Bout of Books 12...It's Coming...

Gah. Sometimes Christmas crafting takes a toll. This time, it almost caused me to miss a read-a-thon. Not just any read-a-thon...Darian and I are signing up once again for Bout of Books. Yay! It's looking pretty popular already. Typically, my sign up post lands around participant #30 or so. This time, thanks to my immersion in all things crafty, I'll wind up somewhere around the 200 mark. Better late than never, I suppose.

For those of you not familiar with Bout of Books...

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

Not only will this be my first read-a-thon of 2015, it will also fall right within the start of my 2014 BOTY Bracket Challenge. Yes...2014. Confused? Well, I can't very well pick a favorite book of the year from 2014 until 2014 has completed, so the 2014 BOTY bracket gets completed in 2015. With me again? Good. (Psst...if you're still wanting to participate with me, the sign up is open until December 31st at 11:59p.m. All you need is the list of books you read in 2014. I have bracket templates available.)

Additionally, the day after the wrap up for the read-a-thon marks my first day back as a college student. After nearly a decade, I'll be hitting the books once again. I'm not going to lie, I'm super nervous. I have a full load of classes on my plate in addition to working full-time and having a family. It's going to be pretty busy. Since I have a few things I need to do in preparation for the start of classes, my goals for this Bout of Books will be a little lighter than previous ones have been. Also, some of the reading I get finished might be a bit of textbook reading. We'll see. I got my first syllabus today, so I need to scout out my books and start putting together a plan for the semester.

Darian says he's participating with me, but he goes back to school on the 5th after a nice long holiday break, so we'll see how much he can focus on extracurricular reading. It's an odd time of year for both of us.

Here's what we have planned..

Elle's Bout of Books...

Elle's Bout of Books 12 Goals:

1. Read every day.
2. Read a total of fourteen hours (840 minutes).
3. Read at least 3 books.
4. Read at least 800 pages.
5. Participate in Saturday's Twitter Chat
6. Participate in at least four mini-challenges.


Elle's Bout of Books 12 Reading List:

I have some books all lined up and ready to go since I just renewed a small pile at the library. I may mix them up with other books piled in my nightstand, so there's not necessarily an order this time.

I'm aiming for three completed books, so I'm planning out twice as many. I may not finish them all...which is fine...but at least I have a small selection. Here's the list of planned reads:

1. The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
2. The Kingmaker's Daughter by Philippa Gregory
3. A Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling
4. Where We Belong by Emily Giffin
5. City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare
6. The Lost Wife by Alyson Richman


The Plan

I'm keeping track of my reading using my handy dandy Excel spreadsheet. It hasn't failed me yet!

Since I'll be working on the BOTY challenge at the same time, I'll be doing BoB update posts every other day. Bout of Books updates will be on the 5th, 7th, 9th, and the wrap up on the 11th. BOTY challenge posts will be on the 6th, 8th, and 10th.

I haven't quite figured out how I want to do posts for any challenges I do on BOTY post days. I'm playing that one by ear.

All Bout of Books updates will be posted on the Read-a-Thons page.


Darian's Bout of Books...

Darian's Goals:

1. Read every day.
2. Read a total of 20 hours (1200 minutes).
3. Read at least 3 books.
4. Read at least 900 pages.

Darian's Reading List:

Goal Reading : 
          1. The Battle for Scandia by John Flanagan
          2. The Oak Leaf Bearers by John Flanagan
          3. The Sorcerer in the North by John Flanagan

Bonus Books :
          1. The Siege of Macindaw by John Flanagan
          2. Erak's Ransom by John Flanagan
          3. The Kings of Clonmel by John Flanagan

We're not sure if Darian will be home for the weekend (10th and 11th) or not, so he may wind up essentially skipping a couple of days. He will be participating in all of the posts for BoB since I'll be getting his updates from him.


Whew! That was a long one! I'll be doing some blog housekeeping around here for the next couple of days, wrapping up and updating my book challenges and getting a few things in place for both BoB 12 and BOTY 2014.

Are you ready for a busy and crazy 2015?