Bout of Books 23!

It's that time again, folks!

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, August 20th and runs through Sunday, August 26th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 23 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

I will be participating in the 23rd round of Bout of Books! See you there? I may update this blog from time to time in order to participate in some of the challenges and such, but I think the bulk of my updates will be uploaded onto my Youtube Channel once the Read-a-Thon has finished, so please keep an eye out for that.

If We Were Having Coffee....

If We Were Having Coffee was created by Ashley over at Your Super Awesome Life. Grab your coffee (or Cherry Coca Cola, in my case), and lets chat a bit about what's been going on in our lives! Inspiration for the "questions" at the end is from Perpetual Page Turner.

If we were having coffee... I would tell you that the summer seems to be passing in a blur and that I am completely okay with it. Though summer is usually my favorite season, I find that this year I am not as into the hot weather and humidity as I usually am, though that may have to do with the fact that I have been working outside full-time. I am 100% ready for autumn. I'd ask you what your plans are for the final few weeks of summer, and whether you did anything fun or exciting that made June and July memorable?


If we were having coffee... I would tell you that the last few weeks have been tough for my family. We have been going through some stuff and kind of pinned all of our hopes on an outcome that didn't end up happening. A few days later, we received even more bad news. It has been a roller coaster of emotions and though everyone is trying to remain upbeat, I can feel the hopelessness underneath. I'd ask what you do to make yourself feel better when it seems like the world is working against you?


If we were having coffee... I would tell you that I have recently been working on time management and finding different schedules that work for me so that I can accomplish everything that I need to accomplish without becoming too stressed and overworked. It seems to be working so far. I have figured out that if I get over the fact that I am not a morning person and wake up around 6:30/7:00 every morning, I am able to get quite a bit of stuff done before I go to work, including homework, blog posts, and video uploads, which leaves my evenings free for relaxing. I'd ask if you have any time management tips??


If we were having coffee... I would tell you that I have been working on a short story for one of my classes and that it seems to have rekindled the inspiration for some of my older projects. Sitting down and actually writing has always been the part I have had the most trouble with - editing will forever be my favorite part of the process - but I have discovered a groove and am excited to explore it a bit more with ideas that are not school-related. I'd ask if you have been lacking inspiration for anything lately, and what you do to get it back?


If we were having coffee... I would tell you that I am really, really, really excited for the Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children movie that is coming out in September. I keep watching the trailer for it over and over again because it is glorious. I'd ask what movie you have recently watched/loved or whether there is one coming out soon that you are excited for?

If we were having coffee, what would you say? Let me know, or link up your own post in the comments!

Bout of Books: Day Three!

» Day Three Recap: «

▫ What I read:

Just a Few Inches by Tara St. Pierre

▫ Thoughts on the book so far:

I finished Just a Few Inches on day three, and will have a review up very soon!

▫ Challenges I participated in:

1. Top Five challenge

» Day Three Stats: «

# of hours read: 2
# of pages read: 121
# of books completed: 1
# of challenges completed: 1

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  

▫ Total:

Hours: 4

Pages: 225

Books Completed: 1

Challenges Completed: 3

Bout of Books 15 [Progress]

Instead of doing seven individual updates, I have decided to combine my progress from the week into one, convenient post! Check back for daily updates and visit the Bout of Books blog for more information.



[ Day One ]

▫ Continued reading The Wondrous and the Wicked by Page Morgan

# of hours read on Day One: about 1.25 (total = 1.25)
# of pages read on Day One: 96 (total = 96)
# of books read on Day One: 0 (total = 0)
# of challenges completed on Day One: 0 (total = 0)


[ Day Two ]

▫ Continued reading The Wondrous and the Wicked by Page Morgan
▫ Participated in the "Would You Rather?" challenge

# of hours read on Day Two: 1 (total = 2.25)
# of pages read on Day Two: 41 (total = 137)
# of books read on Day Two: 0 (total = 0)
# of challenges completed on Day Two: 1 (total = 1)

Notes: I planned on finishing The Wondrous and the Wicked today but was distracted by the Teen Wolf marathon on MTV. Fail.


[ Day Three ]

▫ Finished reading The Wondrous and the Wicked by Page Morgan
▫ Began reading The Fall by Bethany Griffin
▫ Participated in the "Rainbow" challenge

# of hours read on Day Three: 2.5 (total = 4.75)
# of pages read on Day Three: 172 (total = 309)
# of books read on Day Three: 1 (total = 1)
# of challenges completed on Day Three: 1 (total = 2)


[ Day Four ]

▫ Continued reading The Fall by Bethany Griffin
▫ Participated in the "Villain Mash Up" challenge

# of hours read on Day Four: 1 (total = 5.75)
# of pages read on Day Four: 77 (total = 386)
# of books read on Day Four: 0 (total = 1)
# of challenges completed on Day Four: 1 (total = 3)


[ Day Five ]

▫ Began and finished reading The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
▫ Participated in the "Scavenger Hunt" challenge

# of hours read on Day Five: 1 (total = 6.75)
# of pages read on Day Five: 86 (total = 472)
# of books read on Day Five: 1 (total = 2)
# of challenges completed on Day Five: 1 (total = 4)


[ Day Six ]

▫ Continued reading The Fall by Bethany Griffin
▫ Participated in the "Comfy Reading Spot" challenge

# of hours read on Day Six: about half an hour (total = 7.25)
# of pages read on Day Six: 32 (total = 504)
# of books read on Day Six: 0 (total = 2)
# of challenges completed on Day Six: 1 (total = 5)

Notes: I worked 13.5 hours yesterday, which didn't leave much time for reading. :(


[ Day Seven ]

# of hours read on Day Seven: 0 (total = 7.25)
# of pages read on Day Seven: 0 (total = 504)
# of books read on Day Seven: 0 (total = 2)
# of challenges completed on Day Seven: 0 (total = 5)

Notes: Fail.

Bout of Books 14 [Progress]

Instead of doing seven individual updates, I have decided to combine my progress from the week into one, convenient post! Check back for daily updates and visit the Bout of Books blog for more information.



[ Day One ]

▫ Continued reading Fire and Flood by Victoria Scott
▫ Participated in the Fictional World Travel challenge

# of hours read on Day One: 1.5 (total = 1.5)
# of pages read on Day One: 97 (total = 97)
# of books read on Day One: 0 (total = 0)
# of challenges completed on Day One: 1 (total = 1)


[ Day Two ]

▫ Finished reading Fire and Flood by Victoria Scott
▫ Began reading Percy Jackson's Greek Heroes by Rick Riordan
▫ Participated in the Book Scavenger Hunt Challenge

# of hours read on Day Two: 2.5 (total = 4)
# of pages read on Day Two: 157 (total = 254)
# of books read on Day Two: 1 (total = 1)
# of challenges completed on Day Two: 1 (total = 2)


[ Day Three ]

▫ Continued reading Percy Jackson's Greek Heroes by Rick Riordan
▫ Began reading The Nightmare Charade by Mindee Arnett
▫ Participated in the M.A.S.H. challenge

# of hours read on Day Three: 2.5 (total = 6.5)
# of pages read on Day Three: 150 (total = 404)
# of books read on Day Three: 0 (total = 1)
# of challenges completed on Day Three: 1 (total = 3)


[ Day Four ]

▫ Continued reading Percy Jackson's Greek Heroes by Rick Riordan
▫ Continued reading The Nightmare Charade by Mindee Arnett
▫ Participated in the Four Seasons Book Covers challenge

# of hours read on Day Four: about 25 minutes (total = 6.75)
# of pages read on Day Four: 28 (total = 432)
# of books read on Day Four: 0 (total = 1)
# of challenges completed on Day Four: 1 (total = 4)

NOTES: Because today was my day off of work, I decided to use the time to catch up on schoolwork, cleaning and visiting with family. Unfortunately, this left very little time for reading. Hopefully I can get caught up tomorrow!


[ Day Five ]

▫ Continued reading Percy Jackson's Greek Heroes by Rick Riordan
▫ Continued reading The Nightmare Charade by Mindee Arnett
▫ Participated in the Character Soulmates challenge

# of hours read on Day Five: 2 (total = 8.75)
# of pages read on Day Five: 82 (total = 514)
# of books read on Day Five: 0 (total = 1)
# of challenges completed on Day Five: 1 (total = 5)


[ Day Six ]

▫ Continued reading Percy Jackson's Greek Heroes by Rick Riordan
▫ Continued reading The Nightmare Charade by Mindee Arnett
▫ Began/finished reading Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Titan's Curse (Graphic Novel) by Rick Riordan
▫ Participated in the Road Trip challenge

# of hours read on Day Six: 2 (total = 10.75)
# of pages read on Day Six: 153 (total = 667)
# of books read on Day Six: 1 (total = 2)
# of challenges completed on Day Six: 1 (total = 6)


[ Day Seven ]

▫ Finished reading The Nightmare Charade by Mindee Arnett
▫ Continued reading Percy Jackson's Greek Heroes by Rick Riordan
▫ Participated in the What to Read Next challenge

# of hours read on Day Seven: 3 (total = 13.75)
# of pages read on Day Seven: 245 (total = 912)
# of books read on Day Seven: 1 (total = 3)
# of challenges completed on Day Seven: 1 (total = 7)

Bout of Books 13 [Progress/Wrap-up]

Instead of doing seven individual updates, I have decided to combine my progress from the week into one, convenient post! Check back for daily updates and visit the Bout of Books blog for more information.



[ Day One ]

▫ Continued/finished reading Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier
▫ Participated in the Bookish Survey challenge

# of hours read on Day One: about 2 (total = 2)
# of pages read on Day One: 138 (total = 138)
# of books read on Day One: 1 (total = 1)
# of challenges completed on Day One: 1 (total = 1)


[ Day Two ]

▫ Began reading Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
▫ Participated in the Character Face-Off challenge

# of hours read on Day Two: about 3 (total = 5)
# of pages read on Day Two: 210 (total = 348)
# of books read on Day Two: 0 (total = 1)
# of challenges completed on Day Two: 1 (total = 2)


[ Day Three ]

▫ Continued reading Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas  

# of hours read on Day Three: about 1.5 (total = 6.5)
# of pages read on Day Three: 91 (total = 439)
# of books read on Day Three: 0 (total = 1)
# of challenges completed on Day Three: 0 (total = 2)


[ Day Four ]

▫ Finished reading Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
▫ Began (re)reading The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
▫ Participated in the Modern to Classic challenge

# of hours read on Day Four: about 2.5 (total = 9)
# of pages read on Day Four: 204 (total = 643)
# of books read on Day Four: 1 (total = 2)
# of challenges completed on Day Four: 1 (total = 3)


[ Day Five ]

▫ Participated in the Cover Color challenge

# of hours read on Day Five: 0 (total = 9)
# of pages read on Day Five: 0 (total = 643)
# of books read on Day Five: 0 (total = 2)
# of challenges completed on Day Five: 1 (total = 4)

Notes: I took day five off from reading, in order to get some other things accomplished.


[ Day Six ]

▫ Continued (re)reading The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
▫ Participated in the Favorite BoB13 Read challenge

# of hours read on Day Six: about 2.5 (total = 11.5)
# of pages read on Day Six: 199 (total = 842)
# of books read on Day Six: 0 (total = 2)
# of challenges completed on Day Six: 1 (total = 5)


[ Day Seven ]

▫ Finished (re)reading The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
▫ Began (re)reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling

# of hours read on Day Seven: about 2.5 (total = 14)
# of pages read on Day Seven: 191 (total = 1,033)
# of books read on Day Seven: 1 (total = 3)
# of challenges completed on Day Seven: 0 (total = 5)