Bout of Books 9.0 Read-a-Thon - Wrap-up Post

And it's a wrap-up for the Bout of Books 9.0 Read-a-Thon! I'm so excited and happy with how things went for me this past week... I suspect I didn't do a lot better than the average week, but I did read a lot, I had fun, I relaxed and I enjoyed reading like I hadn't for a while now. So, it was, overall, a very good week for me.

Taking a look at my goals, I managed:

• To read every day, and to most definitely read for more than an hour
• To enter most challenges... I might have even entered all of them, but some were a bit repetitive, and I just wasn't motivated to do them all over again - which, unfortunately, made me miss one of my favourite challenges, Book Spine Poetry
• To update my progress every day, even in the days I didn't enter a challenge
• To try to socialize - my socialization was only to participate in the challenges, which is a bit lame... I wanted to partake in a Twitter chat again, but I totally forgot to check their schedule, and I missed two of them (the third was scheduled for a time I was asleep, so definitely no Twitter chat for me then); I really wanted to get to know a few new blogs, but aside from the challenges hosts, I didn't
• To read 2 fiction books - a novel (Frigid by J. Lynn/Jennifer L. Armentrout) and a novella (Bitter Sweet Love by Jennifer L. Armentrout) -, a companion book that felt like a fiction book (The Shadowhunter's Codex by Cassandra Clare and Joshua Lewis), and two more companion books (The Hunger Games: Catching Fire: The Official Illustrated Movie Companion by Kate Egan; A Ironia e Sabedoria de Tyrion Lannister (The Wit & Wisdom of Tyrion Lannister) by George R.R. Martin) - and, bonus, all the books I read were from my original pile, which is a first for me... maybe I am getting better at planning things

Statistically:

• I read 984 pages, a 100 pages more than the last read-a-thon I did (888 pages), and a bit more than last year's weekly page count (960 pages)
• This is an average of 141 pages a day, which is also only a little higher than last year's daily page count (137 pages)
• However, I read more books (5 books) than the weekly average for me last year (3,5 books), which could be explained by the fact that I probably read shorter books this week (each book had an average 196,8 pages, versus the average 274 pages each book I read last year had)
• The longest book was The Shadowhunter's Codex by Cassandra Clare and Joshua Lewis (288 pages) and the shortest book was Bitter Sweet Love by Jennifer L. Armentrout (104 pages)

And that's it for me. I'd like to thank the hosts and everyone who hosted a challenge; it was a fun ride.

Below are my posts for the read-a-thon, both the starting post as well as the daily update posts, which contain both my progress and my answers to the challenges.

Starting Post
Monday, January 6th
Tuesday, January 7th
Wednesday, January 8th
Thursday, January 9th
Friday, January 10th
Saturday, January 11th
Sunday, January 12th

Bout of Books 9.0 Read-a-Thon - Sunday, January 12th

Pages read today: 102

Pages read so far: 882 + 102 = 984

Books read today:

102/272 pages (37,5%) of Frigid by J. Lynn/Jennifer L. Armentrout

Books read so far:

Bitter Sweet Love by Jennifer L. Armentrout

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire: The Official Illustrated Movie Companion by Kate Egan

A Ironia e Sabedoria de Tyrion Lannister (The Wit & Wisdom of Tyrion Lannister) by George R.R. Martin

The Shadowhunter's Codex by Cassandra Clare and Joshua Lewis

Frigid by J. Lynn/Jennifer L. Armentrout

Challenge: Bookish Wedding hosted by Melissa @ Harley Bear Book Blog

Have you ever read a book and thought, "Man I wish these people were real?  I would be best friends with them in real life". 

Well, I made a tag on my BookTube channel called The Bookish Wedding tag. It's all questions about which of your favorite characters you'd invite to your wedding if you were to marry your top book boyfriend/girlfriend.
To do the challenge it's not mandatory for you to make a video.

If you just want to write the answers on your blog or in the comments here that's fine!

1. Which fictional character would you marry?
2. Who would be your Maid of Honor or Best Man?
3. Which fictional world would you want to get married in?
4. Who would you pick to play the music at your wedding?
5. Who would be your photographer?
6. Who would you sit at the singles table (and hope they'd fall in love)?
7. Who would be your flower girl or ring bearer?
8. Who would you want to plan the bachelorette/bachelor party?
9. At the wedding, who would be the first on the dance floor?
10. Who would give a speech or toast?
11. Who would catch the bouquet or garter?

 I think I'm skipping this one out. It a cute challenge, but I'm not feeling inspired.

Bout of Books 9.0 Read-a-Thon - Saturday, January 11th

Pages read today: 170

Pages read so far: 712 + 170 = 882

Books read today:

170/272 pages (62,5%) of Frigid by J. Lynn/Jennifer L. Armentrout

Books read so far:

Bitter Sweet Love by Jennifer L. Armentrout

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire: The Official Illustrated Movie Companion by Kate Egan

A Ironia e Sabedoria de Tyrion Lannister (The Wit & Wisdom of Tyrion Lannister) by George R.R. Martin

The Shadowhunter's Codex by Cassandra Clare and Joshua Lewis

Frigid by J. Lynn/Jennifer L. Armentrout

Challenge: Book Staging hosted by Kate @ Midnight Book Girl

Take a picture of a book you’re reading today, or any book you have lying around. In the picture you should have the book in a setting, or surrounded by items, that represent the book. It can mimic the cover, or represent characters/events/etc from the story. Basically, make us want to read the book based on picture alone.

I'm reading Frigid, by J. Lynn /Jennifer L. Armentrout, and all that talk about snow is positively freezing me. So I picked this book for the challenge, and I decided to warm it up a little.

There, you poor thing, I hope you feel better, with a scarf, a pair of gloves, a beanie and a blanket.

Bout of Books 9.0 Read-a-Thon - Friday, January 10th

Pages read today: 84

Pages read so far: 628 + 84 = 712

Books read today:

84/288 pages (29,2%) of The Shadowhunter's Codex by Cassandra Clare and Joshua Lewis (finished it)

Books read so far:

Bitter Sweet Love by Jennifer L. Armentrout

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire: The Official Illustrated Movie Companion by Kate Egan

A Ironia e Sabedoria de Tyrion Lannister (The Wit & Wisdom of Tyrion Lannister) by George R.R. Martin

The Shadowhunter's Codex by Cassandra Clare and Joshua Lewis

Challenge: Create a Story hosted by Mandi Kaye @ Never Too Fond of Books

The rules are simple:

1. Open your current book to the last page you read.
2. Using the last word of every line, create a poem or story. You must use every word (but they do not have to be in order), and you may add punctuation as necessary. If a word is split between the end of the line and the beginning of the next one, you may choose whether or not to use it.
3. Create a post (or tweet or video) that showcases your masterpiece. If you don’t have anywhere else to post it, you can add it as a comment here and use the comment link as your entry.
4. Add it to the linky on this post.

Ah... I give up. I tried to do this one, I really did, but the words that I ended up with were so uninspiring... I couldn't do anything with them. And this challenge feels a little repetitive, after yesterday's Found Poem Challenge.

Challenge: Book Spine Poetry hosted by The Book Spines

For this challenge,  use books you currently have available, and arrange the spines to make a poem. Then take a picture, and share it with the web!

Oh, this is killing me, because I love Book Spine Poetry Challenges, but I am so tired, and I really am uninspired. Maybe I'll try to do it later. Right now, I am going to sleep.

Bout of Books 9.0 Read-a-Thon - Thursday, January 9th

Pages read today: 132

Pages read so far: 496 + 132 = 628

Books read today:

132/288 pages (45,8%) of The Shadowhunter's Codex by Cassandra Clare and Joshua Lewis

Books read so far:

Bitter Sweet Love by Jennifer L. Armentrout

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire: The Official Illustrated Movie Companion by Kate Egan

A Ironia e Sabedoria de Tyrion Lannister (The Wit & Wisdom of Tyrion Lannister) by George R.R. Martin

The Shadowhunter's Codex by Cassandra Clare and Joshua Lewis

Challenge: Double Date Book Challenge hosted by Lori @ Writing My Own Fairy Tale

You must pick two books that you would recommend someone read together (like a double date!) and explain your reasons for the recommendation. You can recommend the books because they are in the same genre, one is a retelling of the other, they deal with the same issues, or maybe they're complete opposites, whatever you want as long as you can explain why they should be read together. Just one exception: they cannot be books from the same series.

I read Diana Peterfreund's For Darkness Shows the Stars (FDSTS) last year, and I loved it, so I'm picking it and pairing it with Persuasion by Jane Austen. Persuasion is one of my favourite books by Jane (actually, it's a tie between this one and Pride and Prejudice), because it's a touching story about second chances and sticking up for your choices, even when you regret them later, because things can never go back, and yet life goes on... And FDSTS is such a good retelling. It uses the bones of the original story, but within a new and different world with its own rules and concepts, and weaves both aspects so well. Diana is a great writer, and it's amazing the way she created a new world and a story that feels fresh and well-grounded within that world, while still using Persuasion's main plot.

Challenge: Found Poem hosted by Pen in Her Hand

Just choose a novel from any genre, print or ebook, that you’re reading or have finished. I used Notes from Ghost Town by Kate Ellison. Pick a number between 1 and 10, and you’re ready to start!

1. Flip to a page at random. Using your trusty number (for example, let’s use 7) count down 7 lines. Then count in 7 words. Write that word down. Repeat this process until your have fourteen words. Here are my words: have, general, darkness, week, sit, all, do, because, my, the, secret, what? says.

2. Delete two words and add in two words of your own. I deleted the words general and my. I added the words pause and then.

3. Now arrange your words any way you like to finish your found poem. Here’s my poem:

All week sit, do, put, have—
Then pause because…
The secret darkness
Says what?

Note: If a counted word doesn’t work (profanity or proper name), just go on to the next word.

Easy, right? Now it’s your turn to post your poem in the comments for us to enjoy! And please tell us what book you used to create your poem.

Ok, my number is 3, and I'm picking words from the book I'm currently reading, The Shadowhunter's Codex. This should be fun.

My words: seraphic, conditions, that, a, particularly, the, this, They, one, demons, find, more, true, allow

I'm scratching a and allow, and adding demonic and covenant.

My poem (nevermind grammar, please):
They demons find
The seraphic conditions
More true
that this one particularly
demonic covenant.

Bout of Books 9.0 Read-a-Thon - Wednesday, January 8th

Pages read today: 160 + 72 = 232

Pages read so far: 264 + 232 = 496

Books read today:

160/160 pages (100%) of A Ironia e Sabedoria de Tyrion Lannister (The Wit & Wisdom of Tyrion Lannister) by George R.R. Martin
72/288 pages (25%) of The Shadowhunter's Codex by Cassandra Clare and Joshua Lewis

Books read so far:

Bitter Sweet Love by Jennifer L. Armentrout

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire: The Official Illustrated Movie Companion by Kate Egan
A Ironia e Sabedoria de Tyrion Lannister (The Wit & Wisdom of Tyrion Lannister) by George R.R. Martin
The Shadowhunter's Codex by Cassandra Clare and Joshua Lewis 

Challenge: Introduce Someone to Your Favorite Genre hosted by Katie @ Doing Dewey

Bout of Books is a great way to interact with new bloggers so I thought it would be a fun chance for us each to introduce other bloggers to a genre we love. For this challenge, pick a book or a few books that you think would make a great introduction to your genre of choice.

I'm going to pick YA, because it's such a underrated genre... really, just because of a few bad apples, there's no need to judge the entire genre as crappy. There are so many good books, too, and for all tastes.

• For the historical fan, there's Between Shades of Grey by Ruta Sepetys - it's a fictional account of a teenage girl in Russian labor camps in Siberia, Ruta is a good writer and the story is so touching; or A Spy in the House by Y.S. Lee, if you're a fan of mysteries and a little romance as well;
• For the SF fan, there's the Across the Universe trilogy by Beth Revis - it's the story of a ship bound to explore another world, and the shenanigans that happen when that mission goes wrong... reading the books if felt as if Beth is a huge SF fan, and I think she used some tropes and main concerns of the genre when writing the story;
• For the contemporary fan, I'm going to pick The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot, or anything by her, really - she has a great sense of humor, she writes believable characters, and she captures the awkwardness of teen years in such a cute and funny way;
• For the Steampunk or alternate history fan who doesn't mind picking up a book that reads slightly younger than YA, I'd recommend Scott Westerfeld and the Leviathan trilogy - great books, his imagination is astounding, and it was so much fun reading Deryn and Alek's story;
• For the paranomal/urban fantasy fan, the Soul Screamers books by Rachel Vincent - she's such a good writer, she comes up with the most awesome concepts, she does family and emotional scenes so well, and Kaylee is one of the most brave, loyal heroines you'll ever meet; oh, and Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor - because her writing is so beautiful and her stories so tragic; and Forsaken by Jana Oliver, btw, because Riley is such a good, badass heroine, and really, Demon Hunters in a slightly dystopian/post-apocalyptic future, need I say more?;
• For the fantasy fan who doesn't mind a different setting, I'd go with The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson, which has an interesting setting and a different type of heroine, who manages to overcome her weaknesses to save her country; or The Assassin's Curse, with a grumpy heroine and such a fun, quirky world.

And that's it for suggestions. I could be writing here all day.

Bout of Books 9.0 Read-a-Thon - Tuesday, January 7th

Pages read today: 160

Pages read so far: 104 + 160 = 264

Books read today:

160/160 pages (100%) of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire: The Official Illustrated Movie Companion by Kate Egan

Books read so far:

Bitter Sweet Love by Jennifer L. Armentrout

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire: The Official Illustrated Movie Companion by Kate Egan

Challenge: Reading Tactics List hosted by Sarah @ Sarah Says Read

How do you fit in as much reading as possible during Bout of Books? How do you squeeze in those extra pages?

Well, this is an atypical week, because I'm not working, but basically I try to stay away from the internet, it's a huuuge time sucker. On regular weeks, I try to read everywhere I can, on public transports to work, on lunch break, while in line at the post office or the supermarket or something... and in bed, of course, before falling asleep. However, these are also tactics I use everyday, not just during Bout of Books, so they're not specific to BoB.

Challenge: Cast your Book hosted by Felicia S. @ The Geeky Bloggers Book Blog

If you were listening to the book being acted out over the radio waves who would you want being the voices of your favorite characters!

• Pick your favorite book
• Cast your “radio” show
• Follow the Rafflecopter Rules Below

I'm not really good at fantasy casting... but I'm going to pick Pride and Prejudice (I really love that book), and Matthew MacFadyen to read the whole thing. I mean, have you heard his reading of a certain chapter in P&P? (Here and here. You Tube links. You're welcome.)

Bout of Books 9.0 Read-a-Thon - Monday, January 6th

Pages read today: 104

Pages read so far: 104

Books read today:

104/104 pages (100%) of Bitter Sweet Love by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Books read so far:

Bitter Sweet Love by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Challenge: Book Buying Spree hosted by Rachella @ Bookish Comforts

Imagine if you will: you’ve just received some FANTASTIC news! You have won a $100 book buying spree! Now comes the hard part though: what books will you buy?! For this challenge, you’ll be creating your book buying spree wishlist, and sharing it in the comments.

Oh, this is almost too easy. I just did an order with the Book Depository, so I won't be able to use any of my wishlist books that already came out... but I can make a list with pre-orders, because I am following so many series and authors, and in the next few months, a few new books by favourites are being released:

(Please click the image to get a better look.) And I was pretty close to the 100 dollars limit! :D

Challenge: Mad Libs hosted by Cheap Thrills

1. I give a list of words I need from you: noun, verb, adjective, etc.
2. You pick words from book titles. (Share title and author so we can learn about new books!)
3. Use those words to complete a short story.

Here’s the list:

character name – ex: Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore, by Robin Sloan
adjective1 – ex: Terminal Freeze, by Lincoln Child
adjective2 – ex: White Horse, by Alex Adams
item – ex: The Romanov Cross, by Robert Masello
occupation – ex: The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, by Robert Crais
act of violence – ex: The Burning Air, by Erin Kelly
adjective3 – ex: City of Dark Magic, by Magnus Flyte
noun1 – ex: The King’s Deception, by Steve Berry
noun2 – ex: The Loch Ness Legacy, by Boyd Morrison

You’ll notice on “act of violence,” I chose a word that wasn’t used that way in the title, even though it could fit. Feel free to get creative!

Got your list? Great!

Here’s the story:

I just read the greatest book!

This guy [Character Name] ends up in the middle of a/an [adjective1] conspiracy. Turns out his/her ancestors were pirates, and he/she might be the key to finding the [Adjective2] [Item]. It’s a mythic artifact that disappeared centuries ago, and now a shadowy group of [occupation]s are looking for it. No one knows what uncovering it might do, but these guys are willing to [act of violence] for it.

I won’t say anything else. But believe me, if you like [adjective3] stories with [noun1](s) and [noun2](s), you have to read this one.

Here's my list:

character name – Dracula by Bram Stoker
adjective1 – Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
adjective2 – Dead Silence by Kimberly Derting
item – The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon
occupation – The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting
act of violence – Emblaze by Jessica Shirvington
adjective3 – Dark Triumph by Robin La Fevers
noun1 – Blood Red Road by Moira Young

noun2 - The Darkest Passion by Gena Showalter

Here's my story:

I just read the greatest book!

This guy Dracula ends up in the middle of a brave conspiracy. Turns out his/her ancestors were pirates, and he/she might be the key to finding the Dead Bone. It’s a mythic artifact that disappeared centuries ago, and now a shadowy group of Body Finders are looking for it. No one knows what uncovering it might do, but these guys are willing to Emblaze for it.

I won’t say anything else. But believe me, if you like dark stories with blood and passion, you have to read this one.

Bout of Books 9.0 Read-a-Thon - Starting Post

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 6th and runs through Sunday, January 12th 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 9.0 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

Wow, I haven't done a read-a-thon in a while. I kinda missed it, a lot. You know, all the excitement that goes into getting ready for it - writing this post, thinking about my goals, coming up with a book pile I'd like to explore... I'm glad to be doing it again. The last few months have been hectic for me, so it'll be nice to sit back and just read.

Please consider this my sign up post and my goals post, since I feel like I would be repeating myself, doing separate posts for either.

My goals:

• To read every day, and to read for at least an hour (maybe two hours, but no pressure)
• To enter some challenges, if not all of them
• To update my progress every day, or most likely, every day I enter a challenge
• To try to socialize
• To read at least 3 fiction books, and perhaps a few comic books/manga, or a few short stories/novellas

As for the books I'd like to read, I put together a pile of books I might like to read in the next few days, but as always, I'll probably change my mind, so no pressure to stick to the pile:

• Frigid, Jennifer L. Armentrout/J. Lynn
• Just One Day, Gayle Forman
• The Shadowhunter's Codex, Cassandra Clare, Joshua Lewis
• The Wit and Wisdom of Tyrion Lannister, George R.R. Martin [Portuguese edition]
• Dead Ever After, Charlaine Harris [Portuguese edition]
• JLA/JSA: Virtue and Vice [Portuguese edition, this collects a couple more issues, but this seems to be the main story]
• The Hunger Games: Catching Fire: The Official Illustrated Movie Companion, Kate Egan

I have an e-book I'd really like to read as well, and that is:

• Bitter Sweet Love, Jennifer L. Armentrout

Yes, I'll probably read two JLA books this week, but with the speed she writes and publishes stuff, one has to really work on being updated with her books, lol... I love them, though. ;)

So, I think that's it. To everyone who is entering the read-a-thon, good luck with your goals, and have fun!