Can I get a hoo? And also a ray? Because, after 13 finished books, I finally got Bingo! And then I quickly got Bingo number 2 after I finished book number 14. Hallefreakinlujah!
With the stuff I have planned to read over vacation I should easily get Bingo 3 more times but then I think I’ll be at a standstill. Mostly because of that presidential-biography square. And perhaps also because of the set-in-South-America square. And maybe also because of the religion-with-which-I-am-unfamiliar square. I’m open to suggestions, though, so if you’ve read something fabulous that you think would cover one of those squares please sing out in the comments.
In the meantime, I’ve be reading A Tale of Two Cities. I’ll let you try and figure out which square that’s going to cover.
Why not look for a book about Juan (& Evita) Peron? It should be interesting and you’d cover the presidential bio plus South America. As a bonus you can get “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina” as an earworm.
My guess . . . is that you’ve pretended to read A Tale of Two Cities! 😉 I’m also looking for “about a religion with which you are unfamiliar” so let me know if you get any good suggestions. (I got nothin’.) I’m reading Dickens right now, too. Nicholas Nickleby. (For my “at least 800 pages” square.) (Yeah. Gonna be awhile.)
I just read The Rent Collector. It was an interesting book that took place in Cambodia.
Definitely hooray! For “Set in South America” you could try Bel Canto (Ann Patchett). It’s an interesting story, but in all honesty I didn’t love the ending. “The Queen of Water” (Laura Resau) is YA set in Ecuador. I haven’t read it myself, but it was very popular in our middle school library. Happy Reading!
I don’t mean to clutter up your comments, but these just came to me for the Unfamiliar Religion square. I was all excited about “A Thousand Splendid Suns” (Khaled Hosseini) but it looks like you read it. Maybe a reread? A friend just finished “The 19th Wife” (David Ebershoff) and thought it was a 4-star read about Mormonism.
For South America, the House of Spirits by Isabel Allende came to mind.
I knew you would kick butt in Book Bingo! Who would have thought it would take 13 books for a bingo though?
The only books set in South America I can think of are Bel Canto, Love in the Time of Cholera, & 100 Years of Solitude. Would something like People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks work for the religion square? It touches on Judaism, Catholic, & Muslim religions throughout the story.
You seem to have several suggestions about books about an unfamiliar religion, but here’s another. In the Land of Invisible Women by Qanta Ahmed MD. She grew up in England, got her medical credentials in the USA and then worked in Saudia Arabia. While there, she explores her Muslim faith and goes on a Haaj (sp?).
P.S. Hoo and Ray!!
Presidential biography: Jimmy Carter’s A Full Life: Reflections at Ninety. (don’t know how to underscore here to do it correctly!) It is in my queue and I haven’t read it yet, but it’s gotten great reviews and I do so admire the man.
For a presidential biography I’d recommend a book by David McCulloch, John Adams. You could probably even listen to it and knit at the same time. Plus it all takes place in Massachusetts.
Anything by Etgar is funny, and many of his stories are set in Israel if you still need another country. I was going to suggest Jimmy Carter too, but his autobiography of his early life–it’s really interesting.
David McCullough’s Truman is a terrific book. Made me feel like I knew him personally – I think you’d enjoy it too.
Some great suggestions were already given, but anything by Doris Kearns Goodwin would help with the Presidential Biography square and they usually aren’t too long. Some have been recorded as well.
Hoo Ray! there are some fabulous recommendations already, but I’d add Franklin and Winston to the presidential biography list. I love novels set in the WWI – WWII era – this one covered that, plus a lot more and read like a novel. It was also the first non-fiction book I’d read in many many years and I credit it to getting me back – even just a little! – to it.
The presidential biographies are a challenge because they’re so many pages, but maybe No Ordinary Time about Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt would be interesting. I’m sure you can get it on audio, too. Have you read Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafron? It’s about a cemetery of forgotten books and it’s fabulous. (And may have nothing to do with any of the squares you have left to read.);)
Does Cuba count as South America? If so, I recommend “Waiting for Snow in Havana” by Carlos Eire. Or anything by Isabel Allende or Julia Alvarez. “In the Time of the Butterflies” talks allot about the culture and politics of the Dominican Republic, but it is very sad.
Isabel Allende’s _Fall of the House of Spirits_ is one of my favorites. It’s not named, but believed to be Chile. Marquez is also suppose to be good.
Congrats on your bingos
I haven’t seen that bingo card, I will have to try to copy it!
Carole, I hope you have a fabulous vacation! Here are some suggestions for book bingo. The Coroner’s Lunch by Colin Cotterill, set in Asia, and humorous. That would take care of 2 squares. He has written an entire series, and I like all of them. They are odd, quirky, entertaining books, usually short. For South America, House of the Spirits is good, but also Daughter of Fortune by Isabelle Allende. Robinson Crusoe also takes place in SA, and it was published in 1719, and it is a true classic. That would cover 3 squares. For “revolves around a holiday”, I recommend Labor Day by Joyce Maynard. As is usually the case, the novel is much better than the movie. The Skull Mantra by Eliot Pattison is a good political thriller about Buddhism vs. the Chinese Communist party, so I would recommend that for a novel about an unfamiliar religion, and it takes place in Asia. Gosh, I am just full of recommendations today. Hope some of them appeal.
Yup, I think I had the Cliffs Notes for that one.