A Forgotten Classic – William Melvin Kelley’s A Different Drummer, first published in 1962 at the height of the Civil Rights movement, which explores race relations in the US. All too relevant today.
A Book That Became a Movie – I’m going to do what I did last year and stretch the rules a little here. It’s been announced that there’s a TV series in the works based on Thomas Mullen’s Darktown, set in Atlanta when the first black American police force was set up.
A Book Published This Year – That would be most of them given my predilection for the shiny and new but I’m going for Anne Youngson’s touching Costa Book Award shortlisted novel, Meet Me at the Museum, about a recently bereaved woman and a Danish museum curator, also coming to terms with loss.
A Book with a Number in the Title – Allan Jenkins’ Plot 29 which recounts his investigation of his chequered birth family history and his coming to terms with it through allotmenteering. A brave and cheering memoir.
A Book Written by Someone Under Thirty – Fiona Mozley’s distinctly Gothic, Elmet, about a family living on the fringes of society, which I read for the Young Writer of the Year Award shadow panel
A Book with Non-Human Characters – Michael Andreassen’ wacky, darkly comic short story collection, The Sea Beast Takes a Lover which features several saints and a leviathan.
A Funny Book – Jen Beagin’s acerbic, whip smart debut Pretend I’m Dead about a young woman who loves to clean while hiding the reason why from herself.
A Book by a Female Author – There are so many but I’m plumping for Louise Levene’s enjoyable romp, Happy Little Bluebirds, about Evelyn, sent to Hollywood to assist a British agent in persuading the Americans to join the Second World War.
A Book with a Mystery – Emily Maguire’s Stella Prize shortlisted An Isolated Incident begins with the discovery of a body but it’s about very much more than that.
A Book with a One-word title – Ruth Figgest’s Magnetism is about a mother and daughter seemingly locked into a dysfunctional relationship. A very clever, satisfying piece of storytelling.
A Book of Short Stories – Helen Dunmore’s posthumous collection, Girl, Balancing, an unexpected treat put together by her son, Patrick Charnley
Free Square – This one goes to Imogen Hermes Gowar’s wonderful The Mermaid and Mrs 
A Book Set on a Different Continent – Fiona Kidman’s engrossing All Day at the Movies follows four siblings in New Zealand down disparate roads over six decades.
A Non-fiction Book – Laura Freeman’s The Reading Cure, a memoir about how reading set its author on the path to recovery from anorexia which I read for my Young Writer of the Year shadow judging stint.
The First Book by a Favourite Author – I’m going to have to pass on this one
A Book You Heard About Online – Katherena Vermitte’s riveting, multi-layered portrait of an indigenous family faced with an appalling sexual assault on one of their daughters, The Break, which I first spotted on Naomi’s Consumed by Ink blog.
A Bestselling Book – Kate Atkinson’s Transcription follows Juliet who finds herself caught up in the machinations of MI5, far beyond the mundane transcriptions she’s recruited to produce in 1940. Superb, as ever.
A Book Based on a True Story – Edward Carey’s highly inventive, engaging Little is based on the life of Madame Tussaud
A Book at the Bottom of Your TBR Pile – Emma Flint’s page-turning Little Deaths about a child murder in ‘60s New York
A Book your Friend Loves – I passed C. K. Stead’s The Necessary Angel on to a friend who liked it so much she’s busy seeking out his backlist
A Book that Scares You – Sarah Perry’s Gothic novel Melmoth. Now avoiding all jackdaws…
A Book that is More Than 10 Years Old – Reissued by the brilliant Pushkin Press, Lisa Zeidner’s
The Second Book in a Series – I’m boxing clever here (or bending the rules again) and going for Lissa Evans’ hugely enjoyable celebration of women’s suffrage, Old Baggage, the prequel to Crooked Heart but published after it.
A Book with a Blue Cover – Adam Weymouth’s Kings of the Yukon, a travelogue which follows the longest salmon run in the world. The fourth book I read for the Young Writer of the Year Award and the official winner.
There, just one box empty although it has to be admitted I’ve taken a liberty or two with the rules. If you want to see what a full card looks like you might like to pop over to FictionFan’s Book Reviews. Happy New Year to you all!
Congratulations on only 1 square empty! Thank you for another year of wonderful & highly tempting reviews Happy New Year Susan!
And thank you, both for your many enjoyable comments and for your novella month which has been the source of a great number of additions to my list. Happy reading in 2019!
It seems that you have had a wonderful year of reading. We haven’t read many of the same books though I too thoroughly enjoyed Old Baggage and Elmet (read that in 2017). Happy reading in 2019.
I have, indeed. It was partly due to your review that I read Old Baggage, Ali. Many thanks for that, and a happy reading 2019 to you, too!
Again – yet more brilliant reading. I just checked and I didn’t read a single book longer than 500 pages this year – there was one in the 490s though. Happy New Year Susan.
There’s usually at least one for me, Annabel, but it’s been a year of novellas so I had to think hard about this square. Happy New Year to you, too!
That’s such a nice way to wrap up the year. I’ve already done my “best of” but I’ll try this bingo too and see how far I can go. On a slightly different topic, would you have recommendations for good second-hand bookshops in London? Many thanks if you have suggestions, and in any case wishing you a happy 2019.
You should! It’s a fun post to write. Unfortunately, I can’t help with the second-hand bookshops but Charing Cross Road is still the best bet I think. I’m sure you’d find a helpful bookseller or two in one of the new bookshops there who could point you in the right direction. A very happy 2019 to you, too!
Thanks for the advice!
You’re welcome. I hope you find what you want.