The CBR11 Book Bingo Reading Challenge has ended. Please see the Bingo main page for details about this year’s challenge.
After the success of last year’s inaugural Book Bingo Reading Challenge, we are delighted to bring it back for a second year! Select five squares across, down, diagonally, or 5-up (four corners + center square), and get an entry into a drawing for some cool prizes. Complete the entire card – a blackout! – and get 15 entries into our drawing. Download your game card below, and post your reviews tagged with cbr11bingo for chances in our prize raffle. You can ask questions, ask for suggestions, and look for a review partner in the comments below and in the monthly check in posts. You can also ask for suggested books and clarifications in the comments here, the check in posts, and in the Facebook group Cannonball Read Book Chat.
The Official CBR11 Book Bingo Reading Challenge Card
The Squares
- Remix – An update, retelling, or reimagining of a classic, a fairytale, or folklore. This can be your #CannonBookClub Retellings read, or an unrelated book. (7/19/19 Clarification: Retelling book only. For a classic see the Classic square.)
- True Story – non-fiction: biography, memoir, current event, or history.
- Far and Away – Choose a book set on Earth as far away from you as you can imagine. It can be physical distance, cultural distance, fiction, or non-fiction.
- Youths! – a children’s or Young Adult book (fiction or non-fiction).
- Reading the TBR – Any book from your To-Be-Read list.
- Pajiba – Any book referenced in the Pajiba Book Archive in any year.
- The Collection – a collection of short pieces – fiction or non-fiction – short stories, essays, poems, etc. It can be by the same author or a group of authors.
- Travel – A book, fiction or non-fiction, that includes a journey. A classic example would be The Hobbit. A non-fiction example would be something like Blue Highways.
- Illustrated – a book of photographs, graphic novel, comic book, or other book where the images or illustrations are the focus.
- Science! – Non-fiction or fiction, a book in any genre where science is the star. This might be a fantasy book like Marie Brennan’s A Natural History of Dragons in which the protagonist is a scientist, a science fiction book like John Scalzi’s The Collapsing Empire in which science is used or denied to further political agendas, or a non-fiction book about science or scientists.
- Two Heads are Better Than One – Do a partner review: review a book with a fellow Cannonballer, a non-Cannonballer, or with a child/teen.
- Back to School – either a book you read for school (any level of school) that you remember loving/hating, or revisiting an assigned book you didn’t understand then, but you might now.
- Own Voices – Select an author from a marginalized group writing non-fiction about their own group, or writing a main character who is from the same marginalized group – for example Susan Stryker’s Transgender History (non-fiction about the history of transgender people written by a trans woman) or Sandhya Menon’s When Dimple Met Rishi (an Indian American author writing about an Indian American teen girl).
- Classics – a generally accepted classic, can be in association with #CannonBookClub Classics read, or an unrelated book. (7/19/19 Clarification: Classic book only. For a retelling or update see the Remix square.)
- History/Schmistory – a book about a historical period, history itself, historical fiction, or alternate history.
- I Love This – a book you love or a book about a thing you love. It can be a book you have previously reviewed for Cannonball, but you must write a new review for bingo. Feel free to link to your previous review as well.
- Not My Wheelhouse – Review a book in a genre you don’t typically read.
- Listicle – People love making lists. Review a book from a list.
- Rainbow Flag – a book written by an author who self identifies as part of the LGBTQ community. Books can be fiction, non-fiction, about LGBTQ characters/issues or not.
- Award Winner – Review a book that won a major literary or genre specific prize in any year. Any of the literary awards in this list on Wikipedia will count, plus the Grammys or the Audies.
- Cannonballer Says – Review a book you chose because you liked another Cannonballer’s review, or it was recommended by a Cannonballer. (Don’t forget to say who!)
- And So it Begins – Review the first book in a series.
- Birthday – Review a book by an author (ex. J.K. Rowling) with a birthday between July 1 and October 31 or featuring a beloved character (ex. Harry Dresden) with a birthday between those dates.
- Banned/Challenged Books – A book that has been banned or challenged in any country. You can start with either of these lists: The American Library Association’s list of Frequently Challenged Books in the US or the Wikipedia entry of books banned by governments around the world. Please either state which list you found it on, or when and where the book was banned or challenged.
- Summer Read – the kind of book you would take on vacation for “light reading.”
The Rules
- Bingo begins on Monday, July 1, 2019 and ends at 11:59 p.m. EST on Thursday, October 31, 2019. Only books that have reviews posted during this time period count towards the bingo. You can start CBR Bingo at any time during this period.
- Books must have been read during 2019.
You must tag the review on cannonballread.com with cbr11bingo.- Follow the bingo card graphic above to make your book choices.
- Once a square is crossed off, it’s crossed off for good! (Feel free to print off the bingo card to keep track!)
- Bingo: Complete a horizontal, vertical or diagonal line and receive one entry into our prize drawing raffle. Four corners plus center square counts as a bingo too.
- Blackout Card: Complete all 25 squares and receive 2 entries into our prize drawing raffle.
- In your review, state which square the book fulfilled, either at the top or the bottom of the review. Please make it easy to find!
- Please state in the review how the book fulfills the category. Some categories are subjective, and some are more specific. Some books will be self-explanatory, but some, like Banned/Challenged or Listicle need a sentence such as, “this book was challenged in this school district in 2008” or “this book was on Barack Obama’s list of best books 2018.”
- Select your first square carefully. You can only start a new board if you have completed a full bingo board, a blackout. If you realize you have labeled a review in error after publication, please email rochelle at cannonballread dot com and let her know.
- If you choose to do the Two Heads are Better Than One square, your review partner does not have to be registered for CBR11. If your partner is registered for CBR11, email rochelle at cannonballread dot com and to tell her which person’s tally needs to be adjusted to reflect the review. If your partner is not registered, but would like to, contact mswas at cannonballread dot com.
- New for 2019 – Reader’s Choice: This is a “floating” square that you can use to skip one category and review the book of your choice instead. Only one floating square may be used per player per card. You must review a book for this square, but you don’t have to follow the category/topic. Please state which square you are replacing with “Reader’s Choice” at the top or the bottom of the review.
- Clarification 1 – One book fulfills one square. If a book fits multiple squares, pick the one that works best for you.
- Clarification 2 – All Cannonball Read rules apply to Bingo.
Prizes
By completing each bingo, you’ll receive one entry into our prize drawing to be held after October 31. Complete all 25 squares and receive 2 additional entries into our prize drawing raffle (for a total of 15 entries). Detailed prize information to follow. Note on Prizes – as this is no longer an anniversary year, there will be fewer prizes this year. We are still excited about the prizes we will have.
YAAAAAAAS
Now to square-peg-round-hole my entire library hold list …
I just cackled because SAME. 🙂
This is so great – it was a HUGE hit last year, and I hope this year we have even more Cannonballers participating!!!
Woot! I’ve been keeping Bingo in mind as I scan my TBR list!
Love the options! Thank you!
So I just read House of Silk, which is Anthony Horowitz’s Sherlock Holmes novel. Does that qualify as a Remix?
Yes!
Yep! Its a very free choice kind of thing – if you can relate it to Sherlock Holmes, it counts!
Hooray! Procrastination pays off!!
So happy we’re doing this again. It will also motivate me to get cracking with my review backlog, so I can start reading new books for the Bingo. Also deeply grateful for the “Reader’s Choice” option which I will use for the “Back to School” square because if I have to revisit ANYTHING they forced me to read at any point during my education (I seriously do not have fond memories of a single assigned book), I might have to give up on life.
We learned the lessons of last year. At least we learned some of them.
Same! If this doesn’t get me moving on my review backlog nothing will
I am so excited for this! Hoping it will push me to read some things that I’ve wanted to read (e.g., Own Voices types of books) but have been putting off as I work through other books I already have.
I forgot this was this month! Yay! I am going to attempt to be more organised about it this year and get a few more lines. Probably won’t happen but I can try. Doesn’t help that my nearest library is closed for the summer…I do have a fair few birthday books I can hopefully squeeze into a square though.
Whyyyyyy would they close a library for the summer???
That’s a literal nightmare scenario for me. Do they do digital loans?
I think they do I’ve just never tried. And there is another one not too far, and even others bus rides away, so we’re covered. It’s just a slight inconvenience I like to moan about.
So they can fix the heating system. 🙂
I have another branch near(ish) to me so it’s not a total horror story.
Yes, BINGO! And now I have a project for the next couple of days. I’m hopeful that I can use my 30 review backlog for a large portion of this . . .
Same! I’m about 65 reviews behind and about to leave on vacation so I was going to just give up on CBR this year. Now I’m thinking bingo might be the thing to get me back on track!
My evil plan is working *insert mad cackling gif here*
I’ll do anything for the chance of prizes!
My reaction? Both ‘woo-hoo bingo!’ and ‘ah shit, my work schedule’
Let’s see how well I can manage my time?
Legitimately upset right now because my printer is out of ink so I have to wait for my new cartridges to arrive tomorrow before I can print my BINGO board.
Excellent, a good reason to catch up on all the reviews I haven’t done this year! (yet!)
OK, question about one of the categories. For “The Collection”, would Lin-Manuel Miranda’s G’Morning, G’Night: Little Pep Talks for Me & You be allowed? It’s the illustrated book of a bunch of his tweets, which someone recently gave me as a present. It is a collection of sorts, but of fairly short texts, a lot closer to poems than stories.
Yes, that will count as a Collection
Yay, another square sorted with books I actually physically own (trying to get as many of them with my own books as possible).
Question: if we read a book that can be part of two categories/squares (like say it’s a True story AND it’s LGBT issues) can we cross off two squares? Or do we have to choose what to plug it under?
Thanks!! I *might* join this…
Sorry, Denesteak. It’s one book, one square.
Thanks! Second question — can the first book of a graphic novel series be under “And So It Begins” and maybe the ensuing issues (like 2, or 3, or 4) be under “Illustrated”?
Not sure if you can tell, but I’m totally plotting out my squares now haha
I have no problem with that at all.
I have most of my books planned out, two books finished (love short books) and now the review part (always a catch!) (hahaha)
I just finished my board and I’m not going to get my first BINGO until the end of August! But I’m going to get through my backlog! AND I was able to fill out most of the rest of the squares with books I already own and have been meaning to read forever.
I’ve got most of my board plotted and if things stick to schedule I’ll manage two bingos in August, but none in July. But I should be on pace for a blackout, which makes my heart happy.
I’ve been able to fill 12 out of 25 squares with my review backlog, but until I finish writing the 14 reviews I’m currently behind on, and read and review some more, no actual bingos will be forthcoming. I have plotted out NEARLY my whole card – only missing “Two Heads are Better than One” (since I’m likely to do that one with my husband again) and I’m still debating with myself whether I should substitute the “Back to School” square with “Reader’s Choice” or be brave and re-read one of the many assigned books that I loathed during my school years. I’m probably going to take the easy way out and just read something I actually like instead.
A quick question that’s been bouncing around in my head a bit this morning – how do you define ‘Young Adult?’
I read a book recently that I had been lead to believe was in that category – it has a teen protagonist, and most people compare it to The Hunger Games. But looking back at it, it’s not published by a YA imprint of the publisher (and there are plenty), which surprised me.
So how far are we allowed to stretch the definition?
I don’t think it has to be printed by a YA imprint. What book is it?
Pierce Brown’s Red Rising.
I might see if the author has ever commented on it
Here’s what the author has said: “On January 28th, my debut novel, RED RISING, hits shelves. Since the protagonist is 16 but the book is heavy with adult-centric themes of power, justice and war, I’ve been asked if it’s a YA or an adult novel. Simply put, RED RISING is both.”
https://www.teenreads.com/blog/2014/01/21/guest-post-red-rising-author-pierce-brown-on-ya-vs-adult
Oh, brilliant, thanks so much for finding that! I guess that puts me in the clear then!
For the travel square, would space travel count? Or should it be Earth-bound? Thanks!
Space travel is fine.