Bout of Books 13 – Let’s do this!

The last two times I joined Bout of Books, it always fell on my week off work, which subsequently ended up being a week of work instead… So I’m hoping this time, a regular work week, maybe I’m lucky and my boss will send me home for an impromptu holiday? Yeah, I doubt it. But at least now I can plan ahead and catch up on some overdue books.

What’s this all about, you ask? Here’s the description from the wonderful people who host this crazy event:

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, May 11th and runs through Sunday, May 17th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 13 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team

And because it’s tradition, I’ll set my goals right away (before I realise that I won’t manage to read that much and chicken out).

Bout of Books 13 goals:

• Finish 2 books
  • Catherynne M. Valente – The Boy Who Lost Fairyland
  • Mervyn Peake – Titus Groan
• Finish 1 audiobook
  • Brandon Sanderson – Elantris
• Read 1 other book

This is mostly catching up on books I’m already reading but these books are all rather dense. Valente’s book is short in pages, but demands to be savored – so it’s a slow read because I want it to be. You don’t rush through a Valente novel, you enjoy every sentence. Sanderson writes bricks for a living and I’m only a little more than halfway through the audiobook, so that will take me a while. And Mervyn Peake is mostly description, with flowery language and wonderful imagery. But again, not exactly a quick beach read…

The last book I want to read is my unnamed joker. Depending on fast I achieve my first goals (if at all), I will either go for my newly-ordered two volumes of Cinderella (a spin-off of the  Fables comic book series) or something a little meatier, like Cixin Liu’s The Three-Body Problem. I should also finally read Ancillary Sword (shame on me!) so if I’m really, really, really quick, I’ll throw all of these the Bout of Books pile. Call it a stretch goal or something.