Bout of Books 11: Day 4

So I actually got some reading done today. Huzzah!

Books

• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: 146 (finished)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: 44
• Silver Shadows: 380

Challenge

Like this, try this

If you like Darklife by Kat Falls, try Airborn by Kenneth Oppel

I know this seems weird since they're pretty different genre-wise, but they're both fast-paced adventure stories in fantastic (and fascinating) settings.

Bout of Books 11: Day 3

I didn't get as much reading done as I would have liked, but I'm hoping to finish up Order of the Phoenix tomorrow.

Books

• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: 208 pages (now on page 620)

Challenge

Create a Sentence

 Sailing towards the fourth stop we reached Sydney Harbour.

Airborn by Kenneth Oppel

Goliath by Scott Westerfeld

Dragonfly by Julia Golding

Drowning by Rachel Ward

The Artemis Fowl Files by Eoin Colfer

Bout of Books 11: Day 2

And so begins the Kelly-getting-distracted-by-shiny-things part of the program. I can never resist a trip to the library (I went to a different branch, and kind of got carried away...) and so I basically reread the Hex Hall trilogy for no reason whatsoever. Oops.

Books

• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: 122 (I've reached page 412)
• Hex Hall+ Demonglass+ Spell Bound: I'm not really giving these a page count, since I mostly just browsed

... so that was not exactly productive. Then the internet went off before I could post this yesterday, so that's how it ended up being posted Wednesday morning rather than Tuesday night.

Bout of Books 11: Day 1

Read

• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: 140 
• Half Bad: 30

Total Pages: 170

Challenges

Book Scavenger Hunt

I was going to take actually photographs for everyone, but nobody seems to know what my sister has done with the camera charger. So that's not happening, it will just have to be images from Goodreads.

Book with a Title Beginning with "B": Bitterblue by Kristen Cashore

Book made into a Movie/ TV Show: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

A Series You Love: Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer

A Short Story or Poem Anthology: Monstrous Affections*
*I'm looking forward to when this one is released, I haven't gotten the chance to read it yet.

A Book from Your TBR Shelf: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Playlist

Book: Half Bad

Songs:

Mordred's Lullaby- Heather Dale

The Bird and the Worm- The Used

Buried Beneath- Red

Patterns- Band of Skulls

Red Stars- The Birthday Massacre

Granted, I'm not all that far into the book, but these kind of give me the right sort of... I don't know... feeling? vibe? mood? I don't even know if those are remotely correct descriptors... 

So I think that's about it for today. I might be able to get a bit more reading done tonight, we'll see. 

Bout of Books 11 TBR

Having just finished one read-a-thon... I'm doing another. I think my reader's block is going away somewhat (I've been plowing through Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix) so I think this will be a fun way to get back into the swing of things.

Time Devoted to Reading: Will vary quite a lot, given that I don't really know how this week will look, but certainly every day.

Goals: To get through my TBR.

So, my TBR pile currently is:

• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
• Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
• Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
• The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
• Half Bad by Sally Green

I'm not sure I'll get through them all, but that's the pile I have right now. I might (probably will) change it up according to my mood, that's a general idea.

A little more about the read-a-thon (from their website):

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 18th and runs through Sunday, August 24th 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 11 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

Book Badger Read-a-thon Wrap Up

*dramatic sigh* I have had the most intense reader's block ever in these past few weeks. A few years ago, I didn't really even realise that reader's block was a thing- I never got it. But these few weeks have been frustrating. Nothing I started was something I felt any desire to finish, and all I have wanted to do was reread books that I've read eight times. So that's been fun.

Whining aside, I still had fun with the read-a-thon. I did a few of the activities, and they were neat, and listened to an audiobook for a readalong.

Books

• Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children: 241 (and then DNF, this one really wasn't for me)
• The Winter Horses: 92 pages (and, again, DNF)
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone: 332
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: 251
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: 317
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire:  636
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: 150
• Doll Bones: audiobook

Page Total: 1 927

So not the best page count, obviously, but I still enjoyed the experience. 

Book Badger Read-a-thon: Follow That Title Challenge

This week's Book Badger Summer Surge Read-a-thon challenge, which was to connect titles by words in each.

For Darkness Shows the Stars
The Chaos of Stars
City of Heavenly Fire
Rivals in the City
The Coldest Girl in Coldtown
Girl of Nightmares

Top Ten Books I'm Not Sure I Want To Read

Top Ten Tuesdays are a weekly feature over at The Broke and The Bookish

1. Dear Killer by Katherine Ewell
I'm not sure about the premise of this one- the moral nihilism may not mesh well with my morals. It actually has had some pretty mixed reviews, and it doesn't sound like something I would enjoy.

2. Premeditated by Josin L. McQuein
Again, I'm not sure about the premise. It sounds kind of interesting, but it's also really  kind of over-the-top vengeful... so I don't know.

3. The Spiritglass Charade by Colleen Gleeson
I had some mixed feelings about the first book, and I'm not sure it I'm going to continue the series or not.

4. Maximum Ride Forever by James Paterson
Talk about flogging a dead horse. I still feel this sort of compulsion to finish the series, no matter how awful it has become.

5. The Murder Complex by Lindsay Cummings
I'm just not sure about this one. It's had good reviews, generally, but I'm still on the fence, especially since I'm having a hard time with dystopias recently.

6. The Brokenhearted by Amelia Kahaney
Again, it's had some mixed reviews, and I wasn't completely hooked by the premise, but look at that cover.

7. The Stepsister's Tale by Tracy Barett
I generally like fairytale retellings, but I don't know it I'll like this one.

8. Antigoddess by Kendare Blake
I'm very picky about my Greek mythology, for some reason.

9. Beauty by Nancy Ohlin
Again, I'm a bit picky about my retellings, though I often find I enjoy them.

10. Not  a Drop to Drink by Mindy McGinnis
I've been very hit-and-miss with dystopias recently, but, with the companion coming out soon, I might give it a try.