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I'm aiming for about sixty books next year, since I'll be graduating in April, but I don't want to be overly optimistic. Hopefully I can get a blackout, although there are a few topics in here I'm not so confident about. I'm looking forward to giving it a try, though! I'm hoping to read a lot more Canadian authors this year, so a few of these will be tough by virtue of the relative newness of my country...

BINGO
xxxox
xxxoo
xooxx
xxoxo
xooox

Edit: Whooooole lotta "probablys" and "possiblys".



B1: Written by Nobel Laureate: Lives of Girls and Women by Alice Munro.
B2: Classic Comedy or Satire: The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov.
B3: Classic Tragedy: Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton.
B4: Classic Made into a Film/TV: The Girls of Slender Means by Muriel Spark.
B5: Winner of a Foreign Literary Prize: Compass by Mathias Enard.


I1: 20th Century Classic: The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers.
I2: New-to-You Author: Lindsay Clark's The Chymical Wedding.
I3: Classic Play: Probably a restoration comedy, if I can get my hands on one. Something Aphra Behn-ish.
I4: Classic of More than 500 Pages: Darconville's Cat by Alexander Theroux.
I5: 18th Century or Earlier Classic: Probably The Iliad since I've never read it, which seems like a massive oversight.


N1: South American Classic: The Book of Sand by Jorge Luis Borges.
N2: Short Story Classic: Tales of the Jazz Age by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
N3: FREE SPACE
N4: Poetry Collection: If I can get my hands on it, probably No Language is Neutral by Dionne Brand. It's a little recent, I suppose, published in 1990, but I'd like to read more Canadian women of colour. Also lines up with my general interest in language. If not, whatever Anne Michaels I haven't read yet, which I think is only her collection from 2000.
N5: European Classic: The world is my oyster. We'll see how I'm feeling.


G1: 19th Century Classic: Possibly Villette by Charlotte Bronte but I may opt for Roughing it in the Bush by Susanna Moodie instead to up my Canadian authors + new female authors quota.
G2: Bokklubben (Norwegian Book Club) World Library List Book: Changing this to Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie as he's coming to speak at my library in the fall.
G3: Classic Non-fiction: Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion.
G4: Group Read: ��'É�ٰ����Բ���� by Albert Camus.
G5: Classic Recommended by a Friend: The House of Doctor Dee by Peter Ackroyd.


O1: Literary Prize of Your Country/Region: Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien.
O2: Classic Folklore or Mythology: Probably Bullfinch's Mythology although, you know, who knows. This one will require a lot more research. As mentioned above, it could be Yenne Veldt, although it isn't tagged as such on ŷ������...I'll probably stick to Bullfinch to be safe. Or something totally different.
O3: Asian Classic: Madonna in a Fur Coat by Sabahattin Ali.
O4: Classic Romance: Maybe Persuasion by Jane Austen. Maybe.
O5: Prize-Winning Female Author: Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively.

What a great list you have started. Looks like you will enjoy your reads for this challenge. Have fun with it.

I hope so...I'm still working on putting together my list (grad school is keeping me distracted, unfortunately). I'm still working on my choices! I want to pull from my current to-read list as much as possible.

Nicole wrote: "I hope so...I'm still working on putting together my list (grad school is keeping me distracted, unfortunately). I'm still working on my choices! I want to pull from my current to-read list as much..."

Great Start Nicole!

This looks a great plan so far, good luck!

I have a few of the same books on my radar too...The Iliad, Sons and Lovers, Do not say we have nothing, Villette, Vanity Fair...but I don't know what I'm going to choose yet!

I know, I find that having some ideas helps, but I frequently end up off course because I'm distracted by something else.

Fleshed out my potential list a lot more, but so many of these are still just ideas. I think there are a few that I'll read for sure this year, but I am such a moody reader that I never know with any degree of certainty. I also have finishing my Masters degree to contend with, which may push back reading some of these (the old school classic, the classic over 500 pages...) due to the amount of THINKING required.

The nice thing about this challenge is that you can just let things fall into place as you go, you don't have to declare your choices up front. Think in terms of smaller bingos, and then build to a blackout if you can.

I've never done it before, so I'll keep that in mind! Thanks, Sara!

Have fun on your first Bingo challenge, Nicole. Seems like you already have lots of great ideas.

Asian Classic was my toughest square this year...I had nothing! Finally settled on Silence, about the persecution of Catholic priests in Japan in the 1600's. Very intense book, based a lot on true events and people (and soon to be released major film).
I just finished it last week as it ended up a group read for 2 other groups I'm in...so things do work themselves out!

Welcome to the challenge and good luck!

Susie,

Thank you for mentioning "Silence."

I had never heard of it, now I want to read that book and see the film.

I'm a bit of a stickler about reading books before seeing film or miniseries etc.

Ooh, thanks Susie! I'll definitely keep this one in mind, I've been struggling with that one quite a bit. That one sounds like a strong contender, though!

I have a question -- do all of the books used need to be pre-1999? Say for categories like "Prize-Winning Female Author"?

I'll just need to adjust some of my books if that's the case.

Nicole wrote: "I have a question -- do all of the books used need to be pre-1999? Say for categories like "Prize-Winning Female Author"?

I'll just need to adjust some of my books if that's the case."

The ones that explicitly say "Classic" do need to be pre-1999 classics, but other than that, it just has to fill the category.

Perfect! I assumed as much for the ones that explicitly say Classic, but for the ones that don't I wasn't sure. I really want to read the 2016 Giller Prize winner for next year's Local Literary Prize category but it clearly isn't pre-1999!

Good luck with finishing school. What is this Giller Prize winner? Is it something interesting, just curious.

The Giller Prize is one of the *big* Canadian lit prizes. This year Madeleine Thien won for Do Not Say We Have Nothing. It's supposed to be quite excellent.

A fun aside -- I work at a library where the ex-director of the library had been previously married to the man who started the prize in honour of the wife he married following his divorce from her. Apparently, the library wasn't even allowed to advertise the winners or talk about the prize at all in the weeks leading up to it.
This is mostly hearsay.

Lol. So like the Pulitzer in Canada. I have a full slate of books for next year. Let me know if this both is worth the hype and I can use it a short foreign prize.

I'll let you know! All of the feedback I've gotten from patrons has been excellent.
It's definitely one of the biggest lit prizes around here -- that, the Governor General Prize, and the Man Booker are the big ones in these parts.

I'm also interested to know what you think about it. I ended up with The Handmaid's Tale because it won the Governor General award, for the Literary Prize of your Country category. You have a great list there! I hope you enjoy reading them all and have fun with your challenge :)

I've read The Handmaid's Tale and it is excellent. I'll make Do Not Say We Have Nothing one of my first of 2017 (although the waiting list at both libraries I work at is rather long...).

I like your thoughts and your list, Nicole. I read The God of Small Things for Asian classic this year in case you're interested in that one. Yay Alice Munro! I need to read more of her stuff--she is amazing.

Thanks for the suggestion, Kathleen! That sounds good!

I haven't ever read anything by her.

I added the Madeleine Thien book and am using it for my foreign prize winning. It would also satisfy award winning female author and is good for women of color challenges as well. Sounds like a fascinating book.

I'm looking forward to hearing what you think about it, Brina! I have a couple of books that I'll read before I get to it.
If somebody wants a new to you author or a recommendation from a friend, I HIGHLY recommend Anne Michaels. She could also potentially fulfill the poetry collection if you do The Weight of Oranges. She's excellent. She's currently Toronto's poet laureate.

Today I made a file of all my challenges for next year. If you give me a 3 week notice so I can reserve book, I can buddy read it with you.

I'll take a peek at the wait list for it at both libraries and see about when I could get a copy of it and let you know!

Started reading my first book for the challenge -- Jorge Luis Borges's The Book of Sand. This is most definitely my N1 square. It's a short collection of short stories, just 125 pages, so it feels a bit like cheating, but I feel like it isn't an awful way to get started! It was recommended by somebody whose taste I trust implicitly, and so far I'm definitely enjoying it. The writing is lovely but maybe more because of the cadence than anything else -- the vocabulary itself is quite simple.

Nothing wrong with a 125 page book for the short story category. Hope you enjoy it!

I put in an ILL request for Linsday Clarke's The Chymical Wedding, so I'll be knocking off my "new to you" author shortly!

Just started my O5 Prize-Winning Female Author read with Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively while I wait for The Chymical Wedding to get here! So far, I am really, really loving it. I read a couple of books that didn't fit into this challenge for books 2 and 3 of 2016 ( The Lesser Bohemians and The Life-Writer) so I'm looking forward to knocking a couple off in the next week or so.

Starting my third bingo book today! Finally got my hands on The Chymical Wedding by Lindsay Clarke today. I read the first three chapters in one sitting -- so far, it's excellent. This most likely will fall in my "new to me" category.

Starting on Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien for my literary prize for my country. Excited because that's a new female author in my arsenal. I've never read her before and this book is a ~big deal~ right now in Canada.

Nicole I hope to read that later in the year. I was going to read now but got bogged down. Looking forward to your reviews.

I'll let you know how it goes, Brina! I just finished the first chapter on my lunch break and so far the writing is very lovely.

Finished Do Not Say We Have Nothing. Not my favourite read, but definitely WORTH reading, which I think is generally a good thing. It definitely pushed me in terms of the areas of the world I generally read about (ie. not China), which is definitely a good thing. Reading fiction develops empathy, etc etc.

And, on that note, starting my classic recommended by a friend, I think. The Master and Margarita was highly recommended by not only the most brilliant human being I know but also my entire knitting circle, which bodes well. I'm excited to dig into it, and think it will be an interesting contrast to Do Not Say We Have Nothing. Following up a modern reflection on China's Cultural Revolution and the Student's Revolution with a written-at-the-time reflection on Soviet Russia should be stimulating.

Nicole, I reordered from the library and hope to read in may or June. Looking forward.

It's definitely worth reading, Brina. I think the reason I rated it as low as I did was because I didn't feel I connected with the characters, but in hindsight I think that may be an intentional thing considering the contents of the book and some of its themes.

Finished The Master and Margarita for my G5 square -- starting Ethan Frome tonight, probably!

I am sooo waiting to read that one again!

Knocked off my B3 Classic Tragedy by reading Ethan Frome today. This one really knocked my socks off. I *loved* this. I checked it out from the library, but it's definitely a book I want to own. Wharton's prose never fails for me, and her obsession with illicit love perfectly lines up with my own. Excellent read for a melancholy, moody day.

Oh that's great praise. I read The House of Mirth last month and was similarly impressed with her writing, so I'll look forward to reading this one.

LOVE Wharton. Her writing weathers time.

I really really enjoyed it! I read The Age of Innocence right before going to NYC a few years ago and was equally impressed, by Ethan Frome really knocked it out of the park for me.

I started Alice Munro's Lives of Girls and Women today for my Nobel Prize winner (Canada's only Nobel Prize for literature winner] and her writing is really lovely. I can't believe I haven't picked anything up by her before.

I have never read any of Munro either. Definitely on my list of must reads. I'm glad you gave me a starting point for her.

I have Ethan Frome coming up, so very excited to hear you loved it. And I've only read Alice Munro's stories, but they're so good. I'm anxious to read this novel of hers too. Great reading you're doing, Nicole!

I also loved Ethan Frome! Enjoy :)

Sara wrote: "I have never read any of Munro either. Definitely on my list of must reads. I'm glad you gave me a starting point for her."

I felt a bit intimidated choosing where to start because she's so prolific...I just went and looked to see what was most highly rated!