Book Bingo Challenge

Book Bingo/ Reading Challenge

This was a book bingo created by the library I go to. I thought that I would post it so that people could use it as a reading challenge in case they were interested. Of course I am going for the full card but let me know what you come up with or books that really stood out to you!

A book published in the last year	A book by a female author	A memoir OR biography	A book set in the past	A book with a one-word title
A book based on a true story	A book with a blue cover	A book with over 300 pages	A book by an author you've never read	A book set outside Canada
A book made into a TV Show OR movie	A book with a number in the title	Bingo	A book that makes you laugh	A book that has won an award
A book with a female main character	A book set in Canada	A book by your favourite author	A book with a red cover	A book that is part of a series
A book you've re-read	A book set in the future	A book with an illustrated cover	A book a friend told you about	A non-fiction book

Make the World Your Runway

Make the World Your Runway: Top Model Secrets for Everyday Confidence and Success by Liris Crosse
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was an excellent book. There was a ton of inspirational quotes and sayings (which I love because I am a word bird!). The foreword was written by Tim Gunn who is fantastic in my books, and from watching Project Runway, he seems like a mentor who looks at the positives and frames the negatives in a gentle way yet tries to get the point across that change needs to be made. This book is a solid 4 star book. It doesn't quite get a 5 because there is a lot of religious bits and I'm not religious so those parts didn't do anything for me. I have talked to Liris several times on Instagram and she's a delight to chat with. She makes herself available to respond to fans questions and ideas. Yes, I was waiting for the inspirational quote that was the Tyra “We were rooting for you” tirade but it wasn't there. Liris shares her experiences and things that a woman can do to be prepared for making yourself 'runway' ready, even when you are just going out in to the world. My favourite part of the book was when Liris shared her “Runway Tales”. These little stories were great from so many different perspectives. I have suggested to Liris that she just do an entire book about these stories as I am sure there is many more than the few in the book. I will be waiting to see if this happens and when it does I will be sure to order it.


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A Million Little Pieces

A Million Little Pieces by James Frey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have read this book at an earlier date but was not keeping track on Goodreads, therefore there is no first opinion about the book.

RE Read Completed May 5, 2019

This choice of book was because I wanted to re-read the dental surgery that Frey 'had' to go through with out any meds because he is receiving treatment at a rehab facility. Frey does a great job describing what the pain is like, almost to the point that I started to get pain while reading it. Oprah outed Frey as a phony because the book is considered autobiographical but I think that can be left to interpretation. What one may consider devastating pain, turmoil and trouble another person may see as 'light work.' Do I think that Frey exaggerated the truth for it to be effective? 100% There are lots of people that write autobiographical books and extrapolate on things that have happened to them. That's the whole point is to make the reader want to continue reading more. If Frey had just written about the difficulty of going through withdrawl (ie the shakes, nausea, the trots etc) his book wouldn't be any different than other people who have written about their rehab journey. Another reason this book is a keeper is because of the relationship Frey builds with Leonard. The way that relationship comes to be is something very special. We all need a Leonard in our lives!


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A Beautiful Truth

A Beautiful Truth by Colin McAdam
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I loved every minute of this book. I thoroughly enjoyed how Walt and Judy brought Looee into their life and treated him just like he was their son. The one thing that scientists try to remind people is that you can never take the wild out of an animal no matter how domesticated you make them. This was a perfect example and it didn't come apparent until Looee was in his adolescent years. He started acting out and doing things that would be considered more his wild side. Another thing I found interesting was I was amazed at how sexual the chimps were. I know that they are sexual creatures but everything they do somehow related back to sex whether it be in a literal or innocent way. It broke my heart when Looee was taken to Girdish to become a test subject. The animals were not well taken care of and it does make me sad that we use animals to test on for certain things. When Looee was taken to the area where David was running the experiments and studying the social behaviours of the chimps that was the best that Looee's life was going to get after he left Walt and Judy's. David had a sort of respect for the chimps even though he was watching an monitoring their social and learning capabilities. This was a fabulous book and when authors can successfully pull off writing from an animals perspective that truly shows their literary talents.

RE READ completed March 28, 2019

This was a re-read because I enjoyed it the first time I read it. There is a harsh reality about this story and it's very sad. People try to convert animals in to having human qualities yet they tend to forget that deep down that animal is still wild and there may be some 'wild' behaviours appear. I also read this book because of the incident and how graphic it was. It wasn't Tess Gerritsen gritty but it was light gore. One thing about this book is when the CM tries to convey what the animals are thinking etc, sometimes it is very hard to understand and you need to re-read things again to figure out the true meaning. It's a roller coaster of a ride and the end is not candy and nuts. In my previous rating I gave the book a 5 star review, the second time through I would give it a 3.5 but 3 will have to do.


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The President Is Missing

The President Is Missing by Bill Clinton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

TBH – I had gotten over reading James Patterson unless I was looking for a book to fly through that was pretty predictable and I would be able to figure it out before it ended. There are very few JP books that I haven't solved prior to finishing them. This book had Bill Clinton as a co-author and I was looking for a book to fill the mystery component of my 52 book challenge (WHICH IS FINALLY FINISHED!) and this book was getting rave reviews so I wanted to see what all the hub bub was about.

Well the beginning of the book had me going, “All the stuff that this is discussing is happening in the US currently, do I really want to bombard myself with extra US drama?” BUT there was a turning point and from that point I couldn't put it down. I loved the characters and how brilliant they were. I loved the descriptions. The fact that JP pulled the whole story out over the course of 5 days and it wasn't annoying as hell was great. There was enough misleading to throw my guess of the villain off except for at the last minute. It was interesting to see how the different government officials were in crisis when the president was missing (I don't consider that a spoiler bc the title of the book says it). The one thing I was very curious about was – What did Bill Clinton actually do to contribute to the writing or fact checking (to make the story seem real)? I haven't read a Bill Clinton book but I CANNOT stand to listen to him talk. He rambles on and adds a lot of “Ums, buts, ifs, uhs, etc.” Either way, I am giving this book a solid 4 as I haven't read a JP book that was this good in a long time.


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You Can Stop Humming Now

You Can Stop Humming Now: A Doctor's Stories of Life, Death, and in Between by Daniela Lamas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is in the medical genre but it's a compilation of stories that the author has put together. There are happy/sad/triumphant stories. I really liked how the whole book spanned over the author's residency and beginning years as a doctor. The medical field is an endless bunch of learning opportunities and I am a bit of a jargon junkie, so when I start hearing or reading medical terminology, I am in it to finish it. I think this book earns it's 5 stars and then a little bit of extra love on top. The author is down to earth, good bedside manner (from what she mentioned in the book) and she made a point of getting to know the people she was writing about. There was back story all the way up to end (whatever it was) of each story. I enjoyed the manner in which this book was written. This book was slightly reminiscent of When Breath Becomes Air.


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52 Book Challenge (Blank)

52 books in 52 weeks

The 2017 List
1. A book from the Goodreads Choice Awards 2016 (link)
2. A book with at least 2 perspectives (multiple points of view)
3. A book you meant to read in 2016
4. A title that doesn't contain the letter "E"
5. A historical fiction

6. A book being released as a movie in 2017 
7. A book with an animal on the cover or in the title
8. A book written by a person of color
9. A book in the middle of your To Be Read list
10. A dual-timeline novel
11. A category from another challenge
12. A book based on a myth
13. A book recommended by one of your favorite authors
14. A book with a strong female character
15. A book written or set in Scandinavia (Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Iceland)
16. A mystery
17. A book with illustrations
18. A really long book (600+ pages)
19. A New York Times best-seller
20. A book that you've owned for a while but haven't gotten around to reading
21. A book that is a continuation of a book you've already read
22. A book by an author you haven't read before
23. A book from the BBC "The Big Read" list (link)
24. A book written by at least two authors
25. A book about a famous historical figure
26. An adventure book –
27. A book by one of your favorite authors
28. A non-fiction
29. A book published outside the 4 major publishing houses (Simon & Schuster; HarperCollins; Penguin Random House; Hachette Livre) - check all the editions
30. A book from Goodreads Top 100 YA Books (link)
31. A book from a sub-genre of your favorite genre –
32. A book with a long title (5+ words, excluding subtitle)
33. A magical realism novel
34. A book set in or by an author from the Southern Hemisphere
35. A book where one of the main characters is royalty
36. A Hugo Award winner or nominee (link)
37. A book you choose randomly
38. A novel inspired by a work of classic literature
39. An epistolary fiction
40. A book published in 2017
41. A book with an unreliable narrator
42. A best book of the 21st century (so far)
43. A book with a chilling atmosphere (scary, unsettling, cold)
44. A recommendation from "What Should I Read Next" (link)
45. A book with a one-word title
46. A time travel novel
47. A past suggestion that didn't win (link)
48. A banned book
49. A book from someone else's bookshelf
50. A Penguin Modern Classic 
51. A collection (e.g. essays, short stories, poetry, plays) 
52. A book set in a fictional location