Have you really enjoyed reading a work that qualifies and want to recommend it to others? This is the prime spot to help people out with those recommendations.
The way this thread works is that this thread will contain one top level comment for each Bingo square. In order to preserve the organization and readability of this post, please limit recommendations to only replies on those top-level comments. We will be removing comments that don’t follow this rule for for this specific post.
You can scroll through the thread or use the links above if your reader supports comment linking directly.
Reminder, Please DO NOT make comments that are not replies to a prepopulated top-level comment. Your comment will just be removed without any additional info.
You must log in or # to comment.
Plays With Words:
Written in a stylistically unconventional way. HARD MODE: Fits the definition of Experimental Literature.
- Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
- Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
- Ella Minnow Pea: A Progressively Lipogrammatic Epistolary Fable by Mark Dunn
- Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
- Finnegans Wake by James Joyce
- House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
- A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
I asked this question a few months back and had a ton of replies. I’ll leave a link to the thread and highlight my two favourite books so far.
Children of Time - Adrian Tchaikovsky “Evolutionary storytelling”. It tells the story of an entire civilization as it grows and evolves from nothing, whilst simultaneously telling a story that takes place over a much more conventional timescale. Very good book IMO, with two slightly-less-strong sequals
Idaho Winter - Tony Burgess What a bizarre book this was. I don’t know if it’s a good book, but it was weird and kept me entertained so that’s good enough for me.
Spoiler for what made it weird
The author gets dragged into the story at one point and becomes a character in the book by accident
Removed by mod
New Release:
New for 2024/2025 (no reprints or new editions). First translations into your language of choice are allowed. HARD MODE: This is the first work you’ve read by this author.
The gathering, by C.J. Tudor
Nuclear war: a scenario, by Annie Jacobsen
ALT - She Blinded Me With Science
The author has a background and degree in a hard science. HARD MODE: More than one post graduate degree.
- The Postman by David Brin
- Contact by Carl Sagan
- The Boat of a Million Years by Poul Anderson
- Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
- Dreamsnake by Vonda N. McIntyre
ALT - Translated
Not originally in your native tongue. HARD MODE: Has been translated into at least ten other languages. This Wikipedia page is a good place to start for widely translated works.
“100 Years of Solitude” Gabriel García Márquez (this works for HARD MODE) “Love in the Time of Cholera” Gabriel García Márquez
- Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
- Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
- The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi
- What You Are Looking For is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama
- Planet of the Apes by Pierre Boulle
- Arsène Lupin, Gentleman-Thief by Maurice Leblanc
- The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
It’s a Holiday:
Takes place during a specific holiday, which is significant to the plot. HARD MODE: Not Christmas, a fictional variation of Christmas, or other winter festival.
- Hogfather by Terry Pratchett
- Hallowe’en Party by Agatha Christie
- We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
- V for Vendetta by Alan Moore
- Walpurgisnacht by Gustav Meyrink, Mike Mitchell
- A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny
ALT - A Change in Perspective
Written in third-person perspective. HARD MODE: Second-person perspective.
- This Is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone, Amal El-Mohtar
- The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
- The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
- Space Vampire (Choose Your Own Adventure #9) by Edward Packard
Among the Stars:
Features space, astronomy, or stardom. HARD MODE: The title references the theme, too.
The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal
Mr Palomar by Italo Calvino.
Also qualifies for hard mode (the character is named after an observatory).
The Three-Body Problem, by Cixin Liu
- Binti by Nnedi Okorafor
- Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey
- 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke
- Who Censored Roger Rabbit? by Gary K. Wolf (movie stars count)
ALT - Same Author, New Work
An author you’ve read before, but a series (or standalone) you haven’t. HARD MODE: Give an author you didn’t like a second chance.
ALT - Pseudonymous Work
Published under a pen name. HARD MODE: The author generally never writes under their own name.
- Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey
- A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court by Mark Twain
- Swordheart by T. Kingfisher
- A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark
- Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb
- The Beast Master by Andre Norton
- Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré
Institutional:
Set at a non-commercial institution or facility, like a school, science lab, or prison. HARD MODE: Not a school.
The institute, by Stephen King
- Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King
- Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett
- The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
- Any of The Scholomance Series by Naomi Novik
What’s Yours Is Mine:
Theft, piracy, fraud, or espionage is a major topic or plot point. HARD MODE: No MacGuffins.
The Recognitions by William Gaddis
Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson
- The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner
- The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
- The Palace Job by Patrick Weekes
- The Redemption of Althalus by Leigh Eddings & David Eddings
- Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré
- Catch Me If You Can: The True Story of a Real Fake by Frank W. Abagnale with Stan Redding
- On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers
There Is Another…:
Not the first in a series. HARD MODE: Series has 5 or more entries.
Water, Water Everywhere
The title refers to some form or body of water. HARD MODE: Not liquid water.
- On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers
- The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
- Midnight Riot (The original UK title of this is River’s of London) by Ben Aaronovitch
Older Than You Are
Published before your birthdate. HARD MODE: Published before 1924.
- Gravity’s Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon
- Ulysses by James Joyce
This category is a bit tougher to recommend because the qualification depends on your age, but these are all over 100 years old and I’ve enjoyed all of them.
- Lud-in-the-Mist by Hope Mirrlees
- Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift
- King Solomon’s Mines by H. Rider Haggard
- The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
- Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
- A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court by Mark Twain
- A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs
