Conversations With Kav – Summer Reading Fun + Giveaway

Eeeepppp! This might be the fault of the recent bout of hot, summery weather and me sweltering in the garden, but I had this brain wave (or it could have been heatstroke) when I thought, ‘wouldn’t it be fun to create the first ever Best Reads Readathon?’ One with a summer theme…like, oh, light bulb moment, a Best Reads Summer Book Bingo event! So here we are with an official Bingo card and everything (three cheers for me getting more proficient on Canva.) And, of course, there has to be a prize!

US winner will receive a $25 Baker Book House e gift card. Canada winners will have a choice between a $25 Amazon or Indigo gift card. Stay tuned for details on how the giveaway will work, but first, drumroll please…

How to Play (and how to have a chance to win!)

  • Bingo runs from June 1 (today!) to August 31 2025
  • Read a book that fits a prompt (or prompts) to fill in a square (or squares)
  • So yes, that means, one book could fit multiple prompts. Example: if you read a historical book featuring a summer house party with a croquet scene that involved a romance written by a new-to-you author you could mark off 4 squares (summer setting, includes a summer sport, historical romance, new-to-you author)
  • 12 chances at a Bingo – 5 rows across, 5 rows down, 2 diagonal rows
  • Your name will be entered into a draw every time you get a Bingo (so the potential for 12 times)
  • Bonus round: Fill your entire card to have your name entered 5 more times
  • Once you’ve achieved a Bingo, submit the prompts and corresponding books to me at kavluvstoread@yahoo.ca. using BINGO in the subject field
  • Technically, you have until midnight EST August 31 to submit all your entries, but it would be easier on me to have them trickling in throughout the summer.
  • Winner will be announced on Saturday September 6 2025

More About the Prompts:

  • Summer Setting: a book set in June, July or August (or, if it’s set in Australia or New Zealand, November, December or January.)
  • Water on the cover: a body of water like a lake or ocean or you could get creative – glass of water, drop from a faucet etc.
  • Beach Read: the kind of read you want to take on holiday with you
  • Yellow on Cover: doesn’t have to be the whole cover, but enough of a splash to be noticable
  • Travel is part of the plot: up to your descetion, but the travel should play an important role in the plot. So, a holiday romance might involve a trip to a cottage in Maine or a mystery might involve traveling from town to town to follow clues
  • A flower in the title or on the cover: Can be literally the word flower or any specific flower in the title or, obviously, any kind of flower in the cover art.
  • Holiday romance: a romance that takes place during a summer vacation
  • Short Story or novella: self-explanatory
  • Includes a summer sport: I’m thinking of sports like swimming, skate boarding, baseball, horseshoes 🙂 frisbee etc
  • Part of a series: any book in a series
  • Contemporary Romance: self-explanatory
  • Garden/Farm Theme: story where gardening, specific garden setting or farming plays an important part in the story
  • Summer Release: book released in June, July or August, any year
  • Historical Romance: self-explanatory
  • Mention of a refreshing beverage: thirst quenching lemonade on the porch, guzzling down a cool glass of water after working on a hot day, Southern sweet tea, iced cola, frosty milkshake (I’m getting thirsty!) etc.
  • Christian Fiction: self-explanatory
  • Indie authored: self-explanatory
  • Family centred story: where family plays an important role in the story. Could be a single mom or dad. Could involve an extended family working together. The relationship between a grandparent and child. A multi-generational story. etc.
  • Animal Secondary Character: Any kind of significant critter sidekick.
  • Comfort Read: this will be different for everyone. For me it’s a reread or a cozy mystery
  • New-to-you author: self explanatory
  • Suspense/Mystery: a book with a significant suspense/mystery plot.
  • Friend Recommendation: a book recommended by a ‘real life’ or online friend. 🙂
  • On TBR / Wishlist since last summer: this is the book that’s gotten away for nearly a year. Now is the time to chase it down and finally read it!
  • Outside of Comfort Zone: could be a genre or a trope. Something you usually avoid. For me it would be love triangles, secret babies or sci-fi.

Phew! I think that’s everything. Feel free to ask any questions in the comments. And let the summer reading begin!

47 thoughts on “Conversations With Kav – Summer Reading Fun + Giveaway”

    1. Exactly. Whenever I participate in a readathon I don’t read for the prompts. I just read whatever I want and when I finish the book, I check to see if it met any of the prompts. If yes, Yay! If no, oh well. 🙂 Happy Reading, Stephanie!

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  2. Stephanie brought my question to mind. I’ve just started reading a book that will fill a few of those squares when I’m done. So am I understanding correctly that any book we finish from today on will work? So no past reads, correct? And do retro-reads count as long as we read them from June through August? Hey, don’t judge. It’s only 7:30 AM here. My brain’s just getting revved up! hahahaha

    Can you imagine all the work it’s going to be for you when you start getting BINGOS? There’s some fanatical readers in this group, me included. LOL! Are you certain you’re ready for this? Sounds like so much fun! EEP!

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    1. Also it is still Spring officially til Jun 20th no matter how hot it’s been in the South, so no checking that middle box just yet. We’ve had temps in the 80s & 90s & it def feels like summer already! 😅

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      1. I always think of June as the beginning of summer though, honestly, the weather is being so wonky this year. It’s freezing this weekend and raining. Like 7 which is 44 F and yet it’s going to up 29, 84 F by the middle of the week! My poor tomatoes are so confused!!

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    2. Yes, any book you finish from today through the end of August counts. The book has to he read (or listened to) during these three months. And they don’t have to be new releases — retro reads and rereads count as well as long as they’ve been read in June, July or August.

      I already have a little Bingo book ready to add entries to so I think I’ll be able to stay on top of things fairly well. Hoping it will be a lot of fun! Happy Reading, Diane!

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      1. Thanks, Kav. I thought I understood but with my morning brain fog I wanted to be sure. lol It rained here for a few days & our temps dropped. My petunias looked droopy & sad as if to say, What is going on here? Now they’re happy and all is right with their world once again. They don’t care if I’m sweltering, selfish beauties. I hope your tomatoes will be ok. Spring doesn’t let go without fooling us a few times 1st.

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  3. I love this idea, Kav! Yay you for thinking of it! Bookish games can be so much fun. I guess I’ll spend today plotting some of my future book reads and where they’ll fit. Nerd that I am, I’m going to draw out my own bingo card. The only one I think I’ll have trouble with is outside my comfort zone, but for the game I’ll find one.

    My only question is does each entry need its own email or can multiple entries come in one email. Whichever is easier for you, let us know.

    Maybe when emailing we could put something like- 5 Bingo entries in subject line, or whatever number?

    This reminds me of the Book It reading club my kids participated in to get a free Pizza Hut personal pizza after reading a number of books. Give me free books any day 🙂

    Thanks for the Bookish Summer Fun! The book I’m reading now will fit in several categories, but I’m only going to use each book in one square since I read so much.

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    1. Oops, I should have finished my coffee before asking that question, thinking cap was not properly in place, ugh. I would have to have 5 books completed to get that one entry, horizontally, vertically or diagonally. Just act like I was fully caffeinated and didn’t ask that question, haha.

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      1. I feel the same way after re-reading mine. And I don’t even drink caffeine so can you imagine the trouble I’m in? lol But you wouldn’t necessarily have to have 5 books if that book fits say like 4 of the categories & another book fits the remaining one. Right? Now I’m confusing myself. Looking all across the board the book I’m reading now fits like 6 of the categories but not straight in a row.

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      2. Diane, you’re right, a book could fit in multiple boxes, but I’ve decided to challenge myself and read a different box for each box, so 25 books total 🙂

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      4. I bet if you were a writer you would be a plotter not a punster, Tracey! 🙂 And, yeah, the out of comfort zone read is giving me the stink eye right now too. Bwahahaha!

        You can shoot me an email each time you fill up a Bingo row or wait until you have the whole card filled out if you want. Depends on how you like to hedge your bets. I’m going to enter reader’s names as the emails come in and that’s the order I’ll add them to the generator wheel to do the draw so it’s up to you to decide whether you feel like you have a better chance scattering your name throughout the list or having all your entries clumped up together in one place. 🙂 Hope that makes sense. Happy Reading. Tracey!

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      5. I have a great idea for you & Kav’s out of comfort zone reads, Tracey. Nancy Mehl! Bwahahaha Actually the 1st book in her new series wasn’t any worse than Lynette Eason’s. Interesting. I’m concerned about my out of comfort zone read. Because right now I can only think of 1 & I’m not doing that again. And I’m not doing fantasy or science fiction, so, oh boy!

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      6. Haha Diane, no can do, I wouldn’t read a scary book for a guaranteed $1,000 gift card!

        I’m going with Kav’s suggestion of tropes I don’t care for and reading a secret baby/kid trope. I really don’t enjoy them at all, but I’ve found one by Kathryn Springer, who I do like, and reading her latest LI that I haven’t read yet.

        So, I take it you’re not venturing into another sister book anytime soon? LOL

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      7. Tracey, hahahaha. You guessed it! Not even for any amount gift card either. {{shudder}} I don’t like cozies, so maybe one of those or secret baby trope, IDK. I’ll find something outta my comfort zone. I just heard Kav gasp all the way from Canada when I said I am not a fan of cozy mysteries. LOL!

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      8. Oooh, I remember you saying the latest Nancy Mehl book isn’t as gruesomely scary as her other ones so maybe that will be my toe dabbling into out of comfort zone reads. Plus my library has it. 🙂 Thanks for the suggestion, Diane. And brave Tracey, willing to tackle a secret baby trope!

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  4. Know the timeline of the BINGO, but is there also a timeline of when the books are read? Are they books read during the same time or can they be books read this year or sooner?

    2clowns at arkansas dot net

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  5. Look at you getting the hang of Canva AND creating a summer reading challenge!!! You go, girl! I will try to participate just to support you 😉 Hopefully books I have lined up fills the prompts, LOL!

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    1. Thanks, Cindy (she says, modestly patting herself on the back.) 🙂 And yes, no need to make a complicated reading plan. Just see if what you read fits into any of the prompts. It’s highly likely you’ll make at least one Bingo. I’m all about no-stress summer reading!

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    1. My friend’s library does a summer reading program for adults as well as kids which I think is so much fun. She lives in a small town but their library has way more creative programming then my big city one does. Happy Reading, Caryl!

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    1. Ooooh, that’s very organized of you, Patty. Glad you are going to participate. If I was more technology minded I could have made a downloadable bingo card for easy access, but less, my gifting does not lie with anything computer related. 🙂 Happy Reading!

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  11. Seriously, how fun is this???? I’m finishing a book in the next day or so that checks EIGHT boxes right off the bat.

    Who knew books could covet so many prompts? 😁 Happy reading everyone!

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      1. Bwahaha — I like the idea of books coveting prompts, all vying to be the most popular! Love that you found one that fits so many prompts. Happy Reading, Trixi!

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      3. LOL, Paula!!! 😂😂

        It’s an ARC copy of Jill Kemerer’s July Love Inspired releases “His New Companion” (for review).

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  15. Kav, what would you consider as a “short story”? As in how many pages?

    I have several that are under 200 pages, so I’m wondering if one of those would count. Thanks! 😊

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