Bout of Books

Bout of Books 11- Signing-up & My Goals and Updates!

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The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, August 18th and runs through Sunday, August 24th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 11 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team

As I am currently running super behind both in signing up for this Bout of Books, and in blog posts in general, I have decided to combine what would normally be two posts… Sorry in advance if this post gets super long!!

Bout of Books 11 is my fourth time taking part in this read-a-thon. On the whole I have found the read-a-thon to be really enjoyable, and I have been on the whole quite successful with my goals. Taking part in the read-a-thon has also helped me to get back on track with my reading schedule, which I’m falling behind on yet again. Here’s hoping that this one will continue that pattern.

So without further ado, here are my goals for Bout of Books 11.

Time Devoted To Reading … I think I’m going to go with the same goal as I did with Bout of Books 10, I’m going to aim to read about 2 hours a day for the whole seven days.

My Goals for Bout of Books 10:

  1. Read 100 pages a day minimum.
  2. Take part in 1 Twitter chat.
  3. Participate in 1 Challenge.

Books I want to Read:

These are the books which are next in my TBR pile. I doubt I will manage to read all of them, but it would be nice to make a dent into the stack. I’m going very much by my mood this time, so which ones I read will definitely depend on how I feel on that particular day.

Links to Goal Updates:

Good luck and happy reading to everyone else entering!

Bout of Books – The End (Day 7 & Wrap-Up)

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This post was due to be posted on the 19th May, so you can tell I am running a little behind.

Day 7

Today was a good day, but . . . it failed on the Bout of Books front. Another day when I got zero pages read. But whilst I’m disappointed I didn’t read, I’m not unhappy. I had a great day with my family instead.

Books Read Today: 0
Pages Read Today: 0
Books Completed: 2 – DANCE OF SHADOWS, EVERNEATH
Total Pages: 711

Wrap-Up

At the beginning of Bout of Books 10 I set myself some goals I wished to achieve, as the finish line of Bout of Books 10 has now been crossed I guess it’s time to see how I did.

First I want to talk about the goals I did achieve. Read at least 100 pages a day. I might not have technically achieved this – as I didn’t read 100 pages every day – BUT I still managed to beat the goal (just) of 700 pages in a week. So I consider this a win! Finish reading DANCE OF SHADOWS by Yelena Black. This was a case of I started this book before Bout of Books and I wanted to finish it. Read at least one other book. And I managed this too. After DANCE OF SHADOWS I picked up and read EVERNEATH. I’m really proud of this, as it’s been a while since I’ve managed to fit two books into my week.

There were only two goals I failed to achieve in Bout of Books 10. I didn’t take part in a Twitter chat. This was mainly due to timing issues. I missed the first chat because it was dinner time, the second chat because I was too tired to stay up until 2am when it started, and the third and final chat I completely forgot about until it was over. I also didn’t participate in a Challenge. I totally meant to do this, it just didn’t happen.

Overall, I am very happy with how Bout of Books 10 went. Although I didn’t achieve all my goals, I don’t think 3 out of 5 is bad.

I am also planning to take part in Bout of Books 11 which will run from August 18th to August 24th. I hope to see you guys there, and I also hope everyone had as much fun with Bout of Books 10 as I did.

ICYMI Sunday 12 – The one that’s on the final day of Bout of Books 10!

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ICYMI (In Case You Missed It) Sunday is a new meme that I am planning to feature on the blog every week. It is based on the Sunday Post  which is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer, which was in turn inspired in part by the In My Mailbox meme. Basically, it allows me to let you know what went on the blog this week and anything interesting that is going on. It will also allow me to showcase any books I receive like the Showcase Sunday which is hosted by Vicky at Books, Biscuits, and Tea.

So this week I am (hopefully) on time with posting this. I’m writing it Saturday night anyway, so hopefully it will post itself. I’m crossing my fingers that it does anyway.

This week has been jam-packed full of Bout of Books 10, and to be honest I am VERY pleased with my progress. I’ve also managed to not stress myself about it this time around, which yay! 😀 Cannot believe that today is the final day, but hopefully it will be a good one.

Hope you’ve all had a good week.

On the blog the last couple of weeks:

What else is going on?

  • If you use BookLikes please be aware that the site will be down for a couple of hours on Thursday May 22nd AND some of the BookLikes team will be attending BEA. For more info on both the downtime and the BEA attendance click here.
  • The Second Summer Ninja Book Swap is officially open! Sign-ups are open until Sunday May 25th, and all packages must be sent by Monday June 30th. If you’re interested in taking part you can sign-up here.
  • Neil Gaiman and Georgina Chapman are developing a storytelling project that aims to highlight the Syrian refugee crisis. For more information click here.
  • Julie Kagawa is giving away a signed UK copy of THE FOREVER SONG here.
  • Waterstones Piccadilly is holding ‘An evening with Judy Blume’ in June 3rd at 6.30pm. You can buy tickets here (tickets are £5 or £3 with a Waterstones card).
  • The Guardian’s Children’s Books has a list of what they consider to be the best LGBT books for children, teenagers and YA here.

I haven’t got a lot of news this week, mainly because I have been taking part in Bout of Books. If you think I’ve missed anything important please let me know in the comments.

No books for me this week.

I would love to hear what you’ve been up to this week and what books, if any, you’ve got so please leave me a link in the comments below.

Thanks for stopping by :D

Bout of Books – An Off Day (Day 6)

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Day 6.

Today I did not read anything or do anything bout of books related (apart from write this). And you know what? I’m kinda okay with that. I mean, I would have liked to have read 100 pages today, but I’m not disappointed that I didn’t. I just wasn’t in the mood. The sun was out and I wanted to watch one of the T20 games on Sky – I saw Essex beat Middlesex by 8 wickets. It may not have been a good day reading wise, but I did have a brilliant day overall. I hope you had a good sixth day too.

Tomorrow, the final day, I want to read 200 pages. Will I? I’m not too sure, but it will be fun finding out 🙂

 

Books Read Today: 0
Pages Read Today: 0
Books Completed: 2 – DANCE OF SHADOWS, EVERNEATH
Total Pages: 711

Bout of Books – Starting the Final Straight (Day 5)

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Day 5.

Today procrastination was very much my king.

With just pages left until the end of EVERNEATH I found it very hard to motivate myself to start. For a while I crawled along a page at a time, having to stop and walk away at the end of them. Then I had to take a break from reading altogether for several hours, and when I got back I finally forced myself to read without stopping. I’m glad I did, as I really enjoyed the last little bit of EVERNEATH – there will be a review for it up at some point in the future.

I think I am going to leave it here for today’s bout of books, and start a fresh tomorrow.

Books Read Today: 1
Pages Read Today: 43
Books Completed: 2 – DANCE OF SHADOWS, EVERNEATH
Total Pages: 711

Bout of Books – THE Mid-Way Point (Day 4)

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Day 4.

Today the procrastination hit… No, that’s not exactly fair. I had some stuff to do in “real life” and that cut down on my reading time today. It’s nobody’s fault, but I knew it was coming so I should have planned for it. I didn’t quite manage my goal, I was one page shy but I’m not disappointed as I’m 200+ pages ahead of my goal for the whole of bout of books. I think tomorrow’s going to be difficult as I’m going to be finishing EVERNEATH and starting a new book. But I could be wrong.

Books Read Today: 1
Pages Read Today: 99
Books Completed: 1 – DANCE OF SHADOWS
Total Pages: 668

Bout of Books – Almost Mid-Way

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Day 3.

So I managed to double my reading goal again 🙂 I decided to pick up my copy of EVERNEATH by Brodi Ashton as the second book to read this challenge, and so far I’m gald that I did so. It was a bit daunting actually starting it, but once I got going the pages just flew by. I’m hoping for the same tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

Books Read Today: 1
Pages Read Today: 223
Books Completed: 1 – DANCE OF SHADOWS
Total Pages: 569

Bout of Books – Continuing the Momentum (Day 2)

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Day 2.

After the success of yesterday, it wasn’t as difficult to pick up DANCE OF SHADOWS and dive straight back in. In fact, I managed to find the time to complete it and write a review for it (which won’t be going up for a while, sorry). I’m very happy. This is the first book I have managed to finish reading since the end of April, which while it doesn’t seem that long ago also means I’m not getting through my TBR pile. I am VERY pleased with today’s reading progress. Hopefully this will continue on into tomorrow 🙂

Books Read Today: 1
Pages Read Today: 242
Books Completed: 1 – DANCE OF SHADOWS
Total Pages: 346

Bout of Books – Crossing the Start Line (Day 1)

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Day 1.

They say that starting a task is the most daunting part. And it’s scarily true. Beginning is, for me at least, always the hardest part. Staring at the blank box as I write a blog post or review, and trying to fill it with text that is coherent and (hopefully) gets my point across. I have that trouble with books too. Even ones I am dying to get into. I always end up procrastinating before I force myself to begin. I mean, what if they don’t live up to my expectations? What if I don’t like them?!

Starting this Bout of Books was no different. It took me most of the day to get around to picking up DANCE OF SHADOWS, and I’d already read the first chapter. All that worry, and tension was for nothing though as once I started the pages just flew by and I reached my allotted goal in an hour rather than the two I had set aside. That was the only thing I achieved today, really. I had intended to join the Twitter Chat but I forgot it was my turn to do dinner tonight, so I couldn’t make it.

All in all, I think day one went surprisingly well. Fingers crossed this will continue into day two, hopefully minus the procrastination but I’m not holding my breath!

Books Read Today: 1
Pages Read Today: 104

Bout of Books 10 – My Goals and Updates

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This is my third time participating in Bout of Books, and I’m really excited to get started. I’m hoping the discipline it takes to do Bout of Books will somehow transfer over and mean I get back into a reading schedule for the blog. This is probably a long shot…but you’ve got to hope.

Because I seem to be in a bit of a fluttery mood, my goals for Bout of Books aren’t going to be particularly concrete – it would be nice to say “I WILL read ONE book a day”, but frankly I can’t see it happening and that would just de-motivate me. Not a good idea.

If you are thinking about taking part (there’s still time to sign-up) then click on the image above to find out more.

So without further ado, here are my goals for Bout of Books 10.

Time Devoted To Reading… I’m going to try to devote at least 2 hours a day to reading. Hopefully more than 2 hours, but I don’t think 2 hours is an unreasonable expectation on my part.

My Goals for Bout of Books 10:

  1. Read at least 100 pages a day.
  2. Finish reading DANCE OF SHADOWS by Yelena Black.
  3. Read at least one other book.
  4. Take part in a Twitter chat.
  5. Participate in a Challenge.

Books I want to Read:

  • DANCE OF SHADOWS by Yelena Black

Links to Goal Updates:

Good luck and happy reading to everyone else entering!