So, I had this idea for something I’m calling “reverse bingo”, and maybe it’s crazy but here goes.
I always get all excited about bingo challenges and the like, but then I always end up just reading what I want to read and none of it seems to fit and I eventually give up on the whole idea. So what if instead of trying to read based on prompts, I tried to create prompts based on what I read? To keep some level of difficulty, I created a board of just numbers. So the order is pre-determined, but I still get to have the fun of filling up a bingo board bit by bit. And the prompts will be based on real prompt suggestions.
Et voilà!
Free square: とんがり帽子のアトリエ 5 | L27
#1 Read a book and consume the adaptation/Join a book club: ひとりぼっちの○○生活 1 | L21
Below, some reference materials.
2025 prompt suggestions
- Set at least 20 years in the past and not written during that time period (fiction or nonfiction is fair here!)
- Cover is primarily composed of your favorite color
- Book you keep hearing about but haven’t read yet
- Has ghost(s)
- Nominated for but failed to win an award
- Has cat(s)
- Plot involves revenge
- Set in a country that is not where the book’s language is spoken (ie, Japanese book set in Britain).
- Main character is retirement age or older
- Science fiction
- book published the year you started learning your target language
- read a book at Natively level you haven’t covered yet (i.e., it doesn’t have to be your hardest book yet, although that would count, it could be a level you skipped over).
- read a book someone else thought you would like
- read something adventure themed
- you learned something new from reading this (a bit harder to plan, as it can only be awarded in retrospect!)
- (4-5 spots that will align to make a bingo) set up a a rainbow bingo on the board (cover is predominantly: red, yellow, blue, green, etc, pick 4-5 for each version of the board).
- The title includes a number
- you share a hobby with the protagonist
- you don’t know the premise (e.g., didn’t read the blurb) before starting the book
- Read a book set somewhere you have lived (or spent a lot of time)
- Read a book and consume an adaptation of it (e.g. a book and it’s film adaptation)
- Read a book about a topic you previously didn’t know about (politics, keigo, sports, etc.)
- Read a book set in the future
- Read a book set in the past
- Read something with a one-word title
- Read something set in a period that’s not modern
- Read something with a title that sounds curious to you
- Read a book about siblings
- Read a book with a non-human protagonist
- Read a book that doesn’t have any ratings/gradings/reviews on Natively
- read something you planned to read in 2024 and either gave up on or replaced with another read for the 2024 bingo
- something from someone else’s bingo card
- ask what to read next in the Seeking Recommendations Thread
- >10 Reviews/Ratings - time to see what the hype is all about, can be tough to choose one if you’ve already read lots of popular titles
- Why is this in my TBR? - for titles in your TBR that you keep skipping over
- The Lonely Genre - choose a book to be the sole representative of a genre, for example: must be the only romance book on your bingo card
- Going in Blind - no knowledge of the concept, only choosing it based on vibes
- I forgot I bought this - similar to “why is this in my TBR?” a book that you forgot you owned
- Shorted title in your TBR
- 2nd volume of a series
- longest in TBR
- non-fiction
- untranslated (at least in a language you can read)
- shortest book in TBR
- Finish a book that you’d previously stopped reading
- Random book - go on Natively, pick your desired level range and book type, and just randomly select and read a book among the results (as long as you can get your hands on it)
- Read a book that is mostly set in a school
- Past book club choice
- Read a book that has been translated from a language besides English
- A genre you don’t usually read
- Low interest book club nomination
- Read a book or volume as soon as it comes out
- Bad cover art
- No humans on the cover
- Protagonist has an animal sidekick/companion
- Audiobook (not sure if this is allowed since it’s a reading challenge, if it’s not feel free to put me in jail)
- Released the year you were born
- Author’s debut work
- Legacy - Last work of an author that has passed away
- Cataclysm - about some kind of disaster ( earthquake, fire, tsunami … )
- Metamorphosis - one (or more) of the characters turn into an animal.
- Disability - One or more of the characters have some sort of disability ( blind, deaf, cannot walk, cannot speak, is missing a limb, … )
- Aliens - Involves creatures or people from outer space
- Meta - A book about a book ( someone is writing a book, or searching for a special book, … )
- Nonfiction about a subject you didn’t know about
- Biography or memoir
- Book involving mythological/fantastical creatures
- Work released >30 years ago
- Read something related to language in some way (other than being a language-learning textbook)
2024 prompt suggestions
- Read something with no reviews/gradings/ratings on Natively
- Read the book that has been in your 積読/TBR pile the longest
- Read an author you’ve never read before
- Read something that has won an award
- Read 1 vol. in a single day
- Read something at a higher Natively level than what you’ve read so far
- Read a book with a bad cover / read a book you bought or wanted to read despite the cover
- Read something that hasn’t been translated into your native language
- Read something with a one character title
- Read a book that takes place, at least partially, at a 神社⛩️
- Read a book where at least one character speaks a dialect
- Read a book with only kanji in the title/no kanji in the title
- Read something published during or after 2020
- Read the lowest-leveled book on your TBR list
- Read the second volume of a series
- Read something written before 1940
- Read something with a food related title
- Read a book suggested by the “what do I read next” megathread
- Read something with no other adaption
- Read something that has a different media adaption
- Read a book chosen randomly from your 積読/TBR pile (eg by lucky draw or an online random choice generator/selection idea list)
- Read a debut (an author’s first book, whether they’ve written more or not)
- Join/Participate in a Book Club
- Read something non fiction
- Read a book with a non human protagonist
- Read something from the free samples/something you can read for free (such as syosetsu, kakuyomu, tonarinoyj, etc)
- Read something where the setting is a workplace (any occupation is ok)
- Read a book published the year you started learning Japanese
- Read something that is historical fiction
- Read the prettiest book you own
- Select a book from your TBR using a qualifier (see omk3’s qualifier list)
- Read something chosen by someone else for you (can be from the forum or IRL people in your life, maybe someone random working in a nearby café
) - Read something suggested by the site you buy content from that you would normally ignore
- Read something wholesome
- Read a book that contains not even a mention of a middle- or high-schooler
- Read a book where the author shares a kana initial with you
- Read something with elderly main characters
- Read something nostalgic
- Read the cheapest (but not free) book you own
- Read a book that you added to Natively
- Finish a series (can be either one you are already reading or you can start a new one)
- Read something spicy
- Read a fiction version of a non fiction book
Hopefully you all find this to be an enjoyable enrichment of the venerated Natively bingo tradition. 
