Saturday, August 11, 2012

Bout of Books 5.0 Goals & Updates

Bout of Books Read-a-ThonThe 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 13th and runs through Sunday, August 19th 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 5.0 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books 5.0 team

MY GOALS:

  1. to read/finish the following three books (about 1200 pages total):
    • Dracula by Bram Stoker – because I borrowed it from a friend and I've been reading it for far too long (read 155 pages before Bout of Books )
    • Second Glance by Jodi Picoult – because it is also borrowed from a friend and although she is okay with me having it as long as I want I'm annoyed with myself for having it for so long.
    • Tiger's Curse by Colleen Houck – because it's due at the library on August 20. (DONE)

      Of course, I might decide to be bad, change my mind and read something else. Because my reading depends on my mood.
  2. to participate in at least one Twitter chat – Monday or Saturday (because the one on Wednesday is in the middle of the night for me). (DONE)
  3. to participate in some challenges (DONE)
  4. to try to visit as many blogs as I can and make new blogging friends (DONE)
  5. and, most of all, have fun (DONE)

UPDATES:

(The format is adapted from Amanda's.) I’ll also update on Twitter @StrangeNewWords, and you can find me on Goodreads.

August 13:

The books I’ve been reading today (and the number of pages): Dracula (51), Deep Kiss of Winter (169)
Number of pages I’ve read today: 220
Total number of pages I’ve read: 220
Today #insixwords: A great start of this readathon.

As you can see I already changed my mind and picked up a book which isn't on the initial list. I participated in Twitter chat, which was fun, although a bit dizzying because it was going so fast. I met some great new book bloggers, and 'old' ones, too, so that was amazing. I also did the Passing Books challenge hosted by Reading in Texas and The Space Between, but I was lazy, so I just filled the form that was provided rather than making a separate blog post. Oh, and I visited some blogs, too. All in all, a fun readathon day.

August 14:

The books I’ve been reading today (and the number of pages): Deep Kiss of Winter (78)
Number of pages I’ve read today: 78
Total number of pages I’ve read: 298
Today #insixwords: Not bad for a busy day.

I had a lot of work-related things to do in the morning, and then I had to run some errands and do the grocery shopping, so I was pretty tired, especially because it's very hot here. Also, my cousins stopped by, which was great because they don't come often, I usually visit them, and we had some fun time, but I was exhausted afterwards. Considering it all, I read a lot. I visited some blogs, too, and commented, but I didn't do any challenges. I'm quite happy with the day in general, though.

August 15:

The books I’ve been reading today (and the number of pages): Deep Kiss of Winter (53)
Number of pages I’ve read today: 53
Total number of pages I’ve read: 351
Today #insixwords: A weird, half-busy and half-lazy day.

We had a national public and church holiday, The Assumption, one of my favourites, so it was quite nice. I went to church, but then I worked awhile, because without a job I use every opportunity I get to work. Then I was mostly free, I hopped around the blogosphere a little and did Book Word Search challenge hosted by The Musings of ALMYBNENR. It was fun, although I had to take a couple of breaks and come back with fresh eyes to find all the short words, hehe. I read less than I could have, because I procrastinated, but hey, that's what holidays are for.

August 16:

The books I’ve been reading today (and the number of pages): Tiger's Curse (158)
Number of pages I’ve read today: 158
Total number of pages I’ve read: 509
Today #insixwords: I spent too much time online.

I started Tiger's Curse, because this is the book I really need to finish this week. It's been a fast and enjoyable read so far. I completed two challenges: A Book for Every Season hosted by Reading in Winter and Candy Challenge hosted by BookSmartie. I spent a lot of time on line, visiting quite a lot of blogs and commenting on them. So, there went my reading time. Much better than Tuesday and Wednesday, though.

August 17:

The books I’ve been reading today (and the number of pages): Tiger's Curse (120)
Number of pages I’ve read today: 120
Total number of pages I’ve read: 629
Today #insixwords: Where did all the time go?

I blame the Internet for eating my time again, haha. The day was gone so quickly, though I wasn't doing anything special. Besides the usual things, I read (a little), and blog hopped. I loved Book Spine Haiku challenge hosted by bookgoonie, which I completed.

August 18:

The books I’ve been reading today (and the number of pages): Tiger's Curse (186)
Number of pages I’ve read today: 186
Total number of pages I’ve read: 815
Today #insixwords: Relaxed day, did lots of readathon things.

All right, over 800 pages doesn't seem so bad, does it? So, I finished Tiger's Curse (you're welcome to read my review). I did some commenting. And I completed Virtual Travels challenge hosted by Ex Libris. I also participated in Twitter chat. It was great, I found it more easy to follow than on Monday and I actually had some conversations with people.

August 19:

The books I’ve been reading today (and the number of pages): Deep Kiss of Winter (86)
Number of pages I’ve read today: 86
Total number of pages I’ve read: 901
Today #insixwords: I took the last day easy.

My enthusiasm waned a little, so I didn't do neither as much blog hoping as in the previous days nor any challenges. I didn't have a particularly good day, so I did some other things to distract myself from worrying. I read quite a lot considering my general state of mind, though.

WRAP-UP:

Total number of books read: 1 and partly two others
Total number of pages read: 901

Fro me personally, Bout of Books 5.0 was one of the more successful readathons. I was more organized than usually, and I socialized a lot on line through commenting and Twitter chats, which was great. I had set my reading goals pretty high to motivate myself and it worked. Although I didn't exactly reach them, I am happy with how much I read – more than twice as much as I usually read in a week, so hooray! Also, I really enjoyed the challenges I completed.

Overall, Bout of Books was a great motivation for me, and I had lots of fun during the week.

Thanks so much to Amanda and Kelly for organizing everything so well and running it so smoothly! You are awesome!

41 comments:

  1. I haven't read these books but I did hear Tiger's Curse is very good. I hope you find something to match your mood. Enjoy the books :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I read the play version of Dracula twice in high school but never got round to actually reading the book. I have got a copy though, so I'll hopefully be getting round to it soon! Good luck reaching your goals! :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hope you make it to both Twitter chats! Best of luck! :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. That's a lot of pages! Good luck! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Good luck with your goals this week and have fun!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Great book picks! Dracula sounds like a great read ... I've had that one on my shelf forever!

    Good luck! :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thank for stopping by, everyone!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Good luck!!! Great picks, I really want to read Dracula one day. I'm interested in seeing what you think about it. Enjoy!

    P.S Thanks for visiting my blog =)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Good luck!! I followed you on twitter as well to cheer you on :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Good luck! Sounds like fun.

    ReplyDelete
  11. It's always a good idea to be willing to break your own rules when it comes to readathons- sometimes you just want to read what you want to read. Good luck with your reading this week!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, I do that all the time when it comes to reading. :)

      Delete
  12. 220 pages WOOT! Ya, the twitter chat had me dizzy too. My tweatdeck would slam me with 20 at a time. *sigh*

    Amy @ www.bookgoonie.com

    ReplyDelete
  13. Wow! 220 pages you should be super proud. I also agree with Kate Midnight Book Girl who says to read what you want during readathons, that's the best part of a readathon, going with the flow and picking books that totally call to you and make you want to flip through the pages as fast as possible because they are that good!

    Best of luck for the rest of Bout Of Books!

    -April Books & Wine

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree, reading books I enjoy goes the fastest. On the other hand, readathons are a good motivation to get though those I'm struggling with.

      Delete
  14. Ha, dizzying is exactly the right word for the Twitterchat - wasn't that awesome?

    ReplyDelete
  15. Thanks for stopping by and cheering me on, everyone!

    ReplyDelete
  16. I didn't do any challenges either - but you did great, considering how tired you were and the fact that you had visitors! Here's to another successful day!

    ReplyDelete
  17. You're doing great! I didn't participate in a lot of the challenges on Tuesday, either ... At least you're getting some reading done -- that's awesome!

    Keep up the good work!

    ReplyDelete
  18. You're doing great so far! The Twitter chat really was dizzying, wasn't it? Fun, though! I didn't do any challenges yesterday either, but trying to catch up on everything today.

    ReplyDelete
  19. It sounds like Tuesday was a busy day, but I'm glad you still got some reading done and had the chance to hang out with your cousins. :)

    ReplyDelete
  20. You still did great for a busy day. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  21. Tuesday seems to have been a tough day for a lot of people. Hopefully the rest of Bout of books will be great!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Thanks for stopping by, everyone! You're providing great motivation!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Good luck^^

    i had some trouble with teh search words challenge too^^ and yes day off are also for relaxing other than reading

    ReplyDelete
  24. There's nothing like a library deadline to keep you motivated! @fromleft2write www.fromlefttowrite.com

    ReplyDelete
  25. You're doing great!
    And I can totally relate, I spent too much time online yesterday also, tumblr is the devil.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hehe, yeah, tumblr is a life-ruiner :)

      Delete
  26. I have been failing with the challenges badly. I need to step that up a bit LOL I have been eyeing the Tiger's Curse so I will be looking forward to hearing what you think of it.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Hi Pepca! *waves*
    Thanks for stopping by my post! :)
    You're doing great!

    Dracula has been on my tbr list since forever, I really should read it. Next I'll make sure to check it out from the library.

    I've done quite a few challenges, but I'm not so good with visiting blogs :( Gotta do something about that in the weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  28. Looks like you're doing well with your goals. Good luck and hope you get some reading done this weekend. My plan is to finish my first book.

    ReplyDelete
  29. congrats on great progress so far! Is Deep Kiss of Winter the Kresley Cole/Gena Showalter one? Good luck on the last day of Bout of Books and hope you have fun! :D

    Jo @ Urban Fangtasy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! Yes, it is the Kresley Cole/Gena Showalter combination.

      Delete
  30. I'm glad you had fun! I read about twice as much as I normally do in a week, too, so I think we should both be proud of ourselves. Way to go! :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! I'm glad you've managed to do a lot of reading, too!

      Delete
  31. Yay! Glad you considered Bout-of-Books both fun and a success. Hope to see you at Bout-of-Books 6.0 in January ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Definitely! I'm already looking forward to January! :)

      Delete

Don't hesitate to drop me a few strange new words! I'd love to hear what you think!