Seattle Public Library Book Bingo 2026

Seattle Public Library (SPL) hosts an Adult Book Bingo every summer, and other libraries have joined in! This year, SPL's bingo takes place between May 22 to September 8, 2026. Release of the full card will be on May 22 and I'll update this post with a link to the card once it is posted.

The bingo card has 24 book categories with one free square.
While some may decide to blackout their card and read every category, you can also simply read 4-5 books on the card and get a bingo.

This is an opportunity for 75 book challengers to discuss their book bingo choices, if they choose to participate. I hope others will join this discussion.

The first category of "Outer Space" was released earlier this month. Has anyone started reading or making early choices for their bingo cards?

Yay, it's almost bingo time! I doubt I'll get a blackout this year since I'm having a baby in July, but I'll do my best to get at least a bingo or two!

I'm sure you can get a bingo, with all the reading you normally do. Congratulations and I'm looking forward to see what books you select~!

I am so involved in the TIOLI challenges that I am fairly sure that I will not have time to complete a bingo, but I will certainly give it a try! Thanks for posting this, Kyler_Marie!

>3 Kyler_Marie: Thanks Kyler!

>4 alcottacre: I bet at least some of your TIOLI books will overlap, Stasia!

>5 curioussquared: I will make them fit, lol. Thanks, Natalie.

>6 alcottacre: That is one of the things I find most fun about book bingo. You can still mostly read the books you want but find ways to fit them into the categories. TIOLI has a similar vibe. I look forward to seeing your choices for both!

>7 Kyler_Marie: Thanks, Kyler. I am glad they are posting the bingo card before I leave for out of town so that I have access to my books!

ETA: I am thinking of reading Jack Campbell's Lost Fleet series for the 'Outer Space' prompt. I own the first 6 and could probably find the others pretty easily. Of course, it will probably take me longer to get to them than the time for Bingo will allow. . .

Thanks for this Kyler.

I also have too many challenges so why not add another one!

Yay for bingo time! Because I am a giant nerd I always end up making a chart of all the categories with a few options for each one--choosing from my existing (lonnnggg) TBR list if at all possible--ranking them by difficulty* level, and scheduling them so I have a nice mix of escapes and slogs.

*Difficulty is entirely about how much a given category matches my regular reading tastes. Outer Space, for example, is definitely easy-peasy because I read a lot of science fiction and am in the middle of this year's Hugo finalists anyway.

If Outer Space is our first category released then I will pencil in Shroud by Adrian Tchaikovsky to mark that one on my card.

It is also included in the TIOLI challenges this month so two birds one stone as they say.

>11 PaulCranswick: Good point, Paul. Since I am also reading that one in May, I will pencil it in as well.

>9 PaulCranswick: We'd love to have you join! Can't wait to see what you select for some of the prompts.

>10 susanna.fraser: I do the same! However, I typically reorder the list as I go, moving completed categories to the top. I also like to go back to those lists in future years and try to pull some of the unread books from the list into future challenges.

>11 PaulCranswick: >12 alcottacre: Great choice!

The Book Bingo card has been posted! It is available at: https://www.spl.org/programs-and-services/authors-and-books/book-bingo/2026-book...

Here is the list of categories in case you want to plan in list format:

Water
-
Time Travel
-
Suggested by a Library Worker
-
Soothing
-
Hard-To-Love Protagonist
-
SAL Speaker (recent and archived speaker options)
-
Diaspora
-
FIFA World Cup Country
-
Eye-opening
-
PNW Black, Indigenous, or POC Author
-
Myth & Legend
-
Unplug (Step away from your devices & read distraction-free)
-
Outer Space
-
Under 150 Pages
-
Happily Ever After / Happy For Now
-
Queer / Trans Voices
-
Suggested By An Independent Bookseller
-
Historical
-
Buddy Read
-
Honorable Mention (Shortlisted or Longlisted for Literary Prize)
-
Horror
-
Women's Sports
-
Own Choice
-
Animal
-

And here is the bingo card!

>14 Kyler_Marie: Thank you for the link, Kyler!

ETA: I for sure will not get a blackout bingo as I do not read Horror at all. I am going for a bingo on the second column from the right - especially as I already had Shroud noted for the Outer Space book and BONUS! Under the Historical books on the SPL's website, Rainbow Black is listed and it fits into June's TIOLI Challenge #5.

Yay! Happy bingo day to all!

I am genuinely excited!

>18 PaulCranswick: As am I, Paul. I printed out the bingo card and have notes all over the thing.

>18 PaulCranswick: >19 alcottacre: I'm excited about this, too!

Is everyone planning to post and discuss books here, or on individual threads? I've been figuring out book options.....

>20 Dejah_Thoris: That's up to you! This is my first time creating a non-personal thread so I am not sure of the best approach yet. I started my list on my personal thread because I didnt want to bog this down too early but may move things over here soon.

I'd love to see what others are strategizing.

>21 Kyler_Marie: I'd love to see what others are strategizing.

I really have no strategy other than targeting that one column. I used the lists provided on the SPL suggestions because I feel like I need to expand my reading to titles that I have never even heard of before to challenge myself a bit. The probable exception to that is the "own choice" category and I will likely fall back to one of my favorite authors or series for that one.

Now that I'm off work I'm going to set up a tab on my TBR spreadsheet and start listing possibilities. I was happy that there are categories for both of the books I'm in the middle of reading. I'm reading Web of Love in paperback instead of my usual ebook, so that will be my Unplug, and I'm going to put The Worst Hard Time in Historical.

I will visit here regularly as well as post to my thread. Getting my head round some of the categories right now.

I finished my first book for this. For the category "Own Choice," I chose Plainsong by Kent Haruf because it is such a good book and who does not want excellent books on their Bingo card?

>25 alcottacre: congratulations on your first square! I've never heard of Plainsong and will have to check it out soon.

>26 Kyler_Marie: Thanks, Kyler! Plainsong is excellent IMHO so I hope that you enjoy it, if and when you get to it.

Question: how is everyone interpreting the FIFA World Cup Countries prompt? Are you sticking to authors born in / from one of the nations, or are you thinking of books set there?

Thanks!

ETA: The book is Cobalt Red which is nonfiction, set in the DRC.

I’m doing books set there, but I think either way works.

>28 Dejah_Thoris: Thank you, Susanna. I'm trying to stick to books on my TBR.

>28 Dejah_Thoris: >29 susanna.fraser: I picked a book with an author from that country and the setting is in that country but these book prompts are typically open-ended and allow for flexibility, so I think either works.

I completed my first book with The Worst Hard Time for the Historical category. My plan for this year is to pick happy books wherever possible, but I'm definitely not starting out that way...

>32 susanna.fraser: I heard good things about that one! This year's bingo has lots of opportunities for happier books. I can't say the same about last year's....

One of my comments when I turned in my form last year was that I didn't exactly appreciate the Dystopia category when I often feel like I'm living one in real life! So I wonder if I had some small impact on the fact this year has a Soothing category.

>34 susanna.fraser: I made a similar comment. Including resistance, dystopia, and censorship on one bingo card was not ideal last year. This year's card has way more opportunities for positivity and hope.

I don't think I will be going for a blackout, but Rows 2 and 3 seem to fit with my current reading plans.

>36 rhondak101book: That sounds like a good plan!

>34 susanna.fraser: >35 Kyler_Marie: This is my first year participating in SPL Book Bingo, so I'd like to thank those of you who commented last year so we could have positive categories this year!

How could I not appreciate an HEA/HFN category?

>38 Dejah_Thoris: of course! I'm particularly looking forward to the Soothing and Own Choice categories. There are some great ones this year!

I'm counting Love Wins by Rob Bell for Eye-Opening, though it would have also fit Soothing.

Finished my first few books for the challenge while camping this weekend!

The Marriage Portrait for SAL Speaker
Snake-Eater for Unplug
Platform Decay for Outer Space

And I think I'm slotting in Jade Legacy for Hard-to-Love Protagonist, which I should finish soon.

>41 curioussquared: Amazing! What a great start. Also, a camping trip is the best time to work on the Unplug category. I'm going camping and have plans to work on that category then. :)

>41 curioussquared: Nice, Natalie!

>35 Kyler_Marie: Don't forget about Grief! 😵‍💫

>42 Kyler_Marie: Camping without cell service is definitely the best place to work on Unplug!

>43 alcottacre: Thanks, Stasia!

>44 curioussquared: Oh my gosh, I forgot about grief! I really enjoyed my Grief pick even though it was just another downer. A downer every once in a while is fine but the whole board was a bit much. I actually failed to get a blackout last year, partly for that reason. I'm way more optimistic about this one.

Congrats on getting through so many books over the weekend! I'd be lucky if I finished one during our upcoming camping trip.

>41 curioussquared: I wouldn't have thought of it, but Snake-Eater is a great choice for Unplug. And how can you go wrong with Murderbot?

>45 Kyler_Marie: Yeah, this board feels a lot more attainable than last year. I'm also glad they stopped doing the two connected squares -- I feel like they kind of ran the course of reasonable author/book connections.

I cheated a little -- I finished Platform Decay before camping since that square was released early, and I had already started both of the other books I finished over the weekend 😊

>46 Dejah_Thoris: Yes, Snake-Eater felt like a good choice! And Murderbot is always a good idea 😁

>16 alcottacre: If you do want to go for a blackout, I can recommend Clive Barker's The Thief of Always for the horror square. It's a children's book, so it's not violent or gory; it's a really imaginative take on haunted houses.

>48 amanda4242: Thanks for the suggestion, Amanda! I will see if my local library has a copy of it.

BTW - I may end up going for the blackout as some of the TIOLI books I had already planned on reading for June fit into the Bingo categories.

>49 alcottacre: It's available on Open Library if your local doesn't have it.

https://openlibrary.org/books/OL18706956M/The_thief_of_always?utm_source=library...

>50 amanda4242: My local library did not have it, but I could get it through Hoopla. If I do not get it finished before it is due back, I will check the Open Library. Thanks for that link!

>51 alcottacre: No problem! Hope you like it!

>52 amanda4242: I hope so too!

I am off to a pretty good start and have filled in six squares already:

1. UNPLUG: I read The Scent of Oranges almost cover to cover with not even any background noise.

2. HONORABLE MENTION: I read Shroud by Tchaikovsky which is shortlisted for Hugo Best Novel.

3. OUTER SPACE: I read Excession which is part of the Culture series.

4. DIASPORA: I read Viking's Dawn by Henry Treece. The Vikings weren't just raiding parties they settled extensively in the countries they pillaged.

5. UNDER 150 PAGES: I read Fire on the Mountain by Anita Desai (146 pp)

6. QUEER/TRANS VOICES: I read She Who Remains by Rene Karabash

I've gotten my first space: Historical - The Far Pavillions by M. M. Kaye

Is anyone thinking of doing more than one card? I have multiple options for most of the spaces, so I started thinking, why not?

>55 Dejah_Thoris: That would be ambitious! I sometimes choose books that fit more than one category or double up on categories. I call them "Bonus" books. But never done more than one card in a year.

>55 Dejah_Thoris: Yeah, while I always go for blackout, I've never done more than one card--you're only allowed to turn in one to the library, anyway.

Two cards is too ambitious for me! If I can get through one entirely, I will be more than happy!

>56 Kyler_Marie: >57 susanna.fraser: >58 alcottacre: I think I'll try it. We have until September - what can it hurt?

One blackout has always been enough for me, but have fun going for two!

>60 curioussquared: I don't necessarily think that Princess is thinking of stopping at two!

I should be finishing Shroud by Adrian Tchaikovsky for the "Outer Space" category and The God of Vengeance by Sholem Asch today for the "Under 150 pages" category today. I am mentioning it now because I am off to my mother's in a few hours and will have no Internet access until I am back on June 10th.

>61 PaulCranswick: Thank you for thinking I'm so ambitious, Paul! I suspect two cards will be enough for me. :)

>62 alcottacre: The God of Vengeance is going to be Under 150 book, too. Have a great time on your trip!

I read Web of Love by Mary Balogh for the Unplug category, since my copy is the original paperback version printed in 1990--I found it along with some other Regency romances in a used bookstore over on the Olympic Peninsula last fall. I'm almost always an ebook reader, since it's more comfortable to hold, especially when reading in bed, and I can adjust the font however I please.

I read Kaiju Agonistes by Scott Lynch for Under 150 Pages--it's one of the novelette finalist for this year's Hugo Awards, and it clocks in at 42 pages.

First Square (Column 1, Row 2): SAL Speaker

Book bingo status:

- Suggested by a Library Worker - The Ending Writes Itself
- Outer Space - Redshirts
- SAL Speaker (recent and archived speaker options) - London Falling
FIFA World Cup Country - Japan - Norwegian Wood
- Suggested By An Independent Bookseller - Spirit Whales and Sloth Tales (recommended by Spencer R. at Third Place Books).
- Own Choice - Great Expectations, Charles Dickens

Currently reading: Puget's Sound by Murray Morgan (water category)

For the Myths and Legends category, I have been toying with the idea of reading The Witches of Eastwick, but I question whether that fits in the category. It fits a TIOLI category so I would love to fit it in a book bingo category as well. Arguably witches are a mythical concept, but they don't typically jump to mind when I think of folklore/mythology. What do you think?

Second Square (Column 1, Row 3): Myth/Legend
The Phynodderree and other Legends of the Isle of Man by Edward Callow
Link to review

>67 Kyler_Marie: I say do it! Your bingo, your rules :)

For Honorable Mention, I read Root Magic by Eden Royce, which was a finalist for the Andre Norton award.

Third Square (Column 5, Row 3): Under 150 pages
All the Horses of Iceland by Sarah Tolmie
Link to Review

How are we interpreting "Buddy Read"? I'm in a RL book club with only 2 other members, so I consider them reading buddies in a way I might not if there were a dozen people in it. Am I safe to use one of our club selections to fill that square?

>72 laytonwoman3rd: I think that counts!

>72 laytonwoman3rd: I think that absolutely counts. Last year there was a similar category and I did a book club read. As long as it is reading the same book as another person (or people), I think it counts.

I love the Buddy Read category. Several months ago, my daughter Beth and I planned to read Garth Nix's Sabriel next month, so it is perfect timing for me.

Chugging along in this challenge! So far I have completed:

Soothing: Trickster's Choice
Hard-to-love Protagonist: Jade Legacy
SAL Speaker: The Marriage Portrait
Eye-Opening: Everything Is Tuberculosis
Myth and Legend: Blood of Dragons
Unplug: Snake-Eater
Outer Space: Platform Decay
Under 150 Pages: Nobody's Baby
Buddy Read: The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, vol. 7

So 9/24 -- pretty good for the first half of June! But it's been pretty easy to slot in my reading so far and it's only going to get harder from here. Still not expecting to get a blackout but I'll do my darndest ;)

Fourth Square (Column 4, Row 3): Outer Space
Deep Wheel Orcadia by Harry Josephine Giles
Link to review here

Luck is on my side! I started Harry Mulisch's The Discovery of Heaven at the beginning of the month since it is 700+ pages long with (to my eyes) small print. Just out of curiosity, I looked to see where Mulisch was from and it turns out to be The Netherlands, so there is my FIFA author :)

I have 16 of the 24 squares done and 8 to go (plus the free square).

I read Shroud by Adrian Tchaikovsky for the Outer Space category. I can't quite say that I loved it, because the books I love tend to be relatively cozy (at least in the sense of strong found families and happy endings) and re-readable, but it impressed the hell out of me and I couldn't put it down.

I’ve started lining up books from my current reading stack that will also fit the bingo squares. I’m not officially declaring a blackout… but I’m definitely eyeing it.

Now that the full card is out, I’ve matched several categories already and have a few flexible titles I can shift around depending on how my reading goes. It’s fun seeing how many squares I can cover without having to completely overhaul my TBR.

Looking forward to seeing how everyone else maps out their cards — this challenge always brings out such creative pairings.

I finished The Last Sweet Bite by Michael Shaikh tonight for the 'Eye Opening' category. It was a very good read so if you need something to read for that particular category, I can recommend this one!

My status so far:
- The Ending Writes Itself- Suggested by a Library Worker
- Redshirts - Outer Space
- London Falling - SAL Speaker
- Norwegian Wood - FIFA World Cup Country (Japan)
- Spirit Whales and Sloth Tales - Recommended by an Independent Bookseller
- Great Expectations - Own Choice
- Old Yeller - Either Animal or under 150 pages

Currently Reading:
- Puget's Sound: A Narrative of Early Tacoma and the Southern Sound (Water)
- Hail Mary: The Rise and Fall of the National Women's Football League (Women's Sports)

My current books are a bit of a drag and going very slowly, but my summer has also been filled with lots of non-reading activities which may contribute to my slow reading as well. And the World Cup has stolen my attention. Hopefully once I finish those I can move on to some quicker reads.

I am not doing nearly as well as some of the others here, but since it is not a contest, I am not going to worry about it, lol.

>83 Kyler_Marie: I am reading a couple that are going slowly too, Kyler_Marie, so I understand!

>83 Kyler_Marie: I am also guilty of being distracted by the World Cup!

>84 alcottacre: It is absolutely not a contest. The only person I am competing with is myself. The problem is that past me was much less distracted than current me. However, I failed to complete a blackout last year despite my best efforts, and the world didn't crumble down or anything, so there is really no harm in just rolling with it.

>85 curioussquared: It is very distracting! My partner is an avid soccer viewer so we watched almost every game this weekend and now I am hooked. Despite being pretty old by soccer standards, Messi was incredible tonight!

>86 Kyler_Marie: the world didn't crumble down or anything, so there is really no harm in just rolling with it.

Exactly! Just like I do with the TIOLI challenges, I am having a good time just tracking down books for the BINGO, lol.

>86 Kyler_Marie: I used to be really into soccer in high school and college (mostly Premier League), and my family is hispanic so all my uncles and cousins etc. are huge fans, but I haven't watched regularly in years. But seeing all the fans from other countries come to the US having a great time got me excited and I've been playing most of the games in the background now while I work from home. I also didn't realize that the tournament was expanded this year until after it started, and it's so fun to see all these tiny countries compete for the first time. Cabo Verde's performance against Spain was incredible and Curacao played with so much heart. And Messi was indeed incredible yesterday! Got me thinking hmmm, maybe 42 isn't too old for him to play a 7th world cup if he's still the GOAT right now... 😂

>88 curioussquared: My partner is very into soccer - he is a Liverpool fan and we used to be Sounders season ticket holders. I am not a sports fan but the World Cup takes ahold of me every time without fail. It's so fun to watch. I am honestly surprised at Messi's performance. He really is the best soccer player in the world (still!!!) I tend to root for France and the African French-speaking countries. This year I'm hoping that both France and Senegal get out of the group stage. However, my dream matchup for the final is Argentina v. France. It would be great to see Mbappé and Messi play against each other.

Yesterday I pulled out Mrs. Dalloway for the "Queer" category of book bingo (it also fits a TIOLI category) and it took about 75 pages before I really started to enjoy it but now I can't put it down. Hopefully I can finish it today, but I'll be going to a Mariner's game this afternoon so it is unclear how much reading I will get done afterwards...

I read Crow by Boria Sax for the Animal category. It's mostly an overview of how corvids have been viewed by various cultures and religions across history.

For Suggested by a Library Worker, The Broposal by Sonora Reyes

I read a Regency romance novel for HEA/HFN, Moonlight and Mischief by Rhonda Woodward.

And I closed out the month with The Place of Tides for FIFA World Cup Country (specifically, Norway).

Added Under The Banner Of Heaven to my completed reads list and it checks off the "Eye-Opening" category. Now on to Salem's Lot for horror...

Monthly recap for the end of June:

Line 1: Nothing yet

Line 2: The Walls Have Eyes (Diaspora), The Discovery of Heaven (FIFA World Cup Country - The Netherlands), The Last Sweet Bite (Eye Opening), The Sweetness of Water (PNW Black, Indigenous, or POC Author)

Line 3: Free Spot (Yay!), Shroud (Outer Space), The God of Vengeance (Under 150 pages)

Line 4: The River of Doubt by Candice Millard (Historical)

Line 5: The Thief of Always (Horror), Plainsong (Own Choice), How To Be a Good Creature (Animal)

I do not think that this is too bad a start. . .

>95 alcottacre: That's a great start!

>96 Kyler_Marie: Thanks!

Fifth Square (Column 3, Row 2): FIFA World Cup Country: Egypt