Readathon | Bout of Books 13.0

 

 

 

 

 

So, luckily I have some time off this week, and have decided to participate in Bout of Books 13.0! This will be my first time, so I’m preeeettty excited.

For those who are unfamiliar with this readathon:

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, May 11th and runs through Sunday, May 17th 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 13 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team

 

Goals:

My goals this week are, basically, to read as much as possible! I’m currently reading A Little Life, by Hanya Yanagihara, so I don’t really want to set a “number of books” goal, since this behemoth novel is around 800 pages! SO, with that being said I’m hoping to:

 

                              

 

1. Finish A Little Life.
2. If I have any strength left after all of the crying I will supposedly be doing, I want to read The Shore, by Sara Taylor. Why not read emotionally wrenching (I’ve been told) novels back to back!?!
3. Make SOME progress in Cloud Atlas, by David Mitchell. I’m DETERMINED to finish it this month!
4. Read some graphic novels for a little break when I need it.

 

Updates:

I will be updating this post daily as the week progresses with my reading stats, in terms of pages read, and so on. So check back, and link your progress in the comments below so I can follow along with you as well!

Monday | 0 pages today | 0 pages total | 0 total books read | 15 minutes audio

As I said on Sunday, I work all day/night on Monday, so I won’t really be getting started until Tuesday (after I’ve slept for a bit in the morning when I get home!) So sadly, no reading accomplished on day 1.

Tuesday | 218 pages today | 218 pages total | 1 total book read | 15 minutes audio

I returned home from work this morning, slept a few hours, but was pretty tired for most of the day, and thus will be going to bed early (like now-ish…). Despite that, I managed to read one graphic novel, Saga volume 2, as well as make some progress in A Little Life, which is getting so good! I guess I should mention, I’m also currently listening to The Dinner by Herman Koch on audio right now, mostly just while driving.

Wednesday | 110 pages today | 328 pages total | 1 total book read | 75 minutes audio

Today was all about A Little Life. I don’t know really how things can get worse, except I know they do. I find myself near physical illness while reading, and am exhausted from clenching all my muscles so tightly in anguish. But, it’s SO GOOD, and I can’t even deal with it. And P.S. to Shannon, I’ve made it to page 370 with out crying (it was touch and go there for awhile though), so I guess that makes me a magical unicorn. 🙂

Thursday | 0 pages today | 328 pages total | 1 total book read | 15 minutes audio

So, sadly, today I had a work related retreat alllllll day. Although, I don’t really know how you can call something a “retreat” when it’s in a conference room at the hospital I work at… but, oh well. Needless to say, my colleagues and I needed to blow off some steam afterwards, and went out for an adult beverage, or two. I might get some last minute reading in later on, but kind of just want to hang out with my husband for the remainder of the evening. So we’ll call this day a wash.

Friday | 192 pages today | 520 pages total | 1 total book read | 25 minutes audio

Today I binge read A Little Life. I don’t have much else to say on the reading front. I can’t really say I’m “enjoying” the book because the content is so incredibly horrible, but it is definitely a compelling read. I’m ready to get to the end, and for it to be over, so my emotional state can return to its previous baseline. I’m off to watch Parks & Rec the rest of the night!

Saturday | 46 pages today | 566 pages total | 2 total books read | 180 minutes audio

I really only had time to read A Little Life this morning. Much of my day was spent driving, so at least I had a chance to finish listening to my audio book, The Dinner, which I was happy about. Next up, I listened to a few chapters from How to Build a Girl, by Caitlin Moran, which I was already about halfway through. Hoping to finish off A Little Life tomorrow for the last day of #BoutOfBooks!

Sunday | 208 pages today | 774 pages total | 3 total books read | 0 minutes audio

You guys… I finished A Little Life! I’m still letting it all gel, but in the meantime, forged on ahead with The Shore. I’m about a third of the way through already, and find it completely engrossing. As recommended, I’m taking copious notes – not really, but I am jotting down relationships between the different characters as I come across them. I have a feeling I’ll be finishing this up in the next day or so.

I was really hoping I would get though more during Bout of Books, but A Little Life isn’t necessarily the best readathon fodder. I didn’t really want to pause it and read other things though, so it’s all good, and I’m happy I was able to finish it today.

 

How did Bout of Books 13.0 treat you? Did you get as much reading done as you hoped? Until next time, which rumor has it, will be in August. 🙂

 

 

 

Sunday Post | May 10th – 16th

In Real Life:

• I ended up having a busy week, with just life stuff in general, so I haven’t made as much reading progress for Bout of Books as I had hoped. BUT, if all goes as planned today, I am desperate to finish off A Little Life!
• I went through all my “To Be Read” books on Goodreads, and ruthlessly cut out ones I’m no longer interested in. I axed over 200 books, and it feels GREAT!
• The hubs and I drove up a couple of hours to my home town yesterday to surprise my Dad for his 60th birthday!

 

In Case You Missed It:

• Sunday Post: May 3rd – 9th
• Definitely No Dawson Naiveté Here – The Life and Death of Sophie Stark
• Readathon | Bout of Books 13.0

 

Currently Reading:

A Little Life, by Hanya Yanagihara

This is an exceptional book, and also one I’m MORE than ready to finish. I plan on fully reviewing this, so watch out for that. No, really, watch out – this book is a swift, hard kick in the feelings. And then when you’re down, it’ll kick you again. (And again, and again – you get it.).

 

 

Currently Listening:

How to Build a Girl, by Caitlin Moran

If you’ve been following along with my BoB updates, you will know I finished The Dinner (intense), and now am getting back to this. I only have about 25% or so to go, so it shouldn’t take me too long. I’m debating between listening to Spinster or Yes Please next, so give me your vote in the comments to help me decide!

 

 

Currently (Still) Watching:

Parks and Recreation (season 2)

Loving it still. The episode where the team goes hunting, and Amy Poehler spouts off all this stereotypical “female” stuff about being “hysterical” and whatnot is priceless.

 

 

Gilmore Girls (season 2)

Depending on whether or not the hubs is around, determines which show I watch. He’s not the biggest fan of GG, but to his credit, he’s probably seen all the episodes WAY too many times now, in the years he’s known (and loved!) me. 🙂

 

 

Insert here something about the weather, and how I want it to be warm and sunny! What do ya’ll got going on this week? How did your Bout of Books go?

 

The Sunday Post is hosted by Kimba @ The Caffeinated Book Reviewer.

 

Sunday Post | May 3rd – May 9th

In Real Life:

• Yesterday, my sister and I surprised our mom for Mother’s Day! We went to a quintessential Wisconsin supper club, where we had steak and whisky old fashioned sweets, and it was glorious!
• Bout of Books officially starts tomorrow! I work a 24-hour shift tomorrow, so my personal kick off “officially” starts on Tuesday.

 

In Case You Missed It:

• Sunday Post: April 26th – May 2nd
• A Thought On Hypocrisy – Purple Hibiscus
• Top Ten Tuesday: Books I’ll (Probably) Never Read
• 6 Degrees: Elizabeth is Missing

 

Currently Reading:

A Little Life, by Hanya Yanagihara

Finally catching up with the times and reading this bad boy. I’ve only been able to read in short snippets thus far, but am definitely intrigued. Can’t wait to have some dedicated time this week, and make a bigger dent in this tome.

 

 

Currently Listening:

The Dinner, by Herman Koch

I’m a ways into this, and have to say the narrator is excellent, and really brings the story to life. I’m enjoying it for the most part, and am interested to see how all the clues dropped here and there will come together.

 

 

Currently Watching:

Parks and Recreation (Season 2)

I’ve only seen random episodes previously, and the hubs and I decided to watch from the very beginning. SO. FUNNY. Also, it really makes me want to listen to Amy Poehler’s Yes Please on the sooner side of life.

 

 

Happy Mother’s Day to all you moms out there! And to all, I hope you have a fantastic week, and Happy Bout of Books! Are you read-a-thoning?

 

The Sunday Post is hosted by Kimba @ The Caffeinated Book Reviewer.

 

 

6 Degrees | Elizabeth Is Missing

6 Degrees of Separation is a meme invented by Annabel Smith and Emma Chapman. A different book is chosen each month, and then you link six additional books in a chain based on various connections of your choosing. Sounds fun, right?!

 

May’s chain kicks off with Elizabeth is Missing, which I haven’t read. My extensive research revealed this is Emma Healey’s debut novel. Another debut novel I read and loved last month was Our Endless Numbered Days.

 

 

 

Our Endless Numbered Days  is a stunning debut novel about a young girl, named Penny, who is stolen away by her father to a secluded cabin in the woods where they live for several years, after him telling her every one else in the world has died. Penny has some messed up parents – as does Mac, the fiesty red-head from Nora Roberts’ Bride Quartet series.

 

 

Nothing but high-brow literature here, folks! Honestly though, I’ve read nothing else by Nora Roberts, but for some reason this series just does it for me. Each book follows a different member of an all-female friend group, who also run a wedding business together. This group includes a photographer, florist, baker, and planner. What is the one group member missing, you ask? But, a DJ, playing everyone’s favorite songs! (Wow, am I reaching here).

 

A song that comes to mind (although, can’t say I’ve ever heard it at a wedding) is “Hey, Jude.” Jude, of course, reminds me of the main protagonist of A Little Life, which I’m about 100 pages into at this point, so NO SPOILERS! I’ve heard this book is fixing to make me cry… A LOT…

 

 

I’m not a big crier, in general, but the last book I can remember making me well up a bit is The Time Traveler’s Wife. I have vivid memories of my then-boyfriend-now-husband waiting for me to finish this book before going to a movie, and him being flabbergasted by my tears. Although, now, I can’t remember anything at all about this time travel book….

 

 

Another book revolving around time travel is Outlander, in which honeymooner Claire touches a rock (or something), and gets thrown back in time and falls for Jaime, a Scottish warrior, and has some sexy times.

 

 

 

Another first-book-in-a-series-that-had-a-lot-of-sex-but-just-didn’t-do-it-for-me, and thus, I won’t be be continuing on with the series anytime soon is The Bronze Horseman. This book involves Tatiana, and her forbidden love for Alexander, set against the backdrop of WWII, in Leningrad, Russia.

 

 

Can’t say this is the best chain I’ve ever done, but what can a gal do, sometimes ya just don’t got it. My chain links, as follows: Debut > Messed Up Parents > Songs > Crying > Time Travel > Um, Sexy Times? OR wait, First-In-A-Series-I-Won’t-Continue.

 

Check out Annabel’s chain here, and Emma’s chain here. Link yours in the comments below, so I can take a looksie!