summer reading plans.

We are rolling into July and Seattle just had its first (hopefully last?) heatwave of the summer. Summer is here and I can’t stop thinking about summer reading. What am I going to read, where am I going to read, what am I going to be drinking while I read, you know the important things! I mean, is there anything better than sitting on a beach with a fruity drink at your side while you get lost in the pages of a good book?? Plus, there is so much more time to read during the summer since the days are so much longer.

I love a reading challenge and there are plenty of summer reading challenges out there. This summer, I’m thinking of participating in Seattle Arts & Lectures Summer Book Bingo.

Every summer, Seattle Arts & Lectures partners with The Seattle Public Library to create a Summer Book Bingo card as part of their free summer reading program. The summer reading program goes from May to September and after completing your card, you can be entered in a drawing to win some great prizes. You can download your bingo card from the Seattle Arts & Lectures website or pick one up from any Seattle library. There are 25 squares on the card and each square has a category. When you read a book pertaining to that category, you write the title and the author in the matching square. When you get either a horizontal, vertical, or diagonal line or a complete blackout, that’s when you can enter your card in the drawing.

This year’s square categories are:

• • Romance
  • On Your Shelf
  • Small Press
  • Beach Read
  • Black Joy
  • Activism or Social Justice
  • Made You Laugh
  • Coming of Age
  • Recommended by Library Staff/Peak Picks
  • Graphic Novel or Comic
  • Recommended by a Friend
  • QTBIPOC
  • Mystery or Crime
  • Cli-Fi or Environmental Non-Fiction
  • Poetry or Essays
  • Asian American or Pacific Islander Author
  • SAL Speaker
  • Speculative Fiction
  • BIPOC Food Writing
  • Sports
  • Olympic Host City
  • Book from a Series (2 squares)
  • Recommended by a Local Bookseller

I have to do a little research because I’m not entirely sure what speculative fiction is. Also, book titles can only be used once per card so if some books can fall into multiple squares I’ll have to figure out the best square to use.

Happy summer reading!