Book Bingo!

 

I was really excited to find out we were doing Book Bingo this year.  The first year I wasn’t quite sure about it, but signed up to be a good sport.  I ended up reading a lot of books I would not have read otherwise, and enjoyed them thoroughly.  Some were books I had meant to read but hadn’t until that “Read a Classic” square inspired me to pick up Emma by Jane Austen; other squares encouraged me to read outside my usual genres; and still others had me looking for debut novels or books set in exotic locales.  Even the ones I didn’t think I’d enjoy ended up being memorable in a good way. 

For those unfamiliar with the concept, it’s pretty straight forward.  Participants get a bingo like sheet except that instead of numbers, there are reading prompts, such as “read a translated book” or “read a book set in space.”  A few squares are somewhat specific to us (“read a book from the BPL gift shop”) but nothing that can’t be worked around.

While we do offer prizes to those who can come by the library to pick them up (our budget not extending to mailing things off), it’s not the prizes that attract me.  In fact, I’m not putting my name in for any of the big prizes at all. I won’t turn down getting a cute sticker for signing up, though! The satisfaction and enjoyment out of being encouraged to step outside of my comfortable reading niche is reward enough.

This year we have two different Bingo sheets.  I picked one and am already planning what titles to read to fit the squares.  The categories are broad enough to give me many choices, but also force me to take a look at what I’m reading.  It also gives me a good excuse to jump ahead and read something I really wanted to read but felt obligated to wait for one reason or another. I also am strangely excited about re-reading Jenny and the Cat Club for the “Read a book you loved as a child” square.  I own a copy of this book.  I can re-read this book at any time, but I often feel I should not re-read. There are too many books I’ve yet to read so I should only read something new.   

Book Bingo gives me permission to read this book, and that absolutely delights me.

As I said, we can only give out prizes to our patrons but if Book Bingo sounds fun and you want a sheet of your own, we can email one out to you.

If you are local, stop by the Reference Desk to sign up.  You get a sticker for registering and can choose either a note book (really cute notebook!) or coffee mug (charming mug!) for each bingo up to four.  Filling in the whole bingo card lets you draw for a special prize, and for each bingo and the blackout your name is entered into a drawing for grand prizes. 

Happy reading this summer!

Jeanne