Bout of Books - Progress reports

Well, friends, here's the dilemma - I've joined this read-a-thon to encourage myself to read more books this week, but all I wanted to do yesterday during my reading time was play around online, getting acquainted with the Bout of Books and it's participants. *sigh*

I'll update my daily progress on this post, so those of you who care can check back, and those of you who are completely uninterested can just skip it! =)


Monday's Progress -

Time spent reading - 20 minutes in print and 1 hour in audio

Books read - The Color Master by Aimee Bender (print) and The Vampire Diaries: The Struggle by LJ Smith (audio)

Books finished - none

Notes - I am going to struggle with balancing my online time and my reading time. Must prioritize better!!


Tuesday's Progress -

Time spent reading - 30 minutes in print and 1 hour in audio

Books read - The Meryl Streep Movie Club by Mia March (print) and The Vampire Diaries: The Struggle by LJ Smith (audio)

Books finished - none

Notes - I had a hard time staying awake tonight - sleep was the priority over reading. Thank goodness for commutes or I wouldn't be getting any reading done!



Wednesday's Progress -

Time spent reading - 30 minutes in print and 1 hour in audio

Books read - The Meryl Streep Movie Club by Mia March (print) and The Vampire Diaries: The Struggle by LJ Smith (audio)

Books finished - none

Notes - note to self - the week from hell at work is not the best time to be trying to increase your reading. While I'm not necessarily reading MORE, I am certainly having a good time participating in the challenges and general reading goodness that has been Bout of Books this week.



Thursday's Progress -

Time spent reading - 2 hours 20 minutes in print (Woo hoo!)

Books read - The Meryl Streep Movie Club by Mia March, The Color Master by Aimee Bender

Books finished - The Meryl Streep Movie Club by Mia March

Notes - Finally, a day where I could really sit down and read for a while - it felt great! It helped to have such a fun and entertaining novel to sink into. I feel like I've finally gotten my groove for this read-a-thon - better late than never.




Friday's progress -

Time spent reading - 1 hour in audio

Books read - The Vampire Diaries: The Struggle by LJ Smith

Books finished - none

Notes - I am making a quick trip up north tomorrow to visit family - my sister is in town from Wisconsin - so my free time today was spent getting things ready for a day trip with two toddlers.



Saturday's progress -

Time spent reading - 3 1/2 hours in audio

Books read - The Vampire Diaries: The Struggle by LJ Smith

Books finished - The Vampire Diaries: The Struggle by LJ Smith

Notes - yay for a road trip to help me finish my audiobook! No time to read my physical copy today - too busy playing with the fam. Had a great day - now I'm exhausted!



Sunday's progress -

Time spent reading - 2 1/3 hours in print

Books read - Looking for Alaska by John Green

Books finished - Looking for Alaska by John Green

Notes - it was nice to finish up the Bout of Books with two strong days of reading - one in audio and one in print. While I didn't meet all of my goals this week, I had a lot of fun, and will definitely be joining in next time!

Bout of Books 8.0 - Sign up and Goals

Okay, friends, I'm taking the plunge -  

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



I'm riding a bit of a high from having so much fun during the Dog Days of Summer Read-a-Thon, so I thought I'd try to keep the momentum going and sign up for this event. Since the goal seems to be to challenge MYSELF, it seemed like a great fit.


The Bout of Books hosts encourage participants to set goals for the week, pushing themselves to read more than they normally would during that week. I'm using the goals template found at the Bout of Books website -  it's quick and easy, and hits all the main points.


Goals for the Week -


Time Devoted to Reading -

I want to try and read 1 and 1/2 hours each day. This will be a stretch, but I think it's possible.

My Goals -

I can normally finish 1-2 books per week, depending on their length and level of intensity. I'd like to push myself to finish 3 books this week - 2 lighter reads, and 1 more serious - as well as finishing the audiobook I'm currently about 1/3 of the way through.


Books to Read -

Witch World by Christopher Pike
The Meryl Streep Movie Club by Mia March
Harvest by Jim Crace
The Vampire Diaries: The Struggle by L.J. Smith (audiobook)




So there we go - now it's time to stop blogging and start reading!