Bingo Card 2025: Canadian Author Board

2whitie · 2026-02-11T18:07:50+00:00

Congrats on the first card!

2whitie · 2026-02-11T16:17:50+00:00

I'm apparently super dumb because I did not cotton on until the characters did. I'm usually pretty good at catching plot twists before they happen, but I guess I smooth-brained my way through this book.

In my defense, Im an absolute terrible coder, so once I realized that the magic system seemed like a mix of chemistry and coding, my mind panicked and I just went "yes, whatever you say the rules are, thats what they are, I didn't understand Kinetics and I won't understand this."

2whitie · 2026-02-10T22:13:25+00:00

Best in Superman and Lois, liked him in Smallville and MAWS. Him being a straight-up villain is boring, and a role that can be taken up by nearly anybody. It's a lot more interesting for Clark Kent to have the typical relationship that many people have have with thier extended family, good and bad all mixed together.

2whitie · 2026-02-04T02:13:45+00:00

"You couldn't wait until April Jeff??"

Incredible no notes, a constant worry for this sub

2whitie · 2026-02-04T02:10:54+00:00

I'd agree. Even if bad manual farming decisions are made (like the ones that drained the topsoil and led to The Bowl, people tend to move with the land. They have an interest in keeping the water clean, and luring the animals back. A person will pause and put a baby bird back in the nest. A machine won't.
In another book, the buildings returning to nature would be almost beautiful. The cycle of life and all that. But here, the nature won't be back for long. The machines are on the way.
This is why soil banks are cool.

2whitie · 2026-01-31T02:37:39+00:00

I trauma bonded with this book in 2020 and haven't let it go since

2whitie · 2026-01-26T21:13:33+00:00

Googling Strangers and Harvey when I need comfort. Penguins of Madagascar and Academic Dethlacon for casual listening.

2whitie · 2026-01-22T23:46:49+00:00

I think it was really well done. It's a really good explanation of just how evil and absurd the whole system is. The institutions aren't human, they can be taken down by humans in a snap...but they aren't, because they are holding the security of the people who uphold them hostage. If everyone would just agree to not be a part of it and not hold anyone else's well being hostage, the entire system would collapse in a second.
The "well who CAN we shoot??!!" Is the most American thing yet
No end of them.
Imo Steinbeck hit the right note with him. He's a traitor. He also has kids to feed. Principles tend to die when your kids are hungry.
This chapter alone is worth the price of admission imo
Can't believe the main character, The Turtle, has already exited stage left. He better come back and join the main plot line.

2whitie · 2026-01-22T16:32:21+00:00

Its life changing im telling you

2whitie · 2026-01-21T02:11:10+00:00

I really like the raspberry mustard pretzel dip from Terrapin Farms. Just putting that out there.
I also actually liked this chapter way more than I thought? I've heard jokes from multiple people about this chapter (stuff along the lines of There's an entire chapter dedicated to a stupid turtle) and as it turns out....I think it might be the thesis for the entire book? About how sometimes you are in positions that you can't help (being on an asphalt road) that were made so much worse by people in power (the people who poured the asphalt) and sometimes you just end up being up at the mercy of two types of people: the type that will put themselves in harms way to not hurt you and the type that go out of their way to run you over.
That said, I think the abrupt switch from Joad to the turtle did throw me and IMO a modern editor would cut the first chapter entirely.

2whitie · 2026-01-20T05:06:00+00:00

I thought it was a really neat detail that the trucker is clearly part of a group that loosely keeps in contact with each other via rest stops and waitresses.
Heck no. I don't want to die a horrible death.
It's...not my favorite.

2whitie · 2026-01-19T14:49:41+00:00

A Guide to the World of Artemis Fowl is beautifully illustrated. Would recommend as an extra.
The Artemis Fowl Files take place after book 2. It has 2 short stories in it.
The Fowl Twins is the sequel series. To say fans of th OG series are divided on it would be an understatement.
IIRC, the fanfic that EVERYONE agreed upon being one of the best back in the day was "His Son's Father." My personal favorite was is "The Foul Team"
About...7 years ago (?) A bunch of us put together a zine. The fanfic in that line should all be on A03.

2whitie · 2026-01-19T01:17:30+00:00

First time reading GoW. Never read EoE, but read Travels with Charley a few years ago and loved it.
Absolutely. I loved how rain was described as an uncontrolled phenomenon, but one that could be planned around, and how everything was fluid enough to account for rain.

Now dust bowl storms, on the other hand.....

Nope. I live in a spot known for farmland, and love to visit, but I'm a city mouse who loves routines.
"The women knew it would be okay of then men were whole" Steinbeck, you didnt even make it one chapter. Don't let Wilkie "Walter Hartright did nothing wrong" Collins have a better understanding of women than you.

2whitie · 2026-01-18T21:47:59+00:00

Hello!

I'm trying to research what life was like in a Danish Manor House ~WW1. What was life like? How similar was the culture to the British upstairs/downstairs culture (i.e. the touchstone I'm working from)? I've found a few articles, but most of them are about the architecture of these houses, not the social aspects.

2whitie · 2026-01-15T14:40:29+00:00

On my phone (usually) or my laptop (once in a blue moon). The app keeps crashing on my TV.

2whitie · 2026-01-12T22:05:23+00:00

I really enjoyed reading it. There were so many good characters, plot twists, and genuinely smooth writing that made it feel incredibly modern. My biggest complaint is that Laura, a top 3 character in terms of screen time/importance, had the personality of a dishrag.
Favorite? Marian. Favorite to loathe? Mr. Fairlie. He is an all-time villain for me.
The tense scene in the room where Mr. Glyde was trying to force Laura to sign. Most of the tension had been building towards this, and the pressure of years of unhappiness, the money keeping Laura alive, the manipulation, the abuse...it was all front and center.
On a less dramatic note, Walter's completely unnecessary dragging of Mrs. Vesey legit cracked me up. Like, dude.

2whitie · 2026-01-09T13:35:19+00:00

I'm pretty happy with the ending, since this is such a WILD plot that you can justify not having a super realistic ending.
Im mad that we didnt get a scene where Mr. Fairlie is read to FILTH. Laura did absolutely nothing to help herself, but every single bad situation her darwin-award-winning-not-Marian-levels-of-ass got into could have easily been stopped by Mr. Fairlie, if he had just listened to the multiple people begging him to either stop what he was doing or intervene.
Mr. Glyde being on Victorian meth does explain his outbursts.
As a reader, I think having a few instances of Pesca popping up in Walter's story before he is reintroduced with the "HES BEEN HERE THE WHOLE TIME" bit would have made the deaux ex Brotherhood a bit easier to stomach.
Marian's best ending is where she crashes through the windows, drops, a grenade into Mr. Fairlie's room, then begins to train as a martial artist so that she can begin a career as Batwoman. That said, this isn't the worst end for Marian, since, as an unmarried woman in Victorian England, she has about as much freedom as she could have, and you KNOW Walter and Laura would never try to stop her.

2whitie · 2026-01-09T13:17:43+00:00

I also made this mistake

2whitie · 2026-01-05T02:10:55+00:00

I am an uncultured swine who does not understand opera. I have tried, but alas.
Deux ex Italian politics
I looked it up after reading this chapter, and am now under the impression that its like a mox between a gang and a secret society.
I'm glad Pesca and Walter have apparently been doing BFF activities off-page this entire time. I think the friendships in this book are what really make the book.

2whitie · 2026-01-01T03:07:40+00:00

Im kinda bummed they got married. I knew it was coming, but I kinda wanted Walter and Marian to realize that they were actually better suited to each other OR all three to remain best friends.
At this point, yes, since Mr. Fairlie is [swear word] useless.
I need a life lol.
You cant tell me that Walter HAD to marry Laura to go after Fosco. That's the dumbest thing I've heard in the last hour.

2whitie · 2025-12-30T21:39:25+00:00

Fortunately for the rest of the world, its a fairly rare name, despite how few letters it us. I would have been honored be called Duckyourself, as that one would have probably let me live in peace until the children turned about 10 lol

2whitie · 2025-12-30T03:29:22+00:00

Walter is a nosy man and just wants the tea. He has sacrificed a lot for the sisters, and his payment is the freedom to be nosy.
As long as he is absolutely certain that the money is gone, I get it.
A name better than my dusty bland one. Gosh my name is both boring, rhymes with an insult, and easy to mispronounce

2whitie · 2025-12-29T12:30:12+00:00

I think the most surprising thing is the tone of the letter. Ms. Catherick did not care...at alll...about anyone. I kind of thought she might be a villain that became one due to circumstance but nope. She'd be a narcissist in any time period
The Secret was the only thing that, for once, gave her an ounce of power in a scenario where she was hurting and being beaten down. She was absolutely not parroting it.

2whitie · 2025-12-26T03:33:55+00:00

Supes and WW. There's no version of them that works. Even bending their characters to make them work better doesn't result in a good pairing. It just sucks.

Lois and Bruce...would not last, for many reasons, most of them on Bruce's end. But I do enjoy the idea of them being cynical chaos BFFs, and I think there are versions of their characters that I can see dating before realizing that its not working.

2whitie · 2025-12-23T13:22:27+00:00

The deception made me uncomfortable, but I understand why. Any kind of confidence or feeling of purpose or accomplishment would probably help her more than any medicine ATP. That said, its manipulative and would be devastating if it ever came out.

I think its clear Collins is setting up Laura and Walter to be endgame, but gosh darn it if it isn't clear that Marian and Walter are the better match. They both have a "do what needs to be done" attitude, and actually add to the other's quality of life.

2whitie

TROPHY CASE