Bout of Books #2- Day 1

Yesterday was my first day of my second Bout of Books! Somehow I kind of forgot it was going on until this morning... no worries though! I still read a lot! :)

• Book of Lost Tales part 2 by J.R.R. Tolkien- I read one chapter of it, which constituted about a quarter of the book (i.e. pretty long). It was great though! It was the story of Túrin, which is one of my favorites but incredibly tragic.
• Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery (Re-read) (audiobook)- I listened to multiple chapters (I'm not sure how many). I'm about a third of the way through it and I realized I haven't met Gilbert Blythe yet! I didn't realize it took quite so long get to him. I was listening to this while doing dishes and cleaning the sink. It sure made the chores go by faster! 
• Strawberry Girl by Lois Lenski- I started and finished this last night.... it took me about an hour and a half to zip through it. It was a Newberry award winner back in the day and I though it was pretty good. :) It was a cute story and a little reminiscent of Laura Ingalls Wilder's books. Reading it made me feel incredibly lazy... like I should go out and hoe the garden in 100 degree weather for a few hours. 

So all in all a great first day of Bout of Books, despite me forgetting it was happening. :) The joys of not having started the semester of school yet and having lots of time. :)

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Bout of Books: New Years Resolutions Challenge

The Book That is hosting a challenge for Bout of Books and I'm going to join in! Basically I'm listing books that represent my resolutions for the new year. :)

• To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee represents the 50+ books I plan to re-read this year. I've been wanting to re-read this one for a long time. :)
• Barnaby Rudge by Charles Dickens represents the 20+ classics I will be reading this year. 
• The Golem and the Jinni by Helen Wecker represents the more modern books I hope to read this year. 
• Horse of a Different Color by Ralph Moody represents the Little Britches series that I hope to finish at long last this year. 
• Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier represents my TBR pile list. I've had this one on there for a long time and I'm looking forward to knocking it off. :)

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It's Monday: A New Year and a Bout of Books

It's 2015! Already I'm heading into the new year full speed. I began reading Beowulf just shortly after midnight New Year's Day just for the fun of it and then finished it later that day. :) This is also my first day of Bout of Books!
I don't know if people get reading cravings but I if they do I have one! For the last few days I've been longing for a re-read of the Lord of the Rings trilogy and I can't get rid of the longing! This is not planned into my schedule of reading this year but I'm thinking I'm going to have to work it in somehow. It's such a great book that I don't see why I should resist this craving. ;) For now I'll probably just suffice with Tolkien's The Book of Lost Tales but I think I'll take LOTR along with me when we go on our family ski trip next week. It's rather appropriate actually as the last time I re-read LOTR was two years ago on our last ski trip. :)

Finished this Week

• Beowulf by Unknown- Excellent poem! I was surprised to love it! A beautiful mixture of the epicness of Tolkien and the poetry format of Homer's Odyssey. A full review will hopefully be coming soon. :)
• Agamemnon by Aeschylus- Somewhat difficult to read and comprehend but interesting nonetheless. 

Currently Reading

• Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery (re-read) (audiobook)- A classic childhood favorite. :)

Coming Soon

• The Book of Lost Tales part 2 by J.R.R. Tolkien
• Strawberry Girl by Lois Lenski (re-read)
• The Lord of the Rings trilogy (re-read)???

Book Reviews posted this week

• Brave New World by Aldous Huxley 

Let the reading commence!

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Bout of Books #2- Sign up Post!!!!!

I had tons of fun with my first Bout of Books back at the beginning of the school year and I'm excited to do another one (and hopefully do better on it). ;)

Here's the official blurb of rules. :)

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, 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 12 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

 I'm glad that this one runs at a more convenient time for me and it should encourage me to kick off my reading year with a bang!

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Bout of Books: Wrap Up

Last week was Bout of Books and I got a nice hunk of reading done during it! It was my goal to complete five books that week but I completed only four but I think that was still pretty good considering it was my first week of school. I read for a total of 7 ½ hours last week.
I read Val Mcdermid's modern version of Northanger Abbey, which was okay but not at all great. You can read my thoughts about it on Goodreads here.
I also completed re-reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
After long last I finished reading Dickens' Our Mutual Friend (read my review here) and listening to Shakespeare's Hamlet. 
I think I did a decent job overall for my first Bout of Books and I'm looking forward to my next one!

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Bout of Books: Day 6

Yesterday I finished re-reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and then started Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The fifth has always been one of my very favorites so I'm looking forward to an enjoyable re-read.

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Bout of Books: Day 5

Yesterday I finished Our Mutual Friend! It was a great read and you can read my review here. I also read a little on Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. All in all a good day.
Today is going to be better though because (drum roll) DOCTOR WHO STARTS UP AGAIN TODAY!!!!! :)))) Just a little excited. ;)

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Bout of Books: Day 4

Yesterday I read about an hour on Our Mutual Friend and about thirty minutes on Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Not tons of time I know but today I had a math assessment for nursing so I wanted to make sure I was ready for that. Hopefully this afternoon and evening I'll have more time.
Tomorrow I'm not so sure how much reading I'll get done because as we all know DOCTOR WHO STARTS UP AGAIN TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!! I'm just a little bit excited. ;)
Be sure to be keeping up with my progress on the Beat the Heat Readathon here.

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Bout of Books: Day 3

Yesterday I did an hour of reading on Dickens' Our Mutual Friend and that was it. It was a pretty busy day for me between school and then spending some time with my brother and friend before school catches up with me. That's it though. Hopefully today will be better. :)

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Bout of Books: Day 2

Yesterday was my first day of school for the semester so reading wasn't exactly on the front lines in my mind. I know, I know.... reading is more important than school! I guess I was just confused about priorities. ;)

So all I got done yesterday was (re)reading about an hour and a half in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. However, that's better than nothing!
Do you want to hear a little about how school is going? I knew you'd be interested!
I'm really liking my teachers so far. One of them is definitely about the best teacher I've ever had. He makes me laugh so hard! I know I shouldn't rate teachers off of how much they make me laugh but I do. Other than that though he is a really effective teacher and I really feel like I learned a lot even though I wasn't totally focused.
Hope everyone else's school is kicking off as well as mine and I hope y'all are reading more than me. ;)
P.S. Keep up with my progress in the Beat the Heat Readathon here.

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Bout of Books Day 1

Yesterday was my first day of bout of books and I aced it by starting and finishing one book. It was Val Mcdurmond's modern retelling of Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey. You can read my review of it here on Goodreads but frankly I thought it was badly done.

I also started re-reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, to go along with me re-reading marathon of the Harry Potter series. I probably got a good four hours or more of reading done yesterday!
Sure I should probably have been preparing for my first day of school (which was today!) but I preferred to leave my panic till the last minute. ;)

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Bout of Books Goals

As I mentioned earlier today I'm going to be participating in the Bout of Books and you can check the blog out for more information here.  So here are my goals for my very first bout of books!

Time Devoted to Reading

Two hours a day hopefully. It's my first week of school so I can't just douse myself in reading like I'd love to be doing. :) Some of the books on my list I have as audiobooks so that might make it easier. 

My Goals

To read/finish five books. 

Books I Hope to Read

• Hamlet (finish) by William Shakespeare
• Macbeth by William Shakespeare
• Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
• Bridge on the River Kwai by Pierre Boulle
• Our Mutual Friend (Finish) by Charles Dickens
• Harry Potter (not sure how many) by J.K. Rowling
• Time Machine by H.G. Wells

Updates 

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

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Signing up for Bout of Books!

A while back was the last "Bout of Books" and a bunch of my fellow book bloggers were doing it and at the time I thought it sounded really cool so now that there is another one I'm going to join in! Sure it runs through my first week of school but I don't really need to study. ;)
Here's what "Bout of Books" is all about.

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

I think this is going to be tons of fun!

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