The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly Rubidoux Apple. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 13th and runs through Sunday, May 19th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, Twitter chats, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 25 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team
My life has been so busy lately that I almost forgot about Bout of Books! Today is the first day, and I’m glad I didn’t miss it.
My Goals
Read. Read. Read.
Finish at least one of the books I’m currently reading.
Finish one more book from my TBR.
Books to Read
Gates of Thread and Stone by Lori M. Lee
The Revenge of Analog by David Sax
Hacking Happiness by John C. Havens
Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy
Updates
I will be posting an update each day with the amount of time I read, the number of pages read that day and the titles of any of the books I’ve finished.
“Monday’s Minutes” is a weekly post in which I track my bookish life. All book covers are linked to Goodreads unless otherwise noted. Currently Reading:
Gates of Thread and Stone by Lori M. Lee
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
The Revenge of Analog by David Sax
Hacking Happiness by John C. Havens
Mr. Lemoncello’s Library Olympics by Chris Grabenstein
Total pages read this week: 149 Total books for the year: 28 of 50. I spent a lot of time reading this week, but most of my reading material was in the form of magazines and the little books I got in my first package from the Mouse Book Club. I’m trying to keep myself off of my phone as much as possible, but that doesn’t always mean I have a physical and full-length book with me since I spend a lot of time on the bus and don’t always have the space in my bag.
What are you reading this week?
I got my FitBit app working, and the data synced with my Walking 4 Fun account. I not only made it out of Culvers Gap on the Appalachian Trail, but I’m now almost out of High Point State Park in New Jersey.
I’ll be going to the Wanderlust Festival at Golden Gate Park this weekend, so I expect my steps will be much higher than usual for the next check-in.
“Monday’s Minutes” is a weekly post in which I track my bookish life. All book covers are linked to Goodreads unless otherwise noted. Currently Reading:
Gates of Thread and Stone by Lori M. Lee
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
The Revenge of Analog by David Sax
Finished:
Brain Hacks by Lara Honos-Webb
Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport
Total pages read this week: 379 Total books for the year: 28 of 50. The digital decluttering “challenge” continues to go well, but I’ve been trying to balance my free-time with other activities besides reading. I want to see if my reading goal for the year is still realistic, or if I’m going to need to increase it.
What are you reading this week?
Down the TBR Hole was started by Lia over at Lost in a Story. All book covers are linked to Goodreads unless otherwise noted.
How it works:
Go to your Goodreads to-read shelf.
Order on ascending date added.
Take the first 5 (or 10 if you’re feeling adventurous) books
Read the synopses of the books
Decide: keep it or should it go?
I will be repeating this process until I’ve filtered out my entire TBR.
My TBR pile is still at 679 books from last week. I was hoping to have finished at least one book by today, but that didn’t happen. I am less than 20 pages from finishing Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport, though, so next week should see at least a tiny decrease in the height of the pile.
This week’s books:
Blood Faerieby India Drummond – GO. As much as I love a story set in Scotland, I’m not into Faeries all that much. I think the only reasons I got this ebook were because of the setting and it was free.
The Girl Who Would Be King by Kelly Thompson – GO. The title doesn’t make sense after reading the synopsis. Also, the two main characters both have alliterative names, and there doesn’t seem to be any reason as to why. This was another freebie I picked up at some point, so I’ll pass.
Marking Time by April White – GO. I’m usually really into stories that involve time travel, but this one doesn’t sound appealing. It sounds like a weird Sci-Fi mixed in with Historical Romance and a weird Fantasy/Mythology element that I have a feeling won’t make a lot of sense. No thanks.
Creatus by Carmen DeSousa – GO. The synopsis refers to this book as “Romantic Suspense.” Nope.
Morna’s Legacy by Bethany Claire – GO. The synopsis screams “Outlander” knock-off. Nope. Nope. Nope.
My TBR mountain is down to 674 books! I knew at least a couple of this week’s books would find themselves thrown off the TBR, but I didn’t expect all five of them to go. My goal to get down to 625 books is looking a little more doable.
I’ve been having issues with the FitBit app, but I think I finally got it fixed. It took a bit to get my FitBit to sync with the app so that my data would show up, so I’m now waiting for the data to sync up with my Walking 4 Fun account. I would really like to know whether or not I’ve finally made it out of Culvers Gap on the Appalachian Trail.
“Monday’s Minutes” is a weekly post in which I track my bookish life. All book covers are linked to Goodreads unless otherwise noted. Currently Reading:
Gates of Thread and Stone by Lori M. Lee
Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport
Brain Hacks by Lara Honos-Webb
DNF:
The Practice of the Wild by Gary Snyder
Finished:
Genius Hour by Andi McNair
Life Admin by Elizabeth Emens
Total pages read this week: 621 Total books for the year: 26 of 50. I’ve had a significant amount of time to read since I started the Digital Decluttering “challenge” in Digital Minimalism. As you might be able to tell, I’m also on a bit of a Non-Fiction kick. I’m not really sure why I’m choosing Non-Fiction over Fantasy, but I am learning a lot. Maybe that’s just what my brain needs right now.
What are you reading this week?
Down the TBR Hole was started by Lia over at Lost in a Story. All book covers are linked to Goodreads unless otherwise noted.
How it works:
Go to your Goodreads to-read shelf.
Order on ascending date added.
Take the first 5 (or 10 if you’re feeling adventurous) books
Read the synopses of the books
Decide: keep it or should it go?
I will be repeating this process until I’ve filtered out my entire TBR.
My TBR pile is sitting still at 681 books. I’m reading a lot more thanks to starting a digital decluttering “challenge,” but the books I’m reading are longer or denser in information, so I haven’t finished any of them yet.
This week’s books:
Lichgatesby S.M. Boyce – GO. Why is it that the main female character *always* has to rely on a male with a dark past or secret to navigate the strange and dangerous new world in which she finds herself? Ugh.
Sword Bearer by Teddy Jacobs – KEEP. The title is a bit generic and unpromising and I’m skeptical about the story, but the synopsis is so well written that I’m intrigued enough to give this book the 50 page test.
Wild-Born by Adrian Howell – KEEP. I have faith that this will be a fun book. The story involves a boy with telekinetic powers, a girl who relies on telepathy to speak, and a paranormal world full of danger. It’s not often that Sci-Fi and Fantasy are combined, and even more rare for that combination to do well enough to make it the finals of any competition.
Frey by Melissa Wright – GO. “Unaware she’s been bound from using magic…” Is it just me or does that sentence not make sense? Another weird word choice in the synopsis is “Hunted by council…” Not “the council” or “a council”, but just “council”? With a synopsis that poorly written, I’ll pass on this book.
Dead of Winter by James Goss – KEEP. It’s a “Doctor Who” book, so of course I’m going to keep it.
My TBR mountain is down two books to 679 books. All of next week’s 5 books are potentially doomed to be thrown off the side of the mountain since they were all freebies back when I was still a bit impulsive about downloading free ebooks. See you next week!
