2026 Bingo Reading Challenge ✅

Mara · February 21, 2026, 4:07pm

Okay, I’m kind of super glad that both of you felt that way too. I feel like maybe I have been gaslit about this book? I read/started reading it in English and COULD NOT DEAL with the high-octane misogynistic rants … But then other people said that they thought it was a “hopeful” book, or that they didn’t even really remember that part of the book …??? Were we reading the same book??? But then I thought maybe something happened after I stopped reading that really overshadowed that part of the book or something … I don’t know … Obviously I have feelings about it.

P.S. Discourse is not accurately portraying the number of question marks that I applied to those questions, lol.

CatDQ · February 21, 2026, 5:46pm

Finished 魔法少女ダンデライオン 1-3 (f) in record time. I’m not one for this type of genre but I loved every minute of it. The art style is gorgeous (it really makes me want to pick up drawing again) and I liked how different each character was. Some twists and turns I wasn’t expecting and I can’t wait for the volume 4 due out on 26/03/2026.

Got the next 2 series lined up, a one shot 週末、森で and all 14 volumes of ダンジョン飯. That should keep me going for a bit.

Past reads:

ルリドラゴン 1-4 (f)

Sandland 1 (f)

ドラゴンボール 1 (f)

マンガでたのしくわかる！空手 1 (f) - non fiction

ふらいんぐうぃっち 1-14 (f)

HopeWaterfall · February 21, 2026, 5:51pm

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve done an update, and my bingo board is starting to look a bit more full!

First is How to kill a witch, for my nonfiction prompt in English! Ironically my second prompt for English books, a book club book, is also filled with a nonfiction, Capitalism: a ghost story. I recommend both of them, How to kill a witch for a dive into witch trials, mostly in Scotland, and how they came to be, and Capitalism: a ghost story for a commentary on capitalism, specifically in the context of India. Both books are quite heavy, the first one because of descriptions of witch trials of course, and the second one because it dives into corruption, and atrocities commited in the Kashmir region.

Next was a much lighter read, 고양이 학교 1부, which is low-key making me disappointed that my prompt for has cats is for Japanese books, not Korean books, but it was recommended to me so that’s where it’s going instead! This was decent, a mid children’s books, but at least it features lots of cats. I won’t be continuing the series, but it would’ve been nice back when I started reading in Korean.

Next is my third book from 이꽃님, 당연하게도 나는 너를! I’ve been wanting to read this one for a while, and I can finally recommend it to people, instead of just saying that I’ve heard it’s nice. Weirdly I found this one a bit harder than the others, but I had the physical book, and it was still perfect for extensive reading. I do think I liked 세계를 and 죽이고 싶은 아이 more, but I still liked it, I just didn’t love it. I went with the prompt for a strange title, as that’s what I’d planned with this prompt from the beginning anyway.

Next is a book in Italian! And of course, a classic, Il piccolo principe. It’s almost a rite of passage at this point where I read The little prince in every language I’m learning, so I’m glad I was able to read it without issues. Since I already had a physical copy of it that I bought last year, this one goes into my TBR prompt.

Afterwards, it’s back to Korean with 밤을 건너는 소년, a book club book I should’ve finished a long time ago. I don’t really get this one, it feels like the author pulled the ending out of a hat and it’s just so random. It is a coming of age, but while it’s certainly unconventional, I really wish we’d gotten maybe 50 more page, some more foreshadowing to explain the mess that was the ending. Naturally, this goes into my past book club prompt.

Next is 따뜻한 글자 aka Warm letters, a poetry book. This one isn’t on Natively because it’s been published through Amazon, and is thus not available on Yes24. I’d heard good things about it so maybe my expectations were too high, but it ended up being just okay, not bad, but not great either, a lot of the poems didn’t really move me that much. There were some mythology focused poems though (about Narcissus for example), and those were my favorites. I just wish those were the majority, not the minority. Once again, I had a physical copy of this one, so this goes into my TBR prompt.

And finally, I present to you 12시간 뒤 1권! I’m really glad to have read this one, it’s part of the webnovels I’d told myself I would reread in Korean but last year I hadn’t managed to do so. Now though, I’ve finished the first volume, and while I have more to read, at least I’ve taken the first step to finishing this series. Economics vocab in Korean, here I come! It feels a bit weird to fill my final boss prompt so early in the year, but I did have this book in mind for this, so it makes sense.

I do think I might extend my bingo, if things continue going at the rate they’ve been going. So I could always add a prompt for a 한강 book, something that would surely challenge me even more. In the meantime though, I’m already loving how my board is looking. The one thing that’s bugging me is that I still have yet to finish a book in Japanese, but I’m literally almost there, so that’ll be remedied soon.

Past squares

Korean No reviews no gradings: 연어 | L30??
Korean Fantasy: 나 혼자만 레벨업 3
French TBR: Le village des sourds
Korean Reread: 죽이고 싶은 아이 | L25
Spanish TBR #1: LA OTRA ORILLA FG (FORMATO GRANDE) | L42
Italian Unusual genre: Novencento : un monologo
Italian Nonfiction: Il fascismo eterno
Spanish Poetry: Rimas y leyendas
English Nonfiction: How to kill a witch
Korean Rec’d to me: https://learnnatively.com/book/e5a95fea5c/
Korean What is this title?: https://learnnatively.com/book/db47de8b2a/
Italian TBR: Il piccolo principe
Korean Past book club: https://learnnatively.com/book/d420fc9bc4/
Korean TBR: 따뜻한 글자
Korean Final boss: https://learnnatively.com/book/abc4c19cce/
English Book club: Capitalism: a ghost story

Naphthalene · February 22, 2026, 1:14am

Yes, you are definitely reading the same book. I honestly didn’t remember about those rants until you mentioned it, but I do remember the end. Basically, that character is so awful that most of details about him went straight into the void. He is the absolute worst; I don’t need to pollute my mind with any additional information. On the other hand, I don’t know if I would call the end hopeful, but it was fine.

CatDQ · February 22, 2026, 12:51pm

That went quicker than expected for a non Furigana manga though there were a few words I had to look up either for readings or for meaning clarification but 週末、森で was less difficult than expected. A nice chilled out simplistic slice of life manga.

On to ダンジョン飯 1-14 now.

Part reads

ルリドラゴン 1-4 (f)

Sandland 1 (f)

ドラゴンボール 1 (f)

マンガでたのしくわかる！空手 1 (f) - non fiction

ふらいんぐうぃっち 1-14 (f)

魔法少女ダンデライオン 1-3 (f)

Edited to add a secondary Manga since ダンジョン飯 has no Furigana and will take me a while to get through until I get some of the vocab under my belt.

Secondary manga:
骨ドラゴンのマナ娘

suadang · February 23, 2026, 12:55am

Honestly if you do a 한강 book right now you are well and truly insane. If you end up deciding to do 소년이 온다 let’s buddy read.

I agree about 당연하게도. It’s a solid read and I’d call it her 3rd or 4th best book (the one it’s competing with is 행운이 너에게 다가오는 중) but it is a similar vibe as 죽이고 싶은 아이 without matching the tension and the highs of that book.

mitrac · February 23, 2026, 4:22pm

Convenience Store Woman comments for Mara - with spoilers and big feelings

I don’t generally join in discussions about that book because I also had a very different experience of it than most people. I feel like my comments kind of ruin the fun for what, for a lot of people, appears to be an enjoyable and entertaining book. So I’m always on the fence if I should even say anything.

I doubt disclaimers work, but here is mine: For anyone who enjoyed this book, I really would encourage you to just not bother reading what I have to say. My intention is to just offer some thoughts for anyone else who had a hard time with the book. I certainly don’t want to change anyone’s positive impressions of the book.

Summary

Here’s what I think is going on and why it feels like you are reading a different book: I think ones life experience affects how you read and interpret it. Also, what you’re expecting in terms of entertainment level vs philosophical musings. The marketing in English at least sets you up for a rip-roaring comedy. Having that expectation and then having it hit me with a different punch was a bitter experience, which is why I generally don’t discuss it. I am simply very negative about this book and had to rewrite my review a couple of times to make it at least fair.

For me it portrayed a very real scenario that isn’t funny or entertaining at all (to me). I don’t know how deep the author actually intended to pursue the concept of living a life outside of social norms, so that’s why I keep saying this might just be a me thing. But since you also have feelings about the book I just wanted to raise a me too hand. Here is my review (for the German one, but my review is in English), maybe it helps you feel less alone on that.

Here are the two worlds:

For someone who wants/reads the abstract book about living a vaguely defined life outside of social norms, yes it can give you the praised vibes (from Amazon) of: a feminist rallying cry and a must-read oddball comedy. In this world, it’s possible that the character described is so extreme that the reader (and maybe author?) doesn’t entertain the possibility of that person actually being alive in the real world.
But if you are reading it from the perspective of imagining or knowing: there are literally people who don’t live this life out of choice, then it is missing quite a lot of nuance and it is more like a slap in the face. With that perspective, this life has nothing to do with feminism and it is not comedic. It’s confusing, vulnerable, and often ends tragically. The book ignores (or is unaware of) this reality which is why it was a bitter read for me.

It clearly touched a very personal nerve and I recognise I’m in a very slim minority reading and interpreting it like this.

HopeWaterfall · February 23, 2026, 8:36pm

I love a good challenge! And tbh even if I don’t succeed in reading it this year, I’ll get to try again later and see my progress. Btw, do you have any idea what the approximate Natively level of 한강 novels is?

My comprehension for 소년이 온다 is lower than what I’m used to, at 91%. I wonder what makes up most of those unknown words though, because at least when reading through the first few pages on the Yes24 preview, it’s surprisingly not that hard? Like, L30 ish maybe, but surely if it was that for the whole book then my comprehension would be much higher.

suadang · February 23, 2026, 8:47pm

honestly I don’t really understand natively levels but the vegetarian has to be at least 38 with the changing viewpoints and bizarre shit going on

I know 소년이 온다 has 사투리. I’m not sure what else makes it hard. I also had 91% comp on it at the beginning of 2025, extremely low compared to other books with 97+, and now I have 98% comp shockingly

Mara · February 26, 2026, 3:05pm

Non-modern time period: https://learnnatively.com/book/5c5dc529a3/

WK speedrun club is responsible for my third finished book of the year! (Harta are magazines.) It was lovely and sweet, made me laugh and even feel a little giddy.

I’m anticipating easily filling the fantasy square, and so far every other square I’ve filled lines up for a potential bingo using that square. Actually … should I use this on for title double-take? I literally still don’t know what the title means. Then non-modern can be reserved for 怪人二十面相 …

Title doubletake! https://learnnatively.com/book/5c5dc529a3/

Okay, and I did my due diligence and looked up うららか (空が晴れて、日が柔らかくのどかに照ってさま) and めおと (夫と妻).

B	I	N	G	O
Past club	Finish a series	Cats and Dogs	Title doubletake	Fantasy
Dropped	Meta	Nonfiction	About language	Non-modern
One word title	Someone’s card	Reread	SF	Unseen lifeform
Pretty	Ghosts	Mythological	New author	Multiple contributors
Queer	Final Boss	Natively Unreviewed	MC hidden identity	Award

HopeWaterfall · February 26, 2026, 5:31pm

Another bingo update, this time with Japanese!

First was ハピネス 1 | L15, which I managed to finish in just a few days. I will be continuing this series, the level really is nice, and it just gave me that extra bit of confidence that I needed to tackle the next book! This goes into keep hearing about it because indeed, I feel like I keep seeing people recommending this one, or I’ll just see it pop up every so often in the activity feed.

Indeed, I’d been reading 10分で読めるこわい話 1年生 | L18, as first as part of the book club and then life happened so I ended up continuing it recently. Except the last few stories didn’t have the vocab sheet to go with it! But I pushed through, and it actually went surprisingly well with just the occasional manual lookup. The stories were pretty fun and entertaining, but the lack of kanji made everything harder than it needed to be, so if I end up reading other books from this series, I’ll go with a higher grade level. Of course, this one is going into new lifeform/creature, as that’s basically the premise of the whole book, one strange scary creature for every short story.

Then, we come back to Korean with 눈물 상자 | L26. This was short, but that’s in part why I picked it, as I read it through a free online library. In hindsight I could’ve gone with something longer as I finished it a few hours after getting it, but I do have a longer book I’ve reserved which should come soon . Back to the story though, this was quite interesting! It very much gave fable vibes, with a lesson at the end. That being said, this is perfect for my library book prompt.

Next is 시간 고양이 | L27, for the buddy read prompt! I still have to write my full thoughts down in the thread, I’ll do that soon, but this was pretty fun to read. Definitely another children’s book to add to the interesting but not too difficult list. Ironically I still have yet to find my physical copy of it, maybe next year lol, but reading the ebook means I got to binge read the second half of it in three reading sessions one after the other, because it was indeed quite interesting. So everything turned out fine!

And finally, we have yet another volume of 나 혼자만 레벨업, this time it’s volume 4! Super fun as usual, and I’m really starting to get a hang of the vocab, my comprehension for the whole series has just reached 96%. This one just so happens to fit perfectly with the hidden identity prompt, because the main character, as S rank hunter, is still pretending to be a weak E rank hunter, and he even joins a mining team in a dungeon under that pretense .

Past squares

Korean No reviews no gradings: 연어 | L30??
Korean Fantasy: 나 혼자만 레벨업 3
French TBR: Le village des sourds
Korean Reread: 죽이고 싶은 아이 | L25
Spanish TBR #1: LA OTRA ORILLA FG (FORMATO GRANDE) | L42
Italian Unusual genre: Novencento : un monologo
Italian Nonfiction: Il fascismo eterno
Spanish Poetry: Rimas y leyendas
English Nonfiction: How to kill a witch
Korean Rec’d to me: 고양이 학교 1부 1 | L25
Korean What is this title?: 당연하게도 나는 너를 | L26
Italian TBR: Il piccolo principe
Korean Past book club: 밤을 건너는 소년 | L26
Korean TBR: 따뜻한 글자
Korean Final boss: 12시간 뒤 1권 | L31
English Book club: Capitalism: a ghost story
Japanese Keep hearing about it: ハピネス 1 | L15
Japanese New creature/lifeform: 10分で読めるこわい話 1年生 | L18
Korean Library book: 눈물 상자 | L26
Korean Buddy read: 시간 고양이 | L27
Korean Hidden identity: 나 혼자만 레벨업 4권

nikoru · February 28, 2026, 1:27pm

OK the difficult book カインの末裔 | L40 turned out to be really difficult for me, but I made it! (Also just in time for the BookMeter review challenge!)

Now there are a few book clubs waiting for me so I will tend to them first going forward…

gillianfaith · February 28, 2026, 7:49pm

I realized that I didn’t add anything to my bingo card this month, so I crammed the rest of a manga today just to fill a square for February

O4 - Setting that isn’t modern: λの箱舟 | L32?? (‘Ark of Lambda’)

This one doesn’t have a confirmed level yet to contribute to my understand-Natively-levels goal, but it’s one of the manga that’s taken the most effort for me to read so far, and my comfort level is probably a few levels below it. I still had a great time with it, and what made it difficult for me wasn’t all due to the language, but I definitely was running out of stamina and feeling brain-soupy after cramming half of it in one sitting.

On the same day of Ludy’s release from prison in 1920s England, his linguistics-professor father has his work stolen by his anonymous client, bringing to light that he has been under surveillance following his codebreaking activities during the war. Despite their strained relationship, Ludy appoints himself his father’s bodyguard, while the professor’s live-in secretary, Valentine, keeps an eye on them both and learns more about the family she spends her days with.

I’m a sucker for family relationships, so I found this book incredibly charming. There are lots of instances where it’s hard to figure out who is saying what, or where scenes suddenly change, or where characters appear out of nowhere, making it difficult to follow what’s going on. But regardless, the cast is likeable with good chemistry and the mood is light, making it a fun read. The story doesn’t take itself too seriously, so though I wouldn’t go as far as to call it a comedy, it definitely embraces the potential for silliness in each situation and takes advantage of it to show off the characters’ personalities and make their weird little family endearing.

-

Also just throwing it out there: like last year, I have a (Japanese) list of books people have been reading, if it helps anyone else out with the “book from someone else’s bingo card” prompt: Someone else's bingo 2026 | Japanese list by gillianfaith | Natively

And for any Storygraph users, you can spy on people’s books in the challenge there, too: https://app.thestorygraph.com/reading_challenges/06b30994-1834-4177-a842-bf859f69dcca

Kroki · February 28, 2026, 9:12pm

I own it and it was wishlisted before the beginning of the year, so I’ll count it as a valid candidate.

It’s… too many novels to read outside of the book clubs tbh…

But now (that Kaoruko cover is out and I chose the office thing for cats) I have all squares planned for the year.

Finished since the last update:
Going in blind https://learnnatively.com/book/2bb1a82b22/ 5 out of 5 volumes. This was so pretty and cute awwww.

Not modern setting https://learnnatively.com/book/d3af14b832 4 out of 4 volumes. More nsfw that I like between my lovely nobility&misunderstandings plot

Book club FLESH & BLOOD 1 | L35 Vol 1. This was the hardest novel I’ve read to the day. But it also proved that I CAN read hard stuff.

Mara · February 28, 2026, 11:26pm

Amazing!! Thank you so much! I love this prompt and I will feel so honored if anyone chooses one of my books for their “someone else’s card” prompt! Right now I’m eyeing @mitrac’s Frieren. xD

nikoru · February 28, 2026, 11:39pm

This is such a great idea! Thank you for setting this up

gillianfaith · February 28, 2026, 11:55pm

It’s just a casual for-me list, so I may miss some, and like last year I’ll probably give up on updating it after 6 months (oops), but I’m happy if it helps people fill that square! It’s also just kinda fun to record and see the variety of what everyone’s read in one place.

suadang · March 1, 2026, 4:46am

You should add some of my books lol. I read a lot of Japanese books in Korean. But red clover was horrible. 눈에 갇힌 외딴 산장에서 or whatever was good

Snappie · March 1, 2026, 10:41am

That’s amazing, thank you!
I bookmarked that immediately.

eefara · March 1, 2026, 1:53pm

Whoa, thank you so much! This is super helpful! Makes me wish we could subdivide lists into different book types for easier viewing…

If you ever get tired of updating it yourself, you could always add people as contributors and they could add their own books or whatnot. Might accidentally get a little messy keeping books in order, but it’s an option.