Bout of Books 16 – Updates

I’ve had all levels of success with the Bout of Books read-a-thon but even when I barely finish one book, I still enjoy this event so much that I can’t resist joining in. The Twitter chats are epic, the challenges a lot of fun, there are always new people to meet and blogs to follow. How could I say no to that?

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 9th and runs through Sunday, May 15th 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 16 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team

Since I boasted about sticking to my goals and reading only the books I picked yesterday, I hope I won’t get distracted by all the new books on my shelves. My read-a-thon books are all choices I think I will love, so sticking to them shouldn’t be a problem. Now it’s all about reading as much as I can. May the read-a-thon begin!

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MONDAY

Total books read: 
Total pages read:  ~ 250
Pages read today: ~ 250
Books finished: 
Books I’m reading:

• V.E. Schwab – A Gathering of Shadows
• Bill Willingham – Fables Deluxe Edition: Volume 11
  

Notes:

I read last night before going to sleep and I’m counting that towards my pages for today (just because :)). The first 200 pages of Fables were pretty good, although it took me a while to remember all the things that happened previously. Still, I love seeing where this idea of fairy tale characters living in the real world has gone. After many, many issues, this is a whole new universe full of fairy tale awesome.

I’m now past the halfway point of A Gathering of Shadows and the plot is still slowly meandering. We’re building up to the big magic tournament but, so far, very little has actually happened. I enjoy reading about these characters but I’d seriously like stuff to happen soon.

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TUESDAY

Total books read: 
Total pages read:  ~ 373
Pages read today: ~ 123
Books finished:  0
Books I’m reading:

• V.E. Schwab – A Gathering of Shadows
• Bill Willingham – Fables Deluxe Edition: Volume 11
  

Notes:

What a stressful day! I was at work rathr long today and I’m afraid Wednesday will be the same. But, I managed to read Fables in the morning with my coffee and A Gathering of Shadows before sleep again.

In Fables, I am currently in the middle of a flashback about Snow White and Rose Red, which is fantastic. I feel like a child again, reading this old tale. And, to my delight, A Gathering of Shadows finally found its footing, the magical tournament has started and it is not very exciting. Taking more than half of a book to catch up and remind the readers of what happened previously is a bit long, mind you, but now that the action has begun, I’m quite happy.

I had no time for challenges today and if the week continues the way it started, I think I’ll have to postpone all challenges to the weekend.

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WEDNESDAY

Total books read: 
Total pages read:  ~ 425
Pages read today: ~ 52
Books finished: 
Books I’m reading:

• V.E. Schwab – A Gathering of Shadows

Notes:

Today was an exhausting day at work. I got home later than planned and was too tired to read much. I mostly focused on A Gathering of Shadows because it got really good and I can’t stop reading.

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THURSDAY

Total books read: 
Total pages read:  ~ 437
Pages read today: ~ 12
Books finished: 
Books I’m reading:

• V.E. Schwab – A Gathering of Shadows
• Bill Willingham – Fables Deluxe Edition: Volume 11
  

Notes:

Another even more exhausting day at work. I am totally beat. I’ll crawl to the couch, fall down on it, and hope I can stay awake long enough to read a few pages. I have already started The Raven King on audiobook but I’m much too tired to concentrate properly. So I’ll definitely be doing most of my reading on the weekend. At my current pace, I’ll have a lot to catch up on.

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FRIDAY

Total books read: 
Total pages read:  ~ 594
Pages read today: ~ 157
Books finished: 
Books I’m reading:

• V.E. Schwab – A Gathering of Shadows
• Bill Willingham – Fables Deluxe Edition: Volume 11
  
• Bill Willingham – Jack of Fables: The End (Volume 9)

Notes:

So yesterday, I read almost nothing. That sucks but I am really happy I got that sleep. It was desperately needed. Today is Friday, however (yay!) and if nothing bad happens at work – fingers crossed – then I can leave earlier and finally start into the weekend with some reading.

Aaaand I’m back on track. I’ve read the next big chapter in Fables, dealing with Rose Red and her past. Rose Red and Snow White were enemies when the series started but only now did I find out just exactly what happened between them. It was a beautiful, sad, disturbing tale that only made Red feel more real. A Gathering of Shadows is also taking its toll. My blood pressure suffered a lot this morning on the commute. This magical tournament that’s finally started is really something. Every scene is so thrilling that I keep holding my breath (not a good idea), so I’m saving the next chapters for later this evening. But I’m confident that I’ll finish these two books – the comic and the current novel – during the read-a-thon. The Raven King also shouldn’t be a problem and I hope to fit Helen Oyeyemi’s collection in there somewhere.

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SATURDAY

Total books read:  0
Total pages read:  ~ 727
Pages read today: ~ 130
Books finished: 
Books I’m reading:

• Bill Willingham – Jack of Fables: The End (Volume 9)
• V.E. Schwab – A Gathering of Shadows

Notes:

Good morning! While our breakfast was frying in the pan, I continued reading, because hey, only two days left in this read-a-thon. Now it’s time to eat, and then I’ll be off into the world of Fables and Fulminate Blades and Dragonslaying once more.

So, I still haven’t finished a book but I’m getting to the end of most of them. Jack and his comic continues to be hilarious and I kind of don’t want his spin-off comics to end. But I am also so very curious how the entire Fables series will end.

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SUNDAY

Total books read:  2
Total pages read:  ~ 917
Pages read today: ~ 190
Books finished: 

• Bill Willingham – Jack of Fables: The End
• Bill Willingham – Fables, the Deluxe Edition: Volume 11

Books I’m reading:

• V. E. Schwab – A Gathering of Shadows
• Helen Oyeyemi – What is Not Yours is Not Yours

Notes:

Alright, I have finally finished both the last instalment in the Jack of Fables series (which ended… Shakespearan) and the Deluxe Edition of Fables Volume 11. I particularly loved that, after the story, the creators answered fan questions with little comics. In this case, the questions came from celebrity fans and were all things I’d wanted to know as well. Lots of points for this bonus content, I really enjoyed it.

Now back to V. E. Schwab and on to the first story in Helen Oyeyemi’s collection. It’s already Sunday but well, I gotta get started sometime.

Aaaand this concludes the read-a-thon. As expected, work makes it hard to read a lot. But I did catch up on my current book (almost finished), am in the middle of The Raven King audiobook and finished two graphic novels. That’s not a lot, but it is something. On to the next one!