Uncorked Reader Bingo

 A quarterly bingo challenge

Jan- Mar 

• Sweater – Think sweater weather, sweater on the cover, or a destination where you might want to pack an extra sweater (like Iceland). Maybe it’s just the book you read while wearing a sweater.
• Grandmacore – Trending now… With this aesthetic, fashion, and lifestyle, embrace the cozy and vintage vibes of a stereotypical grandmother’s home. For me, this means big floral patterns, beautiful wood furniture, lace and crochet everywhere, Hershey Kisses, dolls and plushes, CATS, and sweet activities, including writing poems, baking, knitting, and gardening (or maybe drinking, a special kind of travel, and dancing). Get your Golden Girls on! Read a book with a sweet grandma.
• Comedy – Read a book that makes you laugh, or pick up a rom-com. Maybe this is a book about a comedian.
• Dessert – Our Uncorked Reader survey had SO many food requests… Let’s start with dessert. Pick up a book with dessert on the cover, or read something about your favorite dessert. Dessert cookbooks are always fun, too! Maybe this is a book that feels like dessert.
• Friendship – We have a list featuring our favorite friendship books.
• [Hidden] Gem Destination – Read about a place that is special to you or one you’d like to visit. My favorite gem destinations: Riga, Latvia & Parnu, Estonia; Salzburg, Austria; Trieste, Italy; Paraty, Brazil; Yogyakarta, Indonesia; Marsala, Sicily…
• Circus – Join the circus with a good book, or maybe read a book where it just feels like a circus… Holiday family gatherings included.
• Love – This is a great opportunity to read book tropes such as childhood sweethearts, love triangles, second-chance romance, miscommunication, and more. Find a book all about love: family, friendships, romantic, pets, and more.

• Talking Animals – Did someone say read a book with a talking cat or dog…or…
• Cottagecore – Also trending… Like Grandmacore, Cottagecore is an aesthetic and lifestyle focused on rural life, earthiness, simplicity, and nature. Romanticize, read about homesteading (or find a book with eggs on the cover), and look into rustic decor. Consider more traditional crafting, books about slowing down, themes with forests, gardens, and flowers, and even think about teacups.
• Small Town – Read a book about a fictional or real small town.
• Nature – While on the subject of “Cottagecore,” let’s dive into nature books. Maybe this is hiking or climbing a mountain. Or, read a book about birding or with a bird on the cover. Take a nature walk or share a book that you read with your walking book club.
• Garden – This is the time when I up my gardening game. Fiction or nonfiction, read a book about or set in a garden. Learn how to garden or look for a beautiful cover with garden tools and flowers. Maybe you are tending to your inner garden – that’s yoga for me.
• Rain & Rainbows – Travel to a rainy place filled with rainbows, like Ireland. Look for rain or rainbows on the cover. Read about a situation where rain turned into a rainbow, or find a grumpy-sunshine book (trope).
• Rest & Renewal – This is a key theme for 2026 Reading Challenge Bingo. Maybe this is a book about a vacation or where you want to travel next. I always love inspiring and thought-provoking nonfiction. Cozy blankets on the cover, a book that feels like rest or a nap…
• Lemonade – Read a book where a character makes lemonade from lemons. Maybe there’s a glass of lemonade on the cover. Read something that reminds you of sweet lemonade.

• Summer Camp – Read a book about or set at summer camp. Maybe this is an adult friends’ retreat, too. Heck, bachelorette, bacherlor, hen do, or stag party?!
• Chocolate – Need I say more? While this sweet treat sounds delicious enough, maybe you just want to read a book with a brown cover. Find a cookbook, a book about chocolate, a book that feels like eating chocolate, or a book with chocolate on the cover.
• Cozy Mystery – Curl up with a cozy mystery – and maybe even find a new series to devour.
• Quiet Place – Travel to your favorite quiet place. Maybe it’s even the bookstore or the library. Read a book with a cozy armchair on the cover or a book about meditation. Where is your quiet place?
• Sand – Head to the beach or shore with this theme. Or, maybe it’s sand in an hourglass… Something super small?! Grains… I always love a good island-set book, too, which fits many themes this year.
• Sun – Let’s get super creative! Sun on the cover? Steamy romance that makes you sweat? Sunny location? Summer-set book? A story where you need to cool off. A book that sunburned you.
• Mountain Getaway – After we sweat you out, this Asheville girlie is ready for her mountain home again. Read about a mountain destination like Asheville. Backpack, hike, road trip, and more. Just don’t get snowed in… or maybe do! Cabin-set books included!
• In The Sky – Birds, planes, hot air balloons, clouds, space, planets, aliens… You name it. The sky’s the limit (haha).

• Guilty Pleasure – This could be a book you are embarrassed to read in public, something a little steamy, or maybe just an innocent indulgence. Chocolate cake? Adopting all the senior kitties? Reading really bad romance books…
• Baking – Time to make that cake and eat it too! Find a fiction or nonfiction book about baking.
• Family – This might be found family, books about siblings, holiday gatherings, Friendsgiving, pets, and more.
• Snow – Head to a snowy destination, read about sledding or another snowy sport, or read a book with a blizzard. We even have an Everest reading list. Snow on the cover is always fun.
• Celestial – We talked about looking to the sky, so let’s focus on the stars, what we cannot see, space, magic, and more. Maybe this is something divine and godlike. Moon, sun, stars; make it yours! A goddess in literature?!
• Glitter – A 5-star read, glitter on the cover, people who sparkle, or a NYE party? I cannot wait to see your interpretation here.
• Footprints – Read a children’s book, a book that leaves footprints on your heart, or a book with footprints on the cover. Maybe read another book with snow or sand where you can see footprints. How about a book with Bigfoot?!
• Music – Find a book about music or one that makes you sing.