The Bout of Books Read-a-thon 5.0 is about to start on Monday the 13th! If you’re interested in taking part you can still sign up. Head over to the Bout of Books blog to see the schedule for the events planned for each day of the read-a-thon.
Here’s a bit of info about the event:
“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 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”
Even though I’m taking part in the Review Copy Cleanup this month, read-a-thons give a bit more of that much needed motivation! Plus, all the encouragement and general shenanigans on twitter is great fun too.
I’ll be updating this post each day with my progress.
Goals
- This time I’m aiming for four books, plus the audiobook I’m partway through. Anything after that is a bonus!
- I’m planning to visit and comment on as many blogs as I can!
Books To Be Read
- Finish Bearers of the Black Staff, Terry Brooks (audio version)
- Finish The White Thread, KB Hoyle
- Seraphina, Rachel Hartman
- Stormdancer, Jay Kristoff
- A Discovery of Witches, Deborah Harkness
Extras (if I get to them)
- India Black, Carol K Carr
- Covenant of the Faceless Knights, Gary Vanucci
- Froi of the Exiles, Melina Marchetta
Updates
13th
Today’s progress: The White Thread, K.B. Hoyle – 26% to 81% (about 220 pages)
Total number of books I’ve read: None yet!
Comments: I’m really enjoying The White Thread, but not quite as much as the earlier books I’m afraid. I wanted to finish it tonight but didn’t quite make it.
14th
Today’s progress: Finished The White Thread, K.B. Hoyle – 81-100% (about 75 pages)
Total number of books I’ve read: 1
Comments: As usual, the read-a-thon curse has struck and I suddenly have no time to read *aaarrrgh* At least I got this book finished like I wanted to. Was great, but might be suffering slightly from mid-series-itis.
15th
Today’s progress: Seraphina, Rachel Hartman – first 20% (about 65 pages)
Total number of books I’ve read: 1
Comments: Today was a public holiday in Brisbane for the Ekka. You might think this means I had more time to read. You would be wrong. Actually this was partly self-inflicted as once I got the Sproutling down for his nap I decided to do some housework (I know, what the hell is wrong with me?) and got about 1/2 hour to make a start on Seraphina before the Sprout woke up again. I am going to have to sit down and read this book in one go, I can see that now… what a fabulous world and premise!
16th
Today’s progress: Seraphina, Rachel Hartman – 20 – 45% (about 80 pages)
Total number of books I’ve read: 1
Comments: The Curse struck again today – very little time to read 
17th
Today’s progress: Seraphina, Rachel Hartman – 45 – 78% (about 105 pages)
Total number of books I’ve read: 1
Comments: I really wanted to finish Seraphina today but I actually stayed home to babysit the Sproutling while Mr Ang had the flu. By the time I had time to read in the evening, it was a bit too late to get all the way to the end. So awesome though!
18th
Today’s progress: Finished Seraphina, Rachel Hartman (about 70 pages). Started India Black, Carol K Carr (34 pages)
Total number of books I’ve read: 2
Comments: I loved Seraphina! What a gorgeous world, amazingly detailed characters and even though the story was a little slow to start with, it ended with a bang. Plus, it has dragons, music and a swoony romance – how the hell was I ever not going to love this book to pieces? 
I was reminded tonight that we have a book club meeting coming up next week and I hadn’t started India Black yet, so I got stuck into it!
19th
Today’s progress: India Black, Carol K Carr (85 pages)
Total number of books I’ve read: 2
Comments: Sunday today and I had a sick little Sproutling who didn’t want to sleep and wanted to be attached to mummy all day. Still, I enjoyed a bit of the rather raunchier-than-expected India Black tonight!
Wrapping up…
This Bout of Books wasn’t quite as successful as the last one I took part in – only two books finished and another halfway through. In my defence, I did have a rather unexpectedly busy week. I took part in one twitter chat and surfed around a few blogs too, and I read around 730 pages. That’s less than half of my total for BoB 4, but I have excuses!
I hope you had a fun week and best of luck catching up on your reviews now!
