February Bookish Bingo

 Here is the card for February.

My Books:

1. Green is a Chili Pepper--Roseanne Greenfield Thong (1 square): Audiobook
2. The Quilts of Gee's Bend--Susan Goldman Rubin (1 square): E-Book
3. The Beach Club--Elin Hilderbrand (8 squares): Library Book, Physical Book, Not in a Series, Book Club Read, Lovers, Travel, Free Space, Chaos
4. Tweet Cute--Emma Lord ( squares): Shelf Love, Red or Pink on Cover

Thursday 13: More New-to-Me Authors I Read in 2024

Colleen at The Thursday 13 holds a weekly blogging prompt where bloggers make a list of 13 things on Thursdays. The topic is for you to choose. The blog host doesn't have any official graphics to display on the Thursday 13 posts, so I decided to whip one up myself. 🙂  

This is a book topic so I will also be posting to the Discussion Challenge at Feed Your Fiction Addiction and It Starts at Midnight.

One of the first Thursday 13 posts I did when I began participating last summer was on new-to-me authors I read in the first half of 2024. I had more then 13 to choose from at that point so narrowing it down as a little hard. I knew I'd find more during the rest of the year. Again, I found  more than 13 (per my Goodreads list for 2024), and it was once again hard to choose just that many. 

I've never done this weekly posting topic at this blog, though I have glanced at the blog. This weeks topic happens be "Top 10 new-to me authors I discovered in 2024." The topic at the blog above me think of my post and made me want to do a second one on the same topic. The blogging topic is for making Top 10 book lists, but I wanted to do them one better. Make that three better 😉 Will be linking to that one as well.

So here are some more of the new-to-me authors I read in 2024, mostly in the second half of the year, since the original post was at the end of last June. Once again, I will be listing  the book I read from the author and how I came across the books. These are not in any particular order.

1. Katherine Slee--The Book of Second Chances Needing a book for one of the prompts in this challenge, I looked up books in my library's database containing the word "second." This one came up and I had already seen it at the library. I wanted to read it when I first saw but decided against it for the time being. When it came up in my search, I decided it was the one I'd choose.
2. Saleem Haddad--Guapa While searching for a book by an LGBTQ+ MENA author, I came across this one in my library database. I decided on it right then, but did not get around to reading it until December. 
3. Sabaa Tahir--All My Rage I picked this one for one of these prompts. It came up, and I was afraid of not finding it at my library, but I did.
4. Laila Lalami--The Other Americans As with the book Guapa, I decided on this when I first come across the title, but put off reading the book until the end of the year.  Needing a North African author, this one came up while searching. Again, it seemed like one by library would not have, but did.
5. Zadie Smith--Swing Time I'd known about this author for some time, and have been waiting to read her book White Teeth. But this was the only one at the library. I'll have to keep looking for the other book! 
6. Susan Crandall--Whistling Past the Graveyard  One of the books I picked up at a thrift store, most likely because I liked how it sounded when I first saw it. 
7. Clare Boylan--Emma Brown It seems to get harder and harder to find titles containing "brown", yet I just have to do this challenge every year, because I still enjoy it. When looking for a title in my library database, this one came up and it sounded good. I was particularly interesting in this one after learning it was written from an unfinished manuscript left behind by Charlotte Bronte when she died. This author picked it up nearly 150 years later.
8. Zaraida Cordova--The Inheritance of Orquidea Divina This was one of those books I saw for sale when it first came out. It looked good, but didn't want to buy it. I nearly forgot about it, until I saw it at the library. I was not aware they have it until last December.
9. Eric Gansworth--Apple: Skin to the Core Having had the Indigenous culture prompt at least twice last year, this what I chose. It seems that a lot of the  books at my library that have to do with indigenous culture are in the reference section or our "California Collection" shelves, and not for loan. This makes it find such book to read. But this one was in the YA section.
10. Susanna Clarke--Piranesi Unsure how exactly I found this one, though I seem to remember hearing about it somewhere, sometime earlier. I obviously was interested enough to seek it out.
11. Hannah Orenstein--Love at First Like When searching for a book with "like" in the title, this was one that came up in my library catalog. It just sounded good.
12. Plum Sykes--Bergdorf Blondes One of those books that I got at a thrift store but don't remember when or why I chose it. I have many books that fit this description.
13. Linda Holmes--Evvie Drake Starts Over  I'd heard so much about this book and kept meaning to read it, but did not get to it until November. 

Are you familiar with any of these authors? If not, do any of them sound interesting to you? Have you discovered any new authors this past year?

From the Blogosphere This Week

I came across these en some of the blogs I regularly read.  I just had to share them. 

These last two  I shared on Facebook as well, and many thought the Spacex one was funny.

Bluesky

So I decided to go onto Bluesky. Though I'm not certain about leaving Twitter/X yet.  Even though I hate Musk, I did not feel compelled to leave that platform when he took over. It was hard to want to leave after 15 years. 

My Bluesky username is jannghi. I've already followed some people and have only three followers as of yet. But I've only just begun today. I was not certain about joining, but decided to just this morning. 

Inauguration Day

These say everything about today. 

And it feels like we've stepped back in time:

The only good thing about today is this:

Today Google doodle celebrates MLK. 

Only once previously has MLK day coincided with Inauguration Day, since MLK has only been a federal holiday since 1986. The last such co-occurrence was in 1997. Also, Inauguration Day in 2013 was held a day later (since Jan.20 was on a Sunday then), thus coinciding with MLK Day. 

The Clock Reading Challenge 2025

I was sure I was done signing up for challenges. Some I'd done in the past don't appear to be offered this year. But seeing two others sign up for this one made me want to do this one now. This is my first year doing this one. As two others who signed up pointed out, this one goes well with the Card Deck Challenge in terms of the number titles. 

 

One:

Two:

Three:

Four:

Five:

Six:

Seven: 

Eight:

Nine:

Ten:

Eleven: Eleven--Tom Rogers

Twelve:

Thursday 13

Colleen at The Thursday 13 holds a weekly blogging prompt where bloggers make a list of 13 things on Thursdays. The topic is for you to choose. The blog host doesn't have any official graphics to display on the Thursday 13 posts, so I decided to whip one up myself. 🙂  

Here are some things I picked up on the Internet this past week, some coming form my Facebook feed and memories.

My Year In Books 2024

 Anne at My Head is Full of Books is hosting this meme.

My Year in Books

Rules?

• Answer the questions with titles from books you read in 2024. (Some may end up being silly, others may seem overly serious.)   
• The goal is to have fun. 
• Participate by copying the questions below. Erasing my answers and inserting your own.  
• Once you've created your post, link it below so others can see it, then visit others' posts to see how they answered the questions.
• Spread the word. Let's see if we can make this a thing again this year!

Questions:

1. In high school I was (the one who would): Keep Quiet--Lisa Scottoline
2. People might be surprised: When We Believed in Mermaids--Barbara O'Neal
3. I will never be: Paris: The Memoir--Paris Hilton
4. My fantasy job is: Summers at the Saint--Mary Kay Andrews
5. At the end of a long day I need: Euphoria--Lily King
6. I hate it: All My Rage--Saba Tahir
7. Wish I had: The Books of Second Chances--Katherine Slee
8. My family reunions are: The Singles Game--Lauren Weisberger
9. At a party you’d find me: In Her Shoes--Jennifer Weiner
10. I’ve never been to: The House of Eve--Sadeqa Johnson
11. A happy day includes (a): Funny Story--Emily Henry
12. Motto I live by: Happy Place--Emily Henry
13. On my bucket list is: Summer on Sag Harbor--Sunny Hostin
14. In my next life, I want to have: Every Last Word--Tamara Ireland Stone

This was rather fun, but also hard. I kept changing some of the answers. As it says in the rules, the answers may be silly or serious. I tried to make most of mine seem silly. Though I kind of like the idea of summer on Sag Harbor--I've never spent an entire summer at the beach. Last summer was the last time I'd even been to the beach. And I could use a funny story at the end of a long day after being exhausted. 

What would you put for each one? How funny or serious would your answers be? Click the link at the top to participate and to see others' answers. 

I'm also posting this to:

Playing Pickleball

 

Seeing this cartoon the other day made me want to bring up something that occurred this week. Our group at work met at a neighborhood park to play pickleball. The monthly staff meeting occurred this past Wednesday, since the first is a holiday. The meetings typically end at 1PM, allowing meeting time from 1 to 3.Our bosses and some of the clients and mentors then met at the park on the courts. 

This is not the first time our group has met to play pickleball. They've done this at least twice before on these monthly meeting days, including last August. I did not got then because the weather was so hot (and I don't work on Wednesdays). But there was another reason I'd chosen not to go then. I'd always been awful with playing handball games, often having a hard time in PE class because of that. But I decided to give it a go this month, and practiced playing for the fist hour we met. It took a while before I finally hit the ball, one of the things I'd often had trouble doing when trying to play tennis or other handball games. But I gave it my best shot, eventually hitting the ball several times, though not always in bounds.

I guess there's a first time for everything. Since it was my first time playing, I only played for an hour, but hope to try again soon.

While writing this post, I then remembered this video:

And then found this one:

Wow, they were hesitant to try, too. I felt the same way. Though I doubt I'll get way into it. I've never liked sports much, but this one seems fun. I do want to try again.

Thursday 13

Colleen at The Thursday 13 holds a weekly blogging prompt where bloggers make a list of 13 things on Thursdays. The topic is for you to choose. The blog host doesn't have any official graphics to display on the Thursday 13 posts, so I decided to whip one up myself. 🙂

Here are some random cartoons I picked up in the last weeks or so on the web, from others' blogs  and from my Facebook feed and memories this week. I know it seems a little late for the first one, but I never got around to sharing it before or during Christmas and it's so funny!

Card Deck Reading Challenge

Another I couldn't resist, at this Instagram account.

Joker is wild-- like a free square in bingo, pick whatever book you want to fill that spot!: Tweet Cute--Emma Lord

2-10: just the number has to be in the title (e.g., The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo or Fourth Wing [Book 3 of a series does not count unless 3 is in the title like 3rd Degree, etc]).

2:

3:

4:

5:

6:

7:

8:

9:

10:

Heart: in the title (e.g., Inkheart or Once Upon a Broken Heart)

Diamond: a gem in the title (e.g., Gods of Jade and Shadow or The Diamond Eye)

Spade: "dig," "bury" or "spade" in the title (e.g., Ace of Spades or Dig Two Graves)

Club: in the title (e.g., The Thursday Murder Club or The Joy Luck Club): The Beach Club--Elin Hilderbrand

Ace: in the title OR a book about cards or tennis (e.g., My Dream Time or Cards on the Table)

Jack: in the title or in the name of the author (e.g., Holly Jackson or Jack Kerouac [not the name of a character - Jack Reacher - unless the character name is in the title])

Queen: in the title (e.g., The Queen's Gambit or Red Queen)

King: in the title (e.g., The Wicked King or The 10th Kingdom)

🟥: Red in the title or is the main color on the cover (e.g., Red, White & Royal Blue or Red Rising): Happily Ever Afters: A Reimagining of Snow White and Rose Red--Melanie Cellier

⬛: Black in the title or is the main color on the cover (e.g., Black Water Rising or Black Cake): The Blackbirds--Eric Jerome Dickey 

____

Notice that some of my examples could be used for 2 challenges (Ace of Spades, Red Queen or The 10th Kingdom). They only count for 1. So Red Queen could be for Red or for Queen but not both.

Book Bingo Reading Challenge 2025 @ My Reader's Journey

Another I have been doing.  A normal mode and a hard mode are offered. I'm going for the normal. Note: You can substitute 2 bingo squares if you consider them too difficult to find a book for.

Created by Leticia Toraci

First Row:

Green or Purple – Read a Book with a Green OR a Purple cover.
Novella: Read a Novella: Eleven--Tom Rogers
Rainbow: LGBT+ or POC Author: Nightcrawling--Leila Mottley
Number on The Title: Read a book with a number in the title.
500+: Read a book with more Than 500 pages: The Mammoth Hunters--Jean M. Auel

Second Row:

Red or Black: Read a Book with these colors on the title or cover: The Blackbirds--Eric Jerome Dickey
Snake: 2025 is the Year of the Snake in the Chinese Horoscope! Read a book with a snake in the title or cover.
Poetry, Nonfiction or Graphic Novel: Read one book in one of these genres.
Cat: So many readers love cats! Read a book with a cat on the title, cover or story. But if you are a dog person, substitute the cat for a dog in this prompt.
By an author you never read before: Everyone Knows You Go Home--Natalia Sylvester

Third Row:

Lowest Rating: Read the book on your TBR with the lowest rating or read a book on your TBR with a Goodreads rating under 3.50. It’s ok not to finish the book.
A Book in Translation: Read a translated book: Klara and the Sun--Kazuo Ishiguro
Free: Read any book in your TBR!: Tweet Cute--Emma Lord
Favorite Author: Read one book by your  a favorite author: The Beach Club--Elin Hilderbrand
Highest Rating: Read the book on your TBR with the highest rating or read a book on your TBR with a Goodreads rating 4.00 or higher.

Fourth Row:

Out of you comfort zone: Read a demanding book out of your comfort zone or a book in a genre you don’t usually read.
Detective: Read one of these genre-bending books: Historical/Mystery, YA/Mystery, Romance/Mystery, Fantasy/Mystery or a Sci-Fi/Mystery: Pardonable Lies--Jacqueline Winspear
Standalone: Read a standalone book: The Rom-Commers--Katherine Center
UFO: Read a book with aliens or fae beings.
The Last One in your TBR: Read a book in your TBR that is not at all a priority. You might be pleasantly surprised!

Fifth Row:

Knot: Book with a plot twist.
Buddy Read: Read a book with a friend.
Three Books: Read one book that is part of a series.
Before 1900: Read a book published before 1900.
Anchor: Read a book with the word sea or ocean in the title, or with the sea or the ocean in the cover or with a sea setting: Lalani of the Distant Sea--Erin Entrada Kelly

---

2025 Reading Challenge @ Blydyn Square Books

 I wasn't sure how many more I'd be signing up for, but I've been doing this one for several years now.

1. By an author whose name has an initial(s):
2. Animal name in the title:
3. Nonfiction:
4. Published before 1980:
5. Red cover or spine:
6. Set in Europe:
7. Biography or memoir:
8. Written in first person: It's the End of the World and I'm in My Bathing Suit--Justin A. Reynolds
9. Urban/city setting:
10. With a love story:
11. Read at least once before:
12. Child as a major character:
13. Mentions weather (snow, rain, etc):
14. One-word title: Nightcrawling--Leila Mottley
15. With a happy ending:
16. Book you've had on your TBR at least one year:
17. Current bestseller:
18. Won a major award:
19. Blue cover or spine: Eleven--Tom Rogers
20. Written for children's or YA audience:
21. Author you've never read: The Blackbirds--Eric Jerome Dickey
22. Book you find a little or a lot scary:
23. A "classic" (whatever that means to you!): East of Eden--John Steinbeck
24. Picture book
25. Book that inspires you:

January Bookish Bingo

 The new card for January.

My books:

1. Happily Ever Afters: A Reimagining of Snow White and Rose Red--Melanie Cellier (4 squares): Audiobook, Bravery, Curse/Spells, Demon
2. Depression Self Help 7--Heather Rose (2 squares): E-Book, Goals/Resolutions
3. The Blackbirds--Eric Jerome Dickey (10 squares): Shelf Love, Physical Book, Not in a Series, Free Space, Different Culture, Diverse Read, Characters Are in a Club, Celebration, Meant to Read in 2024, A Character is Real
4. The Mammoth Hunters--Jean M. Auel (2 squares): Free Book, In a Series
5. Nightcrawling--Leila Mottley (3 squares): Library Book, Book Club Read, Orange on the Cover
6. East of Eden--John Steinbeck (1 square): Twins
7. Lalani of the Distant Sea--Erin Entrada Kelly (2 squares): Body of Water, Sea Creature
8. Everyone Knows You Go Home--Natalia Sylvester (1 square): Set in the South

25 squares completed on January 24