Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Bout of Books 8.0 - Wrap-up

And so ends yet another read-a-thon. Bout of Books 8.0 officially ended Sunday at midnight. After 7 long days I'd have to say I'm fairly pleased with how I did. Although I didn't finish all the books I had included in my TBR at the start I was still able to read well over 150 pages a day. My original goal of 150 pages for Monday to Thursday and then 250 pages Friday to Sunday would have totalled 1350 pages, only 90 pages more than what I did accomplish and I picked up a couple other books that I hadn't planned on.

Rapture by Lauren Kate: This first book I had started prior to the RAT and then finished during it, banking 268 pages. I gave it 4/5 (though a slightly lesser 4/5 than the 4/5 I gave its predecessor, Passion). I listened to the audiobook by the lovely Justine Eyre. She does such a great job with giving each character a recognizable voice. I listened to it over Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
Blood Brothers in Louisbourg by Philip Roy: This  next book I also started prior to the read-a-thon but dispite a valiant attempt I didn't finish it during the week (Monday, Tuesday & Saturday) as I found its small print was eating up my time & the storyline (so far) wasn't intriguing me enough to want me to read the next page, the next chapter, etc. I hope to finish it sometime soon though when I get more time to devote to it. I had such high hopes for this book. I banked 48 pages with this book.

Hard Run by Tsugumi Ohba: The first book I picked up and began once the read-a-thon started was this next book. I also finished in completely on Monday, banking 193 pages and giving it 4/5 as I continue with the Death Note series of graphic novels.
Left Neglected by Lisa Genova: Continuing with my planned TBR, I picked up this adult contemporary book on Tuesday. I continued reading it Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, banking 322 pages and giving it 5/5 as I absolutely loved it! It really changed my outlook on life and how we take for granted things like knowing left exists and being able to see the left side of the world around us. It is also a definite contender for one of my favourite books of the year and for sure my favourite book I read during this RAT. Not my favourite cover for this book but here's the one I read:
Spore by Alex Scarrow: On Saturday I also bought/downloaded this short story which is #8 in the Doctor Who E-Shorts series which are released one per month on the 23rd and are each based on a reincarnation of The Doctor from the first (William Hartnell) to the eleventh (Matt Smith) by well-known children's authors. This one was thus based on the Eighth reincarnation played by Paul McGann, whom was only seen in Doctor Who the movie in 1996 however there are several books that depict more of his adventures. This e-short banked 40 pages towards my total and I gave it 4/5 stars. My most anticipated ebook in this series will be that of the tenth doctor, David Tennant, which will be released this October.

Love by Tsugumi Ohba: After such an emotional and thought prevoking book like Left Neglected I needed something fun to keep my reading going. That's where this book came in, the fourth in the Death Note series of graphic novels. I picked it up on Saturday and finished it the next day, banking 204 pages and giving it also a 4/5 as this one came out with some pretty funny lines that had me laughing out loud at times. Just what I needed.
The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater: By Saturday I realized I was missing out on adding to my page counts because I no longer had an audiobook on the go. Time when I was merely driving back and forth to work, and cooking and eating dinner were time being wasted as I was unable to read/hold a physical book at the same time. So I started this one. I love Maggie Stiefvater's books in audio as they always include some music at the beginning and end that she composed and performed herself. I also figured, since I also had a hardcopy of this book, that I could switch back and forth between the two mediums based on the situation. This was enjoyable but I found I was often relistening to sections of the book I had physically read just to read had the narrator said and name or how a new character's accent came across. I am still making my way through this book/audiobook but banked 185 pages of it during the RAT (Saturday and Sunday).

Here's my totals:

Day One/Monday: 250 pages
Day Two/Tuesday: 41 pages
Day Three/Wednesday: 199 pages
Day Four/Thursday: 166 pages
Day Five/Friday: 111 pages
Day Six/Saturday: 301 pages
Day Seven/Sunday: 193 pages

Weekly Total: 1260 pages
Daily Average: 180 pages
Books/Graphic Novels/Novellas Finished: 5
Partial Reads: 2

Let me know how you did if you participated in this read-a-thon, if you've read any of these books and would like to share your opinion (spoiler-free) on them, or if you have anything else you'd like to share!

Saturday, August 24, 2013

Bout of Books 8.0: DAY SIX

One more day down and one more to go before the end of this read-a-thon. Today I finished reading Left Neglected which I absolutely loved. I then tried to read more of Blood Brothers in Louisbourg and promptly fell asleep. oops. Not sure what is going on with this book. I like the storyline; set in a place I've been, is historical fiction which I generally enjoy, it features a character that plays the cello which I enjoy the music of and once tried to learn to play one, and the main two characters are both very likeable. However the font is very small for such a seeming short book and it seems to be taking me so much longer to read it than anything else that I've picked up. I guess I am also finding it a bit too predictable, but I shall not give up on it (even if I find I must set it aside until the end of the RAT). So instead I started a couple other books that weren't on my TBR. The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater as an audiobook to get my reading in while I cooked and ate and Love by Tsugumi Ohba for a fast paced graphic novel to break up the reading of longer books from a series I already know I like in which I read right up until midnight.

So here's how the numbers fell today, bringing my average pages read to 178 per day:

Saturday

Number of pages I've read today:
  1. Blood Brother in Louisbourg by Philip Roy: 2 (73 pages left)
  2. Left Neglected by Lisa Genova: 104 (completed)
  3. The Raven Boys (Raven Cycle #1) by Maggie Stiefvater (audiobook): 12 (397 pages left)
  4. Love (Death Note #4) by Tsugumi Ohba: 184 (20 pages left)
Total number of pages read today: 301 pages
Number of books I've read today: 1 book
Total number of pages I've read: 1067 pages
Total number of books I've read: 4 (2 books, 1 graphic novel, 1 novella)

 Books read:

  1. Hard Run (Death Note #3) by Tsugumi Ohba (****)
  2. Rapture (Fallen #4) by Lauren Kate (****) 
  3. Spore (Doctor Who E-Short #8) by Alex Scarrow (**** again)
  4. Left Neglected by Lisa Genova (*****)

Unstarted thus far on RAT TBR:
  1. Bitten by Kelley Armstrong - 422 pages

Friday, August 23, 2013

Bout of Books 8.0: DAY FIVE

Day Five of seven sure didn't go as planned. For a day without work I read even less than usual. Oh dear. I didn't start a new audiobook so times where I am usually driving someplace, cooking food, or eating were filled with quiet contemplation or a tv show versus get more pages read/listened to (mainly due to my ipod dying and my charge cord choosing this time to be MIA). My day also included playing Second Life for longer than I should have last night and then sleeping in late & then taking a lengthy nap later on. I did however read some more of Left Neglected and bought and read this month's Doctor Who e-short and my overall average is now at 153 pages per day (compared to my goal of 150 pages per day) so that's not too bad even if I'd love that to be a lot higher.

Here's my numbers for Day Five:

Friday

Number of pages I've read today:
  1. Blood Brother in Louisbourg by Philip Roy: 0 (75 pages left)
  2. Left Neglected by Lisa Genova: 71 (104 pages left)
  3. Spore (Doctor Who E-Short #8) by Alex Scarrow: 40 (completed)  - novella
Total number of pages read today: 111 pages
Number of books I've read today: 1 book (novella)
Total number of pages I've read: 766 pages
Total number of books I've read: 3 books (1 being a novella)
Books read:
  1. Hard Run (Death Note #3) by Tsugumi Ohba (****)
  2. Rapture (Fallen #4) by Lauren Kate (****) 
  3. Spore (Doctor Who E-Short #8) by Alex Scarrow (**** again)

Unstarted thus far on RAT TBR:
  1. Bitten by Kelley Armstrong - 422 pages

Thursday, August 22, 2013

Bout of Books 8.0: DAY FOUR

  On Day Four I decided (consciously or not) to give my eyes a break and only listened to my audiobook. However this meant I was able to finish Rapture by Lauren Kate and thus add yet another series to my finished series list, which is awesome. Sad to see this one finish though (although I still have Fallen in Love the novella to read at some point). Out of the four book series, I believe my favourite was book number 3 (Passion) as I loved all the places it took place in. Today was also my last day of work for the week so Fri, Sat, and Sun possibly can be full of reading... well reading and packing my stuff to move, but we'll see. Really hoping to finish the two books I'm in the midst of and at least begin Bitten before Monday rolls around.

Here's my numbers for day four:

Thursday

Number of pages I've read today:
  1. Blood Brother in Louisbourg by Philip Roy: 0 (75 pages left)
  2. Rapture (Fallen #4) by Lauren Kate: (audiobook) 166 (completed)
  3. Left Neglected by Lisa Genova: 0 (175 pages left)
Total number of pages read today: 166 pages
Number of books I've read today: 1 book
Total number of pages I've read: 655 pages
Total number of books I've read: 2 books
Books read:
  1.  Hard Run (Death Note #3) by Tsugumi Ohba (****)
  2.  Rapture (Fallen #4) by Lauren Kate (****)

Unstarted thus far on RAT TBR:
  1. Bitten by Kelley Armstrong - 422 pages

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Bout of Books 8.0: DAY THREE

Today was another day of working 8.5 hours but I found a wee bit of time, during my breaks, to read some while at work. Then I was free from other commitments to read all night when I got home (minus time spent, napping, cooking and being distracted by youtube and facebook).

Here's my progress for day three:

Wednesday

Number of pages I've read today:
  1. Blood Brother in Louisbourg by Philip Roy: 0 (75 pages left)
  2. Rapture (Fallen #4) by Lauren Kate: (audiobook) 67 (166 page equivalents left - or 5 hours approx.)
  3. Left Neglected by Lisa Genova: 132 (175 pages left)
Total number of pages read today: 199 pages
Number of books I've read today: 0 books
Total number of pages I've read: 489 pages
Total number of books I've read: 1 book
Books read:

  1.  Hard Run (Death Note #3) by Tsugumi Ohba (****)

Unstarted thus far on RAT TBR:
  1. Bitten by Kelley Armstrong - 422 pages

Participating in Bout of Books 8.0? How did you do on day three?

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Bout of Books 8.0: DAY TWO

So after a fairly successful first day, my reading took a steep decline. Where I usually would listen to my audiobook both to and from work in my car, I only listened to it for one direction as I gave a co-worker a lift and didn't want to subject them to 15-ish minutes of the middle of the last book in a series they haven't read after working an 8.5 hour shift. Then I spent longer than expected in Walmart picking out a new microwave and tv for my new house/apartment. Lastly tonight was the last ceilidh of the season in my community so I went and watched that during the time I'd usually be reading. I also felt pressure to read more pages so I started another book (at 11:30pm) as Blood Brothers in Louisbourg, dispite being quite short, has a small font so it is taking me awhile to get through.

So all in all (after all my excuses) this is how I faired on day two: 

Tuesday

Number of pages I've read today:
  1. Blood Brother in Louisbourg by Philip Roy: 15 (75 pages left)
  2. Rapture (Fallen #4) by Lauren Kate: (audiobook) 10 (233 page equivalents left)
  3. Left Neglected by Lisa Genova: 16 (306 pages left)
Total number of pages read today: 41 pages (ouch)
Number of books I've read today: 0 books
Total number of pages I've read: 291 pages
Total number of books I've read: 1 book
Books read:
  1.  Hard Run (Death Note #3) by Tsugumi Ohba (****)

Unstarted thus far on RAT TBR:
  1. Bitten by Kelley Armstrong - 422 pages

Monday, August 19, 2013

Bout of Books 8.0: DAY ONE

Day One for me is now officially over. I only managed to read 7 pages at midnight before falling asleep then worked from 8-4:30pm so this left me with the rest of the night to do my reading. So let's see how I did.

Monday

Number of pages I've read today:
  1. Blood Brother in Louisbourg by Philip Roy: 31 (90 pages left)
  2. Hard Run (Death Note #3) by Tsugumi Ohba: 193 (0 pages left) - completed 
  3. Rapture (Fallen #4) by Lauren Kate: (audiobook) 26 (243 page equivalents left)
Total number of pages read today: 250 pages
Number of books I've read today: 1 book
Total number of pages I've read: 250 pages
Total number of books I've read: 1 book
Books read:
  1.  Hard Run (Death Note #3) by Tsugumi Ohba (****)

Unstarted thus far on RAT TBR:
  1. Bitten by Kelley Armstrong - 422 pages
  2. Left Neglected by Lisa Genova - 322 pages

Sunday, August 18, 2013

Bout of Books 8.0 - Reading Goals

The last read-a-thon(RAT) I participated in (The BookTube-A-Thon) challenged us to read 300 pages per day for each of the seven days. I ended up reading an average of 244 pages per day. This was a week where I could devote every moment (when I wasn't working or sleeping) to reading. This coming week I still have my work and sleep commitments but I also need to be packing for my upcoming move. So that being factored in I am making my goal to read 190 pages per day. This will hopefully give me the opportunity to complete all my planned books and, if I have extra time, choose based on mood another later on.

The Bout of Books RAT is all about reading more than you usually do and may include challenges along the way but (as far as I can tell) doesn't include a set of challenges to direct your book choosing as my previous one did. As I have so many books I want to read (all at once if I could lol) I enjoyed having the framework and structure those challenges gave to narrowing down my choices. Therefore I've looked elsewhere to give me structure, Goodreads (particularly the Nothing but Reading Challenges group).

I had already committed (at least in my own mind) to tackling the Reading University Challenge. I am currently on the Associate's degree level so I decided to choose my books for this RAT in order to work towards fulfilling that challenge's criteria (and to give myself a bit more diversity in the genres I choose) plus reading a couple books that are still left over from my TBR from the last RAT (oops).

Without further ado, here are the books I'm planning to read:
1.  Blood Brothers in Louisbourg by Philip Roy - Started prior to RAT, History (american history) - total pages left: 121
2. Bitten (Women of the Otherworld #1) by Kelley Armstrong - TBR of last RAT - total pages: 436
3. Hard Run (Death Note #3) by Tsugumi Ohba - Literature (graphic novel) - total pages: 193
4. Left Neglected by Lisa Genova - Social Studies (psychology) - total pages: 322
5. Rapture (Fallen #4) by Lauren Kate - Started prior to RAT, audiobook - total pages left: 270

This totals: 1342 pages and an average of 191 pages per day or more like 150 per day from Monday to Thursday and then 247 on Fri, Sat & Sun when I'm off work. :)

Wish me luck!

Updates & Bout of Books 8.0

Hey all,

I feel like all I do is plan to post things here, tell you my plan, then I don't follow through. Then I come back here to apologia before sharing yet another plan. It's a vicious cycle. Anywho, my most recent disappearance from both here and youtube is from me having to find a new apartment on super short notice. I've been living in an apartment in a family's reno'd basement since June when I moved across the country. The plan was always to have a lease until the end of Aug. with the ability to extend the lease at that time if I chose to stay. My landlady sends me a message at the beginning of August asking me to let her know that week whether I was wanting to stay or not as she would love me to be understands if I want a bigger place. A day or two later I let her know I'd love to stay and she emails me back the next day informing me she isn't renting out the apartment to anyone and that I have until the 2nd of Sept to get out. Gee thanks lady! So since then I've been apartment hunting. Super stressful!

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Bout of Books


Anywho, I believe I now have a new place to live come Sept, so I can start getting back to my regular routines and that means back to reading. So why not participate in a read-a-thon? No reason at all (well other than packing like crazy, but whatevs). I just found out today that the Bout of Books read-a-thon is coming back next week! From August 19-25 and I will give it my best show to participate.

But what is the Bout of Books read-a-thon, you ask?
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 19th and runs through Sunday, August 25th 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 8.0 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

I will let know what books I have planned to read probably later today. (I'm determined to follow through this time) 

Bye,
Kieli