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Bout of Books Read-a-thon! (7)

Bout of Books

Bout of Books is my favorite Read-a-thon, and since my Goodreads group has started our first Team Reading Competition at the beginning of the year, this seems like a great way to rack up some points. :) I’m actually going to make a concerted effort to read a little more this week rather than just tracking status quo like normal.

Here’s a little more about the event:

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly Rubidoux Apple. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 13th and runs through Sunday, May 19th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, Twitter chats, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 25 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team

Niki’s Goals:

1. Consciously spend more time throughout the day listening to audiobooks.
2. Choose reading during my nightly wind-down ritual instead of apps.
3. Focus on the number of instances reading was my choice rather than how many pages I got through.

Here’s a look at the books on my immediate radar:
(subject to change if I see something shiny)

I’ve never actually met any of my reading goals during these challenges, but I’m kind of okay with that. My main goal for participating is to kickstart the habit of choosing reading over other forms of entertainment, and I usually do just that even though my end of week book count tallies have historically been pathetic. Because of this, I’m changing how I track things this year, and instead of tracking pages read and books completed, I’m going to focus solely on how many times throughout the day I chose reading over something else. I’m hoping this will help me reestablish reading habits beyond the challenge.

 Daily Updates:

 Monday:

Book Encounters:

 Tuesday:

Book Encounters:

 Wednesday:

Book Encounters:

 Thursday:

Book Encounters:

Friday:

Book Encounters:

Saturday:

Book Encounters:

 Sunday:

Book Encounters:

Total:

Total Book Encounters:

I’ll be updating this page throughout the week and will put my final thoughts here once it’s over.

by Niki Hawkes

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Bout of Books Read-a-thon! (6)

Bout of Books

Bout of Books is my favorite Read-a-thon, and since my Goodreads group has started our first Team Reading Competition at the beginning of the year, this seems like a great way to rack up some points. :) I’m actually going to make a concerted effort to read a little more this week rather than just tracking status quo like normal.

Here’s a little more about the event:

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, January 8th and runs through Sunday, January 14th 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 21 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team

Niki’s Goals:

1. Consciously spend more time at work listening to audiobooks instead of watching Netflix.
2.
Finish at least 5 books from my TBR Tackler Shelf.
3.
Choose reading before bed (instead of apps) every night this week through the Read-a-thon.

Here’s a look at the books on my immediate radar:
(subject to change if I see something shiny)

I’m halfway through a couple of these, so having a head start is nice. Four of them are scheduled Buddy Reads that I’m concerned not having time for, so a concerted effort this week for this challenge will help keep my on track for my most over-scheduled Buddy Read month to date.

 Daily Updates:

 Monday:

Pages: 153 / Books Finished: 0
A good start page-wise. Comparatively.

 Tuesday:

Pages: 227  / Books Finished: 2

 Wednesday:

Pages: 239  / Books Finished: 0
I will say this is the most pages I’ve ever maintained for this challenge

 Thursday:

Pages: 167 / Books Finished: 0
It felt like I wasn’t as focused yesterday.

Friday:

Pages: 184 / Books Finished: 2
2 Finished books – booya! 

Saturday:

Pages: 192  / Books Finished: 0

 Sunday:

Pages: 230  / Books Finished: 0

Total:

Pages: 1392 / Books Finished: 4

Yes!! This is the single best Read-a-thon I’ve ever done! I usually don’t even break 1000 pages. And considering how long the books are that I’m reading, 4 books completed is awesome! :D

by Niki Hawkes

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Bout of Books Read-a-thon! (3)

bout of books

I participated in my very first Read-a-thon back in August and had so much fun I decided to do it again in January. I came in shy of my ridiculously low goals both times, and I’m hoping that third time is a charm! I was incredibly busy during the last two events, so this time I feel like I have a fair shot to least do better than last time (books completed: a whole whopping 1, pages read: 754). Wish me luck!

Here’s a little more about the 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

Niki’s Goals:

– Finish at least 3 books

– Read at least 1000 pages

Here’s a look at the books on my immediate radar:
(subject to change if I see something shiny)

If I’m lucky I might finish more than one book this time, but since I’m just starting a 700 page fantasy, it’s not looking too good. Notice how pessimistic I am this time around? That’s to soften the blow if I have a repeat pathetic performance. :-) Best case scenario is that I get to complete my goals… Although I would be incredibly happy just to get my page count up.

Daily Updates:

 Monday:

Pages: 40  / Books Finished: 0

Whoa! This is off to a killer start.

 Tuesday:

Pages: 120  / Books Finished: 0

 Wednesday:

Pages: 187  / Books Finished: 0

 Thursday:

Pages: 129 / Books Finished: 0

Friday:

Pages: 164  / Books Finished: 1

Saturday:

Pages: 157  / Books Finished: 0

 Sunday:

Pages:  / Books Finished:

Total:

Pages:  Books Finished:

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Bout of Books Read-a-thon! (2)

bout

I participated in my very first Read-a-thon back in August and had so much fun I decided to do it again. I kind of doubt I’ll have a lot of time to read this week, but I sure will give it my best. Even though I’ll be busier, I am confident that I will beat last read-a-thon’s number of books completed (a whole whopping 1), and number of pages read (856) and that’s good enough for me.

Here’s a little more about the 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, January 5th and runs through Sunday, January 11th 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 12 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team

Niki’s Goals:

– Finish at least 3 books

– Read at least 1000 pages

Here’s a look at the books on my immediate radar:
(subject to change if I see something shiny)

The Czerneda books I’m rereading to prepare for her beta reader contest coming up on the fifteenth of January, and it is been an absolute delight so far (she is my favorite science fiction author). I seriously doubt I’ll make it through all the books listed, but at least I have a lot of great ones to choose from. I’ve also included a couple YA books because, let’s face it, they’re fast reads. 

 Daily Updates:

 Monday:

Pages: 68 / Books Finished: 0

 Tuesday:

Pages: 154  / Books Finished: 0

 Wednesday:

Pages: 154  / Books Finished: 0

 Thursday:

Pages: 124 / Books Finished: 0

I’m starting to see a pattern here…

Friday:

Pages: 102 / Books Finished: 1

Saturday:

Pages: 72  / Books Finished: 0

 I am ridiculously close to not meeting my pathetic goals.

 Sunday:

Pages: 80  / Books Finished: 0

Total:

Pages: 754  Books Finished: 1

Well, that was ALMOST as good as last time (not). I really do think my biggest problem is that I’m trying to read too many books at once. For what it’s worth, I’m only about 50 pages away from finishing Reap the Wild Wind. Regardless, I really enjoyed this read-athon and look forward to the next one in May!

by Niki Hawkes