Wanderlust Bingo

This year, I tried to read my way round the world. And to help me along, I played a game of bingo. Here’s how. You take the bingo card shown below, and attempt to cover each square with the title of a book you’ve just read. 

Here’s how I got on. The stars represent how much I’ve enjoyed the book (out of five). The scoring here is quite high – these are among my year’s Best Books. Other star ratings are available, and visible on some other – less successful -choices this year.

The links will take you to my reviews on Goodreads. I’m actively in the process of changing my book tracking to Storygraph. When I started recording the books I’d read, I was at first unaware that Goodreads was owned by Amazon. I’m a fervent Amazon Avoider, so it really is time to go, especially as the site is actually quite clunky.

Wanderlust Bingo

North America
Elizabeth Strout: The Burgess Boys⭐⭐⭐
Nordic
Roy Jacobsen: Just a Mother⭐⭐⭐
City
Elizabeth McCracken: The Hero of This Book (London)⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Western Europe
Donna Leon:  So shall you reap (Italy, Venice)⭐⭐⭐⭐
Far East
An Yu: Ghost Music (China) ⭐⭐⭐

Indian Subcontinent
Kiran Desai: Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard (India) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Village
Barry Unsworth: Morality Play (14th century Northern England) ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Australia
Kate Grenville: A Room Made of Leaves (New South Wales) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Island
Audrey Magee: The Colony (Island off West Coast of Ireland) ⭐⭐⭐⭐
UK (excluding Scotland)
Caleb Azumah Nelson: Small Worlds (London) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Mountain
Christopher Somerville: Walking the Bones of Britain (mountainous regions of Scotland; Pennines)⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Central America
Any suggestions?
Scotland
Douglas Stuart: Young Mungo (Glasgow) ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Africa
Petina Gappah: Out of Darkness Shining Light (Central Africa: the route explored by David Livingstone) ⭐⭐⭐
Small Town
Jo Browning Roe: A Terrible Kindness (Aberfan, Wales)⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Caribbean
Any suggestions?
Beach
Sheila Armstrong: Falling Animals (Ireland) ⭐⭐⭐⭐
South East Asia
Kate Strasdin: The Dress Diary of Mrs. Ann Sykes (partly Singapore) ⭐⭐⭐⭐
River
Shelley Read: Go as a River (USA Colorado) ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Southern Europe
Joseph O’Connor: My Father’s House (Rome)⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

South America
Dan Saladino: Eating to Extinction (Bolivia and Venezuela: a bit of a cheat as Saladino visits every continent in this book)⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Central or Eastern Europe
Lauren Chater: The Lace Weaver (Estonia)⭐⭐⭐
Sea
Karen Pinchin: Kings of their Own Ocean (Tuna, widespread)⭐⭐⭐
Middle East
Susan Abulhawa: Against the Loveless World (Palestine). I've hardly started this one, so no thoughts or ratings yet.
Polynesia
Eleanor Catton: Birnam Wood (New Zealand)⭐⭐

This great idea comes from Fiction Fan: you can read all about it on her site and maybe decide it’s for you too. At least one other blogging pal, Karen of Booker Talk has joined in the fun. Read all about it!

As this is my last post this year, it’s time to thank you all for reading and commenting, and for being part of such an engaging community. All good wishes for 2024.

Nicola Nuttall of Unsplash has provided my featured photo.

Author: margaret21

I'm retired and live in North Yorkshire, where I walk , write, volunteer and travel as often as I can.

29 thoughts on “Wanderlust Bingo”

  4. Seems like a good idea, Margaret. I gave up writing reviews on Goodreads, mostly because it’s time consuming, but I do struggle to remember the books I’ve read, unless they’re still in the cupboard, waiting to go back to the charity shop. Wishing you the happiest of years ahead and thanks for being a lovely friend 🤗🩷

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    1. My (lack of) memory is exactly why I do reviews, They don’t have to be long . Just an aide-memoire for an aging brain! You’re a great pal too Jo. Happy travels, blogging and family life to you in 2024!

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  6. That is an impressive list! I popped over to your Goodreads reviews – you are such a prolific reader! I have you to thank for introducing me to Garry Disher and his wonderful Constable Paul Hirschhausen stuck out in desolate Australian outback country where towns are named by Cornish miners. I shall certainly browse through your list to see what else is of interest. So thank you for your book reviews / chains and I certainly look forward to more of the same in 2024. Happy New Year Margaret and ‘im.

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    1. Hooray, Jude. So glad my reviews tempt somebody! Likewise, you have made me more observant of gardens and the thought that often goes into them. I always enjoy your posts. All positive wishes for 2024.

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  7. What a good idea! I don’t read half as much as you do but I may see how many different countries I can tick off next year and I’ll certainly check out some of yours 🙂 Happy New Year!

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  8. Interesting idea! I might try it. On the other hand, I once downloaded lists of a book for every US state and every English county and never looked at them again (till now when I went back to check what they were). So maybe not …

    A very happy new year to you, Margaret. I’m glad to have made your acquaintance this year (I think it was just this year) and next time we head Yorkshire way maybe we can move into real life!

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  10. Bravo for completing so many squares so quickly. I shall have to have a word with Fiction Fan though – fancy giving Scotland it’s own square but not Wales. She has a lot to answer for 🙂

    You asked for suggestions for the Caribbean – maybe Love After Love by Ingrid Persault could be an option for you. It’s set in Trinidad.

    As for Central America, anything by Gabriel García Márquez (Colombia author) would fit the bill

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    1. Ah! My Book Group read Love after Love in Lockdown when we were doing everything on Zoom. Ingrid joined us for part of our meeting, which was good of her as it was Silly o’clock over in the Caribbean: she was delightfully engaging company.

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  12. You’re doing brilliantly – nearly completed it all in one year! And it’s always an added bonus when you can fill all the boxes with books you enjoyed. As for your missing ones, I’m struggling with Central America too. I’ve selected Mr President by Miguel Angel Asturias, a classic, apparently, set in a fictional country that’s probably Guatemala. But I haven’t read it yet, so can’t really recommend it. For the Caribbean I’ll be reading Havana Blue, a crime novel by Leonardo Padura set in Cuba – I haven’t read his crime novels before but have read one of his fictions and thought it was great. I suspect his crime novels probably crossover into lit-fic territory.

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  13. This is really interesting. You read all those books this year? That’s amazing. I’ve read a handful, having the worst time sitting down to read without falling asleep! 🙂

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  15. That’s fun. I like your list, nice mix of things that I’ve read and liked, and others which I haven’t.

    I had a few cheat reads this year, with travel books. A book like Pico Iyer’s old bestseller, “Video Nights in Kathmandu” is an example, since it simultaneously covers city, Far East, Indian Subcontinent, island, mountain, small town, beach, Southeast Asia, river, and sea.

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  16. That’s an impressive achievement, Margaret! There are several here which are tempting me too. Wishing you and yours a very happy new year (although I’ve probably done that once already, last week!)

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