Tuesday, January 08, 2013

#boutofbooks 6.0: status updates


I'm planning on using this single post to hold my read-a-thon status. I'll just update every day with the statistics and observations. I posted my goals yesterday morning. I'm still reading the book which I started on Sunday morning, but I should finish it fairly soon.

Updates

Monday, 7 January: I took I Am Half-Sick of Shadows to bed with me at 12:30. Starting on page 74, I read for about 1/2 hour before falling asleep. Since Monday was a normal work day, I had to squeeze in reading time during my lunch break and then could get back to it at the end of the day. When I turned in, I was on page 162, accounting for 88 pages read during the day. I also hung out on Twitter for a little while during lunch since the Twitter Chat was going on during that time.

Wednesday, 9 January: Tuesday was such a bust when it comes to reading that I didn't even get around to updating the blog. I only read 34 pages, and when you consider that I average over 900 pages per week, I have a lot of reading to do the rest of this week to keep up with that pace. I did finish I Am Half-Sick of Shadows this morning before work. That allowed me to start another book during lunch, Singer of Souls by Adam Stemple. By bedtime, I had read 106 pages in this book, taking my total for the day to 203. I'm really looking forward to the weekend when I don't have to go to work and I can spend more time reading. And, of course, I'd like to visit a lot of blogs to see what others are reading.

Thursday, 10 January: Another day when I didn't read as much as I would have liked. Working sure cuts into one's free time. But I do have to admit I like having a good income. It lets me do interesting things with the free time that I do have. Most of the reading that I accomplished was during the meal breaks. I read Singer of Souls on the way to and from lunch, during lunch, and during supper. We went to supper pretty late and it was dark out, so I read more in Blame It On the Mistletoe which is on my Blackberry. At the end of the day, I had read 64 pages in Singer of Souls and approximately 13 pages in Blame It On the Mistletoe. (Actually, it was 219 locations in the Kindle book, but that translates pretty much to 13 +/- pages.) I didn't have time to get into Twitter or visit blogs. Guess those will have to wait until the weekend.

I Am Half Sick of Shadows by Alan Bradley Singer of Souls by Adam Stemple Blame It On the Mistletoe by Joyce Magnin

Monday, 7 January

Number of books I've read today: 1
Number of pages I've read today: 88
Number of books completed today: 0

Tuesday, 8 January

Number of books I've read today: 1
Number of pages I've read today: 34
Number of books completed today: 0

Wednesday, 9 January

Number of books I've read today: 2
Number of pages I've read today: 203
Number of books completed today: 1

Thursday, 10 January

Number of books I've read today: 2
Number of pages I've read today: 77
Number of books completed today: 0

Monday, January 07, 2013

#boutofbooks 6.0: goals and starting position


The time has come. The Bout of Books read-a-thon is now on its 6th iteration and I've signed up to participate again. This will be the fourth time I've participated in Bout of Books and you can tell that I enjoy it since I keep returning. I've labeled all my posts from previous events, and you can read about my past participation by checking my Bout of Books tag. In this first post, I'll lay out my goals and then I plan to post periodic updates throughout the week. In case you're interested, here's the official information:

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

One of the notable characteristics of Bout of Books is the use of Twitter to communicate with particpants. The organizers send periodic encouragement via tweets with the #boutofbooks hashtag. And, there are three “chats” scheduled to take place on Twitter.

My Bout of Books Goals

My Targets

My only real goal is to spend as much time reading as I can and to have fun!

Time Devoted to Reading

This time, Bout of Books is taking place during an ordinary work week, so my reading will be confined to meal times and the evenings before I go to sleep. I'm hoping that the weekend will give me plenty of time to devote to reading—but that will depend on whether I have any family activities that I need to participate in.

Books to Read

I'm lining up a couple of books that have a high likelihood to be read during the week. I reserve the right to change my mind at any time. These are a mixture of books which I owe to fellow readers over at BookObsessed.com and some high-interest books, many of which are in series that I have started and want to read further in. First up are books that I've already started reading and hope to finish this week:

  • I Am Half-Sick of Shadows by Alan Bradley—4th in the Flavia de Luce mystery series; checked out from the library; starting on page 74
  • Blame it on the Mistletoe by Joyce Magnin—4th in the Bright's Pond series; a free eBook that I picked up from Amazon and which I have loaded onto my Blackberry; starting at location 821, which is about the middle of chapter 5
  • The Book of Love by Kathleen McGowan—2nd in the Magdalene Line series; an audio book on 18 CDs; starting at disk 7, track 13; I probably won't finish this book since I only listen when I'm alone in the car

And then the books that I will probably start reading this week:

  • The Testament of Jessie Lamb by Jane Rogers—a book which Candy won in a swap at BookObsessed; I need to mail this book by the end of the month
  • Singer of Souls by Adam Stemple—a book which has been on my TBR stack for several years
  • Vicious Circle by Linda Robertson—first in the Persephone Alcmedi paranormal series; I owe the first 3 books to Wendy from a virtual book box at BookObsessed; need to mail all 3 books by the end of March

The Book of Love by Kathleen McGowan Blame It On the Mistletoe by Joyce Magnin I Am Half Sick of Shadows by Alan Bradley

The Testament of Jessie Lamb by Jane Rogers Singer of Souls by Adam Stemple Vicious Circle by Linda Robertson