Book Bingo Check-in!
I'm doing the @2026-book-bingo this year, and since we're at (okay a little past) the midpoint of the year I thought I'd share where I've gotten so far.
Non-european fantasy: A Mouthful of Dust by Nghi Vo. Cannibalism is probably my biggest squick so I was being very brave by reading this, and Iām glad I pushed myself because the worldbuilding was so cool.
Literary fiction: Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi. Was kind of a slow-burn (no pun intended) for me, but once I got in the groove I really liked it! V cool seeing the different characters' lives intersect and affect each other, especially by the end.
Pink cover: Love Junkie by Robert Plunkett. God this book was fun. Iām a slut for an unreliable narrator and upper-class homosexual bullshit.
Historical fantasy: The Fox and the Devil by Kiersten White. I wanted to like this one, but it fell kinda flat for me by the end. I think the author has āscared of the audienceā syndrome where all the protagonists have to be morally good by twenty-first progressive standards despite being turn-of-the-twentieth-century Europeans.
Gothic fiction: Just Like Home by Sarah Gailey. Read this one in a single day, fucking loved it. I donāt read a ton of gothic fiction so I donāt feel equipped to judge it qua gothic fiction, but boy did I have a good time, due to my aforementioned love of unreliable narrators.
Read it + Do it: The New Bottoming Book by Janet Hardy and Dossie Easton. Um. Self-explanatory, I think.
Science fiction: Dead Astronauts by Jeff Vandermeer. Weird as hell! Filled me with vague melancholy! Not sure I could describe the plot! Definitely recommend!
Romance: You Made A Fool of Death With Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi. When I tell you I finished this and immediately put hold requests in for the everything else Emezi has written. The library hates to see me coming.
In progress: A book about music: This Year by John Darnielle. Iām reading one song a day (or trying to at least) so this will probably be the least square I cross off.
Currently on hold: Short story collection: The Memory Librarian by Janelle Monae.
Blurb buddies: The Fifth Season by NK Jemisin. I donāt actually remember which book this is a blurb buddy for, Iām realizing, but definitely one of them. Dead Astronauts maybe?
