Bout of Books 13: Wrap-Up

Congratulations! 

You have survived Bout of Books 13!

Here are important informational nuggets you probably want to know:

• Bout of Books 14 will be from August 18 to August 23rd.
• The Grand Prize winner will be announced TOMORROW.
• Challenge hosts are responsible for announcing their own winners.

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Wrap-up

The goal amount to read books: 3-4

The actual amount of books read: 5

• The Stars Never Rise (Untitled series #1) by Rachel Vincet
• The Painted Man (Demon Cycle #1) by Peter V. Brett  
• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon 
• Leviathan (Leviathan #1) by Scott Westerfeld 
• Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut 

The total amount of pages read: 1665

The estimated amount of time dedicated for reading: 27 hours (~4 hours a day) (I probably should remind you that I'm a student on a summer holiday so that's the reason why I have had so much time at my hands - and I'm loving it!!)

The total amount of participations in mini-challanges: 3 

• Bookish Survey
• Character Face-Off
• From Modern to Classic

General thoughts:

My BoB didn't start so well. I was in a bit of a reading slump just before, and I really hoped that the participation in this event could help me lift up from that slump. So, naturally, I didn't get much reading done on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. But then when I picked up the rhythm of daily reading, it was so fantastic, and I actually spent Saturday just reading. THE WHOLE DAY. It was tiring to say the least, but also so much fun to just read and overdose myself with coffee. 

I'm pretty pleased that I managed to read more than first targeted, and I'm hoping that I'll keep reading at least four books a week this whole summer. But no promises though! Two of the books that I read during BoB were YA books, one was a fictional story about autistic teenager, one classic, and the fifth was (or technically, it was the second book I read) an epic fantasy novel. So I think I covered a pretty good range of genres! 

A huge thank you for the event organisers and the mini-challenge hosts! 

Bout of Books Day 4: From Modern to Classic

"THE CHALLENGE Share one book that you believe will be considered a classic in 100 years time. Simple? I do have a few caveats, the book must have been published in or after 2005 and you need to provide two reasons for why this book will be a classic."

 Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
First published in 2011 by Random House NY

Description from Goodreads

In the year 2044, reality is an ugly place. The only time teenage Wade Watts really feels alive is when he's jacked into the virtual utopia known as the OASIS. Wade's devoted his life to studying the puzzles hidden within this world's digital confines—puzzles that are based on their creator's obsession with the pop culture of decades past and that promise massive power and fortune to whoever can unlock them.  

But when Wade stumbles upon the first clue, he finds himself beset by players willing to kill to take this ultimate prize. The race is on, and if Wade's going to survive, he'll have to win—and confront the real world he's always been so desperate to escape. 

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Reasons

1. Ready Player One is inventive and surprising, a sign of artistic quality. Cline has done a massive amount of research as the novel includes hundreds of pop culture references in his novel without numbing the readers with them. The virtual utopia the author has created is one of its kind, treating the readers with constant imagery. However, the book never feels like its just showing off with the setting as there are emotional twists and turns which make the readers crave for more until the very last page. 

2. RPO will stand the test of time - it will be read and bought even after long periods of time have passed. This is mainly due to its central themes which have universal appeal. While the initial appeal of Ready Player One is the futuristic setting and cinematic quality it provides, RPO offers so much more than that. Some of the themes handled in this marvellous novel are friendship, loneliness, societal expectations, and being true to yourself.

+ Some may argue that as the setting of RPO takes place in 2044, in 100 years (when its 2115) the virtual utopia may seem silly or boring as the technology will be as advanced or even more so. I'd like to politely disagree. Firstly, H.G. Wells's The Time Machine was first published in 1895, and people still keep buying and reading the book. Huxley's Brave New World was published in 1932, and the same thing has occurred to it as with The Time Machine. 

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Updates: Thursday

Number of books I've read today: 1
Total number of books I've read: 2
Books: The Stars Will Never Rise by Rachel Vincent, The Painted Man by Peter V. Brett

I'm currently trying to decide which one to read next: Talon by Julie Kagawa OR Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

Bout of Books Day 2: Character Face-Off (Celaena Sardothien vs. Katniss Everdeen)

Character Face-Off

hosted by LuLo Fangirl

"Create the ultimate character face-off. 

Pick two of your all-time favorite characters. They can be from the books you chose for the read-a-thon (or not — totally up to you). 

Even though they are both your favorite, you HAVE to choose one as the winner. And tell me why. Sell me on why this ONE character is your favorite character of ALL characters."

Celaena Sardothien vs. Katniss Everdeen

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Opponent #1: Celaena Sardothien

Who: An assassin with a dark and mysterious past

Pros: Confident, smart, lethal, self-efficient, kind
Cons: Stubborn, unpredictable, reckless, burdened with her past

Opponent #2: Katniss Everdeen

Who: A miner’s daughter from a poor district of Panem
Pros: Loyal, well-intentioned, smart, brave, top-notch survival skills, unselfish, independent

Cons: Shies away from people, inattentive of own and others’ feelings, has trust issues, prejudiced

Winner: Celaena Sardothien

This was a really tough call, because these two kickass heroines are probably my favourite heroines, ever. Both Katniss and Celaena have very tragic and traumatic backgrounds, yet they are somehow able to rise above them. While Celaena was partially forced to take the profession of an assassin, and even though the profession has hardened her to some extent, she still is compassionate in both friendships and romantic relationships (with which Katniss struggles). Celaena also possesses an extended range of physical skills compared to Katniss, even though Katniss can also be very lethal with her bow. While Katniss tends to shy away from people and isn’t always comfortable in her own body, Celaena is proud of her womanhood and who she is and isn’t afraid to show it. Even though I love Katniss to death, I think I have to conclude that Celaena wins this face-off. But a really close call! After all, despite Katniss's weaknesses, she is able to win people over and wants to overcome her limitations.

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What do you think? Do you agree, or are completely disagreeing with me here? 

Bout of Books Day 1: Bookish Survey

Bookish Survey 

hosted by Writing My Own Fairy Tale

And so it begins - the first challenge!

1. How do you organize your shelves?

A very good question because it really depends on my mood! At the moment my books are organised by the colour of their spines, usually starting from the brightest colours and meeting at the middle as white or black. Sometimes, I like to organise them in an alphabetical order, sometimes they are positioned in the order I want to read them.

2. What is one of your favorite book that’s not in one of your favorite genres?

The thing is that I'm abhorrently stuck with my own ways and don't read that much outside my favourite genres anymore which are fantasy and science fiction. Realistic fiction would probably be the second best genre, and my favourite book from that genre definitely is Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk. 

3. What is the last 5 star book you read?

The thing is that I rarely give any 5 star reviews so it's pretty easy to remember which one it was, and it was Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman.

4. What book are you most excited to read during the read-a-thon?

Hmm, I made a list of them here, and I guess I would have to say that The Painted Man by Peter V. Brett or Talon by Julie Kagawa. The thing is, though, that I've just made a bunch of new review copy requests, so I might change the list sooner rather than later haha. 

5. What book do you recommend the most?

Ohh, the question. Can I recommend five? Oh, I can? GREAT. The Handmaids's Tale by Margaret Atwood, The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch, Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Lesley Walton, and A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin. 

But I guess, if I really had to pick one... It would be A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin.

Bout of Books (Spring 2015)

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

Thank God, I made it! I almost forgot this very special event, and by some freak accident I came across a blog post which was hyping about Bout of Books May 2015 Edition. I'm so glad that I didn't miss this one because there has been so many communal reading events that I've completely forgotten about or hadn't had the time for in the past. But now that I've officially started my summer holiday, Bout of Books is the perfect way to start my reading-filled summer! 

✿ Time Devoted ✿

I try to read at least three hours a day, but knowing me and my roller coaster moods I might end up reading twelve hours one day and the next only 30 minutes! So, no promises there. 

✿ Goals ✿

I'd like to read at least three books by the end of the week, but I'd be thrilled if I could read four or even five. We'll see! I have a tremendous TBR-list and this event is the perfect way to commit myself to shorten it, at least a little bit.

✿ Books To Read ✿

I'm relatively short of review copies, so now would be the most convenient time to read books that have been on my shelf for ages but hadn't gotten around to them just yet. Some of these are

✿The Golden Compass by Philip Pullmann

✿Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

✿Evertrue by Brodi Ashton

✿The Painted Man by Peter V. Brett

✿Talon by Julie Kagawa

✿The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon 

Some of my to-be-reviewed ARCS are:

✿The Stars Never Rise by Rachel Vincent

✿Paperweight by Meg Haston 

I hope you all (participating or not) will have a great, reading-filled week to come!

Bout of Books: I Spy Challenge

You can find the original challenge from here

So some of the things you need to follow while carrying out the challenge:

1. Use one book only once

2. You can use max. two books from a particular series

3. Only use books which you own

You need to find some particular things on the cover of books.

Snowflakes

Thanks for the Memories

by Cecelia Ahern

Flames

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

by J.K. Rowling

A city skyline

Divergent 

by Veronica Roth

The moon

New Moon

by Stephenie Meyers

A sward

One Hundred Years of Solitude

by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

A wedding dress

High heels

Cinder

by Marissa Meyer

Fog

Everneath

by Brodi Ashton

A christmas tree

Sunglasses

Lightening

 The Lightning Thief 

by Rick Riordan

A tattoo

Dark Lover

by J.R. Ward

Combat boots

Graceling 

by Kristin Cashore

Hand-cuffs

Fifty Shades Freed

by E.L. James

A road

American Gods

by Neil Gaiman

This challenge ended up being more difficult than I expected! I didn't find all the items on the list, but I like to think I did pretty good - at least I found most of them!

Bout of Books: Halfway updates

So, I have been really, really lazy reader! I finished Viral Nation on Wednesday, and I'm currently reading Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo which is the second book. If I'm being really efficient today, I might be able to finish it and even start Shades of Earth by Beth Revis tonight. Ideally I'd like to start fourth book, but I'm not sure if that's a realistic goal for this Bout of Books.

I'm really frustrated because there aren't that many Bout of Books in a year, and I feel like I totally wasted this week as I haven't been really into reading. However! The rest of the week I'm going do some super reading as I'm planning to stay in today for the whole day and only read and eat! Sounds pretty amazing to me.

Updates

Monday

Pages read today: 160

Books finished today: 0

Pages read so far: 160

Books finished so far: 0

Tuesday

Pages read today: 50

Books finished today: 0

Pages read so far: 210

Books finished so far: 0

Wednesday

Pages read today: 215

Books finished today: 1

Pages read so far: 425

Books finished so far: 1

Thursday

Pages read today: 253

Books finished today: 1

Pages read so far: 687

Books finished so far: 2

Friday

Pages read today:

Books finished today:

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Saturday

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Sunday

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Happy reading!

Bout of Books: today is the day!

Hello there, all my reader friends! So, today is the day when Bout of Books 8.0 starts! I have planned to start Viral Nation by Shaunta Grimes today, and I'm hoping I'll reach at least halfway point by tonight. But I'll let you know how my progress goes later on!

Updates

Monday

Pages read today: 160

Books finished today: 0

Pages read so far: 160

Books finished so far: 0

Tuesday

Pages read today: 50

Books finished today: 0

Pages read so far: 210

Books finished so far: 0

Wednesday

Pages read today: 215

Books finished today: 1

Pages read so far: 425

Books finished so far: 1

Thursday

Pages read today:

Books finished today:

Pages read so far:

Books finished so far:

Friday

Pages read today:

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Saturday

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Sunday

Pages read today:

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Happy reading!

Bout of Books 8.0: Goals

Bout of Books is starting on Monday, so I though maybe it would about time to share some goals! Recently, I have been a really lazy reader so I'm hoping that maybe the readathon gives me the kick to really start reading again. I'm not sure how many of these books I'll end up reading, but I'll do my best!

Viral Nation by Shaunta Grimes

Shadow and Bone (The Grisha, #1) by Leigh Bardugo

Shades of Earth (Across the Universe, #3) by Beth Revis

We'll see if I'm going add any other books, it depends how absorbed I'll get and how much my social calendar will allow me to stay homebound. 

Bout of Books 8.0: Sign up

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 19th and runs through Sunday, August 25th 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 8.0 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team.

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So excited! I participated in a readathon once a looong time ago, so I'm really looking forward to taking part once again. I hope it's going to be as fun as it was last time.

Count me in!