Sapphic Book Bingo 2025

Happy New Year and welcome to the Sapphic Book Bingo 2025!

This year, I’m running an annual reading challenge for the seventh time, and I hope it will help you discover new favorite sapphic books and authors all year long!

 

What is the Sapphic Book Bingo?

The Sapphic Book Bingo is a fun, year-long event for readers of sapphic fiction. It runs from January 1 to December 31, 2025. You can join any time you want.

 

Why is it called Sapphic Book Bingo?

In case you aren’t familiar with the term sapphic: It comes from the Greek poet Sappho, who wrote about love and passion between women.

Compared to terms such as lesbian, WLW (women-loving women), or F/F, sapphic is a more inclusive term. It includes any woman who’s attracted to women as well as nonbinary people and intersex people who identify as sapphic (not all nonbinary or intersex people do).

 

The rules of the Sapphic Book Bingo

• The Sapphic Book Bingo will run from January 1 to December 31, 2025, and you’re welcome to jump in at any point without the need for registration—just dive into your reading!
• The aim is to complete the entire bingo card by reading one book for each square. If tackling 25 sapphic books in 2025 seems a bit much, consider aiming for just one line (horizontal, vertical, or diagonal) of the bingo card, which requires reading 5 sapphic books.
• Two bingo cards are available for you to choose from: a regular 25-square card and a Micro-Tropes card featuring 12 categories. You can opt for the regular card, the Micro-Tropes card, or challenge yourself by completing both—it’s entirely up to you.
• Each book you choose must feature at least one sapphic main character (see the definition of sapphic above).
• Each book can only be used once per card, even if it fits several different squares. Exception: If you read the same book twice in 2025, you can use it for two different squares.
• I’ll post book recommendations for a different square on my blog three to four times a month. You’re free to select a book from these lists or pick any other sapphic book that fits the category. If you want to get each recommended-books list sent to your inbox, you can sign up for my blog.
• Only books started and finished in 2025 will count towards the challenge.
• Books can be any format—ebook, paperback, or audiobook.
• Books can be any language. In fact, there’s even a German version of the reading challenge.
• The books you’re reading for the Sapphic Book Bingo don’t have to be exclusively novels. Novellas, anthologies, fanfiction, and graphic novels count too. You can even throw in a few short stories.
• Not every book you read for the Sapphic Book Bingo needs to be new-to-you. Re-reads of books you’ve previously enjoyed count too.
• Email me your filled-out bingo card by December 31, 2025, at 10 am German time, to be entered into the drawing (see below for the prizes you can win).
• If you are a voracious reader who reads more than 25 sapphic books a year, feel free to send in several bingo cards. You’ll get one entry into the giveaway for each completed card.

 

The prizes

The real prize, of course, is discovering a lot of awesome books and new favorite authors.

But there’ll also be a big giveaway at the end of the year. Everyone who sends in their bingo card with at least one complete line will be entered into the drawing.

There will be 15 winners:

• I’ll draw 5 winners among those readers who send in a bingo card with one complete line. Each of these winners wins 1 ebook.
• I’ll draw 5 winners among those readers who send in a completed Micro-Tropes card. Each of these winners wins 2 ebooks.
• I’ll draw 5 winners among those readers who send in a complete bingo card, with all 25 squares filled out. Each of these winners wins a bundle of 5 books—a mix of paperbacks and ebooks or all ebooks (winner’s choice).

Email me your filled-in bingo card—either the filled-in PDF you can download below or a screenshot/photo of it—by December 31. I’ll draw the winners on December 31, 2025, at 10 a.m. Central European Time, using a random numbers generator.

 

The regular Sapphic Book Bingo card

Here are the 25 categories for the main bingo card. I’ll post a new recommended-reading list three times a month on Thursdays. I put together a mix of popular tropes and topics as well as categories that’ll push you to try new books and diversify your reading. I encourage you to read diversely, from a wide spectrum of authors and genres.

You can download a PDF of the regular bingo card. Fill it in with the titles of the sapphic books you read in 2025. You can either type in the PDF or print it out and fill it in by hand.

 

The categories for the regular Sapphic Book Bingo card

For book recommendations, you can click on the links for each of the categories I have already posted:

1. Combines 2 tropes you love: Read a sapphic book that contains two tropes you both love. For example, if you enjoy ice queen characters and workplace romances, you could read my novel Bachelorette Number Twelve, which combines those two tropes.
2. Trapped together: Read a sapphic book in which the main characters are physically trapped together during most of the book, e.g., snowed in, trapped in an elevator, stranded on a remote island, etc.
3. Witty banter: Read a sapphic book in which the main characters exchange clever, humorous dialogue, playful teasing, or snarky comebacks.
4. Spicy or steamy romance: Read a sapphic romance that includes at least one but usually several sizzling love scenes.
5. Entertainment industry: Read a sapphic book featuring a main character involved in the entertainment industry, e.g., an actress, singer, musician, writer, filmmaker, etc.
6. Childhood friends-to-lovers romance: Read a sapphic book in which the main characters were childhood friends who fall in love as adults.
7. Sapphic romantasy: Read a sapphic romantasy—a genre that blends romance and fantasy, e.g., a love story set in a world filled with magic, mythical creatures, and epic adventures.
8. Characters are co-workers: Read a sapphic book in which the main characters work together, whether they’re colleagues in an office, teammates on a project, or partners in a business.
9. Free book: Read a sapphic book that you (legally) got for free, e.g., as a gift from a family member, friend, or the author. Many authors have a free story for you to download on their website (you’ll find mine here). I’ll post a huge list of free books for you to download in May. Note: Books in Kindle Unlimited are not free since you pay a monthly subscription fee. Alternatively, you can read any book of your choice for this square.
10. Set Down Under: Read a sapphic book that takes place in Australia, New Zealand, or one of the Pacific islands.
11. New or new-to-you author: Read a sapphic book by an author who is either new (hasn’t published more than two full-length novels) or new to you.
12. Sapphic shape-shifter novel: Read a sapphic book with a main character who is a shape-shifter or a were creature (werewolf, werecat, etc.).
13. Suspenseful book: Read a sapphic book that keeps you on the edge of your seat, filled with tension, twists, and high stakes. Typically, you find most suspense in genres such as mystery, thriller, crime fiction, or romantic suspense.
14. Sloth burn: Read a sapphic book in which the romance develops excruciatingly slowly, but the eventual payoff is worth the wait. “Sloth burn” is a tongue-in-cheek term for a very slow slow-burn romance.
15. Character rides a motorcycle: Read a sapphic book featuring a main character who rides a motorcycle.
16. Strong initial dislike: Read a sapphic book in which the main characters start out strongly disliking each other.
17. Set on an island: Read a sapphic book where a significant portion of the story takes place on an island.
18. Ice queen or grumpy character: Read a sapphic book featuring a main character who’s either an ice queen—cold, aloof, and powerful—or a grumpy character with a prickly personality.
19. Vegetarian or vegan character: Read a sapphic book in which at least one of the main characters is a vegetarian or vegan.
20. Includes an epilogue: Read a sapphic book that features an epilogue, a section at the end of the novel that typically takes place months or even years after the main events of the book have concluded.
21. Mental health rep: Read a sapphic book with accurate and respectful mental health representation. For example, the main character could struggle with anxiety, depression, PTSD, or other mental health issues.
22. Set during your favorite season: Read a sapphic book that takes place during your favorite season. For example, if spring is your favorite season, read a sapphic book that is set (mostly) in spring.
23. Hiking or camping: Read a sapphic book where the main characters go hiking or camping. It could be a camping trip, a deluxe glamping getaway, or a story of survival in the wilderness.
24. Character has a big family: Read a sapphic romance with a main character who has a big family.
25. Cat on the cover: Read a sapphic book that has a cat on the cover. It could be a housecat or a big cat such as a lion or a tiger.

 

The Micro-Tropes bingo card

This year, I’ve thought of something different for the second book bingo card: It’s a Micro-Trope card!

You’re probably familiar with the term trope—a recurring theme, character archetype, or common element that shapes the plot, e.g., enemies-to-lovers romance.

Unlike tropes, micro-tropes aren’t essential to the entire book and don’t determine the plot.

Micro-tropes are those little moments or scenes that we all love and look forward to—small elements that add to our enjoyment of the story and that come up often enough that they have become recognizable.

The Micro-Tropes card is a 3×4 grid instead of a 5×5 grid, so there’s a total of 12 categories.

I’ll post a recommended-reads list for one category of the Micro-Tropes card once a month.

You can download a PDF of the Micro-Tropes card here. You can either type in the PDF or print it out and fill it in by hand.

 

The categories for the Micro-Tropes bingo card

Here are the 12 categories of the Micro-Tropes bingo card:

1. Almost kiss: Read a sapphic book where the characters come close to kissing but something interrupts the moment or they stop before their lips can touch.
2. Up-against-a-wall sex: Read a sapphic book in which the characters have sex with one of them physically pressed against a wall (or a door or a countertop, etc.)
3. Flirting via text messages: Read a sapphic book where the characters flirt with each other through text messages.
4. Unique nicknames: Read a sapphic book where the main characters have a special nickname for each other that no other character uses. It has to be a nickname that is unique to their relationship, not a common endearment like “honey” or “baby.”
5. Wearing the other character’s clothes: Read a sapphic book where one character wears the other’s clothes, e.g., a sweatshirt.
6. Only one bed: Read a sapphic book in which the two characters are forced to share a bed.
7. Watching fireworks together: Read a sapphic book with a scene in which two characters watch a fireworks display together, e.g., on New Year’s Eve or the Fourth of July.
8. Accidental admission of love: Read a sapphic book in which one character accidentally confesses their love to the other character, e.g., an unplanned outburst.
9. Teaching the other character a skill: Read a sapphic book in which one main character teaches the other a practical skill, e.g., cooking, fighting, etc.
10. “Who did this to you” or “Who hurt you?”: Read a sapphic book where one character has been physically or emotionally hurt and the other flies into a protective rage, demanding to know “who did this to you?” or “who hurt you?” or something similar.
11. Comforting the other character after a nightmare: Read a sapphic book in which one character comforts the other after a nightmare.
12. Mistletoe kiss: Read a sapphic book in which two characters share a kiss under the mistletoe.

 

Don’t miss the first square of the Sapphic Book Bingo

I’ll post the book recommendations for the first category of the Sapphic Book Bingo tomorrow.

To make sure you don’t miss it, subscribe to my blog, and I’ll send the post to your inbox!

 

Need more book recommendations to fill your bingo card?

As I said, you’ll get weekly book recommendations on this blog. I’ll share 15 books for one category every Thursday.

But if you need more book recommendations, here are a few options:

If you are on Facebook and want book recommendations from other readers to fill your bingo card—or you just want to chat about the books you love, feel free to join my Facebook group for readers. It’s a private group, so only members can see who’s in it and what we are discussing.

We keep a folder to which authors are adding little cards that help you see what categories of the Sapphic Book Bingo their books fit into. Here’s an example:

If you prefer Goodreads over Facebook, I also set up a Goodreads group for the Sapphic Book Bingo.

Two wonderful readers have also added the Sapphic Book Bingo as a reading challenge on StoryGraph. Here are the links to the main card categories and the Micro-Tropes categories.

I also put together a site that shows you where my own books fit into the Sapphic Book Bingo as well as the 2025 I Heart SapphFic Reading Challenge.

 

Leave a comment

Please leave a comment below and let us know which bingo card you will pick for this year’s reading challenge. Are you aiming to complete the 25 squares of the regular bingo card? Just one line? Or will you take on the Micro-Tropes card?

 

Previous reading challenges

Sapphic Book Bingo 2024

Sapphic Book Bingo 2023

Sapphic Book Bingo 2022

Sapphic Reading Challenge in 2021

F/F Fiction Crossword Challenge in 2020

Lesbian Book Bingo in 2018