Bout of Books 37

I have not participated in this readathon in a LONG time. Thought I would give it a shot again. Not making any promises. lol

The Bout of Books readathon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly Rubidoux Apple. It’s a weeklong readathon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 8th and runs through Sunday, May 14th in YOUR time zone. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are reading sprints, Twitter chats, and exclusive Instagram challenges, but they’re all completely optional. For all Bout of Books 37 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

I'm currently reading The Witch Elm by Tana French so I will be trying to finish that. I'm also reading The Last Duel by Eric Jager. We are currently reading An Iliad by Alessandro Baricco for my True Book Talk book group so I will also be reading a portion of it. 

Adding the BoB schedule here so I can keep up (I'll try...honestly)...

Daily Reading-in-Place Times

Reading-in-place times, or reading sprints, happen daily on Twitter*. If you don’t have Twitter, make note of these times and report your reading progress on your platform of choice.

All reading-in-place times last 30 minutes.

📚 10 a.m. Eastern | 7 a.m. Pacific
📚 2 p.m. Eastern | 11 a.m. Pacific
📚 6 p.m. Eastern | 3 p.m. Pacific


Instagram Photo a Day

For those of you who use Instagram, don't forget to post your daily Bout of Books photo. Find out more on our Bout of Books Instagram page! For those who like to plan ahead, prompts are posted the Friday before the read-a-thon begins.

Discord Daily Qs

For those of you who use Discord, don't forget to check out the chat forum where daily bookish questions will be posted Tuesday-Sunday for you to answer.

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Bout of Books 28 #readathon

The Bout of Books readathon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly Rubidoux Apple. It’s a weeklong readathon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 11th and runs through Sunday, May 17th in YOUR time zone. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are daily challenges, Twitter chats, and exclusive Instagram challenges, but they’re all completely optional. For Bout of Books 28 information and updates, visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team

I usually fail miserably at this readathon...but you know what? I'm going to try again. I have lots of reading to finish this month. Plus, a huge book for my 1000 Books Project read-along (April - June) that I need to read the first section by May 15 (The Sagas of Icelanders).

My current reads:

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Bout of Books 23 #Readathon

I sign up for this and usually fail, but there just might be a twist this time. I've decided to start a personal Daily Reading Challenge to challenge myself to read more, and I'm kicking it off with Bout of Books this week. I have a tab in the menu for daily updates and then I will do a weekly post (probably during A Reading Life) to share what I accomplished each week. Yes, it will probably be embarrassing at first, but I'm willing to deal with a little of that as a way to motivate me to READ MORE!!!

Now, on to the Bout of Books business...

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'm not going to set up any big reading plans, and I'm not sure how often I'll update, but these are the books I'm currently reading and plan to continue, and hopefully finish, during the readathon (except for War and Peace, as it's a year long read-along I'm hosting at Lit Collective, one that I'm horribly behind on 😑).

Ombria in Shadow, Patricia A. McKillip

The Anomaly, Michael Rutger
Northanger Abbey, Jane Austen

War and Peace, Tolstoy

I'm also listening to a Discovery of Witches (Deborah Harkness) on audio.

If my daily reading challenge goes well, I may be able to start another book this week. Here's hoping!

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#BoutofBooks Day 6 - An update and The Royal Wedding!

Yes...I wasted a bit of time watching The wedding today. How could I not? 37 years ago I watched his mother, precious Diana, become Princess of Wales. This video, Harry supposedly says to Meghan, "You look amazing. I'm so lucky." How wonderful. I'm not normally romantic. Life experience has pretty much burned it out of me, but this, and the wedding itself (except for the hideously drawn out religious ceremony) really got me. 💜

Okay, a quick update. It's pretty meh. I read 50 more pages in The Terror and a bit of They Feed by Jason Parent. I kind of fell into a depression when I found out my car has two blown heads, etc. Yeah...fun.

Hoping to get some more reading time in tomorrow.

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#BoutofBooks Day 3 + Challenge: Show Me Your Precious

I did not get much reading done yesterday. Probably 25 pages total. I had an absolutely exhausting Tuesday and ended up going to sleep before 8:00 pm. That NEVER happens! Of course, now it's 3:00 am and I'm wide awake. lol

Today's challenge...Show Me Your Precious

Anne Rice is my favorite author...has been since the late 80s. The Queen of the Damned was the first of her books I read. I had no idea at the time it was part of a series. It dawned on me during (or maybe after) reading it that the book that had been sitting on my mom's bookshelf for years, Interview with the Vampire, was the first book and Queen of the Damned was the third. So, I went back and read Interview and then The Vampire Lestat, and then Queen of the Damned again. Since then, I've read Queen four times and I know I will read it again. It's my precious because it really gets into the origins of the vampires, told with a vivid historical story, and we are introduced to the various ancient vampires, and the mother of them all. Exciting stuff!

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Bout of Books 22 + Challenge: Year of You #boutofbooks

I went back and forth on this...whether to sign up or not. Of course I am. I just can't resist a readathon! I'm a day late, but that's okay.

About Bout of Books:

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 14th and runs through Sunday, May 20th 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 20 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog (http://boutofbooks.blogspot.com/). - From the Bout of Books team

My main objective will be to get caught up on this one (today...I need to get to page 311)...

And finish this one...

And, if there's time, continue with horror from Spring into Horror with...

Today's Challenge...Year of You

Share a book that was published the year you were born. If you don't wish to disclose your age (that's fine; you'll get no judgment either way here), pick a book that was significant to your childhood.

I had no idea this one was published the year I was born. It happens to be one of my favorites! Published in 1968.

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Bout of Books #Readathon - I'm in!

From the Bout of Books blog:

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 8th and runs through Sunday, May 14th 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 19 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

Here's what I will be reading (only portions of some books, as they are for book clubs):

Wish me luck...I always need it. 😉

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Bout of Books 17 - Goals and Updates #Readathon #boutofbooks

Updates

Reading done on 8/22:

Not a stellar start...

5 pages - The Mountain Story
5 chapters, 27 pages - The Ninja's Daughter

Mini-Challenge - Book to Movie @ Writing My Own Fairy Tale

My favorite book to movie (I actually liked the movie better in this case. Shock!) =

My least favorite (they massacred my favorite book of all time!) =

Reading done on 8/23:

Bleh. Move along. Nothing good to report here. :(

Reading done on 8/24:

100 pages, The Ninja's Daughter
Reading is not going as planned...at all. :(

Reading done on 8/25, 8/26:

Didn't get a chance to update, but did finish The Ninja's Daughter on Friday.

Reading done on 8/27:

No update.

Final Update:

5 pages - The Mountain Story, Lori Lansens
The Ninja's Daughter, Susan Spann (247 pages)
Hexagram, Duncan P. Bradshaw (324 pages)

Thanks to Amanda and Kelly for the read-a-thon! 

Do I dare? I really have a TON of reading to get done before the end of the month so I'm really hoping to knuckle down with this read-a-thon.

Here's Bout of Books:

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 22nd and runs through Sunday, August 28th 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 17 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

Here's what I'll be reading:

The Mountain Story, Lori Lansens - Finish

A Thousand Acres, Jane Smiley 

13 Ways of Looking at the Novel, Jane Smiley

The Ninja's Daughter, Susan Spann

Hexagram, Duncan P. Bradshaw

Wish me luck!

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A Reading Life (43) - Akhenaten, #BoutofBooks and more #ReadNobels

My thoughts on Akhenaten: Dweller in Truth by Naguib Mahfouz
This is the story of the ancient Egyptian pharaoh, Akhenaten, related to a young man by each person who was close to, or who served, the pharaoh. I couldn't help but be reminded of the current state of American politics. Everyone tells a different story. Every single person had a differing opinion on Akhenaten. So, who do you believe? The one consistent thread among all was that he had a strange appearance and that his faith in the One God was unwavering.


I would really like to read other books by Mahfouz, as I'm thinking this probably isn't his best. I mean, it was interesting enough, but the many points of view relating the story made character development difficult...and I'm a big fan of character development. I'm not saying I disliked the book immensely, but I have read other historical novels about various ancient Egyptian royalty and found them much more interesting.

That being said, historical fiction always leaves me wishing I could travel back and find out the real story. A fly on the wall, so to speak. As Akhenaten's life is somewhat of a mystery compared to other pharaohs (due to his name, etc. being obliterated because he was judged a heretic), I especially wish I could learn the truth about him.

Naguib Mahfouz won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1988. An Egyptian writer, he published over 50 novels, over 350 short stories, dozens of movie scripts, and five plays over a 70-year career. Many of his works have been made into Egyptian and foreign films. (Goodreads)

Other books by the author:
Children of the Alley

The Cairo Trilogy: 

Palace Walk / Palace of Desire / Sugar Street 

Midaq Alley

The Day the Leader was Killed

I read this selection by Nobel Prize winner Mahfouz for the Read the Nobels perpetual challenge, the 2016 Read the Nobels challenge and the Where in the world will your Nobel take you? April challenge, hosted by Aloi at Guiltless Reading.

What I'm reading this week:

• For TuesBookTalk, the required section for this week's reading of The Great Mortality by John Kelly
• Get caught up with the reading section for this week's Roots read-along check in on Friday (I'm WAY behind!)
• Blood Sacrifices by Brian Moreland
• I'm going to listen to some audio books about writing too: Writer to Writer: From Think to Ink by Gail Carson Levine and Put Your Heart On The Page: An Introduction to Writing by Anne Perry

I just announced this special event, the Sci-Fi Summer Read-a-Thon, last week! I'm so excited. I need to read more Sci-Fi. This will probably be a yearly event, in between my four regular read-a-thons, like the Christmas Spirit Read-a-Thon in November. I hope you will think about joining us. Sign up here!

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Recent book acquisitions...

Win from Bookreporter.com -

Design for Dying by Renee Patrick

From Book Depository -

The Poldark series 1-3 by Winston Graham:

Ross Poldark

Demelza

Jeremy Poldark

From Better World Books - 

Shirley by Charlotte Bronte

Signora Da Vinci by Robin Maxwell

Affinity by Sarah Waters

What's going on in your Reading Life?

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Bout of Books 16 #boutofbooks

I always sign up and plan to participate...and then something always come up. Hopefully, this time will be better. All I can do is try and I do have a ton of great books on my reading plate this month.

Here's the official scoop:

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 9th and runs through Sunday, May 15th 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 16 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

Are you participating? Feel free to share your progress/what you're reading in the Seasons of Reading group on Facebook. 

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Bout of Books Read-a-Thon

My intent to participate and my reading goals...

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, January 4th and runs through Sunday, January 10th 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 15 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. 

- From the Bout of Books team

My goals for the week:

--Read the section of In the Heart of the Sea for TuesBookTalk

--Wolf Land by Jonathan Janz

--finish Medicis Daughter by Sophie Perinot

--finish The Conqueror's Wife by Stephanie Thornton

--If there's time...start Little House in the Big Woods

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Bout of Books Wrap-Up and Classics Spin 10 #ccspin

Well, I didn't do so great, but I did manage to finish a book and read a bit from another. I would have read more if 1) I wouldn't have went off on a tangent and updated this blog and my Castle Macabre blog (check out the sidebars) and 2) I was out all day Saturday...took my son to a new friend's house so had to go meet his mom (and chatted with her for a bit, including books, of course. lol), then lunch with mom and we saw Sinister 2 (deliciously scary) and then the fun weekly trip to the grocery store. So yeah, my weekend of planned reading didn't go as well as I planned.

What I read:

The Snow Child - Finished (391 pages)

In The Woods - 50 pages

There's the Beat the Heat, a three week read-a-thon starting today. Should I sign up? *wink*

The Classics Club Spin!!!

I wasn't going to do this, but when I saw we have all of September and October (well, October 23) to read the book, I figured, why not? I chose my list using Random.org and here you go...

1. The Phantom of the Opera, Gaston Leroux

2. The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver 

3. The House of the Spirits, Isabel Allende

4. All the Pretty Horses, Cormac McCarthy

5. The Lambs of London, Peter Ackroyd The wheel has spoken!

6. The Bell, Iris Murdoch 

7. The Mill on the Floss, George Eliot

8. What Maisie Knew, Henry James

9. Perfume, Patrick Suskind

10. The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Victor Hugo

11. The Red Queen, Margaret Drabble 

12. Out of Africa, Isak Dinesen (Karen Blixen)
13. The Secret History, Donna Tartt
14. Cousin Bette, Honore de Balzac
15. Blonde, Joyce Carol Oates
16. Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh
17. Northanger Abbey, Jane Austen
18. 1984, George Orwell
19. The World According to Garp, John Irving
20. A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens

There you have it!

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Bout of Books Update and Oh, Yeah...I Forgot My 6 Year Blogoversary

WINNER OF MY BLOGOVERSARY GIVEAWAY - RACHELLE!

Bout of Books update and mini-challenge below this post

Yes, that's right. My blogoversary was on August 5th. I've been at this for 6 years. Wow! The time has flown by. My very first blog post was 32 Questions Asked and Answered and my first book review the next day was The Private Diary of Mr. Darcy by Maya Slater (how appropriate to share this during Austen in August!). Since I started this blog, I've had 2,753,986 visits and posted 1486 posts! My Cat Thursday feature is in its 5th year. Most of those posts have over 100 views daily and a couple of them had 700+ and 800+ views! There was even one from 2011 with 39,284 views since it posted. Holy cow...I mean, cat!!! And, of course, I must mention my wonderful followers/readers who have stayed loyal, even through my recent bout of a blogging stagnation. I appreciate you all more than you will ever know.

And speaking of blogoversaries...my sister blog, the horror blog Castle Macabre had its 4 year blog anniversary on August 15th. Yup, missed that one too!

In honor of both blogoversaries, I'm hosting a giveaway! This will be a dual giveaway between both blogs. Here's how it will work. If you comment here on this post and on this post at Castle Macabre (either telling me you'll be joining in for Gothic September and/or the read-a-longs, or just to tell me how much you love Poe), you will get two entries into the giveaway.

What's the prize? You will have the chance to win a $10 digital Amazon gift card OR $10 worth of books from the Bargain Bin at Better World Books (these are gently used books and let me tell you...I love the site. You can get 3 books for $10 from the bargain bin! I order from them all the time and purchases benefit literary causes around the world. Check them out!).

To enter, as I mentioned above, comment on this post AND on this post at Castle Macabre and then fill out the form below with the name you used to comment. You only have to fill out the form once so if you fill it out here, don't fill it out again at Castle Macabre. This giveaway will end on September 10, 2015 at 11:59pm CST. Open internationally.

Bout of Books Update and Mini-Challenge

My progress through Wednesday (I technically started on Tuesday).

The Snow Child - 50 pages
In The Woods - 50 pages

Sad...but I'm not giving up yet!

Kimberly Faye Reads hosted the Four Seasons in Book Covers Challenge. 

Here's my contribution...

Follow via email!

Bout of Books - I'll try!

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 17th and runs through Sunday, August 23rd 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 14 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

Like I said in the title...I'll try. Read-a-thons have not been going well for me of late. However, I do have a TON of reading to get done this month so...

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey (catch up or finish for TuesBookTalk)
The Covenant by James A. Michener (catch up to read-a-long spot - this book is a monster and I'm not really enjoying it)
In The Woods by Tana French (hope to finish this one)

Are you doing Bout of Books?