1w ago

2025 Bingo Recommendations List

Have you read something that you really enjoyed and want to give others a reason to try it out because it fits a square? Want to solicit help finding things to read that fit squares? This is a great place to do 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.

Markdown Card

	A	B	C	D	E
1	Number in the Title	Author from a Different Continent	Featured Creature	Minority Author	Now a Major Motion Picture
2	Independent Author	Set in War	Orange Crush	Short and Sweet	Banned Book
3	Based on Folklore	Title: [X] of [Y]	FREE SPACE - Off Your TBR Pile	LGBTQIA+ Lead	Saddle Up
4	New Release	Alliterative Title	Judge A Book By Its Cover	Award Winner	Gamble, Game, or Contest
5	Steppin' Up!	Political	Late to the Party	Cozy Read	Jerk with a Heart of Gold

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71 comments

Questions, Complaints, Whines, General Commentary, Shitposting...
- I've just seen the Storygraph challenge - that makes it easier to keep track, thanks! However I noticed that the announcement and card link are the ones from 2024 so you're aware :)
  
  Thanks! I knew I was missing some update somewhere. Should be fixed now.
- Just like last year, we've pre-seeded the Storygraph challenge with ~500 (mostly fiction) books from various genres, if you're looking for ideas (no account required to browse!).
  ETA: The returning categories have different book suggestions from last year, so for even more ideas for those squares, check last year's Storygraph, too.
- Why don't I own more books?!
  
  Because you haven't fully embraced your book-dragonhood? Build that hoard! :)

1D Minority Author: The author is a member of a generally underrepresented or marginalized demographic where you live, such as LGBTQIA+ or BIPOC. HARD MODE: Belongs to more than one minority group.
- Suggestion: anything by Samuel R. Delany
  My card: Samuel R. Delany - Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand

2D Short and Sweet: Read a individual piece of work under 170 pages or 40,000 words. HARD MODE: Read a collection of this type of short work.
- 1066 and All That: A Memorable History of England, Comprising All the Parts You Can Remember, Including 103 Good Things, 5 Bad Kings and 2 Genuine Dates -- Sellar, Yeatman, and Reynolds.
  Worth all of its 116 pages. (Also valid for 1A, but I have other plans for that square.)
- Suggestion: any anthology, especially any edited by Ellen Datlow (books span multiple genres)
  My card: Ellen Datlow, ed. - Mad Hatters and March Hares

1A Number in the Title: The work must have a number in the title that's not a just a volume/version number. Example: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid. HARD MODE: Only numbers in the title.
- Suggestion: George Orwell - 1984
  My card: Kim Stanley Robinson - 2312
- The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton is a fun murder mystery with a groundhog's day aspect
  My plan for this one is to go hard mode and read 11/22/63 by Steven King. I've heard it's good. It's also a crossover with Motion Picture.
  I like crossovers where I can find them because it lets me reshuffle them.

3E Saddle Up: The narrative revolves around someone whose identity is tied to being a rider of something, such as a horse, dragon, or motorcycle. HARD MODE: The ridden creature/object is treated as a character in its own right.
- Suggestion: Anne McCaffrey - Dragonriders of Pern; Mercedes Lackey's Dragon Jousters series or any of the Heralds books from Valdemar; Rebecca Yarros - Fourth Wing
  My card: using the first suggestion for this square, Naomi Novik - His Majesty's Dragon
- The Temeraire series by Naomi Novik is a bunch of fun if you're attracted to the idea of what if they had an air force in the Napoleonic Wars, and oh yeah, they are dragons.

4E Gamble, Game, or Contest: Features an organized gamble, game, or contest (life-and-death or otherwise). HARD MODE: Take a gamble on a style or genre of work you don't typically read, as well.
- Suggestion: Suzanne Collins - The Hunger Games; Clive Barker - The Damnation Game
  My card: Agatha Christie - The Sittaford Mystery

4D Award Winner: Has won a notable and widely regarded literature award. HARD MODE: More than one award.
- Suggestion: Larry Niven - Ringworld
  My card: China Mieville - The City & the City

3D LGBTQIA+ Lead: A main character identifies as LGBTQIA+. HARD MODE: Includes a significant romantic relationship between characters that identify as LGBTQIA+.
- Suggestion: any LGBTQIA+ romance, such as TJ Klune - Under the Whispering Door (or pretty much any other book by this author)
  My card: TJ Klune - Wolfsong

4C Judge a Book by Its Cover: Chosen because you like its cover (or cover analogue). HARD MODE: Picked using only the information available on the front cover.
- Suggestion: John Wiswell - Someone You Can Build a Nest In
  My card: Paolo Bacigalupi, Tobias S. Buckell - The Tangled Lands
- A Naked Singularity by Sergio De La Pava

2C Orange Crush: The title, a prominent element of the cover, or the narrative involves some form of orange (color, word, or fruit). HARD MODE: The work you chose uses multiple types of orange features.
- Suggestion: Samantha Shannon - The Priory of the Orange Tree; Anthony Burgess - A Clockwork Orange
  My card: Jostein Gaarder - The Orange Girl
- The Art of Fermentation by Sandor Ellix Katz
  
  I looked at this book before, what did you think of it? My brother in law makes wine, and I've considered doing it, but I'm more interested in fermentation for foods.

1C Featured Creature: A sentient non-humanoid is the primary PoV, or a non-humanoid creature holds such a prominent role that the work would be completely different without them. Examples: Call of the Wild by Jack London or Old Yeller by Fred Gipson. HARD MODE: Not a sci-fi/fantasy creature.
- Suggestion: Richard Adams - Watership Down; Richard Adams - The Plague Dogs; Kenneth Grahame - The Wind in the Willows
  My card: Richard Adams - Shardik
- Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton was a fun take on an apocalypse book, from the perspective of the animals that are left behind. So my plan is to slot the sequel Feral Creatures in here.

5A Steppin' Up!: Challenges can come at you quickly, especially for those least prepared. Whether it's a major leadership position or suddenly being gifted a baby dragon, life is about to get a whole lot harder and more complicated. HARD MODE: The primary PoV does not assume the throne of a monarchy/empire.
- Suggestion: Christopher Paolini - Eragon
  My card: Alexandra Bracken - Brightly Woven

2B Set in War: The work takes place with an active war in the foreground or background. The characters do not need to be directly involved in combat, but the war's presence must be a primary driver of the narrative. HARD MODE: There are more than 2 factions in the war.
- Suggestion: Joe Haldeman - The Forever War
  My card: Poul Anderson - The High Crusade

3A Based on Folklore: The narrative must be based on a real world piece of folklore. Folklore encompasses fairy tales, fables, myths, and legends. HARD MODE: Non-European folklore.
- My card: Katherine Arden - The Bear and the Nightingale

5C Late to the Party: Apparently this is a really popular work, you just haven't gotten around to it yet. Read a book that you have seen recommended over and over. HARD MODE: Not Harry Potter.
- My card: Robert Jordan - The Eye of the World
- East of Eden by John Steinbeck

2A Independent Author: Read a work self-published by the author. Any work later published though a conventional publishing house doesn't count unless you are reading it before the switch, and its rerelease date is after April 30^th, 2026. HARD MODE: Not published via Amazon Kindle Direct.
- My card: Michelle West - Wild Road (est. releasing this month to Patreon backers)

4A New Release: New for 2025/2026 (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.
- My card: Shalini Abeysekara - This Monster of Mine
- The final book of the Fred the Vampire Accountant series by Drew Hayes was supposed to come out last year but was delayed so I'm looking forward to reading that

4B Alliterative Title: Many books boldly boast alliteration to attract audience attention. HARD MODE: More than 2 alliterative words in the title, excluding definite articles or conjunctions.
- For hard mode, I could really only find sequels in series, but here are a few suggestions: Andre Norton - Warlock of the Witch World; Michael Moorcock - The Weird of the White Wolf
  My card: Max Gladstone - Full Fathom Five (I've been meaning to read the Craft Sequence series anyway.)

5E Jerk with a Heart of Gold: A significant figure may be rude, gruff, or even insufferable; however, beneath all that, a surprising kindness shows in the right moments. Maybe they are bad at the whole feelings thing, are doing it to hide a deep pain or maintain a position of responsibility, or maybe it's just all a façade, but their actions ultimately reveal a core of genuine caring. HARD MODE: Not A Man Called Ove/Otto.
- I've thoroughly enjoyed the Scholomance series by Naomi Novik and I have the last one yet to read. The main character definitely qualifies for this.
  It's in the budding wizard goes to wizard school type genre, but is in a world where those budding wizards are exceptionally vulnerable to evil magical creatures that would like to consume them, and as such, the school is incredibly harsh and many don't make it out Prior to the events of the trilogy.
- Suggestion: Margaret Owen - Little Thieves
  My card (I struggled to find something for this square that wasn't romance, then gave up. I plan to try a couple of books, then the other recommendation here if I make it to this square and don't have any luck...): Marina Dyachenko, Sergey Dyachenko - Vita Nostra; Grace Draven - Entreat Me
- Any books in the Slough House series by Mick Herron (the jerk being Jackson Lamb).

1E Now a Major Motion Picture: The work has been adapted into a show or single episode, movie, play, audio drama, or other format. HARD MODE: Watch or listen to the adaptation as well (rewatches are ok!).
- Suggestion: virtually anything by Jane Austen (so many movies/shows/plays); Gary K. Wolf - Who Censored Roger Rabbit? (warning: not nearly as much fun as the movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit?)
  My card: Jane Austen - Persuasion
- Story of Your Life by Ted Chiang is the basis of Arrival (2016).

3B Title: [X] of [Y] - The title of the book must feature the format described, such as A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin. HARD MODE: [X] of [Y] and [Z] (the conjunctions can be flexible).
- Suggestion: Nghi Vo - The Empress of Salt and Fortune; Laini Taylor - Daughter of Smoke and Bone
  My card: Barry Hughart - The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox (omnibus)

3C FREE SPACE - Off Your TBR Pile: A book that’s been on your TBR list for a long time. HARD MODE: Overlaps with at least one other bingo square theme.

2E Banned Book: Read a work from the ALA's (American Library Association's) list of the top 100 banned books in the US 2010-2019. If you are a non-American and there is a similar list for your region, that is also a valid source for comparable information. Additionally, you can use the content from the Wikipedia post on banned books. HARD MODE: One of the top 50 (or equivalent).

5B Political: Political movements are a major driver of the work. HARD MODE: From the perspective of machinations in the background, outside the typical positions of power or major government.
- Suggestion: Jacqueline Carey - Kushiel's Dart; John Brunner - The Squares of the City
  My card: Cassandra Rose Clarke - Our Lady of the Ice
- The Feast of the Goat by Mario Vargas Llosa (who passed away a couple of weeks ago)

5D Cozy Read: Cozies generally feature a smaller cast of characters in a smaller location, emphasize community, highlight successes and inspirational moments, and have a more optimistic and upbeat tone. Above all, they have to have a satisfyingly happy ending. They offer comfort to their readers and a safe escape from the realities of daily life. HARD MODE: There is no hard mode, hard mode defeats the purpose of the cozy task.
- Suggestions: Becky Chambers (I think all of her books qualify) - Monk & Robot; Diana Wynne Jones - Howl's Moving Castle
  My card: Heather Fawcett - Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries

1B Author from a Different Continent: The author(s) resides on a different continent than you do. HARD MODE: The work required translation to be published in your native language.
- Suggestion: Dante Alighieri - The Divine Comedy
  My card: Kobo Abe - The Woman in the Dunes
- Marshland by Otohiko Kaga

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