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Bout of Books Updates: Days 4, 5, and 6

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So, I won’t lie, Bout of Books has gone a little off track for me over the course of the week. I unexpectedly had an INSANE week at work and stayed later than anticipated every day except Friday. Because of this, I generally haven’t been reading as much as I’d wanted to, and my updates here and on Instagram have been more sporadic than I’d intended as well. That being said, I’m still glad to be breaking out of the reading slump I’ve been in for the past few weeks and have been enjoying my book picks for the readathon.

On Thursday (day 4), I was able to read little bits of a few books over the course of the day, but was having trouble focusing on anything for two long. Two of those were books I’d already started (Circe by Madeline Miller and Roomies by Christina Lauren), but I also read the first few pages of Bannerless by Carrie Vaughn, a science fiction book that I thought might help with my reading indecision. And then on Friday (day 5), my reading somehow was even less impressive; on my commute home from work I finally started the audio of No Time to Spare by Ursula K. Le Guin, but didn’t get any other reading done because I had dinner and drinks after work for a friend’s birthday. I had a lot of fun; the food and drinks were amazing, and the restaurant is part of a hotel that’s actually in a beautiful, almost castle-like building that used to be an asylum.

Saturday (day 5) I actually was able to get a not-embarassing amount of reading done, and I finished another book! I ended up feeling lukewarm about the book that I finished, Roomies; it was a fun, quick read, but I definitely had some issues with both of the main characters. Then, I dove into Circe for a bit as well, and got to 1/4 of the way through, which is a fair start if I’m still going to try and finish it by the end of the month. And then I took a break from reading to go out for tapas and spend time with my family.

RoomiesBannerless (The Bannerless Saga #1)CirceNo Time to Spare: Thinking About What Matters

Here are my stats for the past few days:

Day 4

Books started: Bannerless

Books finished: None

Pages read: 7 pages of Bannerless, 11 pages of Roomies, 22 pages of Circe

Audiobook time: None

Day 5

Books started: No Time to Spare

Books finished: None

Pages read: None

Audiobook time: 10 minutes of No Time to Spare

Day 6

Books started: None

Books finished: Roomies

Pages read: 169 pages of Roomies, 52 pages of Circe

Audiobook time: 30 minutes of No Time to Spare

 

I hope everyone participating is enjoying Bout of Books!

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Bout of Books Days 1, 2, and 3 Updates

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Bout of Books is underway, and I’m really glad to be getting out of my reading slump and actually finding some books that I’m excited to read. So far, I’ve only finished one book, but more importantly, I’ve been really enjoying what I’m reading. Life-wise, it hasn’t been a super eventful week so far; I worked long days both Monday and Tuesday but was off on Wednesday, and I used my off day mainly to do some errands, clean, and work out, although I did also finally watch the movie Love, Simon, which was adorable. Despite getting home fairly late, I did get a decent amount of reading done on Monday, but Tuesday was way less impressive. And on Wednesday, I got a bunch of reading done and was able to finish my first book of the readathon!

So, remember the very lovely TBR that I made for the readathon? After I figured out what I thought I wanted to read, I immediately lost interest in all of the books in my stack, in a classic mood reader move. So then I needed to figure out something that I was actually in the mood to read. I went with Bellwether by Connie Willis, who has been an author that has busted reading slumps for me before, since her books tend to be funny and chaotic character-driven science fiction. Bellwether is actually set in the early 90’s and follows a sociologist/statistician researching the origins of different fads who works her way towards a scientific breakthrough with the help of a herd of sheep and a chaos theorist. This was the book I finished on Wednesday since it’s short (247 pages) and I ended up really loving it and giving it a solid 4 stars.

Also, while browsing my library’s Overdrive app I decided to check out Roomies by Christina Lauren, which is a contemporary romance that I’d heard about on BookTube, and was also recommended to me on Litsy after I read The Hating Game. It’s about a young woman living in New York whose uncle is the composer of the current “it” Broadway musical, and who meets a street musician who would be perfect for a part in the orchestra. Unfortunately, he’s in the country on an expired visa, but she decides that he’s so essential to the production that she marries him to get him a green card. I’m assuming that they then fall in love, since this is a romance, after all. It’s definitely cute so far, and I can see myself picking up more from this author.

BellwetherRoomies

Here are my stats for the first three days of Bout of Books:

Day 1

Books started: Bellwether, Roomies

Books finished: None

Pages read: 87 pages of Bellwether, 29 pages of Roomies

Audiobook time: None

Day 2

Books started: None

Books finished: None

Pages read: 8 pages of Bellwether, 15 pages of Roomies (eek, not great)

Audiobook time: None

Day 3

Books started: None

Books finished: Bellwether

Pages read:  152 pages of Bellwether,  180 pages of Roomies

Audiobook time: None

Weirdly, I haven’t yet started an audiobook, which is usually a key part of readathons for me, nor have I picked up the novella I thought I’d reach for first. It hasn’t been a typical start to a readathon, but since I’ve been reading more than normal and really enjoying the books I chose, I’d say it’s been pretty successful so far.

 

How is Bout of Books going for you? Do you tend to read more or less than expected during readathons?

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Bout of Books TBR

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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, August 20th and runs through Sunday, August 26th 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 23 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team

It’s time for the next round of Bout of Books, one of my favorite readathons! I love this one, because it’s a week long and very low pressure–there aren’t any constraints or instructions about what to read or for how long, you just try to read as much as you can over the course of that one week. In the past it’s tended to be a pretty successful readathon for me; even if I don’t read a crazy amount, I generally read much more than I would in a typical week thanks to the extra motivation.

Bout of Books takes place from Monday the 20th through Sunday the 26th, which looks like it’s shaping up to be a pretty typical week for me; I’m working during the week, and will be celebrating a friend’s birthday during the weekend, but I’m not going anywhere or doing anything crazy. Since it’s still summer, I’m hoping to take advantage of the nicer weather and do some outdoor reading.

So, what am I planning on reading?

The Rules and Regulations for Mediating Myths & MagicThe Only Harmless Great ThingDreadful Young Ladies and Other StoriesThe King of Bourbon Street (NOLA Nights, #1)CirceNo Time to Spare: Thinking About What MattersThe MermaidTo All the Boys I've Loved Before (To All the Boys I've Loved Before, #1)

I tried to be strategic with my TBR; I wanted to have a good amount of variety and also choose books that fit into my typical readathon wheelhouse while not neglecting my overall TBR for the month of August. On that note, I’ve unfortunately barely started Circe by Madeline Miller, which was my top-voted pick for the Make Me Read It challenge over on Litsy, and which I absolutely have to finish by the end of the month. If I could get through a chunk of it during the readathon, that would be fantastic–it’s a book that I really think that I’m going to love, but I just haven’t been in the right mood for it yet.

Since shorter works are great for readathons, I’m looking forward to picking up The Only Harmless Great Thing by Brooke Bolander, which is a Tor.com novella that somehow connects the radium girls and the death of an elephant in the early 1900s. I’m generally a fan of Tor.com novellas, so this might be the first book I pick up for the readathon. I also set aside a short story collection, Dreadful Young Ladies and Other Stories by Kelly Barnhill, that I’d like to at least start reading during the week. It’s been awhile since I’ve read a short story collection (and the last two I read were disappointing) but I do think that it will help to mix things up during the readathon.

Another readathon standby for me tends to be YA, so I set aside two YA options that I think I’ll be in the mood for this week–The Rules and Regulations for Mediating Myths and Magic by F.T. Lukens and To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han (because I just watched the movie, which was so adorable I immediately had to get the book). I also threw in a contemporary romance that I’ve heard good things about (The King of Bourbon Street by Thea DeSalle) and a new fantasy that I picked up last month (The Mermaid by Christina Henry) for some more options, and of course I always like to have an audiobook option–this time it’s No Time To Spare by Ursula K. Le Guin.

There’s no way I’ll read all of these books in a week, but I think I have some solid choices, and I’m definitely excited to be diving into another readathon–even if I end up ignoring my TBR and mood-reading my way through the week.

 

Are you participating in Bout of Books? Let me know!

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Bout of Books Wrap-Up (and Days 6&7 belated updates)

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And that’s a wrap on this round of Bout of Books! I really enjoyed myself during this readathon, and it was a great way to encourage myself to read more at the beginning of the year. My readathon wrapped up nicely; over the weekend I was able to get a lot of reading done in addition to other things like seeing Pitch Perfect 3 (basically the same as the first two movies, which meant it was exactly what I was in the mood for), fixing stuff around my apartment, and working out a bunch.

Here are my overall stats for the readathon:

Books finished: 4

Witches of Lychford by Paul CornellThe Female of the Species by Mindy McGinnisWe Are Okay by Nina LaCourBeneath the Sugar Sky by Seanan McGuire

Books started, but not finished: 2

An Unkindness of GhostsNo Is Not Enough: Resisting Trump’s Shock Politics and Winning the World We Need

Total number of pages read: 690 pages

Audiobook time: 8.6 hours (516 minutes)

Not bad, right? On Sunday I did feel like I got a bit overwhelmed from all the readathon-ing and had to slow things down a bit, especially considering that I still have another readathon to participate in this month–24 in 48 is happening during the last weekend in January. I honestly have no idea what I’m going to read for 24 in 48, but I do want to participate. I’m thinking that maybe instead of a bunch of little books, I’ll pick one or two chunky fantasies to try and make a dent in.

And, because I like keeping track of these things, here are my updates for days 6&7:

Day 6

Books started: Beneath the Sugar Sky

Books finished: none

Pages read: 142 pages of Beneath the Sugar Sky

Audiobook time: 55 minutes of No is Not Enough

 

Day 7

Books started: none

Books finished: Beneath the Sugar Sky

Pages read: 32 pages of Beneath the Sugar Sky, 15 pages of An Unkindness of Ghosts

Audiobook time: 110 minutes of No is Not Enough

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Bout of Books Updates: Days 4&5

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It’s the end of Day 5 of Bout of Books, and I’m making some progress!

On Day 4, I had to work, but after work I went to a book sale at my library. I’m a former library book sale addict, but have actually been doing pretty well lately at not going overboard with my library book sale hauls, so I was sort of due for a splurge. I ended up finding 8 books for $10, and I consider that a success because all of the books I picked up were already on my TBR list, so I wasn’t just picking up random books that I’ll never read. When I got home I dove into The Female of the Species and was able to finish it; I also made dinner while listening to the audiobook of We Are Okay.

On Day 5, Friday, I again worked during the day, and we were hit with horrible weather–basically it rained all day, then got way colder which made the rain freeze into ice, and then it snowed on top of that. Since I really didn’t want to be driving in all of that more than necessary, I had a chill night in and finished We Are Okay on audio. After reading a bit of An Unkindness of Ghosts, which I hadn’t yet picked up during this readathon, I was in the mood to start a new audiobook, and decided to go with No Is Not Enough: Resisting Trump’s Shock Politics and Winning the World We Need by Naomi Klein, because Trump continues to be terrible in every way and I’d like to learn how to get more involved in resisting.

Here are my stats:

Day 4

Books started: none

Books finished: The Female of the Species

Pages read: 155 pages of The Female of the Species

Audiobook time: 62 minutes of We Are Okay

 

Day 5

Books started: No is Not Enough

Books finished: We Are Okay

Pages read: 16 pages of An Unkindness of Ghosts

Audiobook time: 113 minutes of We Are Okay, 14 minutes of No is Not Enough

bout of books, readathon, reading challenges

Bout of Books Updates: Days 1, 2, 3

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It’s Bout of Books time!

Technically, we’re already 3 days in (depending on when I’m able to post this) because I haven’t yet gotten my act together in terms of posting updates. Daily updates are too much; I don’t have enough time to actually get anything done!

So far, things are going pretty well. On Monday, I kicked off Bout of Books literally just after midnight by starting Witches of Lychford, which helped me get enough of a jump on things that I was able to finish it after work the next day. Kicking off the readathon by finishing a book (well, a novella technically, but still) on a day when I had to work was definitely motivating; I also started two other books (and by started, I mean barely started): The Female of the Species by Mindy McGinnis, which I have a hard copy of and also borrowed the ebook from my library to read when I’m on the go, and We Are Okay by Nina LaCour, which I borrowed from the library on audiobook.

Tuesday was a super crazy day at work and I got home late, so I didn’t actually get any physical reading done. I did, however, listen to a bunch of We Are Okay on audio and got very drawn into the story and writing style. On Wednesday, my day off, I had a few things I needed to do (like work out and finally see the new Star Wars movie) but reading-wise, I was able to get through a bunch of The Female of the Species, which I’m really liking–the writing is strong and I especially love Alex, one of the main characters, who’s a very unique YA heroine. I also again listened to a chunk of We Are Okay while driving places and doing things around the house.

Goals for the rest of the readathon: I’m really hoping to finish The Female of the Species before the weekend, although I’m not sure how realistic that is. My pre-order of Beneath the Sugar Sky by Seanan McGuire is due to get here on Friday, so I’m going to aim to finish that over the weekend. And I absolutely need to finish We Are Okay before my library takes it back in four days.

Here are my stats for Days 1, 2, and 3:

Day 1

Books started: Witches of Lychford, The Female of the Species, We Are Okay

Books finished: Witches of Lychford

Pages read: 144 pages of Witches of Lychford, 14 pages of The Female of the Species

Audiobook time: 12 minutes of We Are Okay

 

Day 2

Books started: none

Books finished: none

Pages read: none

Audiobook time: 68 minutes of We Are Okay

 

Day 3

Books started: none

Books finished: none

Pages read: 172 pages of The Female of the Species

Audiobook time: 82 minutes of We Are Okay

 

How is Bout of Books going for you guys?

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Bout of Books Sign-Up and TBR

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Bout of Books

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

It’s time for one of my favorite readathons–Bout of Books! I love Bout of Books because it’s low-pressure but usually does motivate me to read a lot more than I normally would in a single week. My TBR is a mixture of books I’m already in the middle of but don’t see myself finishing before the readathon starts, and some new, shorter books that I think will make for good readathon reads.

So here’s my TBR:

I’m currently reading these two books:

The Dark and Other Love StoriesAn Unkindness of Ghosts

I always like having a short story collection going during a readathon to help break things up, so The Dark and Other Love Stories by Deborah Willis should work well. I’ve read the first two stories so far and really enjoyed them; they’re stories focused on difficult relationships by a Canadian author. And I thought I’d still be reading If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio during this readathon since I’ve been reading it for the past week, but was able to finish yesterday. So instead I’m going to get started with An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon so that I can have a science fiction book to dip in and out of during the readathon; I’ve been craving some good SciFi for awhile.

And I’d like to pick these up:

Beneath the Sugar Sky (Wayward Children, #3)Witches of Lychford (Lychford, #1)The Female of the SpeciesWe Are Okay

In terms of books I have yet to start reading, I’ve got a few really good options in mind. I pre-ordered Beneath the Sugar Sky by Seanan McGuire, which comes out on Tuesday the 9th, and I’m really hoping I’ll get it in time to read it for the readathon. Usually books from B&N don’t ship until the release date, so fingers crossed that it comes in by Friday or so. I have another Tor novella, Witches of Lychford by Paul Cornell, on deck in case it doesn’t, or in case I’m in a very fantasy novella-ish mood. I’m also very interested in starting The Female of the Species by Mindy McGinnis, which follows three teenagers, one of whom I believe has the urge to kill? Possibly? And deals with issues of feminism as well. Lastly, for an audiobook option, I checked We Are Okay by Nina LaCour out of my library; it’s only five hours or so long and deals with a friendship/romance while one of the main characters is coming to terms with her grief.

 

Is anyone else participating in Bout of Books? Let me know!

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Bout of Books Wrap-Up!

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This round of Bout of Books has officially ended! Like several days ago, because I got way behind with my updates.

Before I get into my wrap-up, here are my Day 7 stats:

Pages read: 166 pages of Fierce Kingdom, 81 pages of Heating & Cooling

Books started: None

Books finished: Fierce Kingdom, Heating & Cooling

So! As you can see, I was actually able to accomplish the goals I set for myself for this readathon: to read three physical books and listen to one audiobook. Here’s what I was able to finish:

Home (Binti, #2)Too Fat, Too Slutty, Too Loud: The Rise and Reign of the Unruly WomanFierce KingdomHeating Cooling: 52 Micro-Memoirs

And I read some of these two also:

An Enchantment of RavensBlue Nights

Bout of Books total stats:

Books finished: 4

Total number of pages/audio time: 571 pages and 6.6 hours of audio

On Sunday, I was really determined to stick to the goals I’d set for myself, and I had a much less busy day planned so I was actually able to get a lot of reading done. I read a bit during the day in between doing things around my apartment, and then met up with friends for Thai food and an escape room in the evening. The escape room was One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest-themed, and it was a lot of fun–we actually ended up escaping much more quickly than we usually do, once we were able to track down the correct medication for the missing patient. Once I got back, I stayed up late finishing both Fierce Kingdom and Heating & Cooling. Fierce Kingdom actually ended up being a bit of a letdown, but I really enjoyed Heating & Cooling–it’s a perfect readathon read.

Overall, I’m glad I accomplished my goals, but it was such a crazy week for me that I didn’t even feel like I was able to read that much. I also didn’t stick that closely to my TBR, and I think if I had I’d probably have enjoyed those books more than some of the ones I ended up reading. August has been a bit of a lackluster reading month for me compared to July (which was wonderful, I read so many awesome things!). I feel like having a stellar reading month last month set me up for failure a bit this month, but oh well! There’s always next month. My wrap-up post for August with reviews will be up in the next few days. I hope those of you participated had a great Bout of Books!

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Bout of Books Updates: Days 4, 5, 6

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(Yep, I’m way behind with this update post! I got super busy this weekend and the blog updates went on the back burner. My wrap-up and day 7 update post will be up soon too!)

On Thursday (day 4), I was able to get a lot of audiobook listening done while commuting and cooking dinner; I finished Too Fat, Too Slutty, Too Loud: The Rise and Reign of the Unruly Woman by Anne Helen Petersen and started a new audiobook, Blue Nights by Joan Didion. I’ve read one other Joan Didion book previously, The Year of Magical Thinking, which focused on the death of Didion’s husband and her subsequent mourning; Blue Nights is another memoir, which focuses on the death of Didion’s daughter.

Friday was a TERRIBLE reading day; I got absolutely nothing done! I went straight from work to dinner and drinks for a friend’s birthday and didn’t get back until late. Although it was a bad day for reading, it was a fun day in general 🙂

On Saturday, I had plans to take a day trip for most of the day to a town about an hour away that is home to a spiritual community of mediums; it ended up being such a gorgeous day and we found this adorable “fairy trail” where people have set up tiny fairy houses all along paths in the forest. My friends got readings done with mediums there, and we explored the community and shops while enjoying the beautiful weather.

When I got home I met up with another friend I’d made plans with, but after that, I was determined to get some reading done! I couldn’t stand the idea of going two days during a readathon with absolutely no reading. So I read a decent chunk of Fierce Kingdom (I’d intended to finish it, but it didn’t end up happening; I wasn’t quite as invested in the story as I would want to be to binge-read the entire thing) and started Heating & Cooling by Beth Ann Fennelly; I had received an ARC copy from the publisher when I was at BookCon earlier this summer. I figured that Heating & Cooling would work well in a readathon because it’s extremely short and divided up into micro-memoirs, which range in length from a few sentences to a few pages. And I was right! It was the perfect way to switch up my reading, and I laughed out loud during several of the first few micro-memoirs.

Day 4

Pages read: 158 minutes of Too Fat, Too Slutty, Too Loud, 16 minutes of Blue Nights

Books started: Blue Nights

Books finished: Too Fat, Too Slutty, Too Loud

Day 5

Pages read:  None!

Books started: None!

Books finished: None!

Day 6

Pages read: 59 pages of Fierce Kingdom, 30 pages of Heating & Cooling, 17 minutes of Blue Nights

Books started: Heating & Cooling

Books finished: None

 

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Bout of Books: Days 1, 2, & 3 Updates

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It’s officially time for Bout of Books!

Three days in, I’d say this readathon is going pretty well, even if I haven’t read quite as much as I expected to at this point (I never do).

I kicked off my readathon once it hit midnight Sunday night/Monday morning, which is how I prefer to start readathons, with An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson (I received an ARC at BookCon). So far, I’m all about it. There are fae, it’s creative, the main character is an artist, there are hints of darker tones and bits of darkness in fae/human interactions, and I like the writing style. I’m hoping this book will help tide me over until the next ACOTAR books start being released!

On Monday, I was able to listen to a bunch of my current audiobook, Too Fat, Too Slutty, Too Loud: The Rise and Reign of the Unruly Woman by Anne Helen Petersen, during my commute and lunch break, and when I got back from an absolutely insane/terrible day at work, managed to start reading Binti: Home by Nnedi Okorafor after watching Bachelor in Paradise. (I know, I know, but it’s such fun trashy TV.) The reason I started another book instead of reading more of An Enchantment of Ravens is that I’ve been specifically saving Binti: Home for this readathon, and since it’s very short I wanted to it to be the first book I’d finish during the ‘thon.

On Tuesday, I again audiobooked during my commute and lunch break at work, but ended up getting home later than I thought I would for the second day in a row. I’d intended on finishing Binti: Home on this day, but I was just too sleepy; I read another decent chunk of it before I had to give in and go to bed.

Wednesday is my day off from work, so I was finally able to finish a book (yay!) by completing Binti: Home. I actually liked this one a lot more than the original Binti; things became more complex and a lot happened in a very short period of time. It definitely is a big lead-up to the third and final novella, however, and does end on a cliffhanger. I actually hadn’t known when I started it that it would be a middle book, but that’s OK; I really like this series and will definitely pick up book 3, Binti: The Night Masquerade when it’s released in January.

I listened to a bit more audio while running errands, went to a library book sale (and bought soooo many books!) and then decided I was in the mood for something different, so I ignored my currently reading pile (which has 6 books on it) and my readathon TBR (because when have I ever stuck to a TBR?) and picked up my Book of the Month pick for August, Fierce Kingdom by Gin Phillips. It’s a fast-paced, shorter suspense novel about a woman and her four-year-old son trapped at the zoo with a gunman, and takes place over the course of 3 hours. I figured that the fast pace of the book would help me pick up my reading pace since I feel like I’m a bit behind where I wanted to be midway through the week.

An Enchantment of RavensToo Fat, Too Slutty, Too Loud: The Rise and Reign of the Unruly WomanHome (Binti, #2)Fierce Kingdom

Reading stats:

Day 1

Pages read: 14 pages of An Enchantment of Ravens, 27 pages of Binti: Home, 81 minutes of Too Fat, Too Slutty, Too Loud

Books started: Binti: Home

Books finished: None

 

Day 2

Pages read: 57 pages of Binti: Home, 59 minutes of Too Fat, Too Slutty, Too Loud

Books started: None

Books finished: None

 

Day 3

Pages read: 78 pages of Binti: Home,  49 pages of Fierce Kingdom, 65 minutes of Too Fat, Too Slutty, Too Loud, 10 pages of An Enchantment of Ravens

Books started: Fierce Kingdom

Books finished: Binti: Home

 

How is everyone else’s Bout of Books going so far? Let me know in the comments!