Bout of Books 4.0 Readathon: Challenge Winner

I've been really, really lazy with making this post.

Sorry guys.

But, I'm not going to be one of those people that promises a giveaway without actually giving something away, so here is the winner of my Bookish Confessions Challenge!

Congrats...

Rain Maiden!

Mr Randomizer choose quite right, I think. For your entertainment, here is her Bookish Confession again:

I want to say the funniest book story I have was reading my first book with a sex scene.  I was was like a deer in head lights.  It was a Gena Showlater story and I can't remember the book name.  I was thinking....I'm reading porn, what next...pole dancing.?!  I have not started my pole dancing lessons, but the hubs has high hopes. - See original

Bout of Books 4.0 Readathon: Wrap-Up

The Bout of Books readathon is over again *sadface*. That week went by so quickly!

It was yet another amazing readathon. I participated in one of the Twitter chats, and it was absolutely brilliant! My fingers still slightly ache when I think about it...

 I hosted another challenge this readathon, this time a Book Confessions one! I was completely overwhelmed by the amount of people participating in it. I commented on a few of them, but I read them all. Thank you all for being a good sport <3

My original goal was to read four books. Because of some unexpected family visit I lost a whole day of reading. In the end I still did pretty good; I finished three books. Here's my goal list with the books I read crossed out:

• The Earthquake Machine by Mary Pauline Lowry - on page 40
• Eve by Anna Carey
• Matched by Allie Condie
• The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams
• Lisey's Story by Stephen King
• The Peculiars by Maureen Doyle McQuerry - on page 130
• The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
• Added: Ashfall by Mike Mullin

I read a total of 760 pages this week. It's higher than my average, so I'm feeling pretty proud. The next readathon is probably around August. I can't wait!

Bout of Books 4.0 Readathon: Book Confessions

Welcome everyone to the second day of the Bout of Books Readathon 4.0! For more info on the readathon, click on the nice picture at the top to go to the official Bout of Books website, where you can also find other challenges and awesome giveaways.

Today I am your challenge host! I hope you all got off a good start, and already got some reading done. Either way, it's now time to grab a cup of tea and a snack and share your Book Confessions!

The Book Confessions challenge consists of two parts. I know some of you have a lot of stories and love to tell them, but others need some more motivation. Therefore you can choose one of the two options. If you feel like doing them both, I won't stop you!

For one lucky participant I'm giving away a Mystery Book from The Book Depository. I'm not telling you which one, it's a surprise!

To be entered, answer one of the two questions on your blog, in the comments below, on Facebook. Pretty much where ever you want as long as I can find it. Leave directions or a link to your comment in the form below. The giveaway is open internationally, as long as you are signed up on the Bout of Books site! (This is a 24-hour challenge. If you fill in the form after that you're not entered for the giveaway)

PART ONE: Share your most shocking, embarrassing or funny book related story.

- Or -

PART TWO: Answer all of these "this or that" questions.

Physical book or eBook?

Paperback or Hardcover?

Reality or Make-believe?

Adult or Young-Adult?

Dog ears or Bookmarks?

Breaking the spine or Barely open the book?

Tea or Coffee?

Reading in bed or On the couch?

 Series or Standalone?

Original or TV Adaptation?

 Defy motion sickness or Audiobooks?

Author crushes or Who-was-that-guy-again?

Interview or Guest post?

Fill in the form

Bout of Books 4.0 Readathon: Updates

I decided to make one big post where I update my progress instead of cluttering the sidebar with all these different posts.

For more info on the readathon, visit the Bout of Books website. You find see my reading stack and goals here.

I'll also be using this post to participate in some challenges (:


As part of the Monday challenge, Sarah asks: “What do you like best about readathons? Do you have any readathon traditions or rituals? If this is your first readathon, what do you like so far?”

Readathons are made of awesome! Seriously, if you've never participated in one, you should try it! So far I've been liking the low-pressure ones best. It's more about the community feel than actually reading a lot. You will still read more than you usually do - but it's not a contest.
I don't have any real traditions. I guess talking way too much on Twitter and forgetting to read is a tradition? I always make a neat little stack of books that I want to read as a visual reminder that I'm doing a readathon. And I eat lots of snacks!

Monday 5/14
Pages I've read today: 300
Number of books I’ve read today: 2
Total number of books I’ve read: 2
Books: Ashfall by Mike Mullin & The Restaurant on the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams

Tuesday 5/15
Pages I've read today: 200
Number of books I’ve read today: 0
Total number of books I’ve read: 2
Books: Eve by Anna Carey

Wednesday 5/16
Pages I've read today: 120
Number of books I’ve read today: 1
Total number of books I’ve read: 3
Books: Eve by Anna Carey

Thursday 5/17
Pages I've read today: 0
Number of books I’ve read today: 0
Total number of books I’ve read: 3
Books: No books! I didn't read a single thing today! ):

Friday 5/18
Pages I've read today: 40
Number of books I’ve read today: 0
Total number of books I’ve read: 3
Books: The Peculiars by Maureen Doyle McQuerry & The Earthquake Machine by Mary Pauline Lowry

There's an awesome challenge today, hosted by The Reading Housewives of Indiana. It's about books AND shoes! I love shoes! Here are some book-shoe combos I made:

 I love these boots! I think Rachel would agree, even though they're not knee length.

Okay, these shoes have absolutely nothing to do with either zombies or unicorns, but they got such an awesome print that I had to put them next to something equally shiny.

Another Harrison book. The main character Madison loves colour and even has purple hair. I think she would like my new All Stars (:

Saturday 5/19
Pages I've read today: 0
Number of books I’ve read today: 0
Total number of books I’ve read: 3
Books: 0

Sunday 5/20
Pages I've read today: 100
Number of books I've read today: 0
Total number of books I've read: 3
Books: The Peculiars by Maureen Doyle McQuerry

Bout of Books 4.0 Readathon: Goals

With the Bout of Books 4.0 readathon coming closer and closer (for more info and sign ups, click the image), it's time to post my reading goals!

I'm almost a Bout of Books veteran, having participated in Bout of Books 2.0 and 3.0, and I know that I will probably spend a lot less on reading than I'm planning to. Especially since I'm hosting a challenge again (yay!) and with all the socialising going on, both on Twitter and on other people's blogs. I'm going to try to finish four books. I hope I can get above that though!

Here's what's on my pile:

• The Earthquake Machine by Mary Pauline Lowry
• Eve by Anna Carey
• Matched by Allie Condie
• The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams
• Lisey's Story by Stephen King
• The Peculiars by Maureen Doyle McQuerry
• The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie

What are you reading for the readathon? Leave a comment!

Bout of Books Readathon: Sign Up

In about two weeks it's that time again; the Bout of Books readathon! This is the third Bout of Books readathon I'm participating in, and the second one where I'll be hosting a challenge.

For those of you who haven't heard about this yet, the Bout of Books readathon is a week-long casual readathon. The only goal is to read more than you usually do - no pressure. Every day there will be a little challenge to keep things interesting, and some us are even giving away cool stuff (pssst - I'm giving away stuff!). There will also be a lot of Twitter talking (which usually keeps us from reading *sigh*) and if you decide to participate, I'm sure you'll meet a lot of new awesome people (:

To sign up you simply go to the Bout of Books blog, where you can fill in the form for the master list. You're not required to have a blog! Twitter or Goodreads or any place you can post your updates is fine.

I'll post my to-read list closer to the actual readathon, because I'll just keep on changing it otherwise. I hope some of you will sign up too! Leave a comment if you do (:

Cover Challenge Winner

And the winner of the Guess the Cover Challenge is...

Amy of Bookgoonie!

Congratulations! I will contact you for your address (: Thank you all for participating!

Bout of Books 3.0 Readathon: Wrap Up

It might not yet have for you, but for me the Bout of Books readathon has officially ended. With just minutes to spare to midnight, I have finished my final read!

I would like to thank everyone that participated in my Cover Challenge. Thirty of you did, and it totally made my week! I hope you all had fun this Bout of Books (:

Before starting the readathon I set a few goals for myself. Let's see how I did!

The goals:

• Meet a lot of new people Okay, I didn't meet a lot of new people. But I did get to talk to some pretty awesome ones.
• Have awesome Twitter conversations Done
  
• Host a successful challenge *fingers crossed* Yay, totally succeeded on that one! Thank you all for the feedback (:
  
• Read a big bunch of my owned to be read books I read two owned books and one for review
  
• Have lots of fun Check!

Four books of the following:

• Touch of Power by Maria V. Snyder
• Birth of a Killer by Darren Shan
• Silence by Becca Fitzpatrick
• Passion by Lauren Kate
• Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
• City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare
• Added: Burnt Offerings by Laurell K Hamilton

And for old times sake, here are my two final updates!

Saturday Update
Number of pages I’ve read today: 169
Total number of pages I’ve read: 723
Total number of books read: 2
Books started/continued with/finished today: Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
Today #insixwords: Yay, I finally finally finished Shiver (okay, I'm sorry I cheated here, had a big lack of inspiration)

Sunday Update
Number of pages I’ve read today: 158
Total number of pages I’ve read: 881
Total number of books read: 3
Books started/continued with/finished today: Touch of Power by Maria V. Snyder
Today #insixwords: Readathon over, going to miss it!

 ***

Bout of Books 3.0 Readathon: Picture Challenge

The Bout of Books readathon is over halfway! Today's co-host is Jacinda over at The Reading Housewives of Indiana. Her challenge is to share a picture of our current read, our snack and our drink! I'm glad that it's an easy one, I've been pretty busy these past two days. There's also a Twitter chat going on right now, if you're interested!

I wish I had something more exciting to show you than my Kindle and a glass of water, but that's pretty much all I'm living on right now. We just went to the Burger King, so I'm not really in the mood for a snack, hehe.

My read is Touch of Power by Maria V Snyder. It's really good, and I hope to finish it later today!

Thursday Update
Number of pages I’ve read today: 74
Total number of pages I’ve read: 519
Total number of books read: 1,5
Books started/continued with/finished today: Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
Today #insixwords: I think Shiver is pretty awesome

Friday Update
Number of pages I’ve read today: 35
Total number of pages I’ve read: 554
Total number of books read: 1,75
Books started/continued with/finished today: Touch of Power by Maria V. Snyder
Today #insixwords: Too much going on, didn't read

***

Bout of Books 3.0 Readathon: Guess the Cover Challenge

Hi everyone, I'm today's co-host in Amanda's Bout of Books Readathon! For more info on the Readathon, go here.

As today's host for you all, I'm organising a Guess the Cover Challenge! The rules are simple. Below you can find pieces of covers, and it's up to you to match them all to the title and the author of the book. When you're done matching up, fill in the form. Don't be so lame to spoil the answers in the comments below!

For one random person that provides the right answers, I have a little surprise. Open internationally of course. It's a way for me to say thank you for participating (: The winner will be announced Tuesday 17th, but the challenge is only open for the remainder of the readathon (till Sunday 15th).

A little tip before I will let you do the hard work: the covers are all taken from 2012 young-adult releases.

Good luck and have fun!

Oops! This challenge seems to be closed!

Wednesday Update
Number of pages I’ve read today: 153
Total number of pages I’ve read: 445
Total number of books read: 1,5
Books started/continued with/finished today: Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
Today #insixwords: Had some cosy couch reading time

***

Bout of Books 3.0 Readathon: Book to Movie Challenge

It's Tuesday, the second day in the third Bout of Books readathon! Today's co-host is Poison over at Picked by Poison. Her challenge is to take a paranormal book and look for pictures of people that should play the characters in a movie! You can follow the progress of today at the bottom of this post.

This challenge is a hard one! I think I will pick some actors for my favourite urban-fantasy series, the Hollows by Kim Harrison.

I have no idea who this is, but I think she would make a GREAT Rachel. She has just the right hair.

After a long while of searching, I found a good Ivy. She's a Chinese actress called "Fan Bingbing". I'm trying very hard not to make awful jokes about her name.

Anyway, cut off hair here, put her in black clothes and she's perfect!

And this is my Kisten, Chad Micheal Murray. He just screams Kisten for me, from his hair to his stubbly beard.





Tuesday Update
Number of pages I’ve read today: 143
Total number of pages I’ve read: 292
Total number of books read: 1
Books started/continued with/finished today: Burnt Offerings by Laurell K. Hamilton
Today #insixwords: Yay, I finished my first book!

***

Bout of Books 3.0 Readathon: TBR Pile Picture and Search Challenge

Today is the first day in the third Bout of Books readathon! Today's co-host is Hannah over at Once Upon A Time. Her challenge is to share our TBR pile, be that with a picture or a list, and then visit all the other people's posts. I don't know about you, but I'm in! I'll also use this post to update my progress in for today.

There it is! It's just a small part of my complete TBR pile, but I thought I'd show you what's on my list next. The two books on the left are books that I started aaaages ago and still have to finish. The one in the middle are those that I plan on finishing (at least a part of them) during the readathon. And the ones on the right are books I just really, really want to read (I mean, Shadowfever?!).

Monday Update
Number of pages I’ve read today: 149
Total number of pages I’ve read: 149
Total number of books read: 0,5
Books started/continued with/finished today: Burnt Offerings by Laurell K. Hamilton
Today #insixwords: Off with a pretty slow start

***

Bout of Books 3.0 Readathon: Goals

The Bout of Books readathon, version 3.0 (hosted by Amanda from On a Book Bender) is coming closer! This very awesome readathon runs for a week long. There are seven books to win, seven challenges and even more bookish giveaways. And what makes it all even more fun is that this is my first try as a Co-Host! I'll be having a Cover Challenge here on January 11th. Make sure you stop by then, because I have a surprise for one of the participants!

Readathon Rules:

• It is a week long read-a-thon, usually from 12:01am on a Monday through 11:59pm on a Sunday in whatever time zone you are in.
• Bout of Books is low pressure, meaning participants are only asked to push themselves to read more than they normally would during any given week. There is no competition between readers.
• How much time a reader wants, and can commit, to read, tweet, or network with fellow bloggers is left to individual preference. All challenges and giveaways are optional.
• Networking with fellow bloggers is actively encouraged, though never required. Co-hosts are there to facilitate blog hopping and interaction between participants.
• Use Twitter to post updates throughout the read-a-thon. Everyone will be tweeting with the #boutofbooks hashtag.

Here are my goals for the week:

• Meet a lot of new people
• Have awesome Twitter conversations
• Host a successful challenge *fingers crossed*
• Read a big bunch of my owned to be read books
• Have lots of fun

And my reading goals (very subject to change):

• Touch of Power by Maria V. Snyder
• Birth of a Killer by Darren Shan
• Silence by Becca Fitzpatrick
• Passion by Lauren Kate
• Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
• City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare

I'll probably won't be able to read them all, but I'm going to be trying to read at least four of them. It's not too late to sign up for the readathon.

***

Bout of Books 2.0 Readathon Ending

What a week. Let's see how I did!

My Goals:

• Read at least 3 books
• Have a lot of fun and meet some awesome bloggers!

Yay, I accomplished all my goals!

I read 3 books this week, the last of which I have just finished. This is what I read:

Because it's the week before Halloween I sticked to ghost/creepy themed books. Overall I think I did pretty good with the readathon, especially since I have exams tomorrow and had a few Halloween parties to attend to in appropriate dressing.

Had a great time once again talking to all the fellow readers out there on Twitter (: Hope to speak to you all again very soon!

Bout of Books 2.0 Readathon Starting Line

Well, as I had so much fun this weekend in the Wonderfully Wicked Readathon, I thought I'd participate in the Bout of Books 2.0 Readathon too, starting today (October 24th) running until the 29th. You can still sign up here!

My Goals:

• Read at least 3 books
• Have a lot of fun and meet some awesome bloggers!

Books I will try to read:

• Carrie by Stephen King
• Dark Reunion (The Vampire Diaries #4) by L.J. Smith
• Dreamfever (Fever #4) by Karen Marie Moning
• The Restaurant at the End of the Universe (Hitchhiker's Guide #2) by Douglas Adams
• The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
• The Mysterious Lady Law by Robert Appleton

Or any other book that catches my fancy (:


My first update: 10/24

Number of books I’ve read today: 1/3rd
Total number of books I’ve read: 1/3rd
Today #insixwords: I like creepy books like Carrie
Books: Carrie by Stephen King

Update: 11/24

Number of books I’ve read today: 2/3rd
Total number of books I’ve read: 1
Today #insixwords: Wish I had more reading time
Books: Carrie by Stephen King