Officially on Hiatus

Since I'm not posting anything lately, I might just as well officially announce a blogging break. I can't say when I'll be back, as I seem to be in the worst reading slump in a while.

I hope taking the pressure off might do the trick to help me get back into reading and reviewing. Until then, I'll still be reading your blogs and comment when I can.

Bout of Books 6.0 Goals & Updates

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 7th and runs through Sunday, January 13th 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 6.0 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. -From the Bout of Books 6.0 team

GOALS:

My goals this time are very modest. I've been in a reading rut (well, sort-of, I'm reading tons of fanfiction, but I have to get back to read books, too). I haven't read a book in a month or so, so reading a book this week would be a progress. Not a too thick one, so 50 pages a day or 300 pages total.

As a consequence of the reading slump, my blogging has been all but non-existent lately, so my second goal is to be more social and connect with other bloggers.

I will also try to participate in a challenge or two.

UPDATES:

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

January 7:

The book(s) I’ve been reading: What Alice Knew by Paula Marantz Cohen
Number of pages I’ve read today: 8
Total number of pages I’ve read: 8
Today #insixwords: Well, at least I'm reading again.

January 8:

The book(s) I’ve not been reading: What Alice Knew by Paula Marantz Cohen
Number of pages I’ve read today: 0
Total number of pages I’ve read: 8
Today #insixwords: Personal stuff going on. No reading.

January 9:

The book(s) I’ve been reading: Love and Intrigue by Friedrich von Schiller
Number of pages I’ve read today: 25
Total number of pages I’ve read: 33
Today #insixwords: Little signs of improvement appearing slowly.

January 10:

The book(s) I’ve been reading: Love and Intrigue by Friedrich von Schiller
Number of pages I’ve read today: 10
Total number of pages I’ve read: 43
Today #insixwords: Where did today go so fast?

January 11:

The book(s) I’ve been reading: /
Number of pages I’ve read today: 0
Total number of pages I’ve read: 43
Today #insixwords: I was writing instead of reading.

January 12:

The book(s) I’ve been reading: /
Number of pages I’ve read today: 0
Total number of pages I’ve read: 43
Today #insixwords: Well, this is a total disaster.

January 13:

The book(s) I’ve been reading: Love and Intrigue by Friedrich von Schiller
Number of pages I’ve read today: 10
Total number of pages I’ve read: 53
Today #insixwords: I'm going to hide in shame.

WRAP- UP:

Total number of pages I've read: 53

So, this has been a complete fail. But at least I read something.

2013 Challenge

As usually, I am not joining any challenges, but I am setting my own personal challenge which is, again, to read 50 books January 1st – December 31st 2013:

• rereads don’t count 
• books not written in English and not translated into English don’t count either 

CHALLENGE RECORDS:

Books are listed in order of reading (with the level of strangeness, see my rating system); those reviewed are linked to their reviews and also listed under Reviews by Author and Reviews by Rating tab. The books not counting (rereads, non-English) are in italics and numbered separately, but I list them here to keep track of the total number of the books I read.

1. What Alice Knew by Paula Marantz Cohen (4)
2. Wood Angel by Erin Bow (4)
3. Angelology (Angelology #1) by Danielle Trussoni (3)
4. Eighty Days Yellow (Eighty Days #1) by Vina Jackson (1)

Books not counting for the challenge (and reasons):

1. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien (reread)
2. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (reread)

Rating Stats:

Did not rate: 0

* not strange: 1

** a little strange: 0

*** strange enough: 1

**** very strange: 2

***** beyond strange: 2

This has been the worst reading year since uni when for a year or two I only read study books and materials. Hence, I'm counting the rereads in. It was actually rereading LOTR that got me reading at all. So it should count.

Books I Read in 2012
Books I Read in 2011