Bout of Books Challenge: Would You Rather

The wonderful Lori over at Writing My Own Fairytale is hosting the Would You Rather challenge for Bout of Books, and I thought it looked like a lot of fun. Let me know what you would choose in the comments!

WOULD YOU RATHER…

Lend books to someone who dog-ears pages or to someone who reads with cheesy Cheetos fingers?
WHY WHY WHY WHY? I’d rather not do either, but if I HAD to choose, I’d go with the dog-earer. At least those can be somewhat folded back flat. Cheeto stains though? Never coming out.

WOULD YOU RATHER…

Be able to meet one character of your choice or meet one author of your choice?
Again, super tough choice here. But I’ve been lucky enough to meet a ton of my favorite authors, so I’m going to go with a character of my choice – the question is…would I want to meet Mim (from Mosquitoland), Ronan Lynch (from The Raven Cycle), or Simon Spier (from Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda – because we’d totally be BFFs). CHOICES.

WOULD YOU RATHER…

Never be allowed in a book store again or never be allowed in a library again?
Dude. I work in a library but I mean, book storesss. Unless it was freaking Belle’s library we’re talking about, I’d have to go with never being allowed in a library again.

WOULD YOU RATHER…

Have to choose one of your favorite characters to die in their book or have to pick one of your favorite couples to break up in their book?
Favorite couple, for sure. Because I’d have to break up Cricket and Lola from Lola and the Boy Next Door (I’m sorry) and finally be with my favorite book boyfriend. Lolololol.

WOULD YOU RATHER…

Be required to read Twilight once a year for the rest of your life or The Scarlet Letter once a year for the rest of your life?
The Scarlet Letter.

What would you choose?

Bout of Books 15 | Sign Up, TBR, Updates

I’ve been debating whether or not I wanted to sign up for Bout of Books 15 for a couple of weeks, but I had to. I always have an absolute blast, especially with the Twitter chats, and even though I’m not sure how much time I’ll have for reading, that’s not what matters. As long as I’m reading a little bit, that’s what matters. Don’t know what Bout of Books is?

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 4th and runs through Sunday, January 10th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 15 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team

I’m keeping my TBR and goals super low this year so there’s no stress AT ALL. If I read more than this, GREAT. If I don’t, that’s cool too. My goals are pretty much non-existant. Basically, my whole outlook for this Bout of Books is HAVE FUN NOTHING ELSE MATTERS. 🙂

TBR

• Continue my reread of the illustrated Harry Potter book, one chapter a day
• SIEGE AND STORM by Leigh Bardugo
• One single issue comic a day

GOALS

• Read for at least 30 minutes every day.
• If I can’t read that long, don’t worry about it!
• Have fun.
• If I can, do one Twitter chat and one challenge.

UPDATES

Monday & Tuesday

(I’m combining the updates for these two days because I forgot to update on Monday)
Pages read today: 166
Total number of pages: 166 (87 of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children; 44 of Siege and Storm; 35 pages of the illustrated Harry Potter)
Read today: Two chapters of the illustrated Harry Potter; Siege and Storm; Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children
Total number of books I’ve read: Parts of 3
Challenges participated in: I did the Would You Rather challenge hosted by Lori at Writing My Own Fairytale.
Notes about today: So I haven’t really read that much because my mind has been a little preoccupied. But I’m finally getting into the swing of it and getting more reading done. The best part though? I’m not stressing about it.

Bout of Books 14 Wrap Up

I can’t believe Bout of Books 14 is already over! My fourth time participating in the week-long readathon was a blast, as always, and I’m sad to see it go! BUT now I have a reason to look forward to January! I’m going to do a little wrap up of what I read and the challenges I participated in this week.

Total number of pages read: 1,354 (WOOOO!)

What I read this week:

• The Curious Tale of the In-Between by Lauren DeStefano
• The Dead House by Dawn Kurtagich
• The Day the Crayons Came Home by Drew Daywalt and illustrated by Oliver Jeffers
• Wherever You Go by Pat Zietlow Miller
• Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty
• The Rose Society by Marie Lu
• These single issue comics: Robin: Son of Batman #2, We Are Robin #2, Prez #2, Thor #8, Bat-Mite #1 and 2

My favorite read of the week: Hands down, The Rose Society. It’s almost not even fair to the other books.

Challenges participated in this week:

• Fictional World Travel Challenge
• the MASH challenge
• #4SeasonsBooksCovers challenge
• Road Trip Challenge
• What to Read Next Challenge

Other notes about the week: I’ve got to say, I’m pretty impressed with how much I read this week while working a full-time job, a part-time job, blogging, going to a book festival, and sleeping. I’m also really happy to say that I liked every single book I read, which is awesome. All of the challenges I participated in were super fun and different. I got to participate in the Twitter chat on Saturday, which was overwhelming and wonderful, as always. I can’t wait for the next round of Bout of Books.

If this is the first you’re hearing about Bout of Books or you want to learn more, make sure you go follow the Bout of Books blog because that’s where all the info is about the readathon and where they’ll update us on upcoming events.

Bout of Books: What to Read Next Challenge

Sarah from Sarah Reads Too Much is hosting the “What to Read Next Challenge” today as the last challenge for Bout of Books.

For this Challenge, you need to recommend 3 books (and only 3 books) that you have read this year that you think should be recognized as something great – something everyone should have on their TBR list for this fall.

I’m finding it SUPER difficult to narrow it down to only THREE books that I think everyone should have on their TBR for the fall, but here we go.

      

THE ROSE SOCIETY by Marie Lu: I JUST (as in, like, fifteen minutes ago) finished The Rose Society – the second book in The Young Elites. It was brilliant and dark and amazing, and I have so many feelings that I can’t possibly put into words. I would HIGHLY recommend this book (and the first book in the series, The Young Elites, if you haven’t read it). Check it out on Goodreads.

THE DEAD HOUSE by Dawn Kurtagich: This was another one of my Bout of Books reads. The Dead House is deliciously creepy and strange, and it would be a perfect one to read around Halloween. It will seriously freak you out. Check it out on Goodreads.

MOSQUITOLAND by David Arnold: I read this one last month. I’m rereading it as an audiobook this month because I needed to be with Mim again. I ADORE this book so so much. It’s best to just direct you to my review so you can see just how much I love Mosquitoland. Or you can check it out on Goodreads.

———

I could seriously go on and on with recommendations – this has been THE BEST YEAR for books, especially debuts. But I’ll just link you to my Goodreads (you should totally friend me) so you can see all the books I’ve read and loved this year. I’d recommend them all. What books would you recommend I have on my fall TBR?

Bout of Books 14: TBR, Goals, & Updates

IT’S HERE! Bout of Books 14 has officially begun! I am super excited, as I always am, and I can’t wait to get reading and interacting with everyone else who’s participating! In this post, I’ll be sharing my goals, the pile of books and comics I’ll be reading from, and my daily updates.

MY TBR: (Not pictured: The Curious Tale of the In-Between by Lauren DeStefano – on my Kindle)

Don’t Fail Me Now by Una LaMarche / 100 Sideways Miles by Andrew Smith / The Dead House by Dawn Kurtagich / and lots of comics I am behind on reading

This is not an official list, nor do I think I can read all of this in one week (though it’d be awesome if I did). I like to have a variety of books and comics to choose from, because I’m a mood reader. I am excited to read all of these books though, so we’ll see. I might power through all of it.

GOALS

– To read – as much or as little as I have time for. I am not going to give myself a certain amount of pages or books to read this week. The only set goal I’m going to give myself in regards to reading is:
– Make time (at least 30 minutes) to read each day this week
– Participate in at least TWO challenges because I always love doing them
– Participate in at least ONE of the two Twitter chats – I probably won’t be able to do the one tonight, unfortunately

That’s it. No other expectations or goals. Just have fun and read. 🙂

UPDATES

MONDAY

Pages read today: 70% – 168 pages
Total number of pages: 168
Read today: A Curious Tale of the In-Between by Lauren DeStefano
Total number of books I’ve read: 70% of 1
Challenges participated in: I did the Fictional World Travel Challenge over on Twitter. I loved finding books set all over the world.
Notes about today: I am LOVING A Curious Tale of the In-Between and I probably would’ve finished it yesterday if I didn’t go to a friend’s house for dinner and Teen Wolf. I’ll finish it today though. 🙂 I missed the Twitter chat, which I’m pretty sad about, but I’ll be at the one on Saturday!

TUESDAY:

Pages read today: 336 – 30% of A Curious Tale of the In-Between (72 pages) + 264 pages of The Dead House
Total number of pages: 504
Read today: I finished A Curious Tale of the In-Between (4/5) and started The Dead House by Dawn Kurtagich (AH!)
Total number of books I’ve read: 1.5
Notes about today: No challenges today because of work, but I got completely engrossed/terrified by/enchanted/creeped out by The Dead House. This book is absolutely amazing and also ridiculously creepy. It’s great.

WEDNESDAY

Pages read today: 196 – 148 of The Dead House + 48 of The Day the Crayons Came Home
Total number of pages: 700
Read today: I finished The Dead House (Holy crap, you guys) and all of The Day the Crayons Came Home (LOVE LOVE LOVE)
Total number of books I’ve read: 3
Challenges participated in: I did the MASH challenge, which was so much fun and super nostalgic. Plus, apparently, I will live in an apartment in Henrietta with my hubs, Cricket, our 2 kids & our pet, Chainsaw, assassinating people on my broom.
Notes about today: I finished The Dead House which was so wonderfully creepy, and I finally got to read The Day the Crayons Came Home, which was everything I was hoping for! Loved it.

THURSDAY

Pages read today: 168 – 32 of Wherever You Go by Pat Zietlow Miller (a really adorable picture book) + 136 of The Rose Society
Total number of pages: 868
Read today: See above – I’m feeling lazy today
Total number of books I’ve read: 4.2
Challenges participated in: I did the #4SeasonsBooksCovers challenge hosted by Kimberly Faye Reads over on Instagram. We had to choose a book/cover that fit each season either literally or figuratively. That was fun!
Notes about today: I totally changed my TBR because I got The Rose Society and I could NOT stop myself from reading that right away instead of what I “should” be reading. I got chills 2 pages in, so I think I made the right decision.

FRIDAY

Pages read today: 82 – 32 of Rosie Revere, Engineer + 50 of The Rose Society
Total number of pages: 950
Read today: Rosie Revere, Engineer (recommend by the wonderful Emma at Miss Print) and The Rose Society (which I am LOVING)
Total number of books I’ve read: 5.5
Notes about today: I didn’t read that much today. Had a not-so-great day at work and was feeling SUPER stressed. I actually left work early because I was NOT feeling well. I read the 50 pages of The Rose Society after I got home, but just couldn’t keep going. 😦

SATURDAY

Pages read today: 80 pages of The Rose Society
Total number of pages: 1030
Read today: The Rose Society (still loving!)
Total number of books I’ve read: 5.75
Challenges participated in: I did the Road Trip Challenge over on Instagram! I love finding books set in places I want to go!
Notes about today: I got to participate in teh Twitter chat. YAY! That was so much fun, like always. After, I went to the first-ever Mississippi Book Festival, which was wonderful and SUPER packed! I’m hopeful that next year’s will be even bigger! That’s why I only read 80 pages yesterday though. I was so exhausted by the time I got home (and a little sunburned).

SUNDAY

Pages read today: 324 – 132 of The Rose Society + 6 comics at 32 pages each (yep, counting pages with ads)
Total number of pages: 1354
Read today: Finished The Rose Society and read six comics: Robin: Son of Batman #2, We Are Robin #2, Prez #2, Thor #8, Bat-Mite #1 and 2.
Total number of books I’ve read: 6 + 6 comics
Challenges participated in: I did the What to Read Next Challenge hosted by Sarah Reads Too Much and recommended three books I think everyone should have on their fall TBR.
Notes about today: I’m so sad it was the last day of Bout of Books. I always love this week, so I’m really looking forward to January now! I finished The Rose Society and YOU GUYS I HAVE SO MANY FEELINGS AND I NEED THE NEXT BOOK NOW.

Bout of Books 14

That’s right! Bout of Books is back! If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you know how much I love this week long read-a-thon full of super fun challenges, amazing Twitter chats, and all the laid-back reading that I love. And, like I have for the past 3 Bout of Books challenges, I’ll be participating! If you haven’t been following my blog for a while (HI!!!), then let me tell you a little more about Bout of Books:

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 17th and runs through Sunday, August 23rd in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 14 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team

I’ll post about my TBR and goals a little closer to the start of Bout of Books 14. If you’re interested in signing up but want to know more, feel free to ask me any questions, or check out the Bout of Books blog!

Bout of Books 13 – Wrap Up!

Bout of Books 13 is over! 😦 As always, I had an absolute blast, found some new people to follow on Twitter, read a bunch, and just had a wonderful, bookish week with a bunch of other book nerds.

What I read:

The Gracekeepers by Kirsty Logan (finished it) – ~134 pages [Check out my review]
Devoted by Jennifer Mathieu – 325 pages (ARC) [Review soon!]
Young Avengers, Volume 1: Style > Substance – 120 pages
Hawkeye: My Life as Weapon – 136 pages
The single issue comics (320 pages, single issues are 32 pages each): Convergence #2, Return of the Living Deadpool #1, Wytches #5, The Walking Dead #138, 139, 140, Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor #4 and 5, Divergence #1, and Batman and Robin Annual #3
Valiant by Sarah McGuire – ~286 pages (74%)

TOTAL PAGES READ: ~1,321 (I say approximately because two of these are eARCs which do not have page numbers)

Challenges participated in: 

The Bookish Survey challenge hosted by Lori at Writing My Own Fairy Tale
Character Face Off hosted by LuLo FanGirl – I put Ronan Lynch up against Celaena Sardothien. Who do you think won?
The Favorite Read Photo Challenge from Once Upon a Chapter. You can see my entry on Instagram.

Other stuff:

I got to participate in the last half of the first twitter chat and all of the second chat! The Twitter chats kept their spot as my favorite thing about Bout of Books. I always have an absolute blast meeting new bookish people and attempting to keep up with the craziness that is these chats. I love them.

I’m looking forward to participating in Bout of Books 14 in August! If my posts or tweets have convinced you to participate (you really, really should!) head over to the BoB website and follow them to learn more about the next readathon!

Bout of Books Challenge: Bookish Survey

As you may or may not know, today is the first day of Bout of Books 13! YAY! Lori at Writing My Own Fairy Tale is hosting the first challenge, a short bookish survey. Super easy and fun!

1. How do you organize your shelves? A lot of my books are still packed up from when I moved to Scotland, so I currently only have two bookshelves in my room: one where I keep books I own but haven’t read and the other with books I have read. They are in alphabetical order by the author’s last name; I know, not very exciting, but I don’t want to break them up by color or something and separate series. My TBR shelf also holds my trade paperbacks and graphic novels and the books I have checked out from the library.
2. What is one of your favorite book that’s not in one of your favorite genres? Hmmmm. This is an interesting question. My favorite genres are fantasy and contemporary, which covers most of my favorite books. OH! Duh. My favorite book not in one of my favorite genres is The Falls by Ian Rankin, which is crime fiction. I love this book and all of Ian Rankin’s books. I like crime fiction, but I’m particular about it, and I don’t read as much as I should.
3. What is the last 5 star book you read? Audiobook: I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson, which is incredible. Physical: Magonia by Maria Dahvana Headley.
4. What book are you most excited to read during the read-a-thon? I’m reading a mix of comics and books, so the comic/trade I’m most excited to read is Loki: Agent of Asgard, Volume 1 and the book I’m most excited to read is Devoted by Jennifer Mathieu. Or Tiny Pretty Things by Lori Rader-Day. I’m excited about everything I’m reading; that’s why I picked them out!
5. What book do you recommend the most? I feel like I could ask my readers what book I recommend the most and they’d be able to answer for me, but it’s The Humans by Matt Haig, which I recommend to every single living person I can.

Bout of Books 13: TBR, Goals, & Updates

IT HAS BEGUN. Again. Bout of Books 13 kicks of today, and as always, I’m so excited! I shared my TBR on Instagram and Twitter yesterday, but I wanted to post it here as well. This week, I’ll be reading from this pile:

Devoted by Jennifer Mathieu / The Secret Lies of Minnow Bly by Stephanie Oakes / Little Pretty Things by Lori Rader-Day / Hawkeye: My Life As Weapon / Loki: Agent of Asgard / Stephen King’s The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born / Young Avengers: Style & Substance / and several single issues I need to catch up on.

Not pictured: The Gracekeepers by Kirsty Logan (which I’m currently reading) and Trigger Warning by Neil Gaiman (my current audiobook).

GOALS:

– Can I say none? I just started my new, full-time job last week, so I don’t have as much time and I’m still learning the ropes. I don’t want to really set any goals because I don’t know what I’ll have time for. However, a few things:
– Make time every day (at least 30 minutes) to just sit down and read. Do nothing else.
– Participate in at least 2 challenges because they are FUN.
– Participate in both Twitter chats (This Saturday is one of my two Saturdays this month to work at the library, but I should have time to chat a bit)

That’s it. No other expectations or goals, and no pressure on myself to read that whole stack. It’s not going to happen, but I’m going to try.

UPDATES:

Monday

Pages read today: I was reading an eARC, so I read 42% of a book today, which I believe is about 134 pages of this book
Total number of pages: 134
Read today: The Gracekeepers by Kirsty Logan
Number of books I’ve read today: 42% of 1
Total number of books I’ve read: 42% of 1
Challenges participated in: The Bookish Survey challenge hosted by Lori at Writing My Own Fairy Tale, which was fun!
Notes about today: I found out yesterday morning that I had to close at the library…after I was already at the library at 8 a.m. SO that sucked, but I ended up making it home around 8:25 so I was able to participate in the last half of the Twitter chat, which was crazy fun as always. I’m glad I was able to finish The Gracekeepers, which was beautiful. Can’t wait for more BoB!

Tuesday

Pages read today: 208
Total number of pages: 342
Read today: Young Avengers, Volume 1: Style > Substance (120 pages) and Devoted by Jennifer Mathieu (88 pages)
Number of books I’ve read today: 1.3
Total number of books I’ve read: 1.75
Challenges participated in: Character Face Off hosted by LuLo FanGirl – I put Ronan Lynch up against Celaena Sardothien. Who do you think won?
Notes about today: I didn’t have as much time to read today, but I read a whole trade paperback of Young Avengers at work and started Devoted, which I’m really loving so far. It’s disturbing and fascinating at the same time.

Wednesday

Pages read today: 79
Total number of pages: 421
Read today: Devoted by Jen Mathieu
Number of books I’ve read today: Part of 1
Total number of books I’ve read: Almost 2 (by adding up the several parts)
Challenges participated in: None. I’m not a big fan of poetry or haiku.
Notes about today: I didn’t read as much as I wanted to today. I’m loving Devoted, and I wish I could just sit down and finish it in one go.

Thursday

Pages read today: 93
Total number of pages: 514
Read today: Devoted by Jennifer Mathieu
Number of books I’ve read today: Part of 1
Number of books I’ve read total: I’m going to say two (parts of several to make to whole)
Notes about today: Thursday was a long day and I just didn’t have time to read as much. I also completely forgot to do my update on Friday morning, so this is late. Oh well.

Friday

Pages read today: 521 (65 pages of Devoted, 136 pages – Hawkeye: My Life as Weapon, and ten single issue comics at 32 pages each)
Total number of pages: 1,035
Read today: I finished Devoted by Jennifer Mathieu (which I really liked; review soon), Hawkeye: My Life as Weapon (which wasn’t the best thing ever but I enjoyed it, and these single issue comics: Convergence #2, Return of the Living Deadpool #1, Wytches #5, The Walking Dead #138, 139, 140, Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor #4 and 5, Divergence #1, and Batman and Robin Annual #3. WOW!!
Number of books I’ve read today: I don’t even know how to count this anymore.
Number of books I’ve read total: Ditto above
Notes about today: Another busy day, but when I got home from work, I was just like, “I want to read ALL the comics!!” It was a pretty good reading day!

Saturday

Pages read today: 32% of Valiant by Sarah McGuire
Total number of pages: ~1,157
Read today: I started Valiant by Sarah McGuire
Number of books I’ve read today: 32% of Valiant
Number of books I’ve read total: I don’t even know how to count this anymore
Challenges participated in: I did the Favorite Read Photo Challenge from Once Upon a Chapter. You can see my entry on Instagram. My favorite read of BoB 13 was Devoted!
Notes about today: I was a Saturday Librarian yesterday, but I got to participate in the last BoB 13 chat! I also participated in the Favorite Read Photo Challenge, which was easy and fun! I was going to start a different book, but I decided to go with Valiant by Sarah McGuire and it’s not quite what I was hoping for but I’m not NOT enjoying it, if you know what I mean.

Sunday

Pages read today: 42% of Valiant
Total number of pages: ~1,300?
Read today: Valiant by Sarah McGuire
Number of books I’ve read today: 42% of Valiant
Number of books I’ve read total: I don’t even know how to count this anymore
Notes about today: Today was a pretty chill day. I was able to read almost a half of Valiant, which has picked up a bit since yesterday, so that’s awesome. I’m sad that Bout of Books 13 is over! Can’t’ wait until August.

Bout of Books 13 – Sign Up Announcement!

Hi, lovelies! I’m sure you’re all super surprised that I’m participating in Bout of Books 13, right? 🙂 This will be my FOURTH time participating in Bout of Books. I’ve just started a full time job so I’m not sure how much I’ll be able to read, but that’s one of my favorite things about BoB – no requirements for how much you read and no pressure to read ALL the books if you can’t. I love meeting people (virtually, of course) from all over the world and doing the Twitter chats (they’re the best even though they are NUTS). If you’ve ever thought about participating, or you’re interested now, I really encourage you to sign up. I haven’t looked back since I signed up for the first time. It’s super low-key and you get to set your own goals!

If you decide to sign up too, I would love to know what your goals are and what you plan to read! Link me up! Go sign up on the Bout of Books blog!

Some info about Bout of Books 13:

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, May 11th and runs through Sunday, May 17th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 13 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team

I haven’t picked a TBR or goals or anything yet. I’ll be deciding on those this weekend when I have to think about a plan. Let me know if you’ll be participating too, so we can encourage each other and talk about our progress!