#ArmedWithABingo Feature: El

This month’s #ArmedWithABingo feature is my book blogger friend, El who writes at Inkandplasma.

How’s reading going this year?

I’m having a really, really good year for reading so far. As of the end of April, I’d read 80 books! My target was 104, but I’m hoping I might be able to double it and aim for 208 – four books a week! – because after being furloughed I’ve been doing nothing but reading.

What made you join #ArmedWithABingo?

The thing that appealed to me with #armedwithabingo was that it was over a longer time. I’ve seen lots of bingo boards and been interested in them, but the ones I saw were always crammed into a single month. I’m a terrible mood reader, so trying to read to a TBR for a bingo board wouldn’t work for me. #Armedwithabingo meant I could read whatever I wanted and tick things off as they happened naturally in my TBR.

When you first looked at your board, was there a prompt that you were super excited to start first or one that terrified you in some way?

The prompt that interested me and terrified me the most was the ‘non-fiction book’ one, especially combined with ‘a memoir’ because I don’t tend to read non-fiction or memoirs so I was excited to get out of my comfort zone but a little intimidated too. I ended up really enjoying the memoir, so I’m not so terrified for the non-fiction one now!

How far along on the board are you at the moment?

I only have one left to go! I just have to read that ‘non-fiction’ square, and I’ve got two non-fiction books on my shelves right now so once I’ve read some of my review copies I’m gonna try and pick up one of those and see how it goes! I’ve written reviews for a fair amount of them, and a bunch of them are part of my Alex Rider reread series I did ready for Nightshade’s release in April.

I have written reviews for most these books on my blog:

• Book published in 2020: One of Us is Next by Karen McManus (review)
• A book in the middle of a series: Ark Angel by Anthony Horowitz (review)
• A book with multiple POVs: Alex Rider Undercover by Anthony Horowitz (review)
• A book with a number in the title: Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (review)
• A young adult novel: Eagle Strike by Anthony Horowitz (review)
• A book not in 3rd person: Russian Roulette by Anthony Horowitz (review)
• A memoir: A River in the Darkness by Masaji Ishikawa (review)
• A book of your choice: Unspeakable by Cecile Frohn (review)
• A fantasy/sci-fi: Belle Révolte by Linsey Miller (review)
• A book by an indie author: Moontangled by Stephanie Burgis (review)
• A book with a beautiful cover: The Gravity of Us by Phil Stamper (review)
• A book with a colour in its name: Point Blanc by Anthony Horowitz (review)
• A bestseller book: Wilder Girls by Rory Power (review)
• A book you meant to read last year: Crier’s War by Nina Varela (review)
• A book with a food in the title: The Apple-Tree Throne by Premee Mohamed (review)

Apart from #ArmedWithABingo, are you taking part in any other challenges?

I signed up for the 2020 TBR challenge, my sign up post with all the information is here but I’m not having nearly as much success with that one – which is exactly because I’m a mood reader not a TBR reader! Although, checking the list, there’s a few more I can check off of it now!

Apart from an avid reader, what are your other interests?

I do write, though it’s been a while since I last finished anything but other than reading I mostly play a lot of video games (once the new Assassin’s Creed game comes out, my TBR is going to fall apart!). I’ve also been spending a lot of time working on the house we just bought, and this summer is going to be all landscaping as we try and fix our garden.

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Ways to connect with El: Find her on her blog and Twitter.

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Are you part of the #ArmedWithABingo community and want to be featured as you progress through the board? Let me know. 🙂 Spots are open for August and onwards!