One of the most fun things about reading challenges has always been how everyone interprets the squares. This year, we are leaning into your interpretations. Every square can be taken literally—the title, cover image, book element—thematically, or figuratively, using word play and association. Imagination is your friend. Challenge yourself as much or as little as you would like; this summer, choose the level and books just right for you.
We always encourage you to seek out books and authors that stretch your horizons. Despite what some well-known white men assert, authors from marginalized groups (BIPOC, Queer, Disabled, Neurodivergent) do not have an easier path to publication, nor are their books promoted as well beyond spotlight months. We at CBR encourage any readership we can.
Please also remember that these reading challenges should be fun! Don’t torture yourself reading a book you aren’t enjoying. Life is too short and there are too many books in the world. If you are having a hard time fulfilling a square, please feel free to send us a message via the contact form.
There will be a check-in post every Thursday morning around 10 a.m. Eastern Time.
Official CBR14 Book Bingo Reading Challenge Card
Download Game Card, Descriptions, and Rules
Challenge Levels
You can choose different levels for each square. The levels are merely a framework for thinking about how you can play with the words and are not rules to follow. In the review, do tell us why you chose the book to fulfill the square.
Level 1: Word is in the title, the image is on the cover, or a main character or topic is reasonably related to the word.
Level 2: Thematically related to the square
Level 3: Metaphor/word play
For example for Heart:
Level 1: The Heart of Darkness; Anatomy: A Love Story (has a heart on the cover); or The Wizard of Oz (the Tin Man seeks a heart).
Level 2: Sense and Sensibility, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, or any kind of story about love—romantic, familial, community and so on, or about the heart as an organ itself.
Level 3: I anticipate that Madeline Miller’s Circe will wreck me emotionally when I finally read it; even if it doesn’t, it would still count here, because I expected it to. Our Time is Now, by Stacey Abrams, is about voting rights, which I believe to be the heart of democracy.
Listed below are the square titles along with some suggested interpretations. These descriptions are just a place to start.
The Squares
Row 1
- Snake: A book about snakes; snakes have positive and negative associations – a character can be a snake if they are a liar, but snakes also represent creativity, transformation, fertility, and healing; that book on your TBR that you’ve always been afraid of!
- Shadow: Could involve spies, mysteries, or shadow governments; could involve a person who casts a long shadow or creatures who live in the shadows; could be about psychology.
- Cold: A book with a cold landscape, set during cold weather, or involving the common cold (or other virus); a book that has received a cold shoulder from reviewers; a book involving cold characters; a book that groups have attempted to ban.
- Rec’d: A book recommended by a reviewer on Cannonball Read, by a friend, or by a list of top books; a book you would recommend.
- Bodies: Any book that doesn’t deal exclusively with thought. If you find a book that in no way involves bodies, feel free to review it for this category, because I am stumped.
Row 2
- Minds: Involves mind games, philosophy, or psychology; could be a psychological thriller or a horror story; could involve characters who live in their minds.
- Adapt (represented by a camel): A book adapted into a movie or TV show, or about a character adapting to a new place/culture/situation; a book involving adaptive technologies (from wheelchairs to brain implants and beyond).
- Heart: Could be about emotions or something expected to elicit big emotions; could be about something you love; could be about heart disease.
- Monster: Could involve dragons, kaiju, serial killers, and billionaires! Something very large, very scary, or over-hyped.
- New: New book, new author, new-to-you author, new-to-you genre. Did you know “new” is one of the most common words in a book title?
Row 3
- Series: A book that’s part of a series or, contains a series of essays, short stories, etc.; a book about a series of historical events.
- Funky: What does funky mean to you? It could be related to a genre of music, a time period, an attitude.
- Star: A book set in space or one that involves astronomy, a famous person, a character who wants to be famous or once was, a starfish.
- Verse: Poetry, a novel in verse, the universe, a book set within a larger ‘verse.
- Dough: Can refer to dough and its many varied products; can refer to money or American soldiers in WWI; can be a homonym or part of an author’s name.
Row 4
- Cozy: Cozy mystery, cozy sci-fi, domestic fiction, domestic history, or a book that warms your heart.
- Scandal: Scandalous content; scandalous cover; a story about a scandal.
- Hot: Could be a book that’s very popular, or takes place during hot weather, involves volcanos, is about heat, or includes sexy characters.
- Bird: Could be literally about birds or planes, or with a bird or plane on the cover. Alternately, think about bird idioms: “birds of a feather flock together” could refer to a book similar to one you’ve already reviewed; an “albatross” could be a book you really need to read; “early bird catches the worm” could be an advance reader copy or just-published book.
- Question: A book you pick up to answer a question (the question might be, “Will I like this book?”); a book asking questions; the kind of book that prompts people to ask, “Are you really reading that?”
Row 5
- Gaslight: Set in a historical period before electricity was common; an unreliable narrator; lying liars who lie are involved; politics.
- Font: You like the font on the cover, or it’s a book with a font of knowledge, fictional or real; a calligrapher or graphic artist is involved.
- Holiday: About any holiday you want, or read while on holiday.
- Time: Could involve time travel, non-linear time, a race against time, or another time; the time for this book has arrived.
- Elephant: Could be about elephants or a place where you find elephants; could be a book that’s a white elephant (unusual, unasked for); involves an “elephant in the room” (a subject that is very large and people try to ignore it); an elephant never forgets (long memory, grudge, revenge).
The Rules
- The CBR14 Book Bingo Reading Challenge begins on Friday, July 15, 2022 and ends at 11:59 p.m. EST on Monday, November 14, 2022. Only books that have reviews posted during this time period count towards completing a bingo. You can begin the reading challenge at any time during this period.
- Books must have been read during 2022.
- You must tag the review on cannonballread.com with cbr14bingo and not any other variation. When using the autofill, make sure you are selecting cbr14bingo. Please do not add the ‘#’ in your tag, just the text cbr14bingo, all one word. Do not add any level-related tags; cbr14bingo is the only bingo-related tag necessary.
- All squares can be fiction or non-fiction, graphic novel, audiobook, or any other genre. Fanfiction is allowable for any square.
- 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 the bingo card in color, or black and white, to keep track.)
- Bingo: Complete a horizontal, vertical or diagonal line. Four corners plus center square counts as a bingo too.
- Blackout Card: Complete all 25 squares.
- 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.
- Select your first square carefully. You can only start a new board if you have completed a full bingo board, or blackout (See #8). If you realize you have labeled a review in error after publication, please use the contact form to let us know.
- One book fulfills one square. If a book can fit multiple squares, pick the one that works best for you.
- All Cannonball Read rules apply to the CBR14 Book Bingo Reading Challenge.
Prizes/Rewards
Now that Cannonball Read has its 501(c)(3) status, monetary and other tangible prizes have become more complicated, so this year we are offering brand new Bingo badges as a reward for completing bingos. Badges will be unveiled on Thursday, July 21. Find out more about CBR Participation Badges.
If you have questions or comments, please jump into the comment section and let us know.
