Communally Sourced Reading Bingo is live!
Thank you all for the brainstorming and voting and checking in over the last week or so! I think this thing is ready to go...
I randomized the prompts for the serious and random cards, and for the mix-and-match card, I took the additional prompts leading in the poll and randomized that set as well. It didn't end up looking terribly random, but randomness is liked that... *shrug*
I also added two prompts after the poll went up. I'd meant to include (but had forgotten, until somebody else mentioned it) a prompt for an "independently published book" (i.e. self-pub or published by an indie press) to the serious card and mix-and-match cards. And then I had a spot left over on the mix-and-match card, so rather than trying to tie-break between the prompts with 3 votes, I just put in a "funny book" square.
Cards:
Alts with a different background for those who prefer fractals to gardens:
ETA: Printer-friendly versions of the three cards:
Please let me know if you spot typos, readability issues, or other problems!
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Explanations / Rules / Options:
- You can try to fill out as many cards as you want, just one or all three. You can just go for five-in-a-row BINGO, or try for blackout, or something in-between.
- If you're doing multiple cards, you can use one book to mark off squares on different cards. That is, say you're doing Random and Serious cards, and you read Anansi Boys; you can use it to mark off the "protagonist of color" square on the Serious card and "written by friend of favorite author" on the Random card (if your favorite author is Terry Pratchett), but you couldn't use it to mark off both the "written by friend of favorite author" and "second book in a series" squares on the Random card.
- Cards are customizeable if you so desire. That is, if you're thinking of doing the Random card and would like to go for blackout but don't want to read a book featuring kids, or animals, you can "trade in" those spaces for a non-redundant prompt from one of the other cards. (I have these set up so that it's pretty easy to swap squares.) Unfortunately, challenge modes won't transfer along, because that gets too fiddly, but of course you're still welcome to do the challenge mode for the prompt in question -- it just won't show up on the card.
- On that note, some of the aesthetics are customizeable too. I can't change font size, but if you hate the green-and-purple color scheme, want a version without the background texture, etc. let me know.
- There were only so many words I could fit in a bingo square, so some of the prompts got slightly abridged. Hopefully they're still intelligible, and there is a list of all prompts with elaborations below (which we can add explanations / clarifications to as necessary).
- Crowns mark squares that have an optional challenge mode, with the challenges listed at the bottom (find them using the numbers in parenthesis). If you read a challenge mode book, cross out the square AND the challenge prompt at the bottom.
- I think it doesn't make sense to have a set time period for these, given that some of them are quite challenging. You can try to complete your card(s) in a year, but certainly don't have to.
- URL at the bottom of the cards will bring you back to this master post if you find yourself needing clarifications for prompts or book recs.
Anything else that should be clarified or doesn't make sense?
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Prompts list
Serious
1. book with female protagonist
2. short story / essay collection
3. non-fiction book written 50+ years ago (exactly 50 years ago is OK too)
4. book by an author you've never read
5. book with a protagonist with a physical disability
6. book from farthest shelf / oldest e-book -- farthest shelf on your bookcase, oldest e-book on your reader, or soemthing else that you've basically had around for a long time and never read (CHALLENGE MODE: book you started one but did not finish)
7. book with a nameless protagonist
8. book by an author of color
9. book by author whose first language is not English -- this encompasses books originally written in a language other than English that you read in translation, or that you read in the non-English original, or books written in English by an author for whom English is not their native language (e.g. Heart of Darkness) (CHALLENGE MODE: self-translated book -- book translated by the author, whether you read it in the original language or the author's translation)
10. classic from another country's canon -- i.e. book that is considered a classic in a country other than the country you are living in or went to school in
11. book of poetry (CHALLENGE MODE: epic poem or novel in verse)
12. book with a queer protagonist
13. FREE SPACE
14. rec from friend or media (CHALLENGE MODE: book from the rec list compiled by CSRB participants)
15. book set before 1900 (CHALLENGE MODE: book set in the 17th century)
16. graphic novel (manga, etc. also OK)
17. school requirement you missed -- books that are (or were, when you went to school) part of school/university curriculum that you never read
18. book where main and female characters don't fall in love -- don't fall in love with each other is what's meant, but if they don't fall in love with anyone at all, that's obviously fine, too
19. book with a protagonist of color
20. book with a trans* protagonist
21. book not in English -- book that you read in a language other than English, whether or not it's a book you read in its original language or not; i.e. English book in translation to Spanish works, or French book in translation to German, etc. (CHALLENGE MODE: book you read in a language you're not fluent in -- how non-fluent is up to you :) And, of course, this could be a very easy book, like a picture book)
22. book with a protagonist with mental / social disability -- mental, social, emotional disabilities all work for this square
23. non-fiction book (CHALLENGE MODE: non-fiction book that's a seminal work of a non-English canon)
24. independently published book -- self-published or published by an indie press
25. book by a queer author
Random
1. book given to you as a gift
2. book with more than two protagonists
3. book with red cover
4. book written by someone famous for things other than writing -- or someone mostly famous for those things, such as an actor, chef, politician, etc.
5. book heavily featuring kids -- kids, not teenagers, so, 12 and under. (CHALLENGE MODE: book from a child's POV, once again, child, not teen)
6. book set on a continent you've never been to -- up to you whether you count islands as part of a continent or not... (CHALLENGE MODE: book set in Australia)
7. book without magical creatures
8. book by an author you've never read
9. a book heavily featuring food
10. rec from friend or media (CHALLENGE MODE: book from the rec list compiled by CSRB participants)
11. graphic novel (manga, etc. also OK)
12. book with a plant in the title
13. FREE SPACE
14. book your parent or child loves
15. reread of childhood favorite -- or formative book of your childhood
16. book from farthest shelf / oldest e-book -- farthest shelf on your bookcase, oldest e-book on your reader, or soemthing else that you've basically had around for a long time and never read (CHALLENGE MODE: book you started one but did not finish)
17. non-fiction book (CHALLENGE MODE: non-fiction book written 50+ years ago. Books written exactly 50 years ago count, too :)
18. second book in a series
19. book heavily featuring animals (CHALLENGE MODE: book featuring rodents)
20. book with antonyms in the title
21. book by friend / rival / contemporary of favorite writer -- can be *a* favorite writer, not necessarily your utmost favorite, and friend, rival, or contemporary are all OK
22. book where you watched the movie first
23. a book with photos
24. book set in place you've wanted to visit for a long time
25. book by author who shares first letter of your last name (CHALLENGE MODE: book by author who shares your initials) -- OK to do this across alphabets if needed
Mix-and-Match
1. book where main and female characters don't fall in love -- don't fall in love with each other is what's meant, but if they don't fall in love with anyone at all, that's obviously fine, too
2. book with a nameless protagonist
3. book by an author you've never read
4. book by author whose first language is not English -- this encompasses books originally written in a language other than English that you read in translation, or that you read in the non-English original, or books written in English by an author for whom English is not their native language (e.g. Heart of Darkness) (CHALLENGE MODE: self-translated book -- book translated by the author, whether you read it in the original language or the author's translation)
5. book with protagonist with disability -- physical or mental/social/emotional disability works in this case
6. school requirement you missed -- school requirement you missed -- books that are (or were, when you went to school) part of school/university curriculum that you never read
7. non-fiction book (CHALLENGE MODE: non-fiction book published 50+ years ago)
8. rec from friend or media (CHALLENGE MODE: book from the rec list compiled by CSRB participants)
9. book written by someone famous for things other than writing -- or someone mostly famous for those things, such as an actor, chef, politician, etc.
10. book with female protagonist
11. book set in place you've wanted to visit for a long time
12. funny book -- fiction, non-fiction, comics in the "funny pages" sense, it's all good
13. FREE SPACE
14. book given to you as a gift
15. book with author or protagonist of color
16. reread of childhood favorite -- or formative book of your childhood
17. independently published book -- self-published or published by an indie press
18. book heavily featuring animals (CHALLENGE MODE: book featuring rodents)
19. book where you watched the movie first
20. book set before 1900 (CHALLENGE MODE: book set in the 17th century)
21. collection of short stories / essays / poems
22. second book in a series
23. book with a queer author / protagonist -- author AND/OR protagonist
24. book from farthest shelf / oldest e-book -- farthest shelf on your bookcase, oldest e-book on your reader, or soemthing else that you've basically had around for a long time and never read (CHALLENGE MODE: book you started one but did not finish)
25. graphic novel -- manga, etc. also OK
"Mandatory rec" list -- read one book from this list for the OPTIONAL "challenge mode" of the rec square
(Participants: if you have not submitted a rec into this list and would like to, just vote in this poll (which will stay open in perpetuity)
- Paladin of Souls, Lois McMaster Bujold
- Poetry collections: Gitanjali by Tagore
- First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North
- Dina Rubina - Here Comes the Messiah!
- War Dog - Damien Lewis
- Geek Love by Katherine Dunn
- Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand (nonfic)
- Redemption in Indigo, by Karen Lord
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Recs and Resources
Thanks to thistle_chaser, _profiterole_, egelantier, Sephystabbity, postingwhore, wordsofastory, deeplyunhip, ms_geekette, _grayswandir_, aome, aletheiafelinea, dhampyresa, zhelana, flo_nelja for the recs!
Note: To keep this looking manageable, I've reproduced just titles / authors and minimal warning like when something's a sequel or potentially disturbing. The comments and discussion on the original post may have more info for you to go on if you're intrigued.
Book by an author whose first language is not English
- Carlos Ruiz Zafón - Shadow of the Wind
- Jean-Dominique Bauby - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn - One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
- Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
- One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
- Most anything by Nabokov
- Joseph Conrad's work
- Dina Rubina's "Here Comes the Messiah"
- Vasily Aksyonov's Say Cheese
- Marina and Sergey Dyachenko's Vita Nostra
- The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (NOT the Hapgood translation on Project Gutenberg)
- Anton Chekhov short stories
also see below under "translated by the author"
Books translated by the author
- Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
- Brodsky poetry -- So Forth seems to be the relevant collection
- Wizard of the Crow by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
- Out of Africa by Isak Dinese
- Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett
Short story collections
- anything by George Saunders
- Ted Chiang
- Kelly Link s (e.g. Magic for Beginners)
- Karen Russell's St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves
- Neil Gaiman's short stories ("M is for Magic" e.g.)
- Holly Black's "Poison Eaters and other stories"
- Zombies vs Unicorns anthology
- Wings of Fire anthology
- Jorge Luis Borges
- Connie Willis - Fire Watch and other stories
- David Marusak - Getting to Know You
- Anton Chekhov
- James Joyce - Dubliners
- Grandville: Public and Private Life of Animals
- W. Somerset Maugham
- Saki's work
- Isaac Asimov
- Robert Heinlein.
- No Comebacks by Fredrick Forsythe
Essay collections
- David Sedaris
- Erma Bombeck
- Dave Barry
- Best American Series: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Best_American_Series
- Ursula Le Guin, The Language of the Night
- Oliver Sachs, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat
- Asimov on Numbers
Poetry collections (poets)
- Philip Larkin
- Dorothy Parker
- Edna St Vincent Millay
- Oscar Wilde e.g. this one
Epic poems
- The Epic of Gilgamesh
- Lucan's Civil War (i.e. Pharsalia)
- Beowulf
- Kalevala
- the Eddas
Novels in verse
- Only Revolutions by Mark Z. Danielewski
- Toby Barlow - Sharp Teeth
- The Golden Gate by Vikram Seth
- Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
- The Tale of Kieu
Classics of non-Anglo canons:
- Four Great Classical Novels of China (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Great_Classical_Novels)
- Les Misérables
- Aleksander Fredro (1793-1876)
- Eliza Orzeszkowa (1841-1910)
- Bolesław Prus (1845-1912)
- Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz (1894-1980)
- Maria Dąbrowska (1889-1965)
- Tale of Genji - Murasaki Shikibu (Japan)
- Pillow Book - Sei Shonagon (Japan)
- Ramayana - R. K. Narayan (India)
- Gitanjali - Rabindranath Tagore (India)
- Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe (Africa, specifically Nigeria)
- One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel García Márquez (Latin America, specifically Colombia)
- Journey to the West (China. 'Monkey' - Arthur Waley is the probably the best-known English version)
- All of Molière's work (especially Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme, Les Fourberies de Scapin and Les Précieuses Ridicules)
- Hugo's Le Dernier Jour d'Un Condamné
- La Fontaine's Fables
- Voltaire's Candide
- Perrault fairytales
- Beaumarchais' Le Barbier de Séville (and Le Mariage de Figaro)
- Zola's Germinal
- Jules Verne
- Olympe de Gouges
- Simone de Beauvoir
- Grandville: Public and Private Life of Animals.
- Anton Chekhov short stories
- "One Thousand and One Nights"
Books by authors of color
- Michelle Sagara (West) is Japanese-Canadian.
- The Brief, Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz (who is Dominican-American)
- N.K.Jemisin's books -- Inheritance Trilogy
- Malinda Lo -- especially Ash
- Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
- Black Boy by Richard Wright
- Yes, Chef by Marcus Samuelsson (a memoir by a chef)
- The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food by Jenny Lee.
- Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God
- "The Trouble with Islam Today" by Irshad Manji
Books by queer authors
- Ellen Kushner (Swordspoint and Privilege of the Sword; Thomas the Rhymer)
- Tanya Huff -- Blood Price and Quarters books
- Malinda Lo -- especially Ash
- Delia Sherman
- Fiona Patton
- Melissa Scott -- Astreiant, Roads of Heaven, The Kindly Ones
- Liquor by Poppy Z. Brite
- Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club
- Oscar Wilde -- Importance of Being Earnest, Dorian Gray, fairy tales
- Alison Bechdel (also graphic novels),
- Patricia Highsmith,
- Christopher Isherwood,
- Virginia Woolf,
- David Levithan,
- Allen Ginsberg
- Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz (1894-1980)
- Maria Dąbrowska (1889-1965)
- "The Trouble with Islam Today" by Irshad Manji
- "Self-Made Man: My Year Disguised as a Man" by Norah Vincent
Also, poetry by queer poets:
- W.H.Auden
- Edna St Vincent Millay
Books with protagonists of color
- Brian K. Vaughan/Fiona Staples - Saga
- The Broken Kingdoms by NK Jemisin
- Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch (Peter is biracial, with a mother from Sierra Leone)
- Brief, Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz, as mentioned above
- The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex
- Neil Gaiman -- Anansi Boys
- Justine Larbalestier -- Liar
- Team Human -- Sarah Rees Brennan and Justine Larbalestier
- Stranger and sequel Hostage by Rachel Manija Brown and Sherwood Smith
- Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le Guin
- Ben January mysteries by Barbara Hambly
- Pearl Buck - Good Earth
- Liquor by Poppy Z. Brite
- Earthsea books by Ursula LeGuin
- Mercy Thompson books (half-Native American) by Patricia Briggs
- Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko
- A Hero at the End of the World by Erin Claiborne
- Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence
- Brian Caswell's Asturias
- "Kirinyaga" by Mike Resnick
- Judge Dee series by Robert van Gulik
- Inspector Shan series by Elliot Pattinson
Books with queer protagonists
- Ellen Kushner - Swordspoint
- Malinda Lo -- Ash
- Nightrunner books by Lynn Flewelling
- Will Grayson, Will Grayson by David Levithan and John Green
- Openly Straight by Bill Konigsberg
- Santa Olivia by Jacqueline Carey
- The City of Silk and Steel by Linda, Louise and Mike Carey
- Rifter books by Ginn Hale
- Wicked Gentleman by Ginn Hale
- Donald Strachey mysteries by Richard Stevenson
- Elemental Logic series by Laurie J. Marks
- When Women were warriors by Catherine M. Wilson
- Liquor by Poppy Z. Brite
- A Hero at the End of the World by Erin Claiborne
- A Stringed Instrument by Bramblethorn
Resources: http://diversityinya.tumblr.com/tagged/DiYA-Lists
Books with trans* protagonists
- Full Fathom Five by Max Gladstone (it's a third part in series and can be read separately)
- Just Girls by Rachel Gold
- Some Assembly Required by Arin Andrews (a memoir)
- I am J by Cris Beam
- Luna by Julie Anne Peters
Resources: http://diversityinya.tumblr.com/tagged/DiYA-Lists
Graphic novels
- Greg Rucka - Whiteout/Whiteout: Melt
- Brian K. Vaughan/Fiona Staples - Saga
- "Pride of Baghdad" by Brian K. Vaughan and Niko Henrichon
- Audrey Niffenegger - The Adventuress
- Watchmen, Alan Moore
- Sandman, Neil Gaiman
- Nimona by Noelle Stevenson / Gingerhaze
- Rat Queens (tentative rec, as art may be a turn-off)
Independently published book
- “When Women were warriors” by Catherine M. Wilson
- loupnoir / http://catherinekeegan.com/
- Andy Weir's "The Martian"
- The Werewolf Marine series by Lia Silver ("Prisoner" and "Laura's Wolf", they can be read in either order)
- Hostage - Rachel Manija Brown, Sherwood Smith (the second in a series)
- The Italian Soda Summer - Jennifer Montgomery
- The Brothers Sinister series or 'Trade Me' - Courtney Milan
- The Gift Knight's Quest by Dylan Madeley (see link in comments below)
- A Stringed Instrument by Bramblethorn (see link in comments below)
Books with protagonists with physical / mental / social disability
Physical:
- any of the Miles Vorkosigan books, starting with Warrior's Apprentice
- The Broken Kingdoms by N.K.Jemisin's Oree is blind
- The Idiot by Dostoevsky (epilepsy)
- Out of my mind by Sharon Draper (CP)
- Colin Thiele's Jodie's Journey
Mental:
- Gate of Darkness, Circle of Light by Tanya Huff
- The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon,
- The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon -- autistic narrator
- Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
- Brian Caswell's A Cage of Butterflies
Resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Fictional_characters_with_disabilities
http://disabilityinkidlit.tumblr.com/tagged/dikl-list
http://diversityinya.tumblr.com/tagged/DiYA-Lists
http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2015/02/special-needs-in-strange-worlds-best-books-of-2014/
Books set before the 20th century
- Lauren Willig - Pink Carnation series
Books set in the 17th century
- The Crucible
- Dumas: The three Musketeers
- Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle
- Gulliver's Travels (first book starts in 1699)
- Children of the New Forest
- Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague
- Robinson Crusoe
Resources: http://www.historicalnovels.info/Seventeenth-Century.html
Non-fiction books
- Anything by Mary Roach. Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers.
- William M. Bass's books (forensic anthropologist and his subject matter can be grisly)
- The Invisible Gorilla: How Our Intuitions Deceive Us
- Rats: Observations on the History and Habitat of the City's Most Unwanted Inhabitants by Robert Sullivan
- Jared Diamond
- "The Greatest Show on Earth" by Richard Dawkins
- "Pale Blue Dot" by Carl Sagan
- "The Trouble with Islam Today" by Irshad Manji
also see the other categories below
Non-fiction books written over 50 years ago
- Never Cry Wolf by Farley Mowat (scientifically suspect but fun)
- The Travels of Marco Polo
- In Cold Blood by Truman Capote (which was published in 1965)
- Black Boy by Richard Wright
- Out of Africa by Isak Dinese
- Freud's Interpretation of Dreams
- "Buccaneers of America" by Alexandre Exquemelin
Non-fiction books that are seminal works in their non-English canons
- Chinese Thirsteen Classics (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirteen_Classics)
- Tao Te Ching
- The Art of War
- Zhuangzi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhuangzi_%28book%29)
- St. Augustine's Confessions
- Rousseau's Confessions
Non-fiction resources: http://thegreatestbooks.org/nonfiction
Book where the main male and female characters do not fall in love with each other
- Emerald House Rising by Peg Kerr (pegkerr)
- Les Misérables (adopted daughter/father)
- Anouilh's Antigone
- Harry Potter works too...
Books with nameless protagonists
- Camus' The Stranger
- Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
- The Road - Cormac McCarthy
- Fight Club - Chuck Palahniuk
- Grandville: Public and Private Life of Animals
Resources: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/jul/24/ten-best-nameless-protagonists-mullan
Series (for the second book in the series prompt)
Listing series where books have been mentioned for other squares, with the idea that book 1 will also help you fulfill something
- Astreiant (Melissa Scott)
- Rivers of London (Ben Aaronovitch)
- The Craft (Max Gladstone)
- Ben January mysteries (Barbara Hambly)
Books written by authors who are famous for something other than writing
- Gerald Durrell (esp. My Family and Other Animals)
- Yes, Chef by Marcus Samuelsson (a memoir by a chef)
- Ben Franklin's autobiography
Books by literary rivals (friends/contemporaries) of fandom-favorite authors
- C.S.Lewis as Tolkien's friend
- Neil Gaiman [American Gods, The Graveyard Book] and Terry Pratchett [Going Postal, Small Gods] are friends
- Cassandra Clare, Sarah Rees Brennan [The Demon's Lexicon], and Holly Black [Curseworkers, starting with White Cat] are all friends
- Justine Larbalestier [Liar, Team Human] and Scott Westerfeld [Leviathan/Behemoth/Goliath] are husband and wife
Books with red covers
- The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food by Jenny Lee.
- Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce
- Demon's Lexicon Sarah Rees Brennan
- The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon (also disabled protagonist)
- Midnight Mayor by Kate Griffin (also book #2 in series)
- Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch (also book #2 in a series)
- Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (also book #2 in a series)
- Issola by Stephen Brust (probably also not a good place to start the series)
- Wool by Hugh Howey -- I haven't read it, but it's a rec from my best friend
- Fire by Kristin Chashore (book 2 but can be read as standalone)
- Fifth Chinese Daughter by Jade Snow Wong
Books with more than two protagonists:
- Guy Gavriel Kay -- The Lions of Al-Rassan
- A Song of Ice and Fire (GRR Martin) starting with A Game of Thrones
- The First Law by Joe Abercrombie (grimdark!)
Books set on continents other than Europe and North America
- Four Great Classical Novels of China
- Greg Rucka - Whiteout/Whiteout: Melt
- Pearl Buck - Good Earth
- Out of Africa by Isak Dinese
- Temeraire books #2, 4, and 7 (Throne of Jade, Empire of Ivory, and Crucible of Gold -- China, Africa, South America respectively)
- Kipling's Kim
- Memoirs of a Geisha
- "Nothing to Envy" by Barbara Demick (North Korea)
- "Kirinyaga" by Mike Resnick (Africa)
- Judge Dee series by Robert van Gulik (Asia)
- Inspector Shan series by Elliot Pattinson (Asia)
- "One Thousand and One Nights"
- "Pride of Baghdad" by Brian K. Vaughan and Niko Henrichon (graphic novel, Iraq)
also see below for Australia
Books set specifically in Australia
- Tongues of Serpents (Temeraire #6) by Naomi Novik
- does Terry Pratchett's The Last Continent count?
- The Thorn Birds
- Bill Bryson's In a Sunburned Country (/ Down Under)
- Tales from Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan
- John Marsden's Tomorrow When The War Began series
- Brian Caswell's A Cage of Butterflies (protagonists with disabilities and 'gifts'), Only The Heart, Double Exposure, Asturias (characters of colour), Dreamslip
- Elyne Mitchell's The Silver Brumby series
- Ruth Park's Playing Beatie Bow, The Harp in The South
- H.F. Brinsmead's Pastures of the Blue Crane
- Libby Hawthorn's Thunderwith
- Robin Klein's All in The Blue Unclouded Weather, Hating Alison Ashley, People Might Hear You
- Kathy Lette & Gabrielle Carey's Puberty Blues
- Colin Thiele's Jodie's Journey (female protagonist with a physical disability)
- Tim Winton's Blueback
- Doris Pilkington's Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence (female protagonist of colour)
- Melina Marchetta's Looking for Alibrandi
Books made into movies:
- No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy
- Out of Africa by Isak Dinese
- A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
- A Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
- Divergent
- The Giver (Lois Lowry)
- Fault in Our Stars (John Green)
- The Help,
- Pride & Prejudice,
- City of Bones,
- The Book Thief,
- Princess Bride,
- Nicholas Sparks books,
- Atonement
- Memoirs of a Geisha
- Holes (Lois Sachar)
- Sisterhood of Traveling Pants
- John Marsden's Tomorrow When The War Began
- Doris Pilkington's Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence
Books with a plant in the title
- A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
- Lauren Willig - Pink Carnation series
- Flowers for Algernon
- Seanan McGuire, Rosemary and Rue -- the first book of the October Daye series
- Foxglove Summer (Ben Aaronovitch) -- Rivers of London #5
- Prince/King/Emperor of Thorns by Mark Lawrence
- Adele Geras -- Watching the Roses
- Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
- Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
- A Clockwork Orange (Anthony Burgess)
Books with antonyms in the title
- Goodreads compilation (though some of the antonyms are kind of loosely defined...)
- "Dark star, bright dawn" is a children book by Scott O'Dell
- Grandville: Public and Private Life of Animals.
- Would Pretty Monsters by Kelly Link count?
- Elizabeth Gaskell, North and South
not-exactly-recs but not too bad:
- Kim Harrison The Good, The Bad and the Undead (book 2 of series) and White Witch, Black Curse (book 7)
- Charlaine Harris Living Dead in Dallas (book 2 of the series)
- War and Peace
Books with photographs
- Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
- "The Greatest Show on Earth" by Richard Dawkins
- "Pale Blue Dot" by Carl Sagan
Books heavily featuring kids (not teenagers)
- The Phantom Tollbooth
- The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex
- Madeline L'Engle books
- Out of my mind by Sharon Draper
- Little House books
- Edith Nesbit
see below for "told from a child's POV"
Books told from a child's POV
- Swamplandia! by Karen Russell
- Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
Books heavily featuring food
- Dzur, Stephen Brust, with a meal as a framing device -- although this is probably a really bad place to start the series...
- Sunshine by Robin McKinley, maybe
- Yes, Chef by Marcus Samuelsson (a memoir by a chef)
- Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal by Mary Roach
- Liquor by Poppy Z. Brite
- Curry: A Tale of Cooks and Conquerors by Lizzie Collingham.
- The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food by Jenny Lee.
- An Edible History of Humanity by Tom Standage
Books heavily featuring animals
- Kazan the Wolf Dog
- Watership Down by Richard Adams
- Animal Farm by George Orwell
- anything by Gerald Durrell but especially My Family and Other Animals (memoir)
- Ernest Thompson Seton's stories
- Never Cry Wolf by Farley Mowat (non-fiction, sorta)
- Redwall books
- Grandville: Public and Private Life of Animals
- "All Creatures Great and Small" by James Herriot
- "Pride of Baghdad" by Brian K. Vaughan and Niko Henrichon (lions, graphic novel)
- Kipling's "The Jungle Book"
- Jack London's "The Call of the Wild"
- J.O. Curwood.
Books featuring rodents
- Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett
- Flowers for Algernon
- Rats of NIMH books
- Wind in the Willows
- Rats: Observations on the History and Habitat of the City's Most Unwanted Inhabitants by Robert Sullivan (non-fiction)
- Garry Kilworth's "House of Tribes"
- Sam Savage's "Firmin"
Funny book
- Dave Barry's Guide to Guys
- Bill Bryson's books
- Neil Patrick Harris' "Choose Your Own Autobiography"
- Denis Diderot's Jacques the Fatalist
- Terry Pratchett
- Tom Holt, whose style reminds me of Terry Pratchett
- A Hero at the End of the World by Erin Claiborne
- Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series (One for the Money, Two for the Dough, etc.)
- Lisa Lutz's Spellman Files series (Spellman Files, Curse of the Spellmans, etc)
- Lauren Willig's Pink Carnation series
- "All Creatures Great and Small" by James Herriot
Finding authors who share your initial(s):
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_authors_by_name:_R
- http://www.ibookdb.net/search?author=i
Everybody please feel free to keep rec'ing things for these categories.
Categories that could use more recs (please leave them here or on the other post, either way):
- Independently published books
- Books where the main male and female characters do not fall in love
- Books set in the 17th century
- Books with nameless protagonists
- Authors who are friends of popular / fandom-favorite writers
- Books with antonyms in title
- Books with photographs
- Books heavily featuring children and/or from kid POV
- Funny books
ETA: Sharing and Bragging post, where you can leave links to your impressions/reviews of books you've read for the bingo, and let us know when you've reached a bingo/blackout.
I randomized the prompts for the serious and random cards, and for the mix-and-match card, I took the additional prompts leading in the poll and randomized that set as well. It didn't end up looking terribly random, but randomness is liked that... *shrug*
I also added two prompts after the poll went up. I'd meant to include (but had forgotten, until somebody else mentioned it) a prompt for an "independently published book" (i.e. self-pub or published by an indie press) to the serious card and mix-and-match cards. And then I had a spot left over on the mix-and-match card, so rather than trying to tie-break between the prompts with 3 votes, I just put in a "funny book" square.
Cards:
Alts with a different background for those who prefer fractals to gardens:
ETA: Printer-friendly versions of the three cards:
Please let me know if you spot typos, readability issues, or other problems!
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Explanations / Rules / Options:
- You can try to fill out as many cards as you want, just one or all three. You can just go for five-in-a-row BINGO, or try for blackout, or something in-between.
- If you're doing multiple cards, you can use one book to mark off squares on different cards. That is, say you're doing Random and Serious cards, and you read Anansi Boys; you can use it to mark off the "protagonist of color" square on the Serious card and "written by friend of favorite author" on the Random card (if your favorite author is Terry Pratchett), but you couldn't use it to mark off both the "written by friend of favorite author" and "second book in a series" squares on the Random card.
- Cards are customizeable if you so desire. That is, if you're thinking of doing the Random card and would like to go for blackout but don't want to read a book featuring kids, or animals, you can "trade in" those spaces for a non-redundant prompt from one of the other cards. (I have these set up so that it's pretty easy to swap squares.) Unfortunately, challenge modes won't transfer along, because that gets too fiddly, but of course you're still welcome to do the challenge mode for the prompt in question -- it just won't show up on the card.
- On that note, some of the aesthetics are customizeable too. I can't change font size, but if you hate the green-and-purple color scheme, want a version without the background texture, etc. let me know.
- There were only so many words I could fit in a bingo square, so some of the prompts got slightly abridged. Hopefully they're still intelligible, and there is a list of all prompts with elaborations below (which we can add explanations / clarifications to as necessary).
- Crowns mark squares that have an optional challenge mode, with the challenges listed at the bottom (find them using the numbers in parenthesis). If you read a challenge mode book, cross out the square AND the challenge prompt at the bottom.
- I think it doesn't make sense to have a set time period for these, given that some of them are quite challenging. You can try to complete your card(s) in a year, but certainly don't have to.
- URL at the bottom of the cards will bring you back to this master post if you find yourself needing clarifications for prompts or book recs.
Anything else that should be clarified or doesn't make sense?
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Prompts list
Serious
1. book with female protagonist
2. short story / essay collection
3. non-fiction book written 50+ years ago (exactly 50 years ago is OK too)
4. book by an author you've never read
5. book with a protagonist with a physical disability
6. book from farthest shelf / oldest e-book -- farthest shelf on your bookcase, oldest e-book on your reader, or soemthing else that you've basically had around for a long time and never read (CHALLENGE MODE: book you started one but did not finish)
7. book with a nameless protagonist
8. book by an author of color
9. book by author whose first language is not English -- this encompasses books originally written in a language other than English that you read in translation, or that you read in the non-English original, or books written in English by an author for whom English is not their native language (e.g. Heart of Darkness) (CHALLENGE MODE: self-translated book -- book translated by the author, whether you read it in the original language or the author's translation)
10. classic from another country's canon -- i.e. book that is considered a classic in a country other than the country you are living in or went to school in
11. book of poetry (CHALLENGE MODE: epic poem or novel in verse)
12. book with a queer protagonist
13. FREE SPACE
14. rec from friend or media (CHALLENGE MODE: book from the rec list compiled by CSRB participants)
15. book set before 1900 (CHALLENGE MODE: book set in the 17th century)
16. graphic novel (manga, etc. also OK)
17. school requirement you missed -- books that are (or were, when you went to school) part of school/university curriculum that you never read
18. book where main and female characters don't fall in love -- don't fall in love with each other is what's meant, but if they don't fall in love with anyone at all, that's obviously fine, too
19. book with a protagonist of color
20. book with a trans* protagonist
21. book not in English -- book that you read in a language other than English, whether or not it's a book you read in its original language or not; i.e. English book in translation to Spanish works, or French book in translation to German, etc. (CHALLENGE MODE: book you read in a language you're not fluent in -- how non-fluent is up to you :) And, of course, this could be a very easy book, like a picture book)
22. book with a protagonist with mental / social disability -- mental, social, emotional disabilities all work for this square
23. non-fiction book (CHALLENGE MODE: non-fiction book that's a seminal work of a non-English canon)
24. independently published book -- self-published or published by an indie press
25. book by a queer author
Random
1. book given to you as a gift
2. book with more than two protagonists
3. book with red cover
4. book written by someone famous for things other than writing -- or someone mostly famous for those things, such as an actor, chef, politician, etc.
5. book heavily featuring kids -- kids, not teenagers, so, 12 and under. (CHALLENGE MODE: book from a child's POV, once again, child, not teen)
6. book set on a continent you've never been to -- up to you whether you count islands as part of a continent or not... (CHALLENGE MODE: book set in Australia)
7. book without magical creatures
8. book by an author you've never read
9. a book heavily featuring food
10. rec from friend or media (CHALLENGE MODE: book from the rec list compiled by CSRB participants)
11. graphic novel (manga, etc. also OK)
12. book with a plant in the title
13. FREE SPACE
14. book your parent or child loves
15. reread of childhood favorite -- or formative book of your childhood
16. book from farthest shelf / oldest e-book -- farthest shelf on your bookcase, oldest e-book on your reader, or soemthing else that you've basically had around for a long time and never read (CHALLENGE MODE: book you started one but did not finish)
17. non-fiction book (CHALLENGE MODE: non-fiction book written 50+ years ago. Books written exactly 50 years ago count, too :)
18. second book in a series
19. book heavily featuring animals (CHALLENGE MODE: book featuring rodents)
20. book with antonyms in the title
21. book by friend / rival / contemporary of favorite writer -- can be *a* favorite writer, not necessarily your utmost favorite, and friend, rival, or contemporary are all OK
22. book where you watched the movie first
23. a book with photos
24. book set in place you've wanted to visit for a long time
25. book by author who shares first letter of your last name (CHALLENGE MODE: book by author who shares your initials) -- OK to do this across alphabets if needed
Mix-and-Match
1. book where main and female characters don't fall in love -- don't fall in love with each other is what's meant, but if they don't fall in love with anyone at all, that's obviously fine, too
2. book with a nameless protagonist
3. book by an author you've never read
4. book by author whose first language is not English -- this encompasses books originally written in a language other than English that you read in translation, or that you read in the non-English original, or books written in English by an author for whom English is not their native language (e.g. Heart of Darkness) (CHALLENGE MODE: self-translated book -- book translated by the author, whether you read it in the original language or the author's translation)
5. book with protagonist with disability -- physical or mental/social/emotional disability works in this case
6. school requirement you missed -- school requirement you missed -- books that are (or were, when you went to school) part of school/university curriculum that you never read
7. non-fiction book (CHALLENGE MODE: non-fiction book published 50+ years ago)
8. rec from friend or media (CHALLENGE MODE: book from the rec list compiled by CSRB participants)
9. book written by someone famous for things other than writing -- or someone mostly famous for those things, such as an actor, chef, politician, etc.
10. book with female protagonist
11. book set in place you've wanted to visit for a long time
12. funny book -- fiction, non-fiction, comics in the "funny pages" sense, it's all good
13. FREE SPACE
14. book given to you as a gift
15. book with author or protagonist of color
16. reread of childhood favorite -- or formative book of your childhood
17. independently published book -- self-published or published by an indie press
18. book heavily featuring animals (CHALLENGE MODE: book featuring rodents)
19. book where you watched the movie first
20. book set before 1900 (CHALLENGE MODE: book set in the 17th century)
21. collection of short stories / essays / poems
22. second book in a series
23. book with a queer author / protagonist -- author AND/OR protagonist
24. book from farthest shelf / oldest e-book -- farthest shelf on your bookcase, oldest e-book on your reader, or soemthing else that you've basically had around for a long time and never read (CHALLENGE MODE: book you started one but did not finish)
25. graphic novel -- manga, etc. also OK
"Mandatory rec" list -- read one book from this list for the OPTIONAL "challenge mode" of the rec square
(Participants: if you have not submitted a rec into this list and would like to, just vote in this poll (which will stay open in perpetuity)
- Paladin of Souls, Lois McMaster Bujold
- Poetry collections: Gitanjali by Tagore
- First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North
- Dina Rubina - Here Comes the Messiah!
- War Dog - Damien Lewis
- Geek Love by Katherine Dunn
- Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand (nonfic)
- Redemption in Indigo, by Karen Lord
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Recs and Resources
Thanks to thistle_chaser, _profiterole_, egelantier, Sephystabbity, postingwhore, wordsofastory, deeplyunhip, ms_geekette, _grayswandir_, aome, aletheiafelinea, dhampyresa, zhelana, flo_nelja for the recs!
Note: To keep this looking manageable, I've reproduced just titles / authors and minimal warning like when something's a sequel or potentially disturbing. The comments and discussion on the original post may have more info for you to go on if you're intrigued.
Book by an author whose first language is not English
- Carlos Ruiz Zafón - Shadow of the Wind
- Jean-Dominique Bauby - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn - One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
- Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
- One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
- Most anything by Nabokov
- Joseph Conrad's work
- Dina Rubina's "Here Comes the Messiah"
- Vasily Aksyonov's Say Cheese
- Marina and Sergey Dyachenko's Vita Nostra
- The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (NOT the Hapgood translation on Project Gutenberg)
- Anton Chekhov short stories
also see below under "translated by the author"
Books translated by the author
- Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
- Brodsky poetry -- So Forth seems to be the relevant collection
- Wizard of the Crow by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
- Out of Africa by Isak Dinese
- Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett
Short story collections
- anything by George Saunders
- Ted Chiang
- Kelly Link s (e.g. Magic for Beginners)
- Karen Russell's St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves
- Neil Gaiman's short stories ("M is for Magic" e.g.)
- Holly Black's "Poison Eaters and other stories"
- Zombies vs Unicorns anthology
- Wings of Fire anthology
- Jorge Luis Borges
- Connie Willis - Fire Watch and other stories
- David Marusak - Getting to Know You
- Anton Chekhov
- James Joyce - Dubliners
- Grandville: Public and Private Life of Animals
- W. Somerset Maugham
- Saki's work
- Isaac Asimov
- Robert Heinlein.
- No Comebacks by Fredrick Forsythe
Essay collections
- David Sedaris
- Erma Bombeck
- Dave Barry
- Best American Series: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Best_American_Series
- Ursula Le Guin, The Language of the Night
- Oliver Sachs, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat
- Asimov on Numbers
Poetry collections (poets)
- Philip Larkin
- Dorothy Parker
- Edna St Vincent Millay
- Oscar Wilde e.g. this one
Epic poems
- The Epic of Gilgamesh
- Lucan's Civil War (i.e. Pharsalia)
- Beowulf
- Kalevala
- the Eddas
Novels in verse
- Only Revolutions by Mark Z. Danielewski
- Toby Barlow - Sharp Teeth
- The Golden Gate by Vikram Seth
- Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
- The Tale of Kieu
Classics of non-Anglo canons:
- Four Great Classical Novels of China (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Great_Classical_Novels)
- Les Misérables
- Aleksander Fredro (1793-1876)
- Eliza Orzeszkowa (1841-1910)
- Bolesław Prus (1845-1912)
- Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz (1894-1980)
- Maria Dąbrowska (1889-1965)
- Tale of Genji - Murasaki Shikibu (Japan)
- Pillow Book - Sei Shonagon (Japan)
- Ramayana - R. K. Narayan (India)
- Gitanjali - Rabindranath Tagore (India)
- Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe (Africa, specifically Nigeria)
- One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel García Márquez (Latin America, specifically Colombia)
- Journey to the West (China. 'Monkey' - Arthur Waley is the probably the best-known English version)
- All of Molière's work (especially Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme, Les Fourberies de Scapin and Les Précieuses Ridicules)
- Hugo's Le Dernier Jour d'Un Condamné
- La Fontaine's Fables
- Voltaire's Candide
- Perrault fairytales
- Beaumarchais' Le Barbier de Séville (and Le Mariage de Figaro)
- Zola's Germinal
- Jules Verne
- Olympe de Gouges
- Simone de Beauvoir
- Grandville: Public and Private Life of Animals.
- Anton Chekhov short stories
- "One Thousand and One Nights"
Books by authors of color
- Michelle Sagara (West) is Japanese-Canadian.
- The Brief, Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz (who is Dominican-American)
- N.K.Jemisin's books -- Inheritance Trilogy
- Malinda Lo -- especially Ash
- Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
- Black Boy by Richard Wright
- Yes, Chef by Marcus Samuelsson (a memoir by a chef)
- The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food by Jenny Lee.
- Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God
- "The Trouble with Islam Today" by Irshad Manji
Books by queer authors
- Ellen Kushner (Swordspoint and Privilege of the Sword; Thomas the Rhymer)
- Tanya Huff -- Blood Price and Quarters books
- Malinda Lo -- especially Ash
- Delia Sherman
- Fiona Patton
- Melissa Scott -- Astreiant, Roads of Heaven, The Kindly Ones
- Liquor by Poppy Z. Brite
- Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club
- Oscar Wilde -- Importance of Being Earnest, Dorian Gray, fairy tales
- Alison Bechdel (also graphic novels),
- Patricia Highsmith,
- Christopher Isherwood,
- Virginia Woolf,
- David Levithan,
- Allen Ginsberg
- Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz (1894-1980)
- Maria Dąbrowska (1889-1965)
- "The Trouble with Islam Today" by Irshad Manji
- "Self-Made Man: My Year Disguised as a Man" by Norah Vincent
Also, poetry by queer poets:
- W.H.Auden
- Edna St Vincent Millay
Books with protagonists of color
- Brian K. Vaughan/Fiona Staples - Saga
- The Broken Kingdoms by NK Jemisin
- Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch (Peter is biracial, with a mother from Sierra Leone)
- Brief, Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz, as mentioned above
- The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex
- Neil Gaiman -- Anansi Boys
- Justine Larbalestier -- Liar
- Team Human -- Sarah Rees Brennan and Justine Larbalestier
- Stranger and sequel Hostage by Rachel Manija Brown and Sherwood Smith
- Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le Guin
- Ben January mysteries by Barbara Hambly
- Pearl Buck - Good Earth
- Liquor by Poppy Z. Brite
- Earthsea books by Ursula LeGuin
- Mercy Thompson books (half-Native American) by Patricia Briggs
- Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko
- A Hero at the End of the World by Erin Claiborne
- Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence
- Brian Caswell's Asturias
- "Kirinyaga" by Mike Resnick
- Judge Dee series by Robert van Gulik
- Inspector Shan series by Elliot Pattinson
Books with queer protagonists
- Ellen Kushner - Swordspoint
- Malinda Lo -- Ash
- Nightrunner books by Lynn Flewelling
- Will Grayson, Will Grayson by David Levithan and John Green
- Openly Straight by Bill Konigsberg
- Santa Olivia by Jacqueline Carey
- The City of Silk and Steel by Linda, Louise and Mike Carey
- Rifter books by Ginn Hale
- Wicked Gentleman by Ginn Hale
- Donald Strachey mysteries by Richard Stevenson
- Elemental Logic series by Laurie J. Marks
- When Women were warriors by Catherine M. Wilson
- Liquor by Poppy Z. Brite
- A Hero at the End of the World by Erin Claiborne
- A Stringed Instrument by Bramblethorn
Resources: http://diversityinya.tumblr.com/tagged/DiYA-Lists
Books with trans* protagonists
- Full Fathom Five by Max Gladstone (it's a third part in series and can be read separately)
- Just Girls by Rachel Gold
- Some Assembly Required by Arin Andrews (a memoir)
- I am J by Cris Beam
- Luna by Julie Anne Peters
Resources: http://diversityinya.tumblr.com/tagged/DiYA-Lists
Graphic novels
- Greg Rucka - Whiteout/Whiteout: Melt
- Brian K. Vaughan/Fiona Staples - Saga
- "Pride of Baghdad" by Brian K. Vaughan and Niko Henrichon
- Audrey Niffenegger - The Adventuress
- Watchmen, Alan Moore
- Sandman, Neil Gaiman
- Nimona by Noelle Stevenson / Gingerhaze
- Rat Queens (tentative rec, as art may be a turn-off)
Independently published book
- “When Women were warriors” by Catherine M. Wilson
- loupnoir / http://catherinekeegan.com/
- Andy Weir's "The Martian"
- The Werewolf Marine series by Lia Silver ("Prisoner" and "Laura's Wolf", they can be read in either order)
- Hostage - Rachel Manija Brown, Sherwood Smith (the second in a series)
- The Italian Soda Summer - Jennifer Montgomery
- The Brothers Sinister series or 'Trade Me' - Courtney Milan
- The Gift Knight's Quest by Dylan Madeley (see link in comments below)
- A Stringed Instrument by Bramblethorn (see link in comments below)
Books with protagonists with physical / mental / social disability
Physical:
- any of the Miles Vorkosigan books, starting with Warrior's Apprentice
- The Broken Kingdoms by N.K.Jemisin's Oree is blind
- The Idiot by Dostoevsky (epilepsy)
- Out of my mind by Sharon Draper (CP)
- Colin Thiele's Jodie's Journey
Mental:
- Gate of Darkness, Circle of Light by Tanya Huff
- The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon,
- The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon -- autistic narrator
- Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
- Brian Caswell's A Cage of Butterflies
Resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Fictional_characters_with_disabilities
http://disabilityinkidlit.tumblr.com/tagged/dikl-list
http://diversityinya.tumblr.com/tagged/DiYA-Lists
http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2015/02/special-needs-in-strange-worlds-best-books-of-2014/
Books set before the 20th century
- Lauren Willig - Pink Carnation series
Books set in the 17th century
- The Crucible
- Dumas: The three Musketeers
- Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle
- Gulliver's Travels (first book starts in 1699)
- Children of the New Forest
- Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague
- Robinson Crusoe
Resources: http://www.historicalnovels.info/Seventeenth-Century.html
Non-fiction books
- Anything by Mary Roach. Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers.
- William M. Bass's books (forensic anthropologist and his subject matter can be grisly)
- The Invisible Gorilla: How Our Intuitions Deceive Us
- Rats: Observations on the History and Habitat of the City's Most Unwanted Inhabitants by Robert Sullivan
- Jared Diamond
- "The Greatest Show on Earth" by Richard Dawkins
- "Pale Blue Dot" by Carl Sagan
- "The Trouble with Islam Today" by Irshad Manji
also see the other categories below
Non-fiction books written over 50 years ago
- Never Cry Wolf by Farley Mowat (scientifically suspect but fun)
- The Travels of Marco Polo
- In Cold Blood by Truman Capote (which was published in 1965)
- Black Boy by Richard Wright
- Out of Africa by Isak Dinese
- Freud's Interpretation of Dreams
- "Buccaneers of America" by Alexandre Exquemelin
Non-fiction books that are seminal works in their non-English canons
- Chinese Thirsteen Classics (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirteen_Classics)
- Tao Te Ching
- The Art of War
- Zhuangzi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhuangzi_%28book%29)
- St. Augustine's Confessions
- Rousseau's Confessions
Non-fiction resources: http://thegreatestbooks.org/nonfiction
Book where the main male and female characters do not fall in love with each other
- Emerald House Rising by Peg Kerr (pegkerr)
- Les Misérables (adopted daughter/father)
- Anouilh's Antigone
- Harry Potter works too...
Books with nameless protagonists
- Camus' The Stranger
- Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
- The Road - Cormac McCarthy
- Fight Club - Chuck Palahniuk
- Grandville: Public and Private Life of Animals
Resources: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/jul/24/ten-best-nameless-protagonists-mullan
Series (for the second book in the series prompt)
Listing series where books have been mentioned for other squares, with the idea that book 1 will also help you fulfill something
- Astreiant (Melissa Scott)
- Rivers of London (Ben Aaronovitch)
- The Craft (Max Gladstone)
- Ben January mysteries (Barbara Hambly)
Books written by authors who are famous for something other than writing
- Gerald Durrell (esp. My Family and Other Animals)
- Yes, Chef by Marcus Samuelsson (a memoir by a chef)
- Ben Franklin's autobiography
Books by literary rivals (friends/contemporaries) of fandom-favorite authors
- C.S.Lewis as Tolkien's friend
- Neil Gaiman [American Gods, The Graveyard Book] and Terry Pratchett [Going Postal, Small Gods] are friends
- Cassandra Clare, Sarah Rees Brennan [The Demon's Lexicon], and Holly Black [Curseworkers, starting with White Cat] are all friends
- Justine Larbalestier [Liar, Team Human] and Scott Westerfeld [Leviathan/Behemoth/Goliath] are husband and wife
Books with red covers
- The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food by Jenny Lee.
- Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce
- Demon's Lexicon Sarah Rees Brennan
- The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon (also disabled protagonist)
- Midnight Mayor by Kate Griffin (also book #2 in series)
- Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch (also book #2 in a series)
- Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (also book #2 in a series)
- Issola by Stephen Brust (probably also not a good place to start the series)
- Wool by Hugh Howey -- I haven't read it, but it's a rec from my best friend
- Fire by Kristin Chashore (book 2 but can be read as standalone)
- Fifth Chinese Daughter by Jade Snow Wong
Books with more than two protagonists:
- Guy Gavriel Kay -- The Lions of Al-Rassan
- A Song of Ice and Fire (GRR Martin) starting with A Game of Thrones
- The First Law by Joe Abercrombie (grimdark!)
Books set on continents other than Europe and North America
- Four Great Classical Novels of China
- Greg Rucka - Whiteout/Whiteout: Melt
- Pearl Buck - Good Earth
- Out of Africa by Isak Dinese
- Temeraire books #2, 4, and 7 (Throne of Jade, Empire of Ivory, and Crucible of Gold -- China, Africa, South America respectively)
- Kipling's Kim
- Memoirs of a Geisha
- "Nothing to Envy" by Barbara Demick (North Korea)
- "Kirinyaga" by Mike Resnick (Africa)
- Judge Dee series by Robert van Gulik (Asia)
- Inspector Shan series by Elliot Pattinson (Asia)
- "One Thousand and One Nights"
- "Pride of Baghdad" by Brian K. Vaughan and Niko Henrichon (graphic novel, Iraq)
also see below for Australia
Books set specifically in Australia
- Tongues of Serpents (Temeraire #6) by Naomi Novik
- does Terry Pratchett's The Last Continent count?
- The Thorn Birds
- Bill Bryson's In a Sunburned Country (/ Down Under)
- Tales from Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan
- John Marsden's Tomorrow When The War Began series
- Brian Caswell's A Cage of Butterflies (protagonists with disabilities and 'gifts'), Only The Heart, Double Exposure, Asturias (characters of colour), Dreamslip
- Elyne Mitchell's The Silver Brumby series
- Ruth Park's Playing Beatie Bow, The Harp in The South
- H.F. Brinsmead's Pastures of the Blue Crane
- Libby Hawthorn's Thunderwith
- Robin Klein's All in The Blue Unclouded Weather, Hating Alison Ashley, People Might Hear You
- Kathy Lette & Gabrielle Carey's Puberty Blues
- Colin Thiele's Jodie's Journey (female protagonist with a physical disability)
- Tim Winton's Blueback
- Doris Pilkington's Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence (female protagonist of colour)
- Melina Marchetta's Looking for Alibrandi
Books made into movies:
- No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy
- Out of Africa by Isak Dinese
- A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
- A Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
- Divergent
- The Giver (Lois Lowry)
- Fault in Our Stars (John Green)
- The Help,
- Pride & Prejudice,
- City of Bones,
- The Book Thief,
- Princess Bride,
- Nicholas Sparks books,
- Atonement
- Memoirs of a Geisha
- Holes (Lois Sachar)
- Sisterhood of Traveling Pants
- John Marsden's Tomorrow When The War Began
- Doris Pilkington's Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence
Books with a plant in the title
- A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
- Lauren Willig - Pink Carnation series
- Flowers for Algernon
- Seanan McGuire, Rosemary and Rue -- the first book of the October Daye series
- Foxglove Summer (Ben Aaronovitch) -- Rivers of London #5
- Prince/King/Emperor of Thorns by Mark Lawrence
- Adele Geras -- Watching the Roses
- Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
- Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
- A Clockwork Orange (Anthony Burgess)
Books with antonyms in the title
- Goodreads compilation (though some of the antonyms are kind of loosely defined...)
- "Dark star, bright dawn" is a children book by Scott O'Dell
- Grandville: Public and Private Life of Animals.
- Would Pretty Monsters by Kelly Link count?
- Elizabeth Gaskell, North and South
not-exactly-recs but not too bad:
- Kim Harrison The Good, The Bad and the Undead (book 2 of series) and White Witch, Black Curse (book 7)
- Charlaine Harris Living Dead in Dallas (book 2 of the series)
- War and Peace
Books with photographs
- Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
- "The Greatest Show on Earth" by Richard Dawkins
- "Pale Blue Dot" by Carl Sagan
Books heavily featuring kids (not teenagers)
- The Phantom Tollbooth
- The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex
- Madeline L'Engle books
- Out of my mind by Sharon Draper
- Little House books
- Edith Nesbit
see below for "told from a child's POV"
Books told from a child's POV
- Swamplandia! by Karen Russell
- Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
Books heavily featuring food
- Dzur, Stephen Brust, with a meal as a framing device -- although this is probably a really bad place to start the series...
- Sunshine by Robin McKinley, maybe
- Yes, Chef by Marcus Samuelsson (a memoir by a chef)
- Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal by Mary Roach
- Liquor by Poppy Z. Brite
- Curry: A Tale of Cooks and Conquerors by Lizzie Collingham.
- The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food by Jenny Lee.
- An Edible History of Humanity by Tom Standage
Books heavily featuring animals
- Kazan the Wolf Dog
- Watership Down by Richard Adams
- Animal Farm by George Orwell
- anything by Gerald Durrell but especially My Family and Other Animals (memoir)
- Ernest Thompson Seton's stories
- Never Cry Wolf by Farley Mowat (non-fiction, sorta)
- Redwall books
- Grandville: Public and Private Life of Animals
- "All Creatures Great and Small" by James Herriot
- "Pride of Baghdad" by Brian K. Vaughan and Niko Henrichon (lions, graphic novel)
- Kipling's "The Jungle Book"
- Jack London's "The Call of the Wild"
- J.O. Curwood.
Books featuring rodents
- Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett
- Flowers for Algernon
- Rats of NIMH books
- Wind in the Willows
- Rats: Observations on the History and Habitat of the City's Most Unwanted Inhabitants by Robert Sullivan (non-fiction)
- Garry Kilworth's "House of Tribes"
- Sam Savage's "Firmin"
Funny book
- Dave Barry's Guide to Guys
- Bill Bryson's books
- Neil Patrick Harris' "Choose Your Own Autobiography"
- Denis Diderot's Jacques the Fatalist
- Terry Pratchett
- Tom Holt, whose style reminds me of Terry Pratchett
- A Hero at the End of the World by Erin Claiborne
- Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series (One for the Money, Two for the Dough, etc.)
- Lisa Lutz's Spellman Files series (Spellman Files, Curse of the Spellmans, etc)
- Lauren Willig's Pink Carnation series
- "All Creatures Great and Small" by James Herriot
Finding authors who share your initial(s):
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_authors_by_name:_R
- http://www.ibookdb.net/search?author=i
Everybody please feel free to keep rec'ing things for these categories.
Categories that could use more recs (please leave them here or on the other post, either way):
- Independently published books
- Books where the main male and female characters do not fall in love
- Books set in the 17th century
- Books with nameless protagonists
- Authors who are friends of popular / fandom-favorite writers
- Books with antonyms in title
- Books with photographs
- Books heavily featuring children and/or from kid POV
- Funny books
ETA: Sharing and Bragging post, where you can leave links to your impressions/reviews of books you've read for the bingo, and let us know when you've reached a bingo/blackout.