why I enjoyed fantasy so much.
  John Le Carré is on my list, but I haven't read him yet. What did you think?
  Stranger Tides was a ton of fun, I thought it was nice to read a magic-fantasy book that wasn't stereotypically western magic.
  
  John Le Carré is on my list, but I haven't read him yet. What did you think?
  The Spy Who Came in from the Cold was great. I can also recommend Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, although I bounced off the sequel (YMMV, ofc).

Thank you for running this! It was really fun to track through the year!
I didn't go out of my way to try to complete squares, just tracked what I read and what squares it would count as through the year. Overall, I finished with 19 squares completed and 34 total books read in the challenge timespan.
1A: Older Than You Are - Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare -
1B: Water, Water Everywhere - Tom Lake by Ann Patchett -
1C: What’s Yours is Mine - The Liar's Key by Mark Lawrence -
1D: Family Drama - The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah -
1E: It Takes Two - The Gathering Storm by Robert Jordan, Brandon Sanderson -
2B: Plays With Words - Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin -
2D: Bookception - The Paris Bookseller by Keri Maher -
2E: Disability Representation - Age of Assassins by RJ Barker -
3A: Eazy, Breazy, Read-zie - Hex Education by Maureen Kilmer -
3B: Stranger in a Strange Land - Endurance by Alfred Lansing -
3C: FREE SPACE: One Less - I Am Legend by Robert Matheson -
3E: LGBTQIA+ Lead - Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah -
4A: Now a Major Motion Picture - Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman -
4C: Award Winner - Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver -
4D: Mashup - Piranesi by Susanna Clarke -
4E: Local to You - Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane -
5A: Debut Work - Educated by Tara Westover -
5D: Minority Author - Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride -
5E: Among the Stars - Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
- Way to crush hard mode for 4A!
- Nice job
  How was Piranisi? I keep hearing others talk about it...
  
  It was probably my favorite book I read last year. I highly recommend it!

17 comments