This year, with as busy as the three of us are, we are pinching a card from @shadowbooker on Instagram. Thanks to justjo2u  for finding her! I would definitely recommend following her if you are on Instagram. She has a lot of lovely book related graphics/digitals that she shares and this one sounds so much fun and definitely stress-free.


(I'd suggest posting this in your own journal but also on other social media sites and even taking recommendations from family and friends. The wider your cast your net, the more choice you will have.) 

We are not quite sure on the prize for 2023 or if there will be one, but we will let you know later in the year. We hope you join us in this challenge. Please feel free to create posts with your book recommendations. Friends definitely include social media friends.

Happy New Year everyone! Kelly, Jenn and Jo
x

Copying Keli's post over from livejournal.

We used random.org number generator:

First place is #4 honor_reid



Second place is #6 severina2001



Congrats!!! honor_reid. Will you please private message me with the email address for the $25 gift card and severina2001 would you please private message justjo2u on DreamWidth for the $10 gift card?

Thank you again for everyone who participated! It was so fun!! Onward to 2023!

This was our final list:
1. gilda_elise
2. nakeisha
3. gavinf1980
4. honor_reid
5. cordeliadelayne
6. severina2001
7. cornerofmadness
8. sn0wing
9. gavinf1980
10. deinonychus_1
11. white_jenna

Hello all! I hope everyone is doing well and are managing this crazy year as best as they can.

I wanted to take a quick moment to announce after discussing this with keli we have decided that we will not be hosting a reading challenge or bingo game in 2021. This is not a decision we've reached lightly, but due to the ongoing pandemic and the real life issues we (plus justjo2u) are dealing with both pandemic-related and otherwise, we do not have the extra time to give a game or challenge the attention it deserves (see the 2020 challenge as an example. We set it up and then all hell broke loose, and the community didn't get any attention from the mods at all.)

We will, however, be leaving the community open in the hopes that it will become a general books/reading community...at least for 2021. We would love for you all to share other reading challenges or reading related games you may be participating in, book memes/quizzes, book reviews, book recs (either asking for or sharing) or just general book discussion. I am making a resolution to be more active here myself in the coming year.

At the end of 2021, we will reevaluate and make a decision as to the future of the community in the coming years.

As always, we are so thankful to each and every one of you who have participated in this community in the past.

~Jennifer

ETA as of 1/16/21: keli had the brilliant idea to have a series of small, stress free "mini bingo" games/challenges throughout the course of the year. You can find the first of these posted here. Enjoy!

After much discussion and deliberation, keli and I have decided that there will not be a 2020 LJ Book Bingo game. This is not a decision we make lightly, but one that is the best for us (and justjo2u) at this time. There is a lot that goes on behind the scenes when hosting a game like this, and due to our real lives, we are in need of a bit of a break. After that, we will reevaluate and decide what we want to do for 2021. We hope you all understand.

But, since we really appreciate everyone who not only joined this community to play bingo with us, but also promoted the community in their own journals and elsewhere, we still wanted to offer something for everyone to participate in next year, should you choose to.

We're planning on a 2020 LJ Book Bingo Reading Challenge. It will work pretty much like other reading challenges you've likely all seen on the internet. There will be a list of categories (likely complied from past bingo categories as well as categories that didn't make past cards), and you will be able to check them off as you complete each book. We won't be keeping track of categories completed, nor will there be a prize next year.

While we won't be keeping a list of who completes what prompt, we definitely do still want you all to share your progress with us here in the community, as well as to continue to post reading memes, discussion posts, etc.

Thank you again for being such valued members of the community. When keli and I started this community, we had no idea how quickly it would grow, and we are thankful to each and every one of you, and we hope to see you all in 2020 for the reading challenge!

This is a list of all bingoes that have been reported thus far in 2019. I will open a new "Report your bingo" thread momentarily as I am unable to edit the original post and because keli and I had been discussing doing so before she stepped away for a bit.

Comments to this post are disabled. If you feel an error was made anywhere in this list, please contact either myself or justjo2u.

Called Bingos (in order of reported):
( Under here )

It took a little longer than I'd planned, due to being sent the wrong computer and having to get that straightened out. But I am back.

Either later today or over the next couple of days I will be posting the updated reported bingoes list. I'm still trying to work out how I want to do it.

I want to thank justjo2u for keeping an eye on things while keli and I have been indisposed. I also want to thank all of you for your patience during this time.

I just wanted to let everyone know that the hard drive on my computer failed about a week and a half ago *cries*, so I have been without one ever since. (I'm posting this from my Kindle Fire, which is not all that fun.) I have a replacement on the way, but it won't get here until about the middle of next week.

At the same time, keli is needing to step away for a bit. :(

So, if you report a bingo, and it doesn't get recorded right away, this is why. Once I get fully back online, I will update the list as needed.

On behalf ofkeli, justjo2u, and myself, I thank you all so much for your patience.

keli  and I have been discussing this, and we have decided to allow reporting of bingoes to also take place on DW for those who want to play, but have an aversion to posting at LJ. All other rules still apply - you must sign up via the signup post at LJ or DW so we can have an accurate accounting of who's playing.

The complete list of players will be on LJ.

A lot of you may not know, but we also have a mirror community on DW (dwbookbingo ). To this point it's only been used to back up the main LJ community, just in case...which is something I actually need to remember to do more often. *blushes*

Membership to the DW community is by invite only, and posting access is restricted to myself (stellar_raven ), keli , and justjo2u (aka justjo2dw ) for the time being. Please only use the DW community to report bingoes if you are uncomfortable posting on LJ. Otherwise, please report bingoes on LJ.

All posts (mod posts, discussion posts, resources, quizzes/mems, etc.) are still to be posted on ljbookbingo 

This post and the Report Your Bingo post will be sticky at DW, and this post will also be in the sidebar at both communities.

The community has grown by leaps and bounds this year, which is amazing and surprising when you factor in that this all began because keli and I decided to make up our own bingo card to challenge each other, and then decided to share it with our friends lists. This community was born as a way for those few who played that first year to keep track of what the others were reading. We never imagined that by the third year we'd have nearly 50 players and so much interest in the game.

So, please allow us some time to adjust to the growing pains we're experiencing. We want to make this game open to anyone who wants to play, and we're doing everything we can to make that possible without overwhelming ourselves in the process.

If you'd like an invite to the DW community, please let us know.

At LJ - comment to this post.
At DW - please message stellar_raven , keli, or justjo2dw .

Thank you again the extraordinary interest you all have shown in the game.

(I'll work on updating the DW community's theme to match LJ at a later date.)

keli and I have been discussing this, and we have decided to allow reporting of bingoes to also take place on DW for those who want to play, but have an aversion to posting at LJ. All other rules still apply - you must sign up via the signup post at LJ or DW so we can have an accurate accounting of who's playing.

The complete list of players will be on LJ.

A lot of you may not know, but we also have a mirror community on DW (dwbookbingo) To this point it's only been used to back up the main LJ community, just in case...which is something I actually need to remember to do more often. *blushes*

Membership to the DW community is by invite only, and posting access is restricted to myself (stellar_raven), keli, and justjo2u (justjo2dw at DW) for the time being.

Please only use the DW community to report bingoes if you are uncomfortable posting on LJ. Otherwise, please report bingoes on LJ.

All posts (mod posts, discussion posts, resources, quizzes/mems, etc.) are still to be posted on ljbookbingo.

This post and the Report Your Bingo post will be sticky at DW, and this post will also be in the sidebar at both communities.

The community has grown by leaps and bounds this year, which is amazing and surprising when you factor in that this all began because keli and I decided to make up our own bingo card to challenge each other, and then decided to share it with our friends lists. This community was born as a way for those few who played that first year to keep track of what the others were reading. We never imagined that by the third year we'd have nearly 50 players and so much interest in the game.

So, please allow us some time to adjust to the growing pains we're experiencing. We want to make this game open to anyone who wants to play, and we're doing everything we can to make that possible without overwhelming ourselves in the process.

If you'd like an invite to the DW community, please let us know.

At LJ - comment to this post.
At DW - please message stellar_raven, keli (our usernames are the same at both places), or justjo2dw.

Thank you again the extraordinary interest you all have shown in the game. Questions? Please ask!

(I'll work on updating the DW community's theme to match LJ at a later date.)

Just a few housekeeping announcements!

First, stellar_raven and I are so thrilled at how much our little group here has grown! We appreciate each and every one of you that has been sharing our community and for those who have joined!

Second, we want to welcome justjo2u as a moderator! Not that this group needs moderating, but you can never have too many people here to help answer questions, etc. She has been a LONG time friend of mine and of stellar_raven's too.

Finally, if you have not given stellar_raven a link to your master post, please do that shortly. We appreciate it.

A bit more information about the group in case anyone is wondering...

Posting Access:
All Members. Any user can post to this community once they've joined it.

Community Moderation:
Moderate. New entries must be approved by a moderator before they appear in the community.

We are doing community moderation, not because we don't trust our members but, because we have a 'no adult content' setting and anyone can join without approval. This opens us up to spammers and we want to make sure things say safe for everyone.

Any questions, please let me know!

First of all, thank you to everyone who has signed up, and to everyone who has promoted the community via their own journals, and/or the Fandom Snowflake Challenge. We are currently up to 36 players only a week into the challenge, and both keli and I are thrilled at the way this community has grown and the enthusiasm you all are showing.

So, again, thank you so much. :)

Now for the reminders:

• If you haven't yet created and posted a link to your master post, please do so as soon as possible. We would like to be able to edit those into the list of players. If you're not sure what we mean by master post, here's mine. It's basically a post for you to keep track of your progress, and for us to confirm the bingoes you report. Links should be posted in the List of Players post.


• Please make sure you carefully read the rules post--even if you played last year. There are some new things in place for 2019, as wells as links for the card(s) and wildcard and category substitution graphics.


• We also have a friending post for those who'd like to take advantage of it. You can find it here.


• There are also many handy links located in the sidebar of the community's main page.


• Please report your bingoes in the Report your Bingo post. That will make it so much easier for us to keep up with. Please see the post for instructions on how to do that.


• Any member may post to the community at any time, it's not a mods-post-only community, so if you'd like to ask for recs, share book resources, or anything book related, please do!

If you have any questions about anything, we are happy to help. Happy reading, everyone!

The first step is to save the card of your choice (both are in the rules post) to your device (computer, tablet, smartphone). Once you've done that, you need to edit the card with the marker of your choice. Last year several of us used the covers of the books we read to mark our cards. (Here's my master post from last year with my completed card as an example.) But you could use any sort of graphic/marker you wanted. Or even just mark it with an "X".

There are a myriad of free photo editors you can use, either by installing the software on your computer, via an app on your tablet/smartphone, or online. If you use one that you really like and find it easy to work with, please let us know in the comments. Maybe we could work up a resources post.

NOTE: The tutorial I am about to share is using the free online version of BeFunky, and a desktop computer running Windows 7. (They also have free apps, but I have little to no experience with them. Though, keli, and I both discovered that the app differs greatly from the online editor.)

You can click on the full screen images below to see them actual size.

( Read more... )

NOTE: This tutorial is for the online version of BeFunky only. The apps will work differently. Other software/sites will also work differently. I know I already mentioned that before the cut, but it bears repeating.

You are not required to use this particular site/software to mark your cards. I used this as the tutorial as it's the one I'm most familiar with. I also have PhotoImpact X3 and Photoscape on my computer, so I am also able to help with those. Any other photo editing software, we will do our best to help you with.

Any questions please ask and will we try our best to help.

This is the list I have for the 4th quarter drawing. You get one entry in this drawing. If you won an earlier quarterly drawing, you are ineligible for this drawing.

cordeliadelayne
schweet_heart
capriceum
honor_reid
deinonychus_1
fififolle
aeris444
spikedluv
justjo2u
wendelah1
cornerofmadness

The Year End drawing consists everyone who reported a bingo throughout the year, and you can have a maximum of 3 entries for this drawing. (Note: These rules change in 2019.)

This is the list for that drawing in the order they were reported.

( Read more... )

Incidentally, we've had nine players report blackouts this year! That's the most so far!

Here's that list:

honor_reid
cordeliadelayne
cornerofmadness
capriceum
stellar_raven
justjo2u
spikedluv
deinonychus_1
keli

If you feel that your name should be on the list for the drawings, and isn't, or if you blacked out your card and want it added to the list, please let me know!

First of all, both

keli and I would like to say welcome and thank you for playing.

There are some slight changes to the rules for 2019, so please make sure to read this post completely. New or changed rules will be marked in red.

Start date: January 1st, 2019
End date: December 31st, 2019

Hosted by: keli and stellar_raven

See also: Sign up Post | List of Players | Report Your Bingo | Friending Post

Here's the card:


(Click to see full size)

Both this card and the Alternate text-only version of the card are available in the Unveiling the 2019 Bingo Cards post.

Rules

 

( Read more... )

 

If you post reviews in your journals and would like cut outs of the individual squares, you can find them in this post. Please save them and upload them to your own photo hosting service. (I've made one of my review posts public so that you can see how I utilize the squares.) It is not mandatory that you use the squares, but they're here if you need or want them.

Note: This is for the main card only. If you are using the alternate card, please feel free to cut out the squares as needed.

( Under here )

~Official Sign Up Post~ - Please sign up in the official sign up post to have your name added to this list.

Once you see your name added to this list, please post a link to your master post in a comment to this post. If you have a Goodreads or BookLikes account and would like them linked here, please add those in with your master post.

Note: If you played last year and provided GR or BL links, I will just copy those over to this year's post.

The below list is current as of January 5th, 2019.

keli - Master post | Goodreads | Booklikes
stellar_raven - Master post | Goodreads | Booklikes
justjo2u - Master post | Goodreads
cornerofmadness - Master post
honor_reid - Master post | Goodreads
wendelah1 - Master post
aeris444 - Master post | Goodreads
swingandswirl - Master post
hours_gone_by - Master post
fififolle - Master post
ella_rose88 - Master post
cordeliadelayne - Master post
wyldreamer - Master post
spikedluv - Master post
brunettepet - Master post
tamsinwillougby - Master post | Goodreads
clea2011 - Master post | Goodreads
sidleypkhermit - Master post
deinonychus_1 - Master post
mysteriousaliwz - Master post | Goodreads
spiffikins - Master post
reinadefuego - Master post
dragonydreams - Master post
capriceum - Master post | Goodreads
lil_1337 - Master post
thesmallhobbit - Master post | Goodreads
byslantedlight - Master post

If you have any questions regarding any square, or if a particular book will fit any square, please don't hesitate to ask either stellar_raven or myself (keli).

Fantasy/Sci-Fi/Paranormal - Books containing any of the following: magic, space, time travel, aliens, ufos, parallel universes, ghosts, etc.
Mystery/Crime/Thriller/True Crime - Mysterious death or a crime to be solved, etc.
Audiobook or Ebook - A CD recording of a reading of a book or an electronic version of a book.
Number or Color in the Title - Self-explanatory, with the reminder that for the numbers Regular/Cardinal numbers (one, two, three, etc.) and Ordinal numbers (1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.) count for this square. Roman numerals count too (I, II, III).
Diverse Reads - We are going to follow the American Library Association and include books that recognize all diverse experiences, including (but not limited to) LGBTQIA, people of color, gender diversity, people with disabilities, and ethnic, cultural, and religious minorities.

Children's or YA book - Books geared towards the under 18 set.
Biography/Autobiography/Non-Fiction - Books based on facts, real events, and real people.
Historical (fiction or nonfiction) - Stories that are written to portray a time period or convey information about a specific time period or an historical event. Usually the event or time period is about 30 years in the past.
Set in your State/Country or Written by a Local Author - If you’re from Scotland, you’d read a book set in Scotland. If you are from the US you need to read a book set in the State you live in (Michigan, Arkansas, etc.).
Title Starts with the First Letter of Your Name - This refers to the first letter of your first name. You can use the first letter of your LJ username if you’d like. Also, you don't have to count "a, and, or the" at the beginning of a title.

Female Author - Self-explanatory.
One Word Title - Self-explanatory, but with the reminder that "The" counts as a word.
Free Space - Any book of your choosing.
Movie Tie-in/Turned into a Movie - This would be the place for any novels based on theatrical movies or those books that have been turned into movies (Harry Potter, Hunger Games, Pride and Prejudice, Lord of the Rings, etc.). These do not include TV movies.
Title is at least 6 words long - Self-explanatory. The title can include conjunctions (the, but, and, a, etc.).

Published this Year - 2019
Horror - Fiction whose purpose is to create feelings of fear, dread, repulsion, and terror in the reader.
Chosen Based on the Cover - No peeking at the contents of the book. Choose this book solely on how the cover makes you feel.
A Banned Book - Books or other printed works such as essays or plays which are prohibited by law or to which free access is not permitted by other means.
A New-to-You Author - A book by an author that you have never read before.

Comic/Graphic Novel - Series of comic strips.
A book that is part of a series (4+books) - Self-explanatory.
TV Tie-in/Turned into a TV Show - This would be the place for any novels based on popular tv shows, or those books that have been turned into tv shows (Outlander, Game of Thrones, White Princess, etc).
Fairy Tale or Fairy Tale Retelling - A book involving fantastic forces and beings such as fairies, wizards, and goblins.
Cookbook or Food Memoir - A book containing recipes and other information about the preparation and cooking of food or an author’s experiences with food as told from his/her memories and imagination. For extra fun, post a pic of a recipe you tried from the book!

We are going to do things a bit differently for the 2019 ljbookbingo. We will have one prize that will be drawn from those who achieve bingos throughout the year. Each bingo will get your name in the drawing, with an extra given to those who blackout their cards. So in essence, you have FOURTEEN chances to get your name in the drawing.

Therefore, instead of having quarterly reportings, we will have just one continuous thread in which you will report your bingo(s).

Please comment below each time you achieve a bingo, with BINGO #1, BINGO #2, etc., in the subject line.

As like 2018, you can either link to your master post (which should contain an updated version of your card), or if your master post is locked and not viewable to all, you can also post a direct link to your card itself and list the books you used for each square in a comment.

Reminder - Ways to Bingo

- Across (5 chances to bingo)



- Down (5 chances to bingo)



- Diagonal (either direction - 2 chances to bingo)



- Four Corners + Center Square (1 chance to bingo)

New for 2019 are category substitutions. You will have two category substitutions that you may use in addition to two wild cards.

Substitutions work like this:

Below is a list of 12 categories that did not make the 2019 card. You may choose to substitute a category on the card with one on the posted list if necessary (if you're having trouble filling a square, etc.). So, somewhat like a wild card, but it's not as anything goes.

Some notes:

• Only the categories listed below can be used as substitutions.


• You may only use a category one time.


• In order to make it easier for us to track, you need to indicate in your master post that you're using a substitution or a wildcard. (Here's my master post from this year as an example. You can see where I indicated a wildcard used.)

2019 Category Substitutions List

1. Romance
2. Less than 200 pages long
3. A book that won an award
4. Spin-off or shared universe
5. First person POV
6. A Classic
7. An anthology of short stories
8. A book that features a character with a disability
9. An author's debut novel
10. Set in the future
11. Animal on the cover
12. 100k+ word fanfic

Here's the graphics I made for use in book review posts or to place on the card if wanted:



Wild cards operate the same as they did last year:

Wildcards are just that: wild. That means you may use any book to fill the square you are choosing to use the wildcard on. Fanfic is also eligible to be used for wildcards. They must, however, be over 30k long. No drabbles, ficlets, etc. You have a limit of two to use throughout the year.

Graphics:



There will be an updated rules post coming soon. Please bear with us as it takes a bit to get all the pieces in place and we're working on this in our spare time. Thank you for your patience.

Please note: Cards as show below are not full size. If you find either card hard to read, please click on it to view the full size and see if that helps. I will also link each full size card below its image.



[Full size here]

And here is the alternate version of the card with no images and plain text.



[Full size here]