Bout of Books 8.0 — Sunday Update

I can’t believe that Bout of Books 8.0 is already (pretty much) over! I had so much fun participating in this read-a-thon…my first one EVER!

I decided to completely take advantage of it and really challenge myself to read a huge amount this week. The first goal that I made was to read six books, and I had an idea of the six books that I wanted to read, although sticking to the ones that I picked out wasn’t an actual goal.

After my first day of the read-a-thon, when I had to stop reading Fearless by Devon Hartford because I didn’t like it, I realized that I needed to choose a page-count goal instead of a number-of-books goal. I’ve never made a book-related goal for myself in terms of pages before, so I was a little apprehensive. I wasn’t sure what was a “good amount” of pages to challenge myself with.

I finally decided on a goal of 1800 pages, because I figured that 300 pages x 6 books would be somewhere around what I wanted to accomplish this week.

And I’m so excited to tell you guys that I achieved my goal!! As of a couple of seconds ago, I’ve read exactly 1800 pages. THAT’S SO FREAKING AWESOME!!! I seriously can’t even believe that I did it. I mean, I’ve been reading a lot this summer, but 1800 pages in one week?! That’s crazy! Definitely a personal best for myself.

And…here’s my finished chart!

Let’s do a little overview of the books that I read this week, which ended up being a little different than the ones I originally picked out. And there were more of them! I ended up reading from 8 individual books, although I only completely finished 5 of them.

#1: Fearless by Devon Hartford

I only got 100 pages into this book before I had to stop. I really did not enjoy this book, unfortunately. I wrote a quick review of this book, explaining what I didn’t like about it, and moved on to the next one.

#2: The Descendants by Kaui Hart Hemmings

I really enjoyed this book. My boyfriend recently decided that he wanted to watch the movie, but when I heard that it was originally a book, I told him that we would have to wait until I’d read it first. I hate seeing the movie before I read the book (doesn’t everybody?).

I just loved the characters and the overall tone of this book. I tend to really like quirky, cerebral reads, so this was totally up my alley.

(read my review)

#3: The Elite by Kiera Cass

Ever since I read The Selection last year, the first book in The Selection series, I have been super excited about The Elite coming out this summer. I really enjoyed the first book and I couldn’t wait to see what was going to happen next.

Although I didn’t love The Elite as much as I was hoping to, it was still very entertaining and I definitely want to finish the series.

(read my review)

#4: Where We Belong by Emily Giffin

I am not a huge fan of “chick lit.” I used to be, back when I was less picky about the kinds of books that I read and had really figured out my niche in the book world, but I’m not anymore. I do respect it for what it is, though, and there are still a few “chick lit” authors that I like to read books by, like Emily Giffin.

I chose to read this book in audiobook version, and so far, I’m really liking it. I never used to read more than one book at a time, but now I usually have between 2 and 3 books going at a time. It is just easier for me that way. Here’s my reasoning…

I always have one audiobook that I’m reading. I listen to my audiobook while I’m at work, while I’m working from home, sometimes while I’m doing chores, and sometimes while I’m in the car. These are times where I couldn’t possibly be reading a physical book, but it’s nice to still be able to listen to a story. I only recently got into audiobooks, after a friend kept bugging me about trying them out. And now I love them! I seriously can’t imagine my life without audiobooks anymore.

Besides the audiobook, I’m either reading a physical book or a Kindle book. If I’m just reading a Kindle book, then I will only have the Kindle book and the audiobook going. But there are times when, if I’m in the middle of a physical book, I will also have a Kindle book going on the side. This is for those times where I’m randomly sitting in a doctor’s office waiting room or I got to something early and need something to pass the time. That way, I don’t have to bring that physical book with me everywhere I go, since I can just read a Kindle book on my Kindle itself or on the Kindle app on my iPhone.

For me, this is the perfect setup. But I totally understand that it’s hard for some people to be involved with more than one at a time. I don’t understand people who can do more than three, though! That’s just crazy

#5: Dragonfly by Leigh T. Moore

I read this book next because I really wanted to catch up on some ARCs during the read-a-thon. This book wasn’t actually an ARC, but the next book in the series, Undertow, was given to me as an ARC, so it was necessary to read this one as soon as I could.

I was actually very surprised about how much I liked this book. I got really into it! I loved the characters and the intriguing plot, although there were some flaws that I found with it.

(read my review)

#6: Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

I can’t help it. I love historical fiction, particularly books about WWII. So Sarah’s Key was an obvious must for me.

I flew through this book. It was so good and so fast-paced. I was completely drawn in by the characters and by the story. I haven’t written a review for it yet, though, because I’ve been so busy with reading all of my other books.

#7: Gone Wild by Ever McCormick

This book was an ARC from Netgalley and the publisher. I actually wasn’t expecting to like this one that much, either. I think that I’ve just had a long streak of bad ARCs and other books lately, so I’ve been feeling apprehensive about new ones. But I was pleasantly surprised! I’m looking forward to writing my review for this one.

#8: Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

I’m only 111 pages into this one, but so far I’m absolutely obsessed with it. I can’t believe it has taken me this long to finally get on the Shatter Me train!!

Miranda Mowbray

Bout of Books 8.0 — Sunday Update

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