2025 Round Up for December and Picture Prompt Bingo challenge

Posted On 3 January 2026

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Today I’m posting a round up for 2025 to complete a few loose ends.

During my last monthly round up I put a few books together to try and finish off the year.  Unfortunately, my December reading was quite slow and some of the books didn’t really work their magic but let’s take a look at what I was hoping to read and what I accomplished.

December looking ahead:

  1. What Stalks the Deep by T Kingfisher – I’ve read this and will be reviewing soon
  2. The Possession of Alba Dias by Isabel Cañas (Carried over from October) – I’ve read almost 60% of this but I am struggling so for now I’m setting it aside.  I might try and complete it during January but I’m making slow progress.
  3. Murder Most Haunted by Emma Mason (Carried over from October).  This is a DNF.
  4. The Last Death of the Year by Sophie Hannah (Carried over from October) – I read this and it was a decent read, not the best, I felt it needed a bit more atmosphere but I shall be reviewing this title soon.
  5. The Blackfire Blade by James Logan.  I read and loved this one.  My review is already posted.
  6. I’ll Make A Spectacle of You by Beatrice Winifred Iker  – I was excited by the sound of this one but unfortunately it’s a DNF for me.
  7. Outlaw Planet by MR Carey – I’ve read and loved this one (although it took me a little while to get into).  I shall be posting a review soon.

So, I completed four of my seven books.  I might still try to finish The Possession of Alba Dias although it is slowing me down (by which I mean it’s not that the reading is going slowly but it’s making me not want to read, which is a shame as its well written) so we’ll see.

My January books:

  1. Rings of Fate by Melissa de la Cruz
  2. What Stalks the Deep by T Kingfisher – already read
  3. A Box Full of Darkness by Simone St James – currently reading
  4. The Wolf and the Crown of Blood by Elizabeth May
  5. Fiend by Alma Katsu
  6. Enchanting the Fae Queen by Stephanie Burgis

Six books in total but I’ve completed one and started one so hopefully this is achievable.

Bookforager‘s Picture Prompt book bingo.

and the text version:

PICTURE PROMPT BOOK BINGO 2025 (TEXT VERSION)

1. A prehistoric flint knapped stone knife 2. A lighthouse 3. An apple on a leafy branch 4. An archery target with three arrows in it
5. A very large mechanical telescope 6. A human skull 7. A stag 8. The ruins of a temple-like structure
9. A crab 10. A sheaf of wheat 11. An old mechanical typewriter 12. A cluster of four mushrooms
13. A fringed umbrella / parasol 14. A chemistry set-up of bottles and tubes 15. A stylized sun with a human face 16. A Roman helmet

Today, I’m completing the challenge using books read during 2025

No.1 – A prehistoric flint knapped stone knife, I’m using The Blackfire Blade because the story revolves around the search for a ‘blade’, plus I seem to recall there was the use of older weapons and perhaps a flint headed axe at one point – at the time I had a very good reason for using this but now it sounds very dodgy!

No.2 A Lighthouse, I’m using Outlaw Planet by MR Carey because the use of Towers is fundamental to the story, they’re not lighthouses but they have very narrow high towers that sound very similar to a lighthouse and are used for broadcasting (lighthouses are similarly used to cast a light and give a warning)

Three very tenuous links!!  A bit of cheating or alternative thinking!

No.3 A very large, mechanical telescope, I’m using What Stalks the Deep by T Kingfisher because this takes place in an old abandoned mine where what can only be described as an alien entity seems to be surviving.  So, very tenuous link indeed and maybe this is just cheating!!

The prompts I’ve crossed off so far:

No.4 – the Archery Target with Arrows in it – I’ve chosen the Bone Raiders by Jackson Ford

No.15 The Vipers by Katy Hays

No. 7 A Stag – which I’m using Clockwork Boys by T Kingfisher

No. 16 – A Roman helmet – and I’m using This Monster of Mine by Shalini Abeysekara.

No. 3 – an apple on a leafy branch – Hemlock and Silver by T Kingfisther

No.10 – A Sheaf of Wheat – The Enchanted Greenhouse by Sarah Beth Durst –

No. 11 – An Old Mechanical Typewriter – The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno Garcia

No.8 – The ruins of a temple-like structure – I’m using Daughter of Chaos by A S Webb

No. 12 – A cluster of four mushrooms – I’m using Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett

No. 13 – A fringed umbrella/parasol – I’m using A Fortune Most Fatal by Jessica Bull

No.14 – A chemistry set-up of bottles and tubes – I’m using Wooing the Witch Queen by Stephanie Burgis

No.9 – A Crab – I’m using The Devils by Joe Abercrombie – if you’ve read this already you’ll be able to guess why.  There are some very unusual creatures in this story.

No.6 – A Human Skull – I’m using The Man Made of Smoke by Alex North – because this is about a serial killer and there are definite human remains included in this one.

Checkout this post for this years picture prompt bingo card.

The Bookforager’s Picture Prompt Bingo

Posted On 1 March 2025

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This year I am once again taking part in The Bookforager’s Picture Prompt Bingo.  I took part in this wonderful event last year and loved it.  It really makes you sit down and think about the books you’ve read and, well, come up with creative ways to ensure that you have all the prompts covered.

Below is the bingo card with the written outline.  The whole ethos surrounding this is to have fun.  There is no pressure, no timelines (okay, it’s a yearly event so of course you need to complete by the end of the year if you can) but you come up with the books whenever best suits you, you post when you want, and, as mentioned above, you might use some creative thinking to cover the whole card.  Anyway, if you can’t complete the card what’s the worst that can happen!  (You go to book bingo prison and have to hang your head in abject shame but it’s no big deal – only kidding)

So, without further ado, here’s the link to the Bookforager’s fantastic blog – I highly suggest you check it out and give them a follow – and below is the bingo card.  And, at the end of the post my update on the books I’m using so far.

The 2025 Picture Prompt Book Bingo card. Text version can be found at bottom of this post.

Plain text version can be found below:

PICTURE PROMPT BOOK BINGO 2025 (TEXT VERSION)

1. A prehistoric flint knapped stone knife 2. A lighthouse 3. An apple on a leafy branch 4. An archery target with three arrows in it
5. A very large mechanical telescope 6. A human skull 7. A stag 8. The ruins of a temple-like structure
9. A crab 10. A sheaf of wheat 11. An old mechanical typewriter 12. A cluster of four mushrooms
13. A fringed umbrella / parasol 14. A chemistry set-up of bottles and tubes 15. A stylized sun with a human face 16. A Roman helmet

And, sometimes being late is occasionally useful – and as I’m pretty much always late that’s the best silver lining I can come up with – in this case I have two month’s worth of reading to choose from already.

I’ve checked the books read during January and February and I think I’m able to cross off four of the books from the prompt.

No.8 the ruins of a temple like structure.

I’ve interpreted this as a Greek temple and so I’m using Daughter of Chaos by A S Webb.  This is a story crammed to the rafters with Greek mythology and lots of adventuring:

No.11 an old mechanical typewriter.  I’m using Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney.  This story centres around an author and his struggles to get on with life after his wife mysteriously disappears.  He eventually travels to a remote Scottish Island and falls into writing a novel.  I actually can’t recall if he was using an old typewriter if I’m going to be completely honest (it’s more likely that he was using a laptop) – but, either way, a keyboard is involved.  That’s my flimflam excuse and I’m sticking with it:

No.12 a cluster of four mushrooms.  Well, I’m massively into my fae books at the moment and in fact just completed Heather Fawcett’s final in series – Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales – and as we all know, mushroom rings are a traditional means to step into the land of the fae are they not, also there are little mushrooms (or perhaps toadstools) on the cover, so I’ve definitely cracked this one:

No.14 a chemistry set up of bottles and tubes.  For this prompt I’ve chosen Wooing the Witch Queen by Stephanie Burgis.  This is an absolutely delicious romantasy in which one of the central characters (in fact the titular Witch Queen) has her very own laboratory – although to be fair we do spend more time in the library which is not something that you’ll hear me complaining about:

That’s my progress so far.  Four prompts down – 12 still to go.

I hope you all take part – I’d love to see what books you all come up with.

Sunday Post/Weekly Wrap Up/Monthly Wrap Up/What’s On My Plate June/July

Posted On 30 June 2024

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Today I’m combining my Weekly Wrap Up with my Monthly Wrap Up and What’s on My Plate for July.

Sunday Post

II’m linking up to The Sunday Post over at Kimberly’s  Caffeinated Reviewer.  Without further ado:

Books read this week:

Not as much reading this past week. I completed my final review book.  Storm Child by Michael Robotham. I also started a backlist book which I hope to complete later.

SC

Next Week’s Reads:

Middle of the Night by Riley Sager and The Moonlight Market by Joanne Harris.

Reviews Posted:

  1. The Daughters’ War by Christopher Buehlman
  2. Two Sides to Every Murder by Danielle Valentine
  3. The Cautious Traveller’s Guide to the Wastelands by Sarah Brooks
Outstanding Reviews
  1. The September House by Carissa Orlando
  2. Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
  3. When She Was Good by Michael Robotham
  4. Lying Beside You by Michael Robotham
  5. Storm Child by Michael Robotham

My June in Review

Here’s what I read during June:

  1. Small Town Horror by Ronald Malfi
  2. Hera by Jennifer Saint
  3. Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley
  4. Winter Lost by Patricia Briggs
  5. Bitter Waters by Vivian Shaw
  6. We Used To Live Here by Marcus Kliewer
  7. Two Sides To Every Murder by Danielle Valentine
  8. The Daughter’s War by Christopher Buehlman
  9. Storm Child by Michael Robotham
  10. The Cautious Traveller’s Guide to the Wastelands by Sarah Brooks

Some very good reads during June. Here’s what I’m hoping to read during July (with links to Goodreads).

  1. Middle of the Night by Riley Sager
  2. The Moonlight Market by Joanne Harris
  3. The Undermining of Twyla and Frank by Megan Bannen
  4. Love Letters to a Serial Killer by Tasha Coryell
  5. The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst
  6. A Poisoner’s Tale by Cathryn Kemp
  7. The Sky on Fire by Jenn Lyons
  8. The Wilds by Sarah Pearse
  9. The Trouble With Mrs Montgomery Hurst by Katie Lumsden
  10. Bless Your Heart by Lindy Ryan
  11. The Drowning House by Cherie Priest

I think I may have got a little carried away with my requests for July but  I’ll have a good try at completing these..

BTB

I’m hoping to complete my backlist book later today.

Bookforager‘s Picture Prompt book bingo

PPBBC

This month I’m ticking another book  off my Picture Prompt bingo card.  The picture with the harp.   I’m using Winter Lost by Patricia Briggs.  This involves the search for a magical item, a lyre – but this item changes and is sometimes referred to as a  harp.

Winterlost

PICTURE PROMPT BOOK BINGO 2024 (TEXT VERSION)

A heeled shoe decorated with a bow A microscope A partially unrolled scroll and a pen A land snail
An old Roman coin A fern plant A simple crown An armillary sphere
A seashell A cannon on a gun carriage A harp (one of the big ones) Two hands making a shadow puppet dog
An old camera and tripod A dog (a very good doggo) A beehive (with four bees flying around it) Fluffy cumulonimbus clouds

So far this year I’ve read a total of 62 books so I’m on track to read my 100 books for a year.

How did you get on during June?

Monthly Wrap Up/What’s On My Plate Mar/April

Posted On 30 March 2024

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I’m trying to post a wrap up for the end of each month, mainly to help me to keep track of my reading and at the same time look at what I’m intending to read during the month ahead (inspired by Books Bones and Buffy’s What’s on My Plate.

In this post I shall be looking at the reading I completed for March and what I’m hoping to read during April.

Here’s what I read during March:

  1. The Classified Dossier – Sherlock Holmes and Dorian Gray by Christian Klavier.
  2. Murder Road by Simone St James
  3. Oracle by Thomas Olde
  4. SPFBO F – review to follow
  5. SPFBO F – review to follow
  6. Play of Shadows by Sebastien de Castell
  7. SPFBO – review to follow
  8. SPFBO – review to follow
  9. Gods of The Wyrd Wood by RJ Barker – review to follow

So far this year I’m managing to stay on track with my review books (fingers crossed).  I’ve also managed to read a backlist book each month and this month I’ve now read the last of the SPFBO finalists.  I managed to read all my review books for March and this month read a total of 9 books.  Gods of the Wyrdwood was my Beat the Backlist book by RJ Barker.  I shall be making a start on one of my April review books for what remains of March – possibly The Fates by Rosie Garland..

What I’m hoping to read during April.

  1. The Fates by Rosie Garland
  2. The Library Thief by Kuchenga Shenjé
  3. The Gathering by CJ Tudor
  4. The Hungry Dark by Jen Williams
  5. The Redemption of Morgan Bright by Chris Panatier
  6. You Are Here by David Nicholls
  7. The Silverblood Promise by James Logan
  8. Backlist book
  9. Backlist book

As with last month, I think this should be manageable and if all goes to plan I’m hoping to squeeze in a couple of backlist titles.

BTB

gods

Bookforager‘s Picture Prompt book bingo

PPBBC

This month I’m ticking two books off my Picture Prompt bingo card.  Firstly, my backlist book this month was Gods of the Wyrdwood (my review to follow soon).  I’m using this for the ‘snail’ prompt.  I’m translating the snail into ‘nature’ and the Wyrdwood definitely has nature in spades and places much focus on not abusing the forests.  Secondly I’m using Play of Shadows by Sebastien de Castell for the shadow puppet prompt.  This is definitely a book that focuses on shadows (and indeed you could almost make the case that the characters in the play sometimes become the puppet of the ghosts that are using them to tell their own story.  The covers have almost conspired to feed into the prompts as well this month.

PICTURE PROMPT BOOK BINGO 2024 (TEXT VERSION)

A heeled shoe decorated with a bow A microscope A partially unrolled scroll and a pen A land snail
An old Roman coin A fern plant A simple crown An armillary sphere
A seashell A cannon on a gun carriage A harp (one of the big ones) Two hands making a shadow puppet dog
An old camera and tripod A dog (a very good doggo) A beehive (with four bees flying around it) Fluffy cumulonimbus clouds

How did you get on during March?

PICTURE PROMPT BOOK BINGO 2024 – Details and update for January

Posted On 17 February 2024

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PPBB

This year I decided I wanted to take part in the lovely Bookforager‘s book bingo.  I’ve been promising myself for the past two years I’d take part and yet my lack of organisation and all round tardiness prevented me from doing so – which means I missed two fabulous picture prompt bingo cards – they truly are wonderfully  fascinating to look at, I could spend much time just looking at these little pictures.  Anyhow.  There are sixteen prompts.  So I’m aiming to provide a book for a prompt at the end of each month, and also once every quarter I’ll need to cross off another prompt if I’m to complete all sixteen. 

So, Here’s the details.  

And, here’s the bingo card:

PPBBC

Don’t you just adore that bingo card?  It’s positively wicked.

Not to dither, and as I’m already late, here’s my book selection for January:

I’ve chosen the very first prompt.  The rather decorative, healed ladies shoe.  For this prompt I’ve chosen:

Miss A

Miss Austen Investigates, the Hapless Milliner by Jessica Bull.  This is the start of a very promising series in which Jane Austen investigates mysteries – usually jumping to plenty of wrong conclusions along the way and causing much mayhem. 

Now, I believe this fits the prompt because of course Jane, much like her beloved characters loves anything to do with bonnets, ribbons, hats, dresses – and shoes!  Is that a bit cheeky.  I think it fits the prompt and hopefully I’m not cheating (much).

PICTURE PROMPT BOOK BINGO 2024 (TEXT VERSION)

A heeled shoe decorated with a bow

 A microscope A partially unrolled scroll and a pen A land snail
An old Roman coin

 

 

 A fern plant A simple crown

An armillary sphere

A seashell

 

A cannon on a gun carriage

A harp (one of the big ones)

Two hands making a shadow puppet dog

An old camera and tripod

A dog (a very good doggo)

A beehive (with four bees flying around it)

Fluffy cumulonimbus clouds

Finally, as a side challenge to myself i may also go back to the previous two bingo cards and using books read from the appropriate year see if I can fill all sixteen prompts.  Why not indeed.  It seems to be a worthy challange, I hate to miss and it’s a good way of bringing some attention back to books I’ve read previously – I’ll probably look to do this around the fourth and then eighth month of the year.

If you’re joining in with this fun challenge this year I can’t wait to see what you all come up with.

My thanks to Lady Bookforager for coming up with this wonderful event.

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