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Welcome to Inclusive Book Bingo! It works like it sounds. I'll roll (rerolling for duplicates) once a month, and participants will read something consistent with that square. You do not have to read SFF to satisfy the challenge! The goal is to get five books in a row in any contiguous direction, including the diagonals! Once you finish the book, you get to mark the square.There are two prizes! Here's how to get them!

Community Minded:

The card posted at the top of the thread is the group Bingo board. Every month, those interested will select one SFF work to read and discuss together. While we're trying to get a Bingo, this will continue all year, so no fear if you can't do every book, you can still get Bingo! NOTE: For this iteration, while the work does have to be SFF, it can be any format provided it gets the highest vote. Short story, magazine, poem, graphic novel, all in play.

On A Mission:

You're using the group board, but you're rolling more than once a month! Good work! This will up your chances for the prizes, and increase your potential for new books! You can of course still read with the group if you so choose.

Competitive Edge:

You can go (Click "new card"). This will generate a unique link. You can read with the group or on your own, as often as you'd like, but you're betting that the random number gods will be better to you than they are to the group! Bonus, this site lets you mark the board, and saves your board for you!

Prizes!

-First person to get a Bingo gets my vote in the following month's Group Read polls. I, Allison, will vote for whatever you vote for :)

-First person to read a book for every space on the card gets to pick what the Bingo Buddy Read group reads for the next month! No voting, we just read your pick!

Notes: Books only count for the square you rolled. Any square that has "(American)" can be substituted for any other nationality. I only had so much room to demonstrate the concept, sorry to any who felt left out.

Good luck, have fun!

If you're rolling with the group, here are our rolls so far!

January Bingo Read: 11 (Jewish), Jews vs Aliens - discussion
January Bingo Read: 11 (Jewish), The Golem and the Jinni - discussion *spoilers*
February Bingo Read: 16 (Queer), The Black Tides of Heaven - discussion
March Bingo Read: 12 (Gay), Carnival - discussion
April Bingo Read: 9 (Buddhist), Lord of Light - discussion *spoilers*
April Bingo Read: 17 (Bonus: Intersex), Shadow Man - discussion
May Bingo Read: 20 (Chronic Illness), Planetfall - discussion
June Bingo Read: 24 (Multiple POC), Akata Witch - discussion
June Bingo Read: 24 (Multiple POC), Alif the Unseen - discussion *spoilers*
July Bingo Read: 23 (Set On Another Continent), Gods, Monsters & Lucky Peach - discussion
August Bingo Read: 5 (Latin American), Certain Dark Things - discussion
September Bingo Read: 4 (Caribbean [Descent] Author) -Midnight Robber
October Bingo Read: 15 (Trans Author/ Character) - Dreadnought
November Bingo Read: 13 (Lesbian Author/Protagonist) Passing Strange

Hey all! If you're looking to read together, here are some books of interest concerning judaism!

Science Fiction:
The Book of Esther
The Cure

Fantasy:
Gentlemen of the Road
The Golem and the Jinni
King of Shards
The World of the End

Do any sound interesting to you? Do you have any additional suggestions to read in January?

I’m interested but confused- I better read it again in the morning!

This is amazing! I want to start making plans immediately, but it’s 6 AM and I really need to get to sleep before I skip Saturday entirely. I know we’ll be reading great things next year, why isn’t it January already?!

I would do Book of Esther and possibly Gentlemen of the Road or The Golem and the Jinni.

I'm going to highly recommend another Chabon book, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay. It's brilliant and was a Pulitzer winner. A truly amazing book.

Love this! Great job Allison! I'd love to read The Golem and the Jinni but I know some of you have already read this as part of the Group Reads so really anything is fine.

Would be up for doing Gentlemen of the Road. I did The Golem and the Jinni a few years back and loved it.

Excellent! Casting my vote for The Golem and the Jinni.

I would love to read some short fiction, because it's a good way to sample many voices, and we don't get to read those as part of the regular monthly reads. If others aren't interested, I'll try at least Jews vs. Aliens on my own.

Jews vs Aliens -> this sounds too good to pass!
Wandering Stars: An Anthology of Jewish Fantasy & Science Fiction
People of the Book: A Decade of Jewish Science Fiction & Fantasy

Please also recommend others, these are the three I found with a very quick google search.

I'll read whatever we pick. I already have Golem/Jinni, but I haven't been interested enough to pick it up despite good reviews. Most likely because it's historical fiction, and I rarely feel like starting those, even if they turn out really great reads.

Jews vs Aliens looks fab.

Just read a review in Locus of a Jewish main character book : Mandelbrot the Magnificent

The Golem and the Jinni was terrific.
The Yiddish Policemen's Union, also by Michael Chabon, is another enjoyable read. Alternate history/fantasy.

Anna wrote: "I would love to read some short fiction, because it's a good way to sample many voices, and we don't get to read those as part of the regular monthly reads. If others aren't interested, I'll try at..."

Here is a listopia I found (not sure how many of these relate directly to Judaism): /list/show/1...

Ok, so is there a way to print out the card? Sorry if it's a dumb question; I'm not very geeky. When I try to just print the image it's low-res/ blurry, and my B&W printer doesn't help.

Also, can I just play it like a challenge? I mean, what I'd like to do is read with the group when you-all read something I want to read, and fill in the rest of the squares on my own... it seems to me that would be ok, cuz it would be like rolling and rolling until I got the number of the square I need to fill.... (and, if I do it this way, do my choices have to be SFF?)

Books with seconds:

Golem and the Jinni - 4 (including mine)
Gentlemen of the Road - 2
Book of Esther - 1
--------------------------------------------------
Books without seconds:
The Cure
King of Shards
The World of the End
Jews vs. Aliens
Wandering Stars
People of the Book
Mandelbrot the Magnificent (this one Rachel?)
Yiddish Policemen's Union (this was a group read, too)

I'm also interested in Jews v. Aliens. Sarah, are you voting on that, too?

Cheryl wrote: "Ok, so is there a way to print out the card? Sorry if it's a dumb question; I'm not very geeky. When I try to just print the image it's low-res/ blurry, and my B&W printer doesn't help.

Also, can ..."

Absolutely! That's option 2. I heartily encourage more reading for the challenge. What I did to print was use the snipping tool that PCs have (or you can do a screen capture/print screen and just print the image. :)

TY!

Seconding Jews versus Aliens.

Yes on Jews vs Aliens, Allison!

Allison, you must after Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay or I will cry.

It's not fantasy, though.

To be clear, I didn't realize I was nominating three things (Jews vs. Aliens, Wandering Stars, People of the Book), those were just three examples of anthologies I found. I'm happy with just Jews vs. Aliens on the list, that's the one I'm most interested in.

And I'll second Mandelbrot the Magnificent, it sounds perfectly weird.

If Alyssa Wong writes a book, she covers multiple categories. Combine with Charlie Jane Anders and Samuel R. Delaney and that’s like 4 bingos. 😜

Anna wrote: "To be clear, I didn't realize I was nominating three things (Jews vs. Aliens, Wandering Stars, People of the Book), those were just three examples of anthologies I found. I'm happy with just Jews v..."

It's cool! I am trying to keep a list of everything mentioned, as the goal is to find new, interesting stories. Even if we don't buddy read it, maybe it will call to someone doing the challenge on their own!

Books with seconds:

Golem and the Jinni - 4 (including mine)
Jews vs. Aliens - 3
Gentlemen of the Road - 2
Book of Esther - 1
Mandelbrot the Magnificent - 1
--------------------------------------------------
Books without seconds:
The Cure
King of Shards
The World of the End
Wandering Stars
People of the Book
Yiddish Policemen's Union (this was a group read, too)
Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay

So the group read will come from whichever category is rolled? And that's the one that will be SFF? But anything we read on our own can be any genre?

I've been wanting to get back to Golem and the Jinni! But I want to check everything else out before I say definitively.

Stephanie, your summary is correct!

I am starting to think I’m going to be doing too many challenges and group reads this year.......

Rachel wrote: "I am starting to think I’m going to be doing too many challenges and group reads this year......."

:D I know I am. But they all look so good, how's a person to just not read the book?

If there are no more votes today, I'm going to say we press onward with the top book right now, which is Golem and the Jinni. So, if you want to change anything up or vote for something else, now's the time! I'll make a Buddy Read post for whatever book we choose and kick this baby off starting Jan 1 :D

Don't forget we have group threads for that one!

Sarah Anne wrote: "Don't forget we have group threads for that one!"

True! If it stays Golem, we'll resurrect those and have a fancy two-thread system.

Hm, I enjoyed Golem & Jinni but would love to read something I haven't before -- Book of Esther, Gentlemen of the Road (I've been interested in this one for awhile but wasn't sure its originally-serial structure would appeal to me), & Jews vs. Aliens are all intriguing. I'll add a second for Jews versus Aliens since it's getting the most interest of those three.

BTW, I also enjoyed Wandering Stars (not all the stories are classics but the collection overall was entertaining; the opener, William Tenn's "On Venus, Have We Got a Rabbi" was one of my favorites).

I think Dara Horn fits this category; her work isn't strongly SFF, but the novels I've read usually have at least some supernatural or magic-realism element.

Oh man, Jews versus Aliens looks super cool, but it looks like my library doesn't have it. So my Second goes to The Golem and the Jinni.

Jews versus Aliens is on Kindle Unlimited if that changes anything.

Books with seconds:

Golem and the Jinni - 5 (including mine)
Jews vs. Aliens - 4
Gentlemen of the Road - 2
Book of Esther - 1
Mandelbrot the Magnificent - 1
--------------------------------------------------
Books without seconds:
The Cure
King of Shards
The World of the End
Wandering Stars
People of the Book
Yiddish Policemen's Union (this was a group read, too)
Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay

Also there's nothing to say we can't have another buddy read going on. I'm thinking of trying to sneak JvA in there, too since it's short and looks like a ton of fun.

This sounds fun. I'm in. Haven't decided on a individual card or just follow along. I expect y'all will provide some interesting titles that I wouldn't find on my own.

I was going to suggest an unofficial JvA, it is pretty short and I really want to read it!

While I don't have Kindle Unlimited, it looks like I can get a free trial! So I'll change my second to Jews vs. Aliens.

I vote The Golem and the Jinni! I just checked it out from the library!!

I loved The Golem and the Jinni, and last year one of my in-person book clubs read Snow in August, which is also a great option for this bingo category, btw! I would rather read something I haven't yet, and The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay has been on my TBR FOREVER so I will second TAAoK&C, if it's not too late. This is a great challenge!

In an indecisive start to our Bingo, it looks like we'll be reading Golem and the Jinni and, for those who've read it or who can't pass up a good alien short story collection, also Jews vs. Aliens.

If anything else called to you, though, I think you should also try to set up a buddy read for that book instead! Far be it from me to discourage discussion!

I'll buddy read Book of Esther with myself. *sniff sniff *

You're going to send me to therapy for all these sad books!

"So, what brings you in today?"
"Well, my book friend really wants to read a lot more Holocaust books, so I need to create a mental happy place, and I need to read Children of Time, so I'll need to cure that phobia as well."

Is the start date January 1st for both books?

Anna wrote: "Is the start date January 1st for both books?"

Yes, that's when the buddy read links will get (re)posted. However Golem and the Jinni already exists and there's nothing I can do to keep you from posting in that thread whenever you see fit ;-)

I think I'm going to skip this challenge as I have plenty more to read next year.