Sunday, January 5, 2014

Bout of Books 9.0 Goals & Updates

Bout of Books

This week is off to a crazy start here in snowy Michigan. Hope everyone else is staying warm and safe wherever you are at in blog-o-sphere. 

My goals for this week are fairly simple as they have to work within my work schedule and home life:

1) Read 2 books
2) Write 2 reviews
3) Visit 5 blogs each day
4) Participate in either Wednesday or Saturday's Twitter Chat
5) Participate in two of the challenges

Seems simply enough--we will see if life cooperates enough for me to start the year off with me meeting these goals! 

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Monday's Updates

What I'm Reading Today:
(click on the covers to go to GoodReads)
  

Books I've Read: 2
Books I've Finished: 1
Time Spent Reading: 3 hours
Reviews Written: 2
Blogs I've Visited So Far: 15

Twitter Chat Participated In Yet: No--totally focused on my daughter, getting lunch and such that I completely forgot--oops! There is always Wednesday or Friday though this week. :-D

Challenge:


A dream come true--a book buying spree!! Who would not love a book buying spree? Probably not very many of us participating in a read-a-thon! :-p Here is my screen shot from the Book Depository:



 Here is what I included:


Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry (paperback)--$9.99

Dare You To by Katie McGarry (hardcover)--$17.99
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell (hardcover)--$18.62
Crash into You by Katie McGarry (hardcover)--$17.99
The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson (hardcover)--$15.70
In Love Again by Megan Mulry (paperback)--$14.99


For a grand total of $95.28



What a fun challenge to kick off the Bout of Books week from Bookish Comforts! Be sure to leave me your links so I can come check out your dream book sprees. :-)

Final Update before I head to bed:

I finished my first book today--yay! With having a snow day I lucked out and got some more time to read than I anticipated but I put off some other things that I needed to do so that means I have to buckled down later in the week. I started my second book as well, participated in a challenge, visited some blogs, wrote two reviews (go live later this week) and overall had a pretty good day. I hope you did too! I go back back to work tomorrow so have a great day!


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Tuesday's Updates

What I'm Reading Today:
(click on the covers to go to GoodReads)
 

Books I've Read: 2
Books I've Finished this Week: 2
Time Spent Reading: 4 hours
Reviews Written this Week: 2
Blogs I've Visited Today: 10


Challenge: Answer the following question posed by 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?


What an adapt question for those of us participating! I have so much happening IRL that sneaking in reading can feel daunting at times. I do what I normally do--I always have a book with me so if I have a few minutes here and there, I will pick it up and read. 

Sometimes, though at the moment I am in between ones, I will also listen to audiobooks on my way into work as a way to make use of otherwise empty time. 

At work, I use my lunch/dinner break to read instead of catching up on work tasks. I need the time to decompress honestly as I find it refuels me for the time left I have at work. 

Lastly, I try to take the last half an hour to hour before bed and unwind by reading. Some nights are more successful than others but more times than not that is how I end my day.

Final Update before I head to bed:

It was backed to work for me. I had a busy day there and since I have been off working on blog posts and reviews--trying to stick to those Bookish Goals I made for myself. :-) 

I forgot my iPad at home this morning so I picked up Fangirl at work today to read during break--I just LOVE that book so much. I figure I did not want to start another book at the moment so I would return to a favorite during my lunch break. **added Wednesday morning--I finished it last night again.**

I visited 10 of my fellow bloggers today, participated in my second challenge and am getting ready to wind down the evening by reading for a couple hours this evening before heading to bed earlier than I did last night. I am a big college football fan and the BCS National Championship game kept me up WAY TOO LATE last night (though I was reading during it too). 

I hope everyone is having a GREAT time during Bout of Books 9.0!!

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Wednesday's Updates:

What I'm Reading Today:
(Click on the cover to go to GoodReads)
 

Books I've Read: 2
Books I've Finished this Week: 2
Time Spent Reading: 4 hours
Reviews Written this Week: 2
Blogs I've Visited Today: 12

Twitter Chat: Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It happened last night and I had a BLAST!! 

Final Update before I head to bed:

I had a lot of work to do around home working on a couple articles so I did not get as much reading time at home as I hoped but I still managed to get a few hours of reading time in with the two books above (both for reviews). They are both good--one is a young adult title and another is a tween/middle grade title.

So I had was able to pop on and participate in the Twitter chat last night and I am so glad I did. I had such a great time participating in it. :) I am hoping I can participate in Saturday's chat as well. 


I hope everyone is having a FANTASTIC Bout of Books 9.0!! 

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Thursday's Update:

What I'm Reading Today:
(Click on the cover to go to GoodReads)
 

Books I've Read: 2
Books I've Finished this Week: 3
Time Spent Reading: 3 hours
Reviews Written this Week: 2
Blogs I've Visited Today:

Other News:
Right before Bout of Books started, I read Draw Me In by Megan Squires--it took me by surprise (in a good way). My review for it is one I wrote during this week. It went live today. Feel free to check it out if you like--there is a giveaway for your chance to win an Amazon gift card. :)

Final Update before I head to bed:

So I crashed last night before I wrote this. :) Yesterday was CRAZY and I did not get much time to read at all on Thursday. I did manage to get a few hours in but no much overall AND finished my third book before I headed to bed. :)

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Friday's Update:

What I'm Reading Today:
(Click on the cover to go to GoodReads)
 
Books I've Read: 2
Books I've Finished this Week: 3
Time Spent Reading: 2 hours 
Reviews Written this Week: 3
Blogs I've Visited Today: 5

Final Update before I head to bed:

I spent the day in meetings so I am wiped LOL so I am probably going to be fairly mellow tonight but I figured I would unwind with a book for me tonight--Kisses She Wrote by Katharine Ashe. 

I hope everyone is having a great day! This week has flown by so quickly (at least for me). 
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Saturday's Update:



What I'm Reading Today:
(Click on the cover to go to GoodReads)
 
Books I've Read: 2
Books I've Finished this Week: 4
Time Spent Reading: 4 hours
Reviews Written this Week: 3
Blogs I've Visited Today: 10

Twitter Chat Today!! Anyone else planning on participating in the Twitter Chat today?! I know I am!! It is at 11:00 EST/ 10:00 CST -->>SUCCESS!!!! 



Once again the twitter chat was an absolute blast to attend. If you have never made it to one of the Bout of Books Twitter chats, I HIGHLY recommend you trying to make it work into the next one you participate in because you will have such a great time chatting with the participants. It is such a great way to interact with others--meet you twitter users, book bloggers and generally awesome individuals. 



Before I can read today though I must finish up a few lingering tasks that got pushed to the back burner do to the crazy start to the week with the snow days and busy Thursday and Friday days at work. :-( 


Final Update before I head to bed:

So I did not finish up all my tasks because I was fried and needed to decompress so I read instead. LOL so I will be paying for it tomorrow. :-( My last day will spent knocking out my to do list with reading coming in afterward. 


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29 comments:

  1. Good luck! I am reading 2 books too! I think more then that might be way too many but we'll see. It's be great if I can get past that!

    Angie
    Bout of Books Goals & Updates

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    1. I hope I can get more than 2 done as well but I need to make sure I sleep too this week! :) I have other things I have to get done this week in real life (how dare it interfere LOL) so we shall see how the week goes. Good luck!! Thanks for stopping by :)

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  2. I really want to get the Katie McGarry books as well :)

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    1. :) her books are fantastic. I am hoping to read Crash into You this week actually so that was an assumption on my end that I am going to love it as much as the first two.

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  3. I really like that you have blog goals as well! I'm going to try to sneak some blog work in between reading breaks! Good luck and happy reading :)

    PS. found and followed you one Twitter :)

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    1. Hi! Thanks for stopping over from Twitter--I appreciate the follow. :) I have it as a goal to keep up my blog better this year so working it into Bout of Books seemed a good way to make sure I keep up with it. Thanks for stopping by today. Happy Reading!

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  4. I really need to add the reviews to my goals! I always fall behind. I have gotten all of McGarry's books on NetGalley, but I want them on my shelf sooooo badly!!

    Good luck this week :) Happy reading!

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    1. I have a physically ARC of Dare You To as well as an eARC of Crash into You though so I guess I technically don't need the hardcover of them ;-) Thanks!! Happy Reading to you too :)

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  5. Good luck! Love the books you'd buy on a shopping spree. Fangirl is one of my favorites!

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    1. Fangirl was one of my favorites of last year too!! I want a copy of my own so badly :-) Happy Reading!

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  6. Looks like you're off to a great start with the read-a-thon! Hope you're staying safe and warm with all this crazy cold weather! The perfect weather for reading, but not so much for shoveling snow or having to go to work. :(

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    1. It would be a great couple days to stay curled up in front of a fire and wrapped in a blanket. :) Oh well--I am getting reading done just not as much as I (ever) would like. Thanks for stopping by. Happy Reading!

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  7. Nice wish list. I am hoping to listen to The Impossible Knife of Memory during this read a thon.Enjoy your books and good luck with your goals.

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    1. Thanks! I should be getting to see Laurie Halse Anderson on tour next week--I am so excited. :) Highlight of last year was getting to meet her. Happy Reading!

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  8. I'm reading only two books as well and visiting other blogs. Congrats on already finishing one book already!

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    1. Thanks! It was a quick read so it helped. :) Happy Reading!

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  9. Great goals! I'm keeping things low-key. Congrats on finishing a book already, you've got lots of time left for more great reading!

    It's wonderful to "meet" you .. have fun this week :)

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    1. Thanks for stopping by Tara--it was lovely to meet you as well! :) The rest of the week is shaping up to be fairly busy so I am hoping to be able to continue reading for a few hours each day.

      Thanks for stopping by and Happy Reading!

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  10. Great job! Its often good to have a low goal and exceed it instead of pressuring yourself

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    1. Realistic/simple goal rather than low goal LOL with my work schedule and home life. I am trying to be better about going to bed at a more reasonable hour too otherwise I will stay up way too late reading at night and pay the price the next day.

      Thanks for stopping by and Happy Reading!

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  11. I love following your updates and you are doing really well so far! Attachments by Rainbow Powell was a little slow at first, but cute and funny. I can't wait to read Fan Girl! Good luck with the rest of the week!

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    1. Awe, thanks so much! :) Fangirl is fabulous but I could be rather biased. I appreciate you stopping by and commenting. Good luck the rest of the week to you as well. Happy Reading!

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  12. I can't wait to read Fangirl! Good luck with your goals! :)

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    1. It is SO GOOD (in my humble opinion)! Thanks :) Happy Reading!

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  13. Fantastic job so far! I'm a bit behind where I want to be towards the end of day 3 (since I'm headed to work in a few)...but I did really good the first couple days!

    http://coffeebeanbookshelf.com/2014/01/08/bout-of-books-9-0-updates-days-1-2/

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    1. I am not keeping pace with commenting and visiting others like I was at the start of the week--real life is getting in the way! :-/ Hope you are doing well!! I will stop by later today! Happy Reading. :)

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  14. Congrats on your progress, you're doing so well! I hope what youve been reading is great and you have a good week. I'm really struggling to fit time in!

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    1. Thanks! I am towards the end of the week, which I had a feeling would happen. If it were for the snow at the beginning of the week, I question how the beginning of the week would have gone without them (though now I am behind with other things LOL).

      Hang in there! Remember, there is NO failing in Bout of Books!!

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