2026 Uncorked Reading Challenge Bingo: Indulge, Escape, & Cozy Up With A Good Book

Cozy up with a good book with Uncorked 2026 Reading Challenge Bingo. Join at any time with quarterly bingo cards – and surprise bonus ones – filled with themes related to travel, seasons, nature, slowing down, cozy everything, and more. Plus, indulge in delicious foodie treats.

With suggestions from our Uncorked Readers Facebook Group, put on your coziest sweater, dust off the gardening tools (well…), and look to the sky for a rainbow. Pet a talking cat, and get ready for a season of rest and renewal. With so much doom scrolling and division, this challenge is meant to be a kind break from it all. Hug and love yourself with a good book. It’s a year of self-care.

We are an incredibly chill group here at The Uncorked Librarian. Below, see how you can participate in our reading challenge in any way that works for you. Grab a bevie of your choosing, snap a photo with a furbaby, and get ready for another great year of Uncorked Reading Bingo. I cannot wait to see how creative you are with these themes, which are always open for interpretation. 💜 Christine

2026 Reading Challenge Directions

Read as much or as little as you like. This is an entirely customizable bingo reading challenge with no strict schedule. Some of our readers swap books for movies, TV shows, or drinks. The “rules” are simple:

• Bingo cards span three months; complete 1 or all 4; join in or leave at any time. I offer surprise bonus cards throughout the year, and our Facebook group shares non-challenge reads and reviews.
• Score a “bingo” in any direction – horizontal, vertical, or diagonal (3 spaces total). For fun, complete the entire card or as much as you like.
• Take the free space as a free choice or count it as already done.
• If the topic is “Gem Destination,” read a fiction or nonfiction book from, about, or set in a gem destination. Audiobooks, of course, count.
• Grab bingo cards by clicking on and saving them, taking a screenshot, signing up for our newsletter, using our editable Canva template, and/or joining our Facebook group. It’s not required to use our bingo cards. Track and share reads in any way that works for you, even in our group.
• Share what you are reading in our Facebook group, Uncorked Readers.
• Head over to StoryGraph, and track your challenge progress. Follow fellow Uncorked Readers and me (Christine) on Goodreads.
• Use the hashtag #UncorkedReading and tag us @ theuncorkedlibrarian when talking about the challenge on social media.
• Invite your bookish friends.
• Rules are meant to be broken. Themes are up for interpretation.
• Have fun!

2026 Uncorked Reading Challenge Bingo Cards & Prompts

Find four bingo cards with unique prompts spanning three months (over the course of the year), paired with reading lists and specific titles. Please check back each season as we update with even more great book lists and recommendations.

The final 2025 Uncorked Bingo Card and Fall Bonus Card are at the bottom of the 2026 challenge. It’s not too late to join.

January, February, and March

January through March topics include:

• 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.

April, May, and June

April through June topics include:

• 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.

July, August, and September

July through September topics include:

• 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 the shore with this theme. Or, maybe it’s sand in an hourglass… Something super small?! Grains…
• 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).

October, November, and December (2026)

October through December topics include:

• 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.

End Of Uncorked 2025 Reading Challenge Bingo

October, November, and December 2025

October through December 2025 topics include:

• Country You Want To Learn About
• Detective(s)
• Book That Scares You – This could be page length, bad reviews, too much hype, politics, or literally a horror story with ​ghosts​, ​haunted houses​, etc. We have ​vampire comics​, ​witches in comics​, ​horror graphic novels​, ​folk horror books​, ​LGBTQ+ horror books​, ​horror novellas​…
• Magic – Whether you love magical realism, people with magical powers, or witches, find a book that leaves you spellbound.
• Book with a hobby – Read about baking, knitting, or reading. Grab a book about a hobby you love or one you want to take up.
• Blue Or Purple Cover
• Mental Health
• I Read It For The Cover

Bonus Fall 2025 Reading Challenge Card

Because we love autumn, enjoy a bonus fall reading challenge card:

• Curses Or Mythology
• Family Saga Or Ancestors
• Moody
• Leaves Or Pumpkins On The Cover
• Cozy Covens – Read my favorite witchy books or meet the best witches in comic books and graphic novels.
• Warm Bevie Or Treat
• Gilmore Girls-esque – Read a classic book since Rory loves them. Or, read a book featured on the show. My friend Jules of Friday Night Readers has a comprehensive Rory Gilmore Reading List. Think anything mother-daughter relationships, family, coffee, diners, gossip, pop culture, c**t following, Connecticut, New England, or cozy small town. (We have a Stars Hollow Asheville post for inspo, too!).
• Orange Or Brown Cover

Let’s Get The Conversation Started

What theme are you most excited about? Do you have any questions? You can always email me, Christine, ([email protected]) or comment below. Happy Uncorked Reading!

P.S. We are not doing printable PDFs or multiple versions of bingo cards in 2026. New cards will automatically be emailed out to previous participants still on our mailing list. No need to sign up again.