Have you really enjoyed reading a work that qualifies and want to recommend it to others? This is the prime spot to help people out with those recommendations.
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New Release:
New for 2024/2025 (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.
The gathering, by C.J. Tudor
Nuclear war: a scenario, by Annie Jacobsen
Plays With Words:
Written in a stylistically unconventional way. HARD MODE: Fits the definition of Experimental Literature.
- Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
- Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
- Ella Minnow Pea: A Progressively Lipogrammatic Epistolary Fable by Mark Dunn
- Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
- Finnegans Wake by James Joyce
- House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
- A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
Local to You:
The author lives in or writes about a location local to you (city, state, province, territory, etc.). HARD MODE: The author has spent a significant amount of time there, but wasn’t born there.
One Less:
A book that’s been on your TBR list for a long time. HARD MODE: Overlaps with at least one other bingo square theme.
Eazy, Breazy, Read-zie:
A light, popcorn-worthy read that’s not real deep (see also “beach read” and “airport novel”). HARD MODE: You actually read it while on a vacation/staycation.
- Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman
- The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi
- The Mark of Zorro by Johnston McCulley
ALT - Translated
Not originally in your native tongue. HARD MODE: Has been translated into at least ten other languages. This Wikipedia page is a good place to start for widely translated works.
“100 Years of Solitude” Gabriel García Márquez (this works for HARD MODE) “Love in the Time of Cholera” Gabriel García Márquez
- Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
- Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
- The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi
- What You Are Looking For is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama
- Planet of the Apes by Pierre Boulle
- Arsène Lupin, Gentleman-Thief by Maurice Leblanc
- The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
ALT - Same Author, New Work
An author you’ve read before, but a series (or standalone) you haven’t. HARD MODE: Give an author you didn’t like a second chance.
Institutional:
Set at a non-commercial institution or facility, like a school, science lab, or prison. HARD MODE: Not a school.
The institute, by Stephen King
- Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King
- Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett
- The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
- Any of The Scholomance Series by Naomi Novik
Bookception:
Features a book-related aspect. HARD MODE: Something other than a book, like an author or library.
- The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean
- The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik
- Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
- The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
- The Neverending Story by Michael Ende
It Takes Two:
Written by two or more authors. HARD MODE: Written by three or more authors.
- This Is How You Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone, Amal El-Mohta
- Good Omens by Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman
- Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey (Corey is a pseudonym for the team of Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck)
Questions, Complaints, Whines, General Commentary, Shitposting
Just a quick note, Jaymes and I seeded the Storygraph challenge they built with literally hundreds of literary and genre fiction books (some of which they’ve crossposted here), in case you’re looking for ideas and prefer a more visual browse. (No account required!)
Award Winner:
Has won a significant literature award. HARD MODE: More than one award.
I would love some suggestions for awards to look up, that you’d consider big for your country or preferred genre. I’ve looked up lists of awards, but they tend to be pretty US-focused, and it’s hard to tell what’s actually significant.
I’m familiar with the Hugos (SFF), Nebula (SFF), Bram Stoker (horror), Edgars (mystery), Pulitzer (lit), Booker (lit), and Newbery (kids).
- Dreamsnake by Vonda N. McIntyre
- Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie
- Babel: An Arcane History by R.F. Kuang
- A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark
- The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
- Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Among the Stars:
Features space, astronomy, or stardom. HARD MODE: The title references the theme, too.
Mr Palomar by Italo Calvino.
Also qualifies for hard mode (the character is named after an observatory).
The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal
The Three-Body Problem, by Cixin Liu
- Binti by Nnedi Okorafor
- Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey
- 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke
- Who Censored Roger Rabbit? by Gary K. Wolf (movie stars count)
Disability Representation:
A main character has or gains a disability to which they must adapt. This disability must be grounded in reality: if a 4,000 year old Prince of the Shokan lost an arm, that would count; if he became a werewolf, it would not. HARD MODE: The piece is at least partially from their perspective.
- Feral Creatures by Kira Jane Buxton
- How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell
- Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
