I’ve seen the /r/Fantasy Book Bingo cards before a number of times, but this is the first year that I think I’m actually going to try it. I’ve gotten away from my previous reading lists, but this sounds like a great way to find new things / read a few that are out of my comfort zone. I do read a crazy amount, so I should be able to find time for 25 specific books–but then again, there are a few rules that might make this more interesting:
Rules:
- Must be speculative fiction (SF, fantasy, horror with speculative elements)
- Limit the number of novellas (fewer than 40k words or defined by the author as such) or combine them
- A book of short stories counts
- Graphic novels/manga should be treated as novellas
- Web novels count (if they’re long enough)
- Audiobooks count
Luckily, there’s a rather active recommendations thread. Compare that against my to reads (still 600+ strong) or just whatever jumps out and I should be good to go!
This post will automatically update as I add more books. My current plan is to put each book in each category that it would work for, but when a book only fits in one category, I’ll remove the other books from that category or otherwise mark it. Click any cover to read my review! Onward!
Note: While I’m reading them, I’m mostly going to assign books to multiple squares. As I fill in more of the sheet, I’ll clean that up.
2021 Book Bingo
![]() (Hard Mode) 5 SFF Short Stories (Hard: An entire anthology or collection) | ![]() (Hard Mode) Set in Asia (Hard: by an Asian author) | ![]() (Hard Mode) r/Fantasy A to Z Genre Guide (Hard: by a BIPOC author) | ![]() (Hard Mode) Found Family (Hard: featuring an LGBTQ+ character) | ![]() (Hard Mode) First person POV (Hard: Multiple) |
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| ![]() (Hard Mode) New to you author (Hard: haven’t heard much about) | ![]() (Hard Mode) Gothic Fantasy (Hard: not in the Book Riot article) | ![]() (Hard Mode) Backlist book (Hard: published before 2000) | ![]() (Hard Mode) Revenge-seeking character (Hard: revenge as the major book plot) |
![]() (Hard Mode) Mystery plot (Hard: not primary world urban fantasy) | ![]() (Hard Mode) Comfort read (Hard: that isn’t a reread) | ![]() (Hard Mode) Debut novel (Hard: published in 2021) | ![]() (Hard Mode) Cat squasher (500+ pages; Hard: 800+ pages) | ![]() (Hard Mode) SFF-related nonfiction (Hard: published in the last 5 years) |
![]() (Hard Mode) Latinx or Latin American author (Hard: with fewer than 1000 Goodreads ratings) | ![]() (Hard Mode) Self published (Hard: with fewer than 50 Goodreads ratings) | ![]() (Hard Mode) Forest setting (Hard: for the entire book) | ![]() (Hard Mode) Genre mashup (Hard: of three or more genres) | ![]() (Hard Mode) Has chapter titles of more than one word (Hard: for every chapter) |
![]() (Hard Mode) ___ of ___ (Hard: and ___) | ![]() (Hard Mode) First contact (Hard: that doesn’t lead to war) | ![]() Trans or Nonbinary (Hard: protagonist) | ![]() (Hard Mode) Debut author (Hard: with an AMA) | ![]() (Hard Mode) Witches (Hard: as the main protagonist) |