Book Bingo | Mid-summer Update.

my card this morning...diligent planning and tracking!

...I hope y'all are having as much fun with this game as I am. I told my mom earlier this week that I don't think I've read this much - and certainly not enjoyed it this much - since those long ago summers when I was a kid and would visit the library, bring home stacks of books, read them all...and then repeat the process over and over.

Since we started (May 24), I've finished 20 books.

You can see all the details on my Summer Bingo shelf, including the four I plan to finish to cover my card. Well, except for the re-read...I'm still undecided about it! I loved the suggestions of Snow Falling on Cedars and Memoirs of a Geisha, but decided to hold off until the powerful Japan/WWII themes of The Garden of Evening Mists weren't quite so fresh in my mind. Rebecca was also suggested and that is a strong contender, along with Pete Hamill's Snow in August. If I keep up my current pace, I'll have time for both!

I've been surprised not only by the quantity of books, but also the quality. Of the twenty I've read, five have been 5-star, 14 have been 4-star (and a number of those are really 4.5 stars); only one has been a disappointment (Emily Giffin's Love the One You're With for the "Set in the place where you live" square). Here are some more fun facts:

• I renewed my library card and four of the titles were library books (well, two were books and two were on CDs)
• I used the Librivox app to listen to The Importance of Being Earnest (the "A play" square). Totally plan to use this app a lot more! It's so easy...and it's free!
• I bought only two books - Mary Oliver's A Thousand Mornings (the "Poetry collection" square) and Life After Life (the "Recommended by a librarian" - thank you, Carole! - square) - but they were books I wanted to own and would've bought anyway.
• I borrowed two - Shopgirl (the "A novella" square) from Sara and Farewell, Dorothy Parker (the "Found in a used bookstore" square) from my mom (who did find it in a used bookstore, promise!)
• All the rest were already on my shelves: five "real" books, six audiobooks and four e-books.
• Two books at once (one to listen and one to read) works great. I finished an audiobook on Monday and it seems very weird to be listening to podcasts again. 
• I'm way way behind on TV. I realized I was watching a lot to keep me company while I knit...and now I'm listening to books instead. I think that's good!

I'd love to hear how y'all are doing. Remember, you have until September 1 (the few "rules" are covered in my first post here). Please let me know if you have questions or comments. Happy Reading!