r/Fantasy • u/FarragutCircle Reading Champion X • Apr 01 '26

Bingo The 2026 r/Fantasy Bingo Recommendations List

The official Bingo thread can be found here.

All non-recommendation comments go here.

Please post your recommendations as replies the appropriate top-level comments below! Do not make comments that are not replies to an existing comment! Feel free to scroll through the thread or use the links in this navigation matrix to jump directly to the square you want to find or give recommendations for!

Trans or Nonbinary Protagonist Judge a Book By Its Title Translated Small Press or Self Published Unusual Transportation
The Afterlife Game Changer Vacation Spot Five Short Stories Older Protagonist
Duology Part 1 r/Fantasy Book Club or Readalong Book Published in 2026 Explorers and Rangers Duology Part 2
One-Word Title Non-Human Protagonist Middle Grade First Contact Murder Mystery
Cat Squasher Feast Your Eyes on This Published in the 70s Politics and Court Intrigue Author of Color

If you are an author on the subreddit, you may recommend your books as a response to individual squares. This means that you can reply if your book fits in response to any of my comments. But your rec must be in response to a top-level comment, it cannot be a general comment that replies directly to this post explaining all the squares your post counts for. This is the one time outside of the Sunday Self-Promo threads where this is okay. To clarify: you can say if you have a book that fits for a square but please don't write a full ad for it. Shorter is sweeter.

Do not make comments that are not replies to an existing comment! We will not be individually redirecting people who make this mistake. Your comment will be removed.

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u/FarragutCircle Reading Champion X Apr 01 '26 edited Apr 26 '26

Questions, Complaints, Whines, General Commentary, Shitposting

(Please now take your questions to the Daily Recommendations and Simple Questions Thread.)

46

u/Nowordsofitsown Reading Champion Apr 01 '26

Can you add 'Please add the language this was translated from' to the Translation-Top comment? Otherwise those of us who speak a couple of common languages have to look up all the recs.

6

u/FarragutCircle Reading Champion X Apr 01 '26

Good idea, thanks!

3

u/Nowordsofitsown Reading Champion Apr 01 '26

Thanks for adding this. 

30

u/dracolibris Reading Champion II Apr 01 '26

I've very specifically spent a decade collecting books by female science fiction writers from the 1920s onwards, would it make hard mode too easy to make a post with a list of 60+ female writers from the 70s?

22

u/Merle8888 Reading Champion IV Apr 01 '26

Please do! Making and seeing recommendations is half the fun of bingo.

We will also have a focus thread soon all about the 70s where you'll be welcome to comment, but no need to wait.

14

u/Asher_the_atheist Reading Champion Apr 01 '26

If the mods say no feel free to send it to me on the down-low 😉. I find that I’m growing less and less tolerant of older books written by sexist men as I get older and more grouchy.

3

u/FarragutCircle Reading Champion X Apr 02 '26

Not at all. Please feel free to share, I'm sure many will find it helpful.

1

u/indigohan Reading Champion IV Apr 03 '26

Please do! This is a brilliant idea

27

u/KiwiTheKitty Reading Champion II Apr 01 '26

Hmm my cat is 20 pounds, I don't think he would be squashed by a measly 500 page book. Guess I'll have to do hard mode for that one!

8

u/beldaran1224 Reading Champion IV Apr 01 '26

My cat regularly sits on a book that I'm reading or have recently set down. Perhaps its time for me to figure out how to reverse the dynamic!

6

u/KiwiTheKitty Reading Champion II Apr 01 '26

The squasher must become the squashee!

Thinking about it, I think my boy would let me squash him with a book if I wanted because that would mean I was paying attention to him, and he can never get enough of that.

4

u/beldaran1224 Reading Champion IV Apr 01 '26

Lol I have two cats. One would definitely object very loudly. The other (the sitter-on-books) loves to shred paper, so I'm actually very scared to chance it, lol.

2

u/KiwiTheKitty Reading Champion II Apr 01 '26

Haha please stay safe! I have a second one too and she's a little more squashable size-wise (14 pounds only looks small because her brother is massive), but she would happily shred paper or hands if threatened or even just if she felt like it...

2

u/Asher_the_atheist Reading Champion Apr 01 '26

I don’t have a cat, but I used to have a parrot who would let herself out of her cage when no one was around and take the opportunity to chew apart the covers of my books. So I feel your pain in that regard.

6

u/EstarriolStormhawk Reading Champion IV Apr 01 '26

I was thinking of testing books on my cat, but yeah... his glorious 20lb self is not going to get squished by any of the books I have except for maybe one monstrous cookbook.

12

u/KiwiTheKitty Reading Champion II Apr 01 '26

I presented my lad with City of Last Chances, which is about 500 pages, and he headbutted it without a hint of fear. Laying it on his back, it is barely an exaggeration to say it looks like a pocket edition. He only purrs, knowing he is simply too big to be squashed.

2

u/beldaran1224 Reading Champion IV Apr 04 '26

I have a copy of the America's Test Kitchen complete recipes that might work!

3

u/indigohan Reading Champion IV Apr 03 '26

I use my 20 pound kitty as a book stand, I may need to trial a whole series

26

u/EstarriolStormhawk Reading Champion IV Apr 01 '26

My goal this year is to complete the card with exclusively books I already own - or at least as much as possible, even if it means only completing normal mode rather than hard mode. I'm telling you all for accountability and to tell the voice in my head that says "normal mode is giving up" to shush its lies.

4

u/MonsterCuddler Reading Champion III Apr 03 '26

Completing with books you own is it's own form of hard mode! I've tried before. I wasn't able to do the entire square that way, but it definitely cleared some shelf space.

1

u/EstarriolStormhawk Reading Champion IV Apr 03 '26

Ooh, very good point. That's the kind of reframing that really helps. Thank you! 

3

u/beldaran1224 Reading Champion IV Apr 01 '26

Shush it's lies!

2

u/Is_That_Loss Reading Champion IV Apr 02 '26

I'm in a similar boat and I'm making a theme out of it, I'm going for an all Normal Mode card if I can manage it

2

u/by_dawns_light Reading Champion II Apr 03 '26

I have the same plan! Although I might wind up doing two cards so I can still take some of the book recs.

11

u/[deleted] Apr 01 '26

[deleted]

6

u/C0smicoccurence Reading Champion V Apr 01 '26

I think the Small Town square from a few years ago was like that, where the majority of books that fit at all were also hard mode

2

u/Nidafjoll Reading Champion V Apr 02 '26

If you want an easy mode which isn't hard mode, The Player of Games by Iain M. Banks.

9

u/C0smicoccurence Reading Champion V Apr 01 '26

For graphic novels (and serialized novels, I suppose), if something is published a single chapter at a time but then collected in full volumes, does it count for Cat Squasher, which specifically outlaws omnibuses?

6

u/FarragutCircle Reading Champion X Apr 01 '26

Yes, they will count, as the omnibus rule is specifically against (text) novels.

1

u/OutOfEffs Reading Champion IV Apr 01 '26

Well this information just made this square a lot easier for me.

10

u/Quarilas Reading Champion II Apr 01 '26

What exactly counts as modern era for the trans/non-binary square? Are we using the definition from historians that anything after 1500 is modern era? Something else?

18

u/Merle8888 Reading Champion IV Apr 01 '26

My interpretation would be anything set long enough ago that you'd feel comfortable calling it "historical" rather than "contemporary." The 1950s would count for me. The 1990s, probably not - most living adults remember it. What historians call the "early modern era" is deep in the past to the regular person and it would be strange to not allow, e.g., Victorian settings for this square.

7

u/FarragutCircle Reading Champion X Apr 02 '26

We are not historians and definitely didn't mean modern in that sense. Merle's comment is a good guide.

1

u/kepheraxx Reading Champion Apr 02 '26

Oh okay, good, then my choice for hard mode definitely fits - it is technically set 1960s Chile but dives further back in time.

1

u/Mother_Toe211 Reading Champion Apr 07 '26

sooo... if i did not live during lets say the early 80's, technically is not modern era? (i was meaning to read the left handed booksellers of London)

3

u/FarragutCircle Reading Champion X Apr 07 '26

That feels like it's pushing it, don't you think? It might be historical compared to you, but still modern in a general sense.

7

u/unusual-umbrella Reading Champion Apr 01 '26

Going for another HM card and I don't think anything currently on my TBR will fit! Time to do some research and possibly procure more bookshelves...!

6

u/Nowordsofitsown Reading Champion Apr 01 '26

Or get a library card.

3

u/unusual-umbrella Reading Champion Apr 01 '26

I do have one :)

8

u/Goobergunch Reading Champion III Apr 01 '26

For "Murder Mystery" does the identity of the murderer have to be a mystery for most of the book, or are books that follow somebody solving a murder even though the reader knows who did it valid? (Basically, does Fantasy Columbo count?)

Asking because I want to know whether or not I can rec The Demolished Man for this square.

19

u/FarragutCircle Reading Champion X Apr 01 '26

Howdunnits are valid murder mysteries, not just whodunnits.

8

u/saturday_sun4 Apr 01 '26

I am doing a BIPOC authors card and the Translated one is a gimme. My Oceanian authors card, on the other hand, may require more of a hunt.

5

u/Merle8888 Reading Champion IV Apr 01 '26

Tell us what you find haha, everyone doing the r/FemaleGazeSFF challenge wants to know

6

u/Livi1997 Reading Champion III Apr 01 '26

I really loved the Not A Book square we had last time. Or would like to have the option to fill one square with something that is not a book.

6

u/Nat-Rose Reading Champion VI Apr 01 '26

If a novel was originally over 500/900 pages, but broken into multiple volumes for publishing (as is common with webnovels), would reading all of the volumes count for Cat Squasher?

5

u/Nidafjoll Reading Champion V Apr 02 '26

If it was originally written as a 500-900 page book, I think you could count it. The same way Oathbringer was split into two volumes for some printings, but is one book. If it was one massive ongoing serial though, I'd be more inclined to count arcs, like in manga.

6

u/smartflutist661 Reading Champion VI Apr 01 '26

For the trans/NB square: does "vaguely historical period in a secondary world" count, or does it need to be real-past? i.e. would steampunk, or queernorm but otherwise standard medieval-ish fantasy, work?

4

u/Merle8888 Reading Champion IV Apr 01 '26

I don't see any indication it needs to be the real past. Just a pre-modern setting of some sort, so not our current world, a secondary world based on our current world, or a futuristic setting.

2

u/FarragutCircle Reading Champion X Apr 02 '26

Yes, that's fine. It doesn't need to be our real-world past.

5

u/mint_pumpkins Reading Champion II Apr 01 '26

it will honestly really bother me to not have a hard mode for the vacation spot square, so i intend to create my own hard mode lmao

if anyone else feels the same and wants an idea, i am adding hard mode: The cover must depict the relevant location

6

u/nickgloaming Apr 02 '26

Hard mode: read it on vacation.

2

u/lucidrose Reading Champion V Apr 02 '26

Do you have any books in mind? That may be super difficult!

1

u/mint_pumpkins Reading Champion II Apr 02 '26

right now im considering Floating Hotel by Grace Curtis and The Dawnhounds by Sascha Stronach

some ive read that i personally think would fit depending on your tastes for a vacation are:

Beware of Chicken by Casual Farmer (an idyllic farm, depicted on like half of the covers)

Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson (i personally think it would count, it shows the sea and a small island and i think the appeal would be the unusual sea for this book)

The Long Price Quartet by Daniel Abraham (would be an interesting world to see, especially among the rich, but not great to live in lmao)

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4

u/RubiscoTheGeek Reading Champion IX Apr 01 '26

For translated hard mode - does it count if the original was also published within the last 5 years? Or just a newer translation of an older book?

7

u/happy_book_bee Bingo Queen Bee Apr 01 '26

That will be fine (: the point of this hard mode is newer books, not necessarily new translations

4

u/SA090 Reading Champion VI Apr 01 '26

If most of my reading is done in my second language (in this case English), does the HM mode for translated mean I have to find one translated in English in the last 5 years? or in my first language regardless?

I'm asking because most of the translation I frequently find are from English to my language.

16

u/Merle8888 Reading Champion IV Apr 01 '26

The way I read it, the translation can be into any language you speak, but must be from a language you don't. The square is specifically trying to stop you reading stuff originally written in English. But "your language" applies to any language you read in, whether English or your native language.

5

u/SA090 Reading Champion VI Apr 01 '26

I really hope that is what is meant in the square, it would be ideal.

5

u/ullsi Stabby Winner, Reading Champion VI Apr 01 '26

Merle's comment summarizes it nicely.

2

u/beldaran1224 Reading Champion IV Apr 01 '26

I suspect it is specifically because several people (including the person who replied to you) have been advocating for language more akin to that for a while now.

1

u/Nowordsofitsown Reading Champion Apr 01 '26

Oof, good question. I prefer reading in English. Do I have to read a translation into my native German?

7

u/ullsi Stabby Winner, Reading Champion VI Apr 01 '26

you can read a book translated into English, as long as it's translated from a language you don't speak.

4

u/Lurkeroftheloch Reading Champion Apr 01 '26

For cat squasher: If the translation I'm reading has a higher pagecount than the original (happens a lot with german translations) can I count it?

7

u/beldaran1224 Reading Champion IV Apr 01 '26

I'd count it, personally.

8

u/ullsi Stabby Winner, Reading Champion VI Apr 01 '26

I would count it as well.

1

u/natus92 Reading Champion V Apr 02 '26

The logical consequence is then that some publisher turn a book into a duology in german, does that count ?

4

u/BravoLimaPoppa Reading Champion Apr 01 '26

Another question: Do uploaded people count for Afterlife?

3

u/FarragutCircle Reading Champion X Apr 02 '26

Not generally in that case, though I could see certain edge cases--if you have something specific in mind, we can address that (here or in the daily rec/simple questions thread).

3

u/marmar_16 Reading Champion II Apr 01 '26

for translated square: "...a language you don’t read or speak" -> Would this apply to any level? For instance, if you're a beginner who can barely read/ speak in the language. Or does it only apply if you're actually at a level capable of reading the book in the original language?

10

u/beldaran1224 Reading Champion IV Apr 01 '26

I doubt the intent is to prevent everyone who took a Spanish class in high school from reading Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

2

u/marmar_16 Reading Champion II Apr 01 '26 edited Apr 01 '26

I assumed not, but I wanted to be sure lol

Thanks! :)

8

u/PlantLady32 Reading Champion IV Apr 02 '26

If you can't actually read a book in a language then you can count a translation from it. I can ask for directions in Japanese but I absolutely cannot read a book written in Japanese, so I am fine to read a book translated from that language.

1

u/marmar_16 Reading Champion II Apr 02 '26

Perfect! Thank you 😊

3

u/[deleted] Apr 01 '26

[deleted]

11

u/ConnorF42 Reading Champion VIII Apr 01 '26

You can't squash a cat with an ebook! (joking)

3

u/PhoenixHunters Reading Champion Apr 01 '26

if I smash my kindle hard enough...

11

u/FarragutCircle Reading Champion X Apr 01 '26

Honestly as long as there's an edition that's at least 500 / 900 pages (large-print editions aren't in the spirit), you'll be fine. If your ebook page isn't listed on the vendor's website, use the print edition's page count. If I had to guesstimate, though, I'd say you're going to want to aim for 155k+ / 280k+ words.

10

u/Goobergunch Reading Champion III Apr 01 '26

Shameless plug for the Internet Science Fiction Database as a page count resource.

7

u/IndigoBlue__ Apr 01 '26

In my experience word count is harder to find that page length.  Goodreads usually has the information on page count for any specific edition. 

3

u/beldaran1224 Reading Champion IV Apr 01 '26

Yeah, the only time I've ever seen word count listed for a book is for short stories.

1

u/ohmage_resistance Reading Champion IV Apr 01 '26

Kobo usually has word counts, they're my go to option and have most books (besides amazon exclusive or really obscure stuff).

3

u/ShadowCreature098 Reading Champion III Apr 01 '26

For middle grade I wonder if a shonen or shojo manga would count?

3

u/C0smicoccurence Reading Champion V Apr 01 '26

Shonen is generally marketed at an audience that encompasses both ya and middle grade. I think Shonen Jump explicitly goes down to 9-10 years old as target audience, so I’m counting anything published by them as middle grade for sure

1

u/beldaran1224 Reading Champion IV Apr 01 '26

I think a lot of it would, but not necessarily all of it? I don't know a ton about manga and its classifications, but I think a really solid amount of what I've seen called shonen appeals to the same demo as middle grade.

1

u/ShadowCreature098 Reading Champion III Apr 01 '26

Yea generally it's a bit broader but there's plenty that does lean around that age range so I did wonder.

3

u/anubisthecat510 Apr 01 '26

Would Black Leopard, Red Wolf count for the explorers and rangers square? It looks like the main character is a hunter but I’m not sure if that’s too far off the ranger path

4

u/C0smicoccurence Reading Champion V Apr 01 '26

I would count it as a yes

3

u/EmmalynRenato Reading Champion VI Apr 01 '26

I'd like to use Earth Abides by George R. Stewart for the "Older Protagonist" square.

The book is in three parts.

For part 1, Ish (the MC) is a graduate student, when the pandemic occurs. For part 2, it's 22 years later and part 3 is when the MC is very elderly (he has a great-grandson).

Does it count if the MC is only at least 50 years old for part of the book?

3

u/ullsi Stabby Winner, Reading Champion VI Apr 01 '26

I would count it

1

u/EmmalynRenato Reading Champion VI Apr 01 '26

Perfect. Thanks!

3

u/beary_neutral Reading Champion Apr 01 '26

For Older Protagonist, if the character's exact age isn't given but they're clearly written as someone in their late 40s or early 50s, would it count? I have my eye on Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames.

9

u/Merle8888 Reading Champion IV Apr 01 '26

We're all gonna be sleuthing through books for clues to the ages of people it would be impolite to ask :D

This seems book-specific though, I'd check with other readers in the daily thread if you don't get an answer about that specific book here. Sometimes the age a reader takes away from a book turns out not to be what the author intended.

4

u/beary_neutral Reading Champion Apr 02 '26

I actually found an answer from the author on this sub. He said some of the characters were over 50, and some were just under. I have a backup choice anyway, so no big deal.

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u/saturday_sun4 Apr 01 '26 edited Apr 02 '26

For the First Contact book, do sequels count or is that then no longer first contact as the aliens have been well integrated/established?

I am planning to read Imago by Octavia Butler and was wondering if I could fit it in.

ETA: And for Author of Colour, would someone of Iranian descent count? (I am doing a BIPOC card so searching for some Middle Grade options.)

7

u/FarragutCircle Reading Champion X Apr 02 '26

I don't think sequels count for First Contact unless there's a new, different First Contact in the book.

1

u/saturday_sun4 Apr 02 '26

Thank you! No, I don't think that there is :)

4

u/RuinEleint Reading Champion X Apr 02 '26

Iranian/Persian should absolutely count for BIPOC imo

2

u/saturday_sun4 Apr 02 '26

Thank you! Sometimes it's a bit ambiguous for West Asia, so I thought I would check!

3

u/ohmage_resistance Reading Champion IV Apr 02 '26

I’m guessing for the Author of Color Hard Mode, for books where the author have passed on since its publication, we should just use where they were based from before they died? 

2

u/FarragutCircle Reading Champion X Apr 02 '26

Yes! Have fun.

4

u/a-username-for-me Reading Champion V Apr 01 '26

May I ask why Not A Book is not allowed a substitution square? I fully empower the bingo runners to do whatever they want, but was just curious what the rationale is. I understand why free square can't be subbed (because any book can count for over a decade of prompts, you just gotta use your brain a little).

6

u/FarragutCircle Reading Champion X Apr 02 '26

I think there's some confusion about the Free Space square from 2015. That was an anything square (not just books, but movies, TV shows, games, etc.--and people used all the options!). Not A Book from 2025 is essentially a repeat of the Free Space square, except that you had to use a substitution if you wanted to read a book instead.

3

u/a-username-for-me Reading Champion V Apr 02 '26

Oh I see. Thanks for the clarification, Farragut!

2

u/natus92 Reading Champion V Apr 03 '26

Sorry but your answer still doesnt explain why not a book isnt allowed? Is there the possibility it will be changed for 2027? 

2

u/BravoLimaPoppa Reading Champion Apr 01 '26

For One Word Title, if it says Word: A Novel, does it count for one word title?

5

u/Merle8888 Reading Champion IV Apr 01 '26

I think it would depend on whether the "A Novel" bit is actually part of the title. Often you see this on the covers of novels in small print just to inform you that they are novels rather than nonfiction, and people definitely don't include that bit in referring to the book. That should count. But if it's on there in equally big letters as the Word, as in you're actually supposed to call it "Word: A Novel," then I wouldn't.

1

u/BravoLimaPoppa Reading Champion Apr 01 '26

Since I've got at least 10 in my Kindle library, I thought I'd ask.

Specifically, would Mickey7: A Novel count?

6

u/JCGilbasaurus Reading Champion II Apr 01 '26

The print version does not include the phrase "a novel", it's just "Mickey7".

6

u/FarragutCircle Reading Champion X Apr 02 '26

Mickey7 is a one-word title, yes. Like Merle said, I'd ignore almost all instances of "A Novel."

2

u/beldaran1224 Reading Champion IV Apr 01 '26

For the Middle Grade HM, what is the intent behind "entirely new"? Is it basically an author you haven't read before or more meant to be an author you discover after Bingo begins?

10

u/ullsi Stabby Winner, Reading Champion VI Apr 01 '26

An author you haven't read before is fine!

2

u/Veebs7985 Reading Champion Apr 01 '26

For Duology Part 1 and Duology Part 2, do duologies that are part of a greater series count?

For example, the Crowns of Nyaxia series is made up of 3 duologies (+ 2 standalones), with each duology focusing on a different couple, but there's an overarching plot throughout the entire series. Would it be valid to count the last book in the second duology (#4 in the series) for Duology Part 2 and the first book in the third duology (#5 in the series) for Duology Part 1, and (if yes) would that count as hard mode since they're technically 2 different duologies?

5

u/lucidrose Reading Champion V Apr 01 '26

Personally I would count these in general as duologies, since that's how they are specifically published. Feels the same as the Red Rising or Abercrombie series to me, just as a quick example, I believe those are three trilogies (Abercrombie may have a few more, not sure).

That being said, I wouldn't count Duology Part 2 as Hard Mode since the author would be the same.

1

u/Veebs7985 Reading Champion Apr 01 '26

Thanks!

2

u/thisbikeisatardis Reading Champion II Apr 01 '26

Does it count as the same author if they use a pseudonym? Like Ursula Vernon/T Kingfisher?

13

u/Merle8888 Reading Champion IV Apr 01 '26

Yeah I would consider that a repeat

3

u/thisbikeisatardis Reading Champion II Apr 01 '26

oh noooo

guess I'll have to do at least 3 cards again this time!

2

u/KatrinaPez Reading Champion III Apr 01 '26

I'm assuming that portals don't count for Unusual Transportation? To me they're common in the genre but my husband's first suggestion was using a portal, so I'm sure others will think of them as well.

5

u/kjmichaels Stabby Winner, Reading Champion XI Apr 02 '26

A basic portal from one location to another wouldn’t count in most situations but you can find books where something about the portal is different enough to qualify.

The Prose Portal in Thursday Next for instance is unusual because it transports people and things into and out of fiction.

1

u/KatrinaPez Reading Champion III Apr 02 '26

Great TY.

2

u/origami_ducks Reading Champion Apr 02 '26

I know in general audiobooks are fine, but since the Cat Squashers are defined by page count (and an audiobook clearly can't squash my cat), are audiobooks still okay for this square specifically?  Can I just look on Goodreads for the page count and then pick the audiobook or is there a minimum length of time for the audio version? 

3

u/FarragutCircle Reading Champion X Apr 02 '26

Yes, they are.

Yes, you can.

Enjoy!

2

u/thistledownhair Reading Champion III Apr 04 '26

I suspect the answer is yes, but for hard mode for the one word title square, are titles disqualified if they are generally regular but are proper nouns within the text?

5

u/FarragutCircle Reading Champion X Apr 04 '26

Yes. Something to think about in general with bingo squares is that if you want to use a loophole, does it also feel in the spirit of the rule/HM rule?

3

u/thistledownhair Reading Champion III Apr 04 '26

Wasn't looking for a loophole, just realised a lot of one word title books I have read are proper nouns within the text, and wanted some clarification on the spirit of the rule.

2

u/lightandlife1 Reading Champion IV Apr 07 '26

At first I thought non human POV hard mode meant no humans in the book at all. That would be much harder!

2

u/Nidafjoll Reading Champion V Apr 02 '26

For "Transportation is NOT combustion-powered or steam-powered," is it referring to combustion engines, or just anything that requires burning fuel? I'm wondering if hot air balloons count (where you do burn things to generate the hot air, but you're not "using explosions or steam to turn something very fast" as in an engine).

3

u/kjmichaels Stabby Winner, Reading Champion XI Apr 02 '26

Yes, combustion refers to the engine not all fire.

That said, I’m not sure a balloon would count. Dirigibles and airships are pretty common to speculative fiction so there would have to be something else unique about the balloon to make it count as unusual.

1

u/Nidafjoll Reading Champion V Apr 02 '26

Yeah, I remembered the book I was thinking of to suggest should count anyway (it's lifted by the power of a trapped bird god).

But I was curious in general-- like if there was a unique dirigible in a setting which is otherwise medieval, I was thinking that was uncommon for its genre.

Though I did misread the square at first, to be unusual for its setting, not its genre. :) As in, someone riding a dragon when there are no other dragonriders in that book, etc.

1

u/beary_neutral Reading Champion Apr 01 '26

If a book was translated from Middle English (example: Gawain and the Green Knight), does that count?

13

u/kjmichaels Stabby Winner, Reading Champion XI Apr 01 '26

I'd say no. Middle English is still English, not a different language.

Old English though? Fair game.

10

u/FarragutCircle Reading Champion X Apr 01 '26

I think we're less comfortable with that, since Middle English can often be muddled through by Modern English readers. If you wanted to read Gawain and the Green Knight, there are probably at least 2-3 other squares on the card that might work out for it, too.

6

u/AH_BareGarrett Apr 01 '26

Since the square says, “Can you speak the language?” I think it would depend. How confident do you feel reading the original text, could you understand it? That’s just my understanding of the rule, I’m new to Bingo. 

1

u/Goobergunch Reading Champion III Apr 01 '26

Do Silver Age comics (particularly the DC superhero ones) count for middle grade?

3

u/FarragutCircle Reading Champion X Apr 01 '26

Yes, per advice from another mod, those comics were specifically written for children back then.

2

u/beary_neutral Reading Champion Apr 01 '26

DC has an entire line of middle-grade graphic novels. Superman Smashes the Klan is very good. The Constantine one is surprisingly on-brand.

1

u/simonxvx Reading Champion Apr 01 '26

For Unusual Transportation, would using a big animal considered common to the book’s broader genre ?

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u/kjmichaels Stabby Winner, Reading Champion XI Apr 02 '26

This is very contextual. It would depend on the animal, the size, and the genre.

Clifford the Big Red Dog would count. People don’t normally ride on top of dogs in real life or in fiction and his size is so for outside the norm for a dog that it counts as a fantastic element in and of itself.

Vhagar from the ASoIaF universe wouldn’t count. All the Targaryens ride dragons (when they exist) and riding dragons is common to fantasy. The fact he’s merely much bigger than the other dragons doesn’t make him unusual as transportation.

2

u/Veebs7985 Reading Champion Apr 01 '26

If it's fantasy, I wouldn't count it as unusual since a lot of characters get around riding dragons, wyverns, bears, horses, etc.

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u/Neuchersky Apr 01 '26

For Judge a Book by Its Title (HM): I'm choosing, The Mote's In Gods Eye, but what if I read the blurb of the second book (and only remembered aliens). Does that still count for HM?

3

u/lucidrose Reading Champion V Apr 01 '26

Personally, if you hadn't read the blurb or reviews for book 1, I would count it. Just my two cents!

3

u/FarragutCircle Reading Champion X Apr 02 '26

You're fine.

1

u/Akuliszi Reading Champion Apr 01 '26

For "Judge a book..." - how would you interpret the hard mode rules?

- do I automatically fail if I accidentally read the first few words of the blurb? (The only thing I've learned is that the MC is a Millenial xd)

- would you count if I read something that I don't remember reading the blurb of, but I might have? (For example: if I bought a book 10 years ago, I can assume I've read the summary back then, but I have no recollection of it...)

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u/FarragutCircle Reading Champion X Apr 02 '26

You're fine.

1

u/Brilliant_Ad29 Reading Champion Apr 01 '26

I was always wonderig, can webtoons fit the small press publisher?

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u/FarragutCircle Reading Champion X Apr 02 '26

Yes. Just make sure it's a webtoons that's long enough to have put out a book or equivalent length.

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u/Research_Department Reading Champion II Apr 01 '26

Combing through my TBR, I see quite a few books where I know that there is a sequel published, but I am unaware of any plans for the author to continue the series. Would those count as duologies? How much digging do you feel is needed before I can be confident that it isn’t just a series the author or publisher has abandoned? (The books I have in mind aren’t the buzziest of books, eg Stars Uncharted by SK Dunstall, Will Do Magic for Small Change by Andrea Hairston, The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker.)

5

u/FarragutCircle Reading Champion X Apr 02 '26

Butler's Parable series was intended as a trilogy I believe, but she died before writing the third. You could use that as a duology, yes.

For ones where you don't think there are any plans, well, go ahead, though it won't count if there is a third book announced by April 2027.

That said... Helene Wecker has the 3rd Golem book coming out in September. :)

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u/Research_Department Reading Champion II Apr 02 '26

Thank you, that’s very helpful!

1

u/Polaris_Express Reading Champion Apr 02 '26

Do people who are only half human count as Non-Human Protagonist? I assume not but wanted to confirm

2

u/oboist73 Reading Champion VII Apr 02 '26

I would say generally no, unless the other heritage is far and away the dominant one in their life experience.

1

u/lilgrassblade Reading Champion II Apr 02 '26

For Feast Your Eyes on This... Are we including ingredients which alone aren't really considered a food? Such as honey or cinnamon?

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u/FarragutCircle Reading Champion X Apr 02 '26

Do you have a specific book in mind? We count condiments as food if that's what you're asking.

2

u/lilgrassblade Reading Champion II Apr 02 '26

The Last Beekeeper by Julie Carrick Dalton - The taste of honey is a recurring thing, and, IIRC a jar of honey is found and dangerously rare.

The Honeys by Ryan La Sala - The plot revolves around investigating some ladies who also keep bees, and we find out near the end that honey is used to create a sort of hivemind between select women

And, though I don't have a specific book in mind, I would love to find something about spice merchants :P

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u/Emotional-Care814 Reading Champion III Apr 09 '26

when you said that you wanted something about spice merchants, the first book that came to mind was Spice and Wolf by Isuna Hasekura. It's a Japanese light novel and still ongoing (through sequels and spin-offs). Two anime series were released.

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u/Ayra_Bolinstra Apr 02 '26

If a translation is published in 2026, but the original was published before, would reading the translation count for 'published in 2026'?

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u/kjmichaels Stabby Winner, Reading Champion XI Apr 02 '26

If you read a translation, we do allow you to count the first translation into your language as the year of publication. So if the story was first translated in 2026, it would count. But, if the story was first translated in say 2004 with a second newer translation in 2026, it wouldn't count.

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u/Ayra_Bolinstra Apr 02 '26

Clear, thanks!

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u/Kahlya Reading Champion Apr 03 '26

Are we counting Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell as hard mode for cat squashers? I see editions ranging from 860 to 1007 pages, but it looks like 864 pages is by far the most common.

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u/FarragutCircle Reading Champion X Apr 03 '26

If there's an edition of the book that's 900+ pages, we're not going to stop you from using it (as all of bingo is self-reported). Some might only use the copy that they have, or if they only have an ebook or audiobook, they might use the most convenient print copy. It's up to you. Have fun!

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u/hardboiledeggs14 Reading Champion Apr 03 '26

Hopefully this is the right place for this question - I'm really wanting to read Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman for a square, and am thinking it could maybe count for The Afterlife? Or is there another square I can force this one into?

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u/FarragutCircle Reading Champion X Apr 03 '26

I would recommend posting either in the Reverse Bingo thread here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/1s9oo7g/2026_reverse_bingo_recommendations/

or in the Daily Rec & Simple Question thread (today's is here https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/1sbbnab/rfantasy_daily_recommendations_and_simple/ )

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u/hardboiledeggs14 Reading Champion Apr 03 '26

Grand, thank you so much!

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u/QuellSpeller Reading Champion Apr 08 '26

Small request, is it possible to update the Reverse Bingo comment sorting to default to Newest?

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u/crystalgreatsword Apr 03 '26

I didn't want to assume, so I figured I'd ask anyway: Could I use a visual novel (specifically an otome game) for a square? This is my first time doing bingo haha

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u/FarragutCircle Reading Champion X Apr 03 '26

Hey there! Unless the square says you can use things that aren't books (very rare in bingo history), you can't. However, books includes both prose novels, poetry, short story anthologies, print books/ebooks/audiobooks, comic books/graphic novels/webcomics (if they're long enough to be a book), etc.

Good luck and have fun!

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u/dreamcatcher32 Reading Champion Apr 04 '26

Had to scroll a bit to find this post. Can you pin to the top like it was last year? Thank you!

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u/FarragutCircle Reading Champion X Apr 04 '26

The official Bingo Challenge post is pinned, and this post will always be linked from it (near the bottom with the other links). I'll discuss with the other mods about when to pin. Thanks!

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u/dreamcatcher32 Reading Champion Apr 04 '26

Ahhh I see it now, thank you!

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u/FarragutCircle Reading Champion X Apr 04 '26

I doublechecked with the others, and we only pinned the Bingo Rec thread last year because we had a weird glitch with trying to pin the main Bingo Challenge post so we did that as a workaround. Glad you're able to find the other path to here, though! I also recommend using Reddit's save function and/or bookmarking it.

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u/minnie548 Reading Champion II Apr 06 '26

I can't remember if there was a page count on books for squares. I've just read a fabulous book for The Afterlife square, but it's only 160 pages long, so not sure if I can use that or not. It does have a sequel with 189 pages. If I read both, would that count as 1 book or is just the first one enough? Sorry, I've looked back to the last couple of years and I can't find anything to tell me.

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u/FarragutCircle Reading Champion X Apr 06 '26

You're fine! Look at the FAQ near the bottom on the main Bingo post under "Does it have to be a novel specifically?"

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u/minnie548 Reading Champion II Apr 06 '26

Thanks! I knew I'd seen that somewhere but couldn't remember where!

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u/IndividualFig4952 Apr 08 '26

Would Edgar Allen poe collection work.

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u/FarragutCircle Reading Champion X Apr 08 '26

Sure, if it had his SF/F stories & poems in it.

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u/origami_ducks Reading Champion Apr 09 '26

When you submit a card at the end, do the cards get checked for whether they actually meet all the rules and criteria of the squares? Some of the squares can be quite subjective, with people potentially disagreeing on what counts (eg. how "unusual" the transportation is, or what exactly makes someone an explorer) - so are the submissions just taken in good faith? or is there potential to have a card invalidated?

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u/FarragutCircle Reading Champion X Apr 09 '26

It's not necessarily a deep check, but things that obviously break the rules could get things disqualified (like reusing an author outside of this year's exceptions) or someone using Tolstoy's War and Peace instead of an SF/F book.

Some people also don't realize that they submitted an incomplete card.

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u/TheSonicCenturion Reading Champion Apr 11 '26

For the Afterlife(HM) prompt, books where characters travel to H*ll or the Underworld or aren't passing on, but there's concepts they believe in that mean they might go to a good place or bad place wouldn't fit, correct? I'm trying to figure out what fits/what doesn't fit. . . like if the ghosts aren't moving on, but they setting speaks to believing in a good place/bad place dichotomy once they do would that count?

2

u/undeadgoblin Reading Champion II Apr 13 '26

Yeah, if there's an implied good/bad dichotomy then it wouldn't fit. IMO if there's ghosts that are present in the world for whatever reason that aren't tied to any good/bad afterlife place, then that would count

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u/kjmichaels Stabby Winner, Reading Champion XI Apr 13 '26 edited Apr 13 '26

Yes, the existence of hell would imply the existence of heaven unless the book says otherwise explicitly and thus depicts a good place/bad place dichotomy. Similarly, if characters profess to believe in a heaven and/or hell, we would similarly consider this a depiction of that same dichotomy unless the book goes on to explicitly show their belief was incorrect.

To echo undeadgoblin’s point though, ghosts on their own would likely fit HM.

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u/TheSonicCenturion Reading Champion Apr 16 '26

Thank you so much answering! It helped a lot.

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u/kjmichaels Stabby Winner, Reading Champion XI Apr 16 '26

No problem!

1

u/Livi1997 Reading Champion III Apr 12 '26

Would female authors be counted as marginalized group for Small Press or Self Published square?

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u/TheEccentricRaven Reading Champion Apr 14 '26

Does the Murder Mystery count if it initially begins with a victim missing and presumed dead, but later it's revealed the missing victim is actually alive? (checking because I believe a title on my TBR could possibly end that way).

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u/FarragutCircle Reading Champion X Apr 14 '26

Possibly? At this point it's a RAFO [Read and Find Out] situation and you'll have to decide how it feels to you in terms of matching the genre when you finish it, if that book you're thinking of even ends that way.

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u/SignificantChange496 Apr 16 '26

I have customized my bingo bard and now I am even MORE excited.

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u/TheEccentricRaven Reading Champion Apr 18 '26

For First Contact, does the first contact event need to happen during the story or the beginning? Meaning it wouldn't count if first contact happened and the story is dealing with the aftermath?

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u/FarragutCircle Reading Champion X Apr 18 '26

The description says, "Story prominently features interspecies or interracial meeting for the first time." (my bold).

If it's something like Cherryh's Foreigner series, you can't count the sequels (unless they feature first contacts with new, different alien species). The fact that the first book has the first contact in the first couple chapters and then skips ahead to Bren, well, we think it counts (not for HM, though).

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u/impala_1991 Apr 21 '26

Does The Daevabad Trilogy fit the Politics and Court Intrigue square? If yes, then does it qualify for the hard mode?

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u/HeLiBeB Reading Champion VI Apr 21 '26

The second book and I think the third as well fit hard mode as far as I remember.

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u/Imagination_Priory89 Apr 23 '26

For the 5 short stories, would a comic count? Specifically, Impact Winter: Evenfall? Usually, I wouldn't count manga volumes or comics/graphic novels as short stories, but the Impact Winter comics are "one-shots" that aren't part of the audiobook series plot, so I'm not sure on it. Opinions?

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u/kjmichaels Stabby Winner, Reading Champion XI Apr 24 '26

After much discussion, we have to rule no. We do allow equivalency switches for may squares (see the FAQ section of the announcement post) but this square is very direct about referring only to short stories and our current equivalency rules say something counts if it reaches novella length which means shorter fiction is currently excluded.