Bout of Books 12.0 Day 7 & Final Wrap-up

Seventh Day Recap

Pages Read Today: 250
Total Pages Read: 1600
Books Read:

• The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper
• All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr 
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
• Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater
• Catalyst by S.J. Kincaid
• Vivian Apple at the End of the World by Katie Coyle (in progress)

I finished Catalyst tonight and I thought it was a fantastic ending to the trilogy. I was a little apprehensive because I didn't like the second book that much but the third and final book definitely redeemed the series. Then, I  started Vivian Apple at the End of the World just as the read-a-thon was coming to a close hear on the East Coast. With just about an hour left, I managed to read 100 pages and I probably should have read this one sooner because it seems like it's going to be a quick read.

Overall, I had such a great time participating in Bout of Books 12.0. It was only my second time participating and while I didn't read as many pages as the first time, I was more involved with the community which made the experience so much better. The Twitter chats were a blast and I met so many other great bloggers that I'll continue to follow and talk to even after the read-a-thon. I will definitely be participating again the next time! Thank you to the hosts for creating such a wonderful experience and to all my reader friends out there, happy reading!

Bout of Books 12.0 Day 6

Sixth Day Recap

Pages Read Today: 225
Total Pages Read: 1350
Books Read:

• The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper
• All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr 
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
• Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater
• Catalyst by S.J. Kincaid (currently reading)

I read just about half of Catalyst today even though I was hoping to read the whole thing. Unfortunately I just got contact lenses and my eyes were having trouble adjusting to them, which in turn made it hard to read. When I finally put my glasses back on, I was able to read much more. I'm loving the book so far and I think S.J. Kincaid did a fantastic job of recaping what happened in the second book. It's been quite a few months since I read it and I was able to dive right into Catalyst and understand everything. That's definitely a plus in my book! I'll be finishing Catalyst tomorrow and then starting my final book of the read-a-thon.

Bout of Books 12.0 Day 5

Fifth Day Recap

Pages Read Today: 100
Total Pages Read: 1125
Books Read:

• The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper
• All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr 
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
• Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater
• Catalyst by S.J. Kincaid (currently reading)

Another low page count day that I'm trying to be okay with. I had another busy day but I did get to finish up Blue Lily, Lily Blue (which I loved) and start Catalyst (which did a fantastic job of recaping the previous book within the first few pages). Day 6 looks like it's going to be a day devoted to reading and I must say that I'm very excited for that!

Bout of Books 12.0 Day 4

Fourth Day Recap

Pages Read Today: 200
Total Pages Read: 1025
Books Read:

• The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper
• All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr 
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
• Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater (in progress)

Sadly I didn't have a chance to finish up Blue Lily, Lily Blue today. I didn't get much time to read, but I did spend the time catching up with old friends so I definitely don't regret it. I fell short by just 60 pages and I will definitely be finishing it on Day 5 of the read-a-thon. I do have to say, it is a fantastic book! The Raven Cycle just gets better and better with each book.

Bout of Book 12.0 Day 3

Third Day Recap

Pages Read Today: 225
Total Pages Read: 825
Books Read:

• The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper
• All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr 
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
• Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater (in progress)

It was great to finish up Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets before bed and I think it was the perfect "in between" book to read before starting Blue Lily, Lily Blue. I was hoping to get about halfway through Blue Lily, Lily Blue but unfortunately I had a lot of errands to run throughout the day and didn't get all that much reading time. I am loving the book so far though!

I didn't participate in today's challenge but I did join in on the Twitter chat which was just as fun as the first on on Monday. I talked to a bunch of awesome people and discovered some new awesome book bloggers. I have another (non-book related) busy day tomorrow so I'm not sure how much I'll be able to read but I am hoping to finish Blue Lily, Lily Blue, which I think is an attainable goal.

Bout of Book 12.0 Day 1

First Day Recap

Pages Read Today: 240
Total Pages Read: 240
Books Read:

• The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper (40 pages)
• All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (200 pages)

I had a very productive first day of the read-a-thon. I also had a great time participating in the Twitter chat today and met a bunch of awesome people and fellow book lovers. Technically at the time of this writing I have finished All The Light We Cannot See, but I hadn't finished at midnight so I'm not counting the last 113 pages as part of Day 1's total page count.

Bout of Books 12.0 Read-a-Thon TBR

I know we are well into day 1 of Bout of Books 12.0 but I didn't get around to posting my TBR list for the read-a-thon earlier. Better late than never though! So here are the books I'm planning on reading:

• The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper (not pictures, already started)
• All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (already started)
• Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater
• Catalyst by S.J. Kincaid
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling (reread)
• High Wizardry by Diane Duane
• A Wizard Abroad by Diane Duane

Essentially I'm attempting about a book a day for the next week. I think I'm going to read the books roughly in the order mentioned above, but I'm not a huge stickler for planning in advance so we'll see. Who knows, I might even deviate from the list! Last year I only managed 5 books so lets see if I can beat my own record!

I'll post later with my day 1 update and be sure to follow me on Twitter for my #boutofbooks musings throughout the week!

Bout of Books 12.0

I participated in Bout of Books last year for their 9th run, so exactly a year ago. Once again, I'm on winter break and Bout of Books is conveniently happening just before I head back to school -- perfect timing!

For those of you who haven't heard about Bout of Books before, here's a little blurb straight from their website explaining what exactly Bout of Books is all about:

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, January 6th and runs through Sunday, January 12th 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 9.0 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

I'll probably post a reading list of books I want to read during the event on Sunday once I get a better idea of where I am book-wise in my current TBR pile. If you haven't participated before, I definitely think you should! Winter is the perfect time to curl up with a blanket and a good book and read-a-thons are always a blast. Let me know down below if you plan on participating and we can keep each other motivated!

Bout of Books 9.0: Day 7

Seventh Day Recap

Pages Read Today: 240 pages
Total Pages Read: 1884 pages

Books Read:

• Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas [finished 01/07]
• The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken [finished 01/08]
• The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen [finished 01/10]
• The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson [finished 01/12]
• Unwind by Neal Shusterman [currently reading]

That's it, the Bout of Book 9.0 read-a-thon is officially over. I had a great time participating for the first time and you can bet that I will be doing it again (schedule permitting). I deviated slightly from my original plan and I didn't quite make my goal of six books but I still had a blast reading this past week. As a very self-competitive person, having a short-term goal like in a read-a-thon helps me get on track with my reading. I loved the books I read and hopefully I'll eventually get to the ones I wasn't able to read. I hope everyone else had as much fun as I did! Happy reading!

Bout of Books 9.0: Day 6

Sixth Day Recap

Pages Read Today: 236 pages
Total Pages Read: 1644 pages

Books Read:

• Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas [finished 01/07]
• The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken [finished 01/08]
• The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen [finished 01/10]
• The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson [currently reading]

I got up late today and had some errands to run so I didn't read all that much but I'm loving The Impossible Knife of Memory so far and I'm hoping to finish it early tomorrow. Happy reading!

Bout of Books 9.0: Day 5

Fifth Day Recap

Pages Read Today: 300 pages
Total Pages Read: 1408 pages

Books Read:

• Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas [finished 01/07]
• The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken [finished 01/08]
• The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen [finished 01/10]
• The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson [currently reading]

Wow, I don't know how I managed to read so much today even though I was out all afternoon! Anyways, I finished up The Moon and More and started on The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson for the Reblog Book Club.

Bout of Books 9.0: Day 4

Fourth Day Recap

Pages Read Today: 200 pages
Total Pages Read: 1108 pages

Books Read:

• Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas [finished 01/07]
• The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken [finished 01/08]
• The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen [currently reading]

I was feeling a bit under the weather today and my measly page count is evidence of that. Regardless, I'm liking The Moon and More and as my second Sarah Dessen book I can see the similarities in style and content but I can also see how each book is unique. I will be attempting to finish up The Moon and More tomorrow.

Bout of Books 9.0: Day 3

Third Day Recap

Pages Read Today: 388 pages
Total Pages Read: 908 pages

Books Read:

• Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas [finished 01/07]
• The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken [finished 01/08]

Whew, what a day! I essentially read all of The Darkest Minds today and what an intense story! I thought it was fantastic but I need something a little different for my next book. I was planning on reading Unwind by Neal Shusterman as suggested by my tumblr followers but I think I need a break from dystopian novels so I'm going to be starting The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen once midnight hits. 

Bout of Books 9.0: Day 2

Second Day Recap

Pages Read Today: 240 pages
Total Pages Read: 520 pages

Books Read:

• Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas,
• The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken  (currently reading)

I finished up Crown of Midnight and wow, what a spectacular ending! I can't wait to get my hands on the third book of the series later this year. Now I'm about 100 pages into The Darkest Minds and I can't put it down.

Bout of Books 9.0: Day 1

First Day Recap

Pages Read Today: 280 pages
Total Pages Read: 280 pages

Books Read: Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas (currently reading)

I'm hoping to finish Crown of Midnight early tomorrow and move onto The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken. I'll be sure to update again tomorrow night, but for I'm going back to reading!

Bout of Books 9.0

I first heard of Bout of Books back during their 8th run over the summer but at the time I didn't have time to participate. Now, though, I'm on winter break and I have exactly a week left before I head back to school. This is the perfect time for a read-a-thon!

For those of you who haven't heard about Bout of Books before, here's a little blurb straight from their website explaining what exactly Bout of Books is all about

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, January 6th and runs through Sunday, January 12th 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 9.0 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

My Goals

Now for the fun part, my goals for the read-a-thon. My goal is to read every day, whether it be 10 minutes or 10 hours. Ideally, I'd like to read all the books on my Bout of Books TBR list but just making a dent in the pile of books would be enough for me.

My Books

 

1. Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas [420 pages]
2. Something Strange and by Susan Dennard [388 pages]
3. Unwind by Neal Shusterman [335 pages]
4. The Moon and More by Sarah DesseDeadly n [435 pages]
5. The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken [488 pages]
6. Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld [440 pages]

I think this might be a little ambitious, especially since I probably won't be reading much tomorrow but I'm excited to try!

Now I always have trouble deciding what to read next so I've left that up to the fate of what my tumblr followers decide. Right now I'm currently reading Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas and as determined by popular demand, I will be reading The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken next.

Updates

I will continue to keep you updated as the week goes with (hopefully) daily updates at the end of each day. I'll post how many pages I read that day and how many books I've completed to date.

So now to get reading! Wish me luck and if you are participating in Bout of Books 9.0 let me know below in the comments below.