The Winners by Fredrik Backman
CBR14BINGO: Cold square (BINGO! Snake to Bodies) (Takes place in Sweden. Lots of ice talk.) When a book moves you like this one, the review is so hard to write. I’m afraid that I’m gonna end up with at least 250 words that amount to “GAH! This book!” I know this because that’s what I kept saying out loud as I read it. I had to put the book down and wipe my eyes when my tears made it too blurry to read. Many, many times. I […]
Circling the Sun by Paula McClain
CBR14BINGO: Hot square (BINGO! Cozy to Question) (Takes place in Africa, so a hot place. Sun in the title. Sun is hot, no?) Consulted my ridiculously hefty “to read” list in Goodreads until I found a title with something hot about it. Landed on his dazzling little number and was not disappointed. I have never read or seen Out of Africa which is something that I will need to remedy since I have now been introduced to some of the players in that world. Karen Blixen, the author of that […]
An Impossible Imposter by Deanna Raybourn
CBR14BINGO: Font Square (BINGO! Shadow to Font) (I’m not sure what the fonts are, but they grace the cover of every Veronica Speedwell novel along with that unmistakable silhouette cover art situation. I can spot it on a crowded bookshelf a mile away and it always makes me happy.) Somehow I managed not to snatch this up as soon as it came out. Usually, I put myself on the library wait list before the next book in the Veronica Speedwell mystery series is published. Raybourn is a favorite of mine, and […]
A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers
CBR14Bingo: “Dough” – There is no money in Panga. Instead there is an exchange system of ‘pebs’ (digital pebbles) to “acknowledge someone’s labor and thank them for what they bring to the community”. They were running up against a wall, and it didn’t matter whether they understood where the wall had come from, or what it was made of. The only way to get through it was to stop trying, for a while. … They would focus on Mosscap and let the remainder wait. … […]
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
CBR14 Bingo: Verse (the whole book is written as poems) Xiomara and her brother Xavier (who Xiomara mostly refers to as Twin) are miracle babies, born late in life to their parents, who never believed they would have children. Growing up in Harlem, New York, they’re nevertheless part of the Dominican culture of their immigrant parents. Their mother is deeply religious and was possibly going to be a nun before she met their dad, whose wandering eye meant he got around plenty before marrying. While […]
Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker and Wendy Xu
CBR14 Bingo: Cozy (this is a super-sweet YA comic. While there are some dark themes, the main vibe here is absolutely cozy.) Nova Huang (she/her) is an orphaned young witch, although she sees the ghosts of her parents during each major holiday, and sometimes just when they feel she might need advice or a good talking to. She lives with her two grandmothers, who sell books of both the mundane and magical varieties. Tam (they/them) on the other hand, seems to have been on their […]
