Goals + Updates
Time devoted to reading:
We’re back on track with Bout of Books starting on book group day again. So I probably won’t be contributing much on the Monday and then I’ll have to write up my notes which seems to take me much longer than writing a review for me. So Wednesday to Sunday I will be reading as much as possible (evenings only during the week) to make up for lost time.
Goals:
De-stress
Do not waste hours clicking around on the internet without purpose
Comment on as many participating blogs as I can
Read at least one personal read
Read lots of digital shorts to make myself look productive
Join in two Twitter chats.
Books to read:
That looks like loads but five of them are actually novellas. Of course, I might change some of these, especially if I overdose on chick-lit. Hopefully I will have Dead Ever After next week too… Argh! The choices!
Updates:
Monday
Waaaaah! Why oh why was book spine poetry on the day I was too busy to do a challenge? I may just do one anyway this week, just for me. So yeah, book group ate up my evening and I mostly managed to read whilst eating. Both lunch at my desk and over a quick bowl of leftover chili. It’s also National Walk to Work Week so I am wearing a pedometer (the walking bit is the norm for me) so we can compete at work. I was going to add my daily steps to my updates but managed to accidentally reset the damn thing twice yesterday, so had to guess. I suppose I can apdate you on approximate miles… Also, hard to walk and read at the same time, one is going to suffer.
Pages read today: 54 (the shame!)
Books finished: 0
Books: Stray Souls by Kate Griffin
First sentence read: There had been some time spent on the Internet.
Last sentence read: It was an altar, inescapable and true, an altar in the shop floor of a Tanning Salon in Tooting.
Miles walked: 5.7
Hours spent talking about books: 2
Twitter chats: 0.25
Tuesday
I will not get stressed. I will not get stressed… Slightly better than yesterday but sat down to read only to spend over an hour on Twitter. I wouldn’t have chosen Stray Souls for a readathon book but I started it on Saturday thinking I would at least be near the end by Monday. It’s good, and amusing, but it’s not a fast read and there is small font on many pages. Fingers crossed I can move onto the teeny tiny books tonight! I also fell asleep reading so not sure if my last sentence is my last sentence…
Pages read today: 154
Books finished: 0
Books: Stray Souls by Kate Griffin
First sentence read: With the expression of the tactful aetheist entering a hushed church, Sharon examined the offerings.
Last sentence read: “He’s gonna use finance on you,” she hissed.
Miles walked: 4.32
Create a Cover Challenge:
So I chose to re-design Paper Aeroplanes for todays challenge. 1. because it is a recent read and 2. I knew I had a paper aeroplane photo on my Flickr account that I could use in a hurry. I do think the original suits the book, especialy with its 90s setting. My cover is more reflective of the current contemporary YA designs you see a lot of now. As it’s a rush job, I so would re-do the taglines if I was doing it properly.
I finished a book! Then another (teeny tiny) one! Operation read digital shorts looks like it could be a success…if only I had started on Monday instead of carrying on with the book I started at the weekend. I also visited some new blogs, looked at Monsters Inc tees on Threadless, chatted on Twitter and did a challenge. Go me!
Pages read today: 177 approx
Books finished: 2
Books: Stray Souls by Kate Griffin + Crossing the Line by Katie McGarry
First sentence read: Swift scowled but made no reply.
Last sentence read: Our lips move against each other’s, and in between breaths I say to her, “I’ll send you three.”
Total challenges: 1
Books that magically appeared: 2
Acrostic Poem Challenge:
OK, let me explain. Harley Bear‘s example poem was on a vertical text spine which I liked, so I had a rummage about for similar designs amongst my shelves. Without spending too long I found Ink and Out. I had just seen a bus with otters on the side (it said “New for 2013! Otters!” which made me laugh). So poor readathon brain put two and two together. It’s not really a poem but hey, it’s fun.
I feel like such a cheat with these teeny tiny books but look at my progress. Actually The New Hunger (prequel to Warm Bodies) is proper novella length and if bloody good (not just some filler like some of them are). There were feels.
Pages read today: 170 approx
Books finished: 3
Books: Stray Souls by Kate Griffin + Crossing the Line by Katie McGarry + The New Hunger by Issac Marion + The Witches Betrayal by Cassandra Rose Clarke
First sentence read: A dead man lies near a river, and the forest watches him.
Last sentence read: I supposed I should start by finding out who my target was.
NetGalleys “accidentally” requested: 3
Total challenges: 2
Reviews written: Stray Souls
Friday
This is turning into the scrolliest blog post ever. My book count looks much more impressive than it actually is as the last two were really, really short ones. So back onto novels for the weekend.
It was a pretty average “Walk to Work Week” for me. The muffin counter appears to be designed around monster double choc muffins or something as they work out at over 500 calories each!
Pages read today: 191 approx
Books finished: 5
Books: Stray Souls by Kate Griffin + Crossing the Line by Katie McGarry + The New Hunger by Issac Marion + The Witches Betrayal by Cassandra Rose Clarke + The Automaton’s Treasure by Cassandra Rose Clarke + Billy and Me by Giovanna Fletcher
First sentence read: I finished my sugar wine and gestured the waiter over.
Last sentence read: Now, go grab the mop and give the toilets a quick wash.
Book Spine Poetry Challenge
OK I didn’t read the challenge before gleefully collecting books from my shelves, so this doesn’t really count for today’s challenge of genre book spine poetry 🙁 But I did miss out on Monday’s challenge, so here it is. I’m pretty sure book spine poetry is the best reason to not stop buying books…because we’d soon run out of poems!
Not as much reading as I would have liked today. Instead I got my haircut, went to greengrocers and then discovered a loose leaf tea shop just round the corner. Drank copious amounts of cherry infused green tea. Made the Bout of Books Twitter chat. And then the evening was taken over by Doctor Who (finally got good) and of course, Eurovision in the company of Twitter, cheese and wine. And yes, I did get into Twitter jail, it was traumatic. I was desperate to tweet about the man in the box but had the wait for the reset to kick in. I also woke up this morning to find the last thing I googled was Chow Chows…
Pages read today: 264
Books finished: 6
Books: Stray Souls by Kate Griffin + Crossing the Line by Katie McGarry + The New Hunger by Issac Marion + The Witches Betrayal by Cassandra Rose Clarke + The Automaton’s Treasure by Cassandra Rose Clarke + Billy and Me by Giovanna Fletcher
First sentence read: Over the next week I barely see Billy as the previews of his show start.
Last sentence read: Molly once said to grab every opportunity that comes my way – on this occasion, I think I’ll take that advice literally…she’d have liked that.
Read Winter Damage. Brilliant. Started The 5th Wave. Also brilliant so far. I had a bit of a book hangover after Winter Damage and also felt a bit like I needed a little break from books. So I watched Game of Thrones for a bit…but then when I started The 5th Wave, I’d wish I’d done so sooner. Itching to get back to it now. Alien invasions rock.
I think I’ve managed to be more varied this Bout of Books. Done a few challenges, managed to get round blogs every day, most importantly blogs that are not my usual crowd, socialised on Twitter and read some fo the books I said I would. I think I’m going to book a few days off work during the next one though. I am obsessed dedicated! With all the stuff going on, I haven’t read more than a normal week though, if I’m honest probably a bit less in page count terms.
Pages read today: 375 approx
Books finished: 7
Books: Stray Souls by Kate Griffin + Crossing the Line by Katie McGarry + The New Hunger by Issac Marion + The Witches Betrayal by Cassandra Rose Clarke + The Automaton’s Treasure by Cassandra Rose Clarke + Billy and Me by Giovanna Fletcher + Winter Damage by Natasha Carthew + The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey
First sentence read: There was good in this world and there was evil but the young girl had not yet learnt the difference.
Last sentence read: Sammy was the youngest, but there were seven other kids, none except me older than fourteen.
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"Do not waste hours clicking around on the internet without purpose." THIS, ELLIE. THIS. This shall be my mantra for the Bout of Books week. Or at least for the first day, while my resolve is strong. 🙂
Good luck!
I never did get Billy and Me though I'm fairly sure my request went through to the right person? I'd re-request it but.. *glances tentatively at pile* Maybe not.
Now say it with me: THIS WILL BE A PRODUCTIVE BOUT OF BOOKS.
Omens! Agh I neeeed that book in my life!
Ellie this is a great stack of books to choose from! I wish my library had Kinsella's Wedding Night in already, it would have been a great one to read for this. I'm also happy that you're reading books by Rose Clarke. I can't wait to get started on The Pirate's Wish! I also need to try and stay off the internet too otherwise I'm going to get no reading done! Good luck with your goals Ellie! 🙂
Wow you have a nice selection of books. I just have two that I would like to finish this week. I'm going to try to not spend as much time on the computer this week either so I can read as much as possible.
Good luck this week! Those are fantastic goals, especially de-stressing and not wasting time on the internet without a purpose.
lol – 'Do not waste hours clicking around on the internet without purpose'
Perfect. I need that on my goal list!
Looks like you've got a really fun stack of books! Crossing The Line is a nice read, and I wish I had Billy & Me on my list. It sounds so interesting!
Oh, well. I didn't read much either yesterday – 97 pages. Not really anything to write home about in the context of a readathon. But hey, I'm sure it will get better.
Good luck and happy reading!
My first day of the readathon was also a slow one. I only managed to read 7% of my book all day. So bad! But I've already read more today and still have the entire night after dinner to read, also it's only early so we can do better! Also there's another book spines poetry challenge on Saturday as I missed yesterdays one and was gutted. That chilly has made my belly growl so dinner it is and onto more reading! Good luck! 🙂
Becca @ Lost in Thought
No shame in 54 pages, better than none 😉
I think there's another book spine poem challenge coming later in the week. And hey, 54 isn't bad at all! It's progress. 🙂 I had a really good day yesterday, but hardly got any reading in today. Hopefully can get that kindle % count up by the end of tonight!
Haha, I didn't get chance to do the challenge yesterday either. I'd been out all day, and I looked at it and sighed and just went… "Nope. Not going to happen." I've done today's music one, which was SO GOOD except it meant I spent ages on iTunes instead of reading. Oh well…
Hope you had another lurvely day with some good reading, O Fellow Ellie, I'll be back to cheer some more yet… 🙂
I just read Wedding Night… it's not my favorite of hers, but still amusing. Also, it looks like there's another Book Spine Poetry challenge this weekend, so yay!
Love your book list, the covers are so pretty! I also like Sophie Kinsella's stand alones, I haven't tried Shopaholic yet. Your goals are fantastic and I need to adopt both of these:
De-stress
Do not waste hours clicking around on the internet without purpose
I am guilty of both! 😉
Good luck this week and enjoy your reading!
Don't worry Ellie, I still haven't finished a single book yet either, but started about 5! Like Victoria mentioned there is another book spine poetry challenge set for one day this week, I can't remember the day. I hope you get loads more reading done today! 🙂
I like your new cover! Looks almost professional. Well done.
Hope you gets HEAPS more reading done today. Have fun!
Neat cover! You were totally spot on in reflecting the YA covers of today. I chose to re-design The Great Gatsby- my favorite 🙂
Oooh I love your Paper Aeroplanes cover! 🙂 It definitely looks like an actual cover, and you're right about it feeling very like current designs we see around at the moment. I think I might be the only person who didn't take this challenge entirely seriously… ^^
Hope you manage to get onto your tiny books soon! The quotes from Stray Souls do make it sound very intriguing though, hope you're enjoying it. Have fun with today's reading! 🙂
Well I love your cover. It'd be more likely to catch my eye than the original. A lot more fresh and summery. 🙂
Oh hey, I got a copy of Billy and Me. Tis good!
Haha, um… xD Well, it's certainly a fun acrostic poem, anyway. And if I pick up that book and there are no otters in it, I'm gonna be disappointed! 🙂 Good luck with tomorrow's reading!
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Gaw I linked up to your blog in my post above.. let's try this again:
Very good acrostic poem.. I mean only 3 letters to work with??? Love it. Good luck with 3 more days of reading!!
Angie
Here is my poem
I like your "first sentence-last sentence" section. (In my reading journal, I write down the first sentence of book I read as well as the very last sentence of the story 🙂 ) Also I guess I should travel to England to be able to get me some of those Skittles… First time I ever see this kind. I loooove me some Skittles, and they don't even sell them here in Finland.
Otters Under Threat… Oh Ellie, that was worth a visit all on its own. *chuckles merrily* I'm not sure which I like more, the poem or the explanation. 😀
Awesomeballs reading, go you! *cheers a little bit* And yeah, that is some seriously huge muffin that counter's working with. My Sainsbury's ones are big – the bakery ones, not the pre-packaged ones you find on the branded cake shelves – and they're about 415 calories each. Is the counter American or something?!
I think it must be an American muffin counter! I looked them up in my calorie book and most are around 300 in this country. Maybe they didn't manage to encourage excessive muffin consumption…
Wow, you've done great this read-a-thon, both in reading & challenges, and I absolutely love your goals 😀
You got put in Twitter jail?! *bows to the grand mistress* That's a mark of serious respect in BoB week, book-related or otherwise! 😀
A more varied Bout of Books sounds good, especially discovering new blogs! 🙂 I think you still got a lot read too though. And, wow, 500 calories for a muffin? That's a giant muffin, right? o_O *is suddenly worried about muffins*
Hope you had a fun read-a-thon! 😀