BOUT OF BOOKS: Goals and Starting Line Post

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Bout of Books Read-a-Thon

It’s almost here! Does a week devoted entirely to reading feel like Christmas to anyone else? No? Just me?

The Bout of Books Read-a-Thon was created by the always awesome Amanda @ On a Book Bender, in August 2011. The read-a-thon took on a life of it’s own and is now a much-loved event.

Time Devoted to Reading

So far, I have nothing planned for the week, except for Thursday afternoon and Sunday (all day). I plan to read as much as I can the rest of the time! This’ll be hit or miss because things tend to distract me (*cough* Twitter *cough*).

My Goals

  • Read, dammit, READ!
  • Participate in Twitter chats!
  • Make use of my calendar, so I remember the Twitter chats.
  • Meet new people & harass them, er, I mean, cheer them on.
  • Finish at least 7 books.
  • Try not to neglect the hubs, the dogs, or my Google reader.
  • Comment on ALL THE BLOGS! (<– or, at least, a lot)
  • Have fun!

Books to Read

Chosen by YOU the people:
Tempest (Tempest, #1), by Julie Cross
Every Day, by David Levithan
Jenny Pox (The Paranormals, #1), by J. L. Bryan
Team Human, by Sarah Rees Brennan & Justine Larbalestier
Croak (Croak, #1), by Gina Damico

Chosen by Amanda:
Insurgent (Divergent, #2), by Veronica Roth

Chosen by me (back-up books):
Married With Zombies (Living with the Dead, #1), by Jesse Petersen (audiobook)
Sweet Evil (The Sweet Trilogy, #1), by Wendy Higgins
What I Didn’t Say, by Keary Taylor
Beautiful Disaster (Beautiful, #1), by Jamie McGuire
Halfway to the Grave (Night Huntress, #1), by Jeaniene Frost (finish)
The Demon’s Bargain, by Lisa Alder (novella)

Updates

Monday
Number of books I’ve read today: 2
Total number of books I’ve read: 2
Books:

  • Halfway to the Grave (Night Huntress, #1), by Jeaniene Frost (had 1/2 left – finished)
    • Swoooooon! Bones!!! Loved it! But such a cliffhanger for the next book! Can I wait? I need my Bones and Cat!
  • Tempest (Tempest, #1), by Julie Cross (finished)
    • This was THE top recommended book, but I really didn’t like it. It was confusing and the romance was blah.
  • Married With Zombies (Living With the Dead, #1), by Jesse Petersen (audiobook – started)
    • Loving this one so far. I’m partial to zombies, but I like the main relationship in this one — and it’s funny!
  • Jenny Pox (The Paranormals, #1), by J. L. Bryan (started)
    • Just barely made a dent in this one, but I’m hooked. I know there’s romance in this one at some point, so I’m eager to see how this one plays out.

Thoughts:
Today was a decent day for me! I was up early (hubby’s fault — he got me up and told me to read) so I got a good start. I did start with something that I didn’t like (Tempest), so it was slow and dull. I mixed it up and picked up a book I was halfway through and loving (Halfway to the Grave), which totally helped. I also had to run some errands, so I started an awesome audiobook. Not a bad start! I even did the challenges AND participated in the Twitter chat.

Tuesday
Number of books I’ve read today: 2
Total number of books I’ve read: 4
Books:

  • The Demon’s Bargain, by Lisa Alder (novella) – Read my review on GR (finished)
    • Holy hotness, this was a super sexy read! Loved it!
  • Jenny Pox (The Paranormals, #1), by J. L. Bryan (finished)
    • Smash was right – I TOTALLY loved this one, even if it got crazy weird. Still can’t wait to continue with the series!
  • Every Day, by David Levithan (started)
    • Barely into it, but it’s good so far!

Thoughts:
I had a great day of reading today, though I did have some distractions. I neglected the computer for a bit and spent time with hubs and PLANNED to finish Jenny Pox in the afternoon, but finished around 8:30 p.m. Still, I think I’m doing okay! Here’s hoping for another great day of reading tomorrow, then my schedule might get iffy. Excited to be reading Every Day because it looks like it’s the first book this week that isn’t book one of a SERIES! Woo!

Wednesday
Number of books I’ve read today: 6
Total number of books I’ve read: 10
Books:

  • For I Have Sinned (Charley Davidson, #1.5), by Darynda Jones (novella) – Read my review on GR (finished)
    • A nice addition to the series! Not really a need-to-read novella, but still — nice.
  • Corsets & Crossbows (Drake Chronicles, #0.1), by Alyxandra Harvey (novella) – Read my review on GR (finished)
    • A great addition — sad not to see any of the main characters in the book, but it was good.
  • Swim, by Jennifer Weiner (novella) – Read my review on GR (finished)
    • I’ve yet to read Weiner’s newest book, but this was a great introduction — I loved Ruth’s character!
  • Reckoning (Night Huntress, #0.5), by Jeaniene Frost (novella) – Read my review on GR (finished)
    • Nice to get some more Bones in my life until I can read the second book in this series!
  • Wicked Sexy (Wicked, #1), by R. G. Alexander (novella – Read my review on GR (finished)
    • VERY sexy. Yum.
  • Insurgent (Divergent, #1), by Veronica Roth (finished)
    • A little long, but still a great addition to the series!

Thoughts:
This was a great day for reading! I managed to alternate between reading and commenting on blogs in the morning, spent the WHOLE afternoon reading, participated in the Twitter chat, and finished reading by ten. Reading is exhausting! I’ve been so tired all week … The rest of the week is going to be hit and miss with reading since we’re having a big BBQ at our house this weekend and I have to prepare, but hopefully I can get away and read!

Thursday
Number of books I’ve read today: 1
Total number of books I’ve read: 11
Books:

  • Married With Zombies (Living With the Dead, #1), by Jesse Petersen (audiobook – finished)
    • This one was fun! Perfect for someone who’s not a fan of zombies.
  • The Madness of Lord Ian MacKenzie (Highland Pleasures, #1), by Jennifer Ashley (audiobook – started)
    • This is quite nice for an historical romance — VERY sexy.
  • The Tale of the Vampire Bride (The Vampire Bride, #1), by Rhiannon Frater (started)
    • I was suddenly in the mood for a vampire story and Rhiannon never disappoints!

Thoughts:
Today was one of those days where I wanted to get a bunch of things completed on the blog AND I was hosting a challenge, so I relied on audiobooks all day. They definitely came in handy! Sure, they were a little slower than if I were reading the book, but if I didn’t listen to them, I wouldn’t have done barely any reading at all. Yes, I was THAT busy. I did put aside Every Day, by David Levithan. The font was just too small and I didn’t have the motivation to read it. I’m going to see if my library’s getting it and will get the physical copy instead of the eARC.

Friday
Number of books I’ve read today: 1
Total number of books I’ve read: 12
Books:

  • The Madness of Lord Ian MacKenzie (Highland Pleasures, #1), by Jennifer Ashley (audiobook – finished)
    • This was good, but not great. The main character was just a bit dull.

Thoughts:
Today was NOT a good day for reading, nor will tomorrow or Sunday. I did manage to finish my audiobook, just because I had a TON of housework to do in preparation for our BBQ on Sunday. Cleaning floors and toilets definitely goes by better with an audiobook.

Saturday
Number of books I’ve read today: 0
Total number of books I’ve read: 12
Books:

  • City of Fallen Angels (The Mortal Instruments, #4), by Cassandra Clare (started)
    • Since I have been busy, busy all weekend, I had to start a new audiobok, so it felt like I was reading something.
  • Happily Never After (Night Huntress, #1.5), by Jeaniene Frost (started)
    • Again, since I’m busy all weekend, I thought maybe I could squeeze in one last novella!

Thoughts:
Just like yesterday, today wasn’t good for reading. I was just crazy busy all day, BUT I managed to listen to almost half of my audiobook, which was good.

Sunday (& WRAP UP)
Number of books I’ve read today: 0
Total number of books I’ve read: 12
Books: (see Saturday)

Thoughts:
Well, I thought that I could squeeze in that one last novella, but the second my head hit the pillow, I was out like a light. Today was insanely busy. We had about 25 people at the house, about 15 dogs, and I was running around all day. I barely had time to do anything that wasn’t prep for the BBQ, or clean-up from the BBQ.

As for the past week of the readathon, I’m definitely happy with all that I managed to accomplish, but kind of wish I hadn’t been so busy on the weekend, so I could’ve read more. MOAR BOOKS! I hate having days where it feels like I’m just not making progress in my read — makes me wonder where all the time is going.

Here’s the breakdown of what went down this week:

Books Read: 3.5
Novellas Read: 6
Audiobooks Listened To: 2

So that’s not *technically* 12, but really 11.5, since I only had half of my first book to finish. We’ll round up.

I ha a TON of fun during this readathon and wish that the last 3.5 days could’ve been like the first 3.5 days — hours and hours of uninterrupted reading! I loved those first days, where I’d snuggle up under a blanket with my book and my coffee and just read all day long. Can you tell I’m not a person who likes to be busy?

As for the other things I did this week, I managed to attend TWO of the Twitter chats, as well as commented on a TON of blogs (for the first 3.5 days, at least), and participated in the challenges (minus a few). It was great!

Thank you so much to Amanda and Kelly for hosting! I definitely can’t wait for the next readathon!

© 2012, Reading In Winter. All rights reserved.

76 thoughts on “BOUT OF BOOKS: Goals and Starting Line Post”

  6. You have awesome goals. I hope you get all 7 books read. That would be awesome. I should mark the chats on my calender as well. Otherwise I wont remember.

    Reply

  10. Yay for Jenny Pox. That book is an emotional roller coaster, but so good. I just started Beautiful Disaster too, but I put it down because of an ARC review and The Daughter of Shadow and Bone is totally mesmerizing. *sigh* I’ll pick it back up after Bout-of-Books, unless of course I get through all my list or need to switch my books around. Hmm… Good luck and have fun!

    Reply

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  25. Wow, fantastic list! I loved Tempest and Halfway to the Grave (Bones!!!). Croak is on my tbr, and you’re reading Every Day?? *jelly* wanna read that book soo much!

    Thanks for stopping by my blog!
    Good luck&Have lots of fun!! :)

    Reply

  29. 12?! O.O lol I’m in awe! Awesome work, and glad you enjoyed halfway to the grave, I love the night huntress series! Hope you enjoy the last couple of days of the readathon :D

    Reply

  32. Pingback: Clock Rewinders (2) | Reading In Winter

  34. You did great! And yes, Smash has excellent taste. I love her recommendations – including the bullying that goes along with it. She’s responsible for a lot of my now favorite reads. ;) So glad you had a fun week as well.

    Reply

  35. Pingback: Discussion: Where Do The Reviews Go? | Reading In Winter

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My home is where my books are. - Ellen Thompson

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