On your mark, get set, read! Seattle Public Library's Book Bingo is back and bigger than ever

The moment Seattle's bookworms have been training (reading) for is upon us: Book Bingo kicks off today.

But there's a lot more competition in the field this year. That's because adult Book Bingo has expanded to include the King County Library System.

The program is presented by Seattle Public Library in partnership with Seattle Arts and Lectures. Now, adult readers across King County can participate. Book Bingo boards will be available at any of the 27 SPL locations and the 50 KCLS locations.

SPL Reader Services Librarian Misha Stone said it's a chance for the library systems to share and spread the love of reading.

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But more participants means more people vying for this year's prizes.

Participants who fill out their boards for bingo or blackout have until 6 p.m. on Sept. 2 to submit them and be entered to win a prize. Readers who turn in a card with bingo will be entered to win a tote bag featuring a design by Seattle-based artist Marlowe, also known as Odd Rabbits, who also designed this year's bingo card. Readers who complete all 24 squares for a blackout will be eligible to win one of three grand prizes, including a "Create Your Own Series" subscription to Seattle Arts and Lecture's 2025-26 season.

"The competition probably will be fierce," Stone said. "Maybe it will encourage people to kind of get some stretch goals going. But really, it's the joy of reading that we're trying to spread."

You can find this year's board at the bottom of this story. And if you're new to Book Bingo, you might want to start strategizing now. People take this seriously.

Erin Okuno and Brooke Williams are Book Bingo pros. The program started in Seattle in 2015. Okuno has participated every year since, and Williams has missed just one year. They're veterans. And they have tips for newbies who may be feeling overwhelmed.

Have fun!

Don't think of this as a challenge to read super hard, "stretch-your-brain" books, Okuno said.

"When I first started, I used to be like, 'This is serious. I gotta, like, pull out a college syllabus and pick books off of that,'" she said. "That took way too much work."

And it wasn't especially fun.

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Now, Okuno said she read a picture book that's really cute that also satisfied one of the squares.

Maybe you don't want to read a horror novel to hit the "monsters" square, for example. A book for younger readers might be up your alley. That's totally allowed for adult readers.

Okuno said she actually mostly reads children's books and picture books, particularly those by BIPOC authors. That helps with a side project, too.

"A friend and I have February birthdays. We're old, and we don't need stuff in our house," she said. "So, we ask our families and friends to donate books that we [then] donate to public schools. And we're very specific that those books have to be by BIPOC authors or about disabilities. I use Book Bingo as a way to seed [our wish list]."

Don't force it!

Williams' top tip might go against "the spirit of Book Bingo," she said, but it's similar to Okuno's approach: Don't force yourself to complete your card.

"The years I've had the most fun with Book Bingo are ones where I have not forced myself to get a blackout," Williams said. "Some of the years where I've really forced myself to get a blackout, it has started to feel like a bit of a like slog to the end."

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When she gives herself grace, she tends to finish with a blackout, even if not within the official Book Bingo season.

"One of my favorite things to do is I just always challenge myself that if I don't make a blackout by Labor Day, I'll just finish it by the end of the of the calendar year," she said.

And if you find yourself struggling to find a book that fits a square, Williams encouraged readers to use the library's resources for help.

"If you're really stuck on something and you're not finding anything you like, use the Your Next Five [Books] tool," Williams said, referring to the SPL tool that recommends books based on what you like. "It's so great. And I have it on good authority that the librarians absolutely love doing that."

KCLS has a similar tool called BookMatch.

Build your Book Bingo community!

Stone's hot tip is especially good for readers who enjoy a book club: Talk, share, and build your Book Bingo community.

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"What I think is really so marvelous about Book Bingo is that you can talk about your thoughts with your friends," she said. "Sharing ideas between readers, like, that's one of the things that really sort of surprised and excited me the most is learning how many people just talk through with their friends, with their colleagues, with their family what they're reading."

By making Book Bingo more of a group activity, you can also take some of the guesswork out of finding your next book when you need it most.

Williams recalled doing Book Bingo in 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic, and how it brought people together over books when they couldn't be physically with each other.

"We'd drop off books, but maybe we would also drop off something we had baked or, like, 'Oh, you're out of toilet paper? Here. I'll put a toilet paper roll in with the book,'" she said. "I really do think of it as a true community event."