In my family, the start of the new year means a new Book Bingo sheet. Book Bingo is a 5 x 5 grid that you can fill in as you complete books throughout the year. Each space has a topic or theme that the book must match. Last year these included themes such as ‘A book published the year you were born’, ‘A play’, and ‘A book with a one word title’. There are five free choice spaces and the only rule is that you cannot have read the book before.

Sitting down to decide the categories a couple of weeks ago was a serious undertaking. Steampunk was vetoed as being too specific; as was my suggestion of a book about Everest (my latest reading obsession) however oddly enough ‘A Star Wars’ novel managed to make it onto the list. My sister’s suggestion to reuse a category from last year was quickly shouted down (by me – no one else in my family shouts) and what constitutes a book about sports and leisure (my thinly disguised ploy to be able to include an Everest novel) was discussed at length. Eventually 25 categories were confirmed and on the first of January, Book Bingo 2016 officially began.

And are there any winners in Book Bingo? None whatsoever – it’s all for the love of getting lost in a good book.

This year I thought I would keep a progressive list of my reading adventures. So here we go.

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2. People of the Book Geraldine Brooks (2008)

This novel was recommended to me over Christmas and I was very pleased to find it in a second hand bookstore in Pt Elliot a few days later for just $5. I have never read Geraldine Brooks before and I am always really excited to find a new author.

People of the Book is ostensibly the story of Hannah Heath, an Australian book conservator, who is invited to Bosnia in the mid-nineties to restore the Sarajevo Haggadah. Hannah’s story is intercut with smaller stories that show snippets of the book’s journey and just a few of the people who have been touched by it during its 500 years of existence.

A haggadah is a Jewish book used in Passover to tell the story of the Exodus. The Sarajevo Haggadah really exists and is famous for its unique illuminations and mysterious history. Brooks has created a solid piece of historical fiction structured around known facts about the book; from its creation in Spain in the 14th century  and its incredible survival through to 20th century Sarajevo.

I really enjoyed the short stories within the main narrative. Brooks creates engaging characters and detailed snapshots of the selected point in time in relatively few pages. When it came to Hannah’s story however, a lot of it really grated on my nerves. Admittedly, this may have had a lot more to do with my own personal bias than poor choices on Brooks’ part.

Apart from the caricature style dysfunctional relationship with between Hannah and her mother, my biggest issue was the very awkward way the novel  establishes Hannah’s Australian identity. I have a real issue with forced Aussie-ness; and the inclusion of more bloody’s than I would hear in a month of living in Queensland saw me squirming. I would also question the plausibility of a worldly PhD who, as explicitly stated in the story, grew up with a pretentiously articulate mother, would use phrases such as ‘lower than a snake’s armpit’ (actual shudder). There seems to be a desperate desire in some Australian literature for us to explicitly establish our Occa identity and seek deliberate separation from the US and the UK as cultural influences rather than just let this happen organically. I am very uncomfortable with this awkward and inauthentic Aussie whitewashing.

Issues with the main character aside, I really enjoyed The People  of the Book . Brooks weaves together a range of stories big and small to create a very compelling read. Although the plot revolves around Hannah and selected characters throughout history,  real story is the tale of the people of the book as a whole and what they have endured and experienced over the past half a millennium  (and if you haven’t figured this out by the half way point of the novel, one of the less appealing characters will inelegantly spell it out for you). I am happy to give Brooks’ writing the benefit of the doubt and chalk my gripes up to my own issues. I will definitely be looking for another of Brooks’ novels to read in the not too distant future and would recommend The People of the Book.

Book Bingo category: A book recommended to you.

1. Where Men Win Glory Jon Krakauer (2009)

I fell in love with Jon Krakauer’s style last year when I read Into Thin Air. I have always admired people who are skilled at writing compelling creative non-fiction, and Krakauer certainly has the knack for it. In Where Men Win Glory, Krakauer tells the true story of Pat Tillman, a rising NFL star who felt compelled to join the United States Special Operations Forces after the September 11 attacks on US soil. Two years later he was killed in Afghanistan by ‘friendly’ fire. Krakauer intertwines Tillman’s story with a recent history of the conflict in Afghanistan and manages to deliver a lot of detail in a way that is simple to understand and engaging to read.

The circumstances surrounding Tillman’s death were heavily covered up by the US Government and armed forces, who crafted a hero narrative to suit their own political agenda. His family and the public were unconscionably misled for months.  The details of this are, on paper, very shocking but, (and this could be the cynic in me talking), not surprising.

Despite its tragic subject matter (both Tillman’s story and the political landscape of Afghanistan), I really  enjoyed this novel. I did struggle a little with the many lengthy recounts of NFL games; these sections felt a little bit like Krakauer flexing his narrative muscles and showing off his ability to create detailed but lively accounts of absolutely anything. Admittedly this might be my NFL-ambivalent, Australian bias; perhaps a US reader would have found this all to be just as interesting  and necessary as the rest of the story.

One of the best things about this book is that I picked it up for just a dollar as part of a magnificent haul from a closing down book seller. Where Men Win Glory is a worthwhile read for anyone with a little interest in politics or conspiracy and cover-ups. I am certainly hoping to squeeze another Krakauer novel onto the list in 2016.

Book Bingo category: Autobiography/biography.