#boutofbooks

Click on the logo to join the fun!

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

DAY 7 RECAP

Here is what I read on DAY 7:

1. A Long Way Down, by Randall Silvis = 47 pages

Total for Day 7:  47 pages
TOTAL so far: 570/805 pages

I did the Instagram challenge, presenting a shelfie.
Well, as you see, that’s quite a disaster, as I reached only 70% of my goal.
So instead of reading an average of 115 pages/day, I read 81. Not bad in itself, but life put some limits on a higher goal this time.

I DNFed The Story of the Stone, by Cao Xueqin. Another blogger encouraged me to read the unabridged work, which is HUGE. I really enjoyed a lot chapter 1 of book 1 (there are 5 huge volumes), but I was already totally lost with the great number of characters in chapter 2, and I knew it was going to get way worse.
Actually another reader encouraged me not to give up, and try instead the abridged version: he did some literary studies at the university, and that’s the version their teacher had them work on! So I’ll try that, which is actually what I was originally planning to do, without even realizing it was an abridged version.

I finished an audiobook: Sang Famille, by Michel Bussi.
I like so much the suspense in his books. This one is basically a YA. This is actually a book the author wrote a long time ago, he republished it, with some extra characters. There were elements comparable to some of his other books (manipulating the memory of a child), but the plot was not the same.
Colin, almost 16 and an orphan, is in a summer camp. Then he thinks he saw his Dad in the area, who is supposedly dead. And he learns that on the day of his 16th birthday, he will inherit something big… and dangerous!

I’m enjoying the latest by Randall Silivs. It’s slower than his two previous books, there’s a lot more on the psychology of the main characters, but totally satisfying so far.

DAY 6 RECAP

Here is what I read on DAY 6:

1. A Long Way Down, by Randall Silvis = 71 pages
2. Audiobook: J’ai dû rêver trop fort, by Michel Bussi = 1H, equivalent of 52 pages

Total for Day 6:  123 pages
TOTAL so far: 523/805 pages

I did the Instagram challenge on the author I read the most. Can you guess who it is?

DAY 5 RECAP

Here is what I read on DAY 5:

1. A Long Way Down, by Randall Silvis = 25 pages
2. Talk to Me: How Voice Computing Will Transform the Way We Live, Work, and Think, by James Vlahos = 3 pages

Total for Day 5:  28 pages
TOTAL so far: 400/805 pages

As predicted the day before, I wasn’t able to read much: my reading time is in the evening, and we had our book club meeting. But we had a great time, sharing about amazing books. I also organized a book Jeopardy, and gave a bag with 4 books to the top three! I enter lots of giveaways, and then give them away to my book club members. They love it!
I didn’t do any challenge, by lack of time.

DAY 4 RECAP

Here is what I read on DAY 4:

1. A Long Way Down, by Randall Silvis = 23 pages
2. Talk to Me: How Voice Computing Will Transform the Way We Live, Work, and Think, by James Vlahos = 13 pages
3. Audiobook: J’ai dû rêver trop fort, by Michel Bussi = 1H45, equivalent of 67 pages.

Total for Day 4:  103 pages
TOTAL so far: 372 /805 pages

And I did the Instagram challenge, with an incredible author.
I had a lot of audiobook time with house chores, cleaning, and preparing some appetizers for today’s book club anniversary – which means I will speak a lot about books tonight, but won’t have much reading time!!

DAY 3 RECAP

Here is what I read on DAY 3:

1. A Long Way Down, by Randall Silvis = 32 pages
2. Don Quixote, by Cervantes (read-along) = 9 pages
3. Talk to Me: How Voice Computing Will Transform the Way We Live, Work, and Think, by James Vlahos = 16 pages
4. Audiobook: J’ai dû rêver trop fort, by Michel Bussi = 1H05, equivalent of 33 pages.

Total for Day 3:  90 pages
TOTAL so far: 269 /805 pages

And I did the Instagram challenge, with a cover of a recent book I like a lot (both the cover AND the book!).
The emoji challenge was very tempting, but I wasn’t too sure how to sum it up this way.

DAY 2 RECAP

Here is what I read on DAY 2:

1. Talk to Me: How Voice Computing Will Transform the Way We Live, Work, and Think, by James Vlahos = 10 pages

Total for Day 2:  10 pages
TOTAL so far: 179 /805 pages

Hmm, amazing how two days can differ, from 169 to 10 pages!
The explanation is simple: we got together with friends in the evening, my only possible reading time, so I didn’t have much time for reading at all. Should be more normal today, hopefully!
And I didn’t do any daily challenge.

DAY 1 RECAP

Here is what I read on DAY 1:

1. If You Love Me, by Matthew the Poor = 5 pages
2. A Long Way Down, by Randall Silvis = 10 pages
3. Don Quixote, by Cervantes (read-along) = 4 pages
4. The Story of the Stone, by Cao Xueqin = 7 pages – DNFed
5. Audiobook: Sang Famille, by Michel Bussi = 4H, equivalent of 134 pages – FINISHED
6. Audiobook: J’ai dû rêver trop fort, by Michel Bussi = 8 mn, equivalent of 9 pages.

Total for Day 1:  169 pages
TOTAL so far: 169 /805 pages

Wow, very happy with this 1st day! Do you see all this audio time?? I usually don’t teach on Monday, and as the weather was FINALLY warm enough to plant our vegetable garden (3 weeks later than usual for me!), I did it all, and listened to my audiobooks at the same time. Mystery explained!
Alas, I had to DNF The Story of the Stone, which is actually the first book of Dream of Red Chamber (the book I got for the latest Classics Spin!!)
I saw wanted to read this book. I really enjoyed the first chapter, but then I quickly felt totally lost because of the huge amount of characters. I couldn’t keep track of who was who, and I know this was going to get a lot worse because of the size of the book

I also did 2 challenges:

– on Twitter, Introduce yourself #insixwords
– on Instagram, currently reading
I didn’t participate in the twitter chat, feeling a bit too old now for these, plus, the questions are often the same every year.

***

My goal is the same as for Bout of Books 24, as I didn’t manage to reach it: to read 805 pages, an average of 115 pages/day.

Here are the books I plan to read from. Some I’m currently reading.

1. If You Love Me, by Matthew the Poor
2. A Long Way Down, by Randall Silvis
3. Talk to Me: How Voice Computing Will Transform the Way We Live, Work, and Think, by James Vlahos
4. Don Quixote, by Cervantes (read-along)
5. The Story of the Stone, by Cao Xueqin – DNFed
6. Audiobook: Sang Famille, by Michel Bussi – FINISHED
7. Audiobook: J’ai dû rêver trop fort, by Michel Bussi

SCHEDULE

Challenges

**This is the overall list for the challenges offered during Bout of Books 25. Make sure you check the blog each day of the read-a-thon for instructions and details on how to complete the daily challenges**

Monday 5/13
Introduce yourself #insixwords

Tuesday 5/14
Bookish favorites

Wednesday 5/15
Book plot emoji

Thursday 5/16
If this, then that

Friday 5/17
Favorite hero/favorite villain

Saturday 5/18
Share the love

Sunday 5/19
Stretch goal

Twitter Chats
(chats last approximately one hour)
TZC = Time Zone Conversion

Monday: 8pm CST (TZC)
Saturday: 10am CST (TZC)

Next Read-a-Thon
Bout of Books 26 – 8/19/2019 — 8/25/2019

Click on the logo to visit other bloggers

Save