Bout of Books Read-A-Thon: Goals & Updates

I’m a bit behind on my reading, so when I heard about the Bout of Books Read-A-Thon 4.0 I thought this may be a great way to play catch-up! This read-a-thon starts tomorrow, Monday, and goes through Sunday. I used the template (see below) given over on Bout of Book’s “How do I sign-up” page, check it out for full details, and to sign up yourself! What attracted me to this particular read-a-thon is that it’s not as competitive as other ones I’ve signed up for… I’m not a fast reader (sadly) so this one sounds perfect for me. Also, I’m not sure how much I’ll be able to participate in challenges and whatnot, but I hope to meet and network with other bloggers/readers through the #boutofbooks hashtag on Twitter :). You can learn all about this “low pressure” read-a-thon on their about page, and don’t forget to check out the schedule.

My Goals:

• Finish my current book, Until I Die by Amy Plum. I’m only a couple of chapters into this one so far…
• Finish my current listen, Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, narrated by Wil Wheaton. I realize an audiobook doesn’t count, but I still want to make it one of my goals even if I don’t count it toward my read-a-thon stats. I asked, audiobooks count!
• Start and finish at least 3 other books.

Books To Read:

I’m hesitant to list the books I plan to read… only because once I feel like I “have” to read a book, I suddenly want to read anything but that book. My eyes tend to start straying to other titles. But, it’s good to have goals, so mine are listed below. I can’t promise to stick with these though, because it’ll only slow me down!

Updates:

I will be posting updates on both Goodreads and Twitter, and will also update this post with each day’s stats:

5/14 
Number of pages I’ve read today: 237
Total number of books I’ve read: 2
Books finished today:
The Assassin and the Pirate Lord (Throne of Glass #0.1) by Sarah J. Maas (novella)
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (audiobook)
Mini challenge: completed!
Currently reading: Until I Die by Amy Plum

5/15
Number of pages I’ve read today: 255
Total number of books I’ve read: 3
Books finished today: Until I Die by Amy Plum
Mini challenge: This or That, completed!
Currently reading: Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

5/16
Number of pages I’ve read today: Not sure…
Total number of books I’ve read: 3
Books finished today: 0
Mini challenge: not today 🙁
Currently reading:
Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo (Kindle, at 3%)
Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi (audiobook, at 18%)

5/17
Number of pages I’ve read today: 314+
Total number of books I’ve read: 4
Mini challenge: Partly completed but did not enter for prize (I own the book…)
Books finished today: Slammed by Colleen Hoover (LOVED IT!)
Currently reading:
Point of Retreat (Slammed #2) by Colleen Hoover
Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo (Kindle, at 5%)
Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi (audiobook, at 18%)

5/18
Number of pages I’ve read today: 272+
Total number of books I’ve read: 5
Mini challenge: 
Books finished today: Point of Retreat (Slammed #2) by Colleen Hoover
Currently reading:
Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo (Kindle, at 8%)
Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi (audiobook, at 31%)

5/19
Number of pages I’ve read today: 19% of Shadow and Bone
Total number of books I’ve read: 5
Mini challenge: Book Spine Poetry – completed! You can read mine here!
Books finished today: 0
Currently reading:
Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo (Kindle, at 27%)
Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi (audiobook, at 31%)

5/20
Number of pages I’ve read today: 2% of Shadow and Bone & 19% of Under the Never Sky
Total number of books I’ve read: 5
Books finished today: 0
Currently reading:
Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo (Kindle, at 29%)
Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi (audiobook, at 50%)

Wrap Up:

I had such a great time participating in this read-a-thon! Technically, I met my goals by finishing the books I was reading at the start, and starting and finishing three others, plus I got well into 2 other books! Though one of my finished books was a novella, I’m happy with what I accomplished and think I met/exceeded my goals. I read twice as much as I usually do in a week, and I wrote up complete reviews once I finished (I usually just take notes and write the review later). I did stray from my reading plan but I think I needed a break from my “schedule” and it made it easier to read faster.

Here are the books I finished (I tried, but failed to get the covers to be the same size… GRRR):

 
Here are the books I started but didn’t finish:

I read 29% of Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo (Kindle), and listened to 50% of Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi (audiobook).

I hope everyone else had as much fun as I did! I think my favorite part, besides getting ahead on reading and reviews, was the Book Spine Poetry! It was fun to do, and it was pretty cool to win (randomly) too! Thanks to the entire Bout of Books 4.0 team, I will definitely be joining in on future RATs!