August TBR - NEWTs Readathon

Well...the month is already almost a third of a way over, so I suppose a TBR for the month is in order.

For the month of August, I'll be participating in the NEWTs (Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests) Readathon, hosted by BookRoast. It's the second in her series of Magical Readathons for the year. I participated in the OWLs earlier this year, wherein I read books to qualify for this month's reading. The ultimate goal is to identify and read in the prompts in order to attain a wizarding career.

Each career has a specific set of courses that are required along with the levels that are required to be met for each. A is for Acceptable, E is Exceeds Expectations, and O is for Outstanding. These must be achieved in order. Thus to achieve an O, one must first complete the books for levels A and E.

As mentioned, in order to take a NEWTs exam, you must have passed your OWL in that subject. This was how I fared for that examination set:

Magical Readathon – OWLs
Read	Course	Requirement	Title	Author
x	Ancient Runes	Retelling	Ever Alice	HJ Ramsay
x	Arithmancy	More than 1 author	The Murmur of Bees	Sofia Segovia
x	Astronomy	“Star” in the Title	Where the Forest Meets the Stars	Glendy Vandereh
x	Care of MC	Land Animal on Cover	The Museum of Extraordinary Things	Alice Hoffman
x	Charms	Adult Work	Evidence of the Affair	Taylor Jenkins Reid
	Defence DA	Title Starts with R
x	Divination	Set in the future	The Book of the Unnamed Midwife	Meg Elison
x	Herbology	Plant on Cover	Magic Bitter, Magic Sweet	Charlie N. Holmberg
x	Hx of Magic	Pub. 2009 or earlier	The Joy Luck Club	Amy Tan
x	Muggle Studies	Contemporary	The Upside of Falling Down	Rebekah Crane
x	Potions	Sequel	The Marvelous Land of Oz	L. Frank Baum
	Transfiguration	Red Cover
83.3%	10 / 12 = Outstanding (9+)

Based on my OWLs performance, I am eligible to take 10 out of the 12 NEWTs. All safe Defense Against the Dark Arts and Transfiguration. This combination of NEWT possibilities allows me to work towards one of nine different careers.

Possible Professions:		NEWTs Needed
Astronomer		Arithmancy (O)	Astronomy (O)	Hx of Magic (A)
Aurologist		Astronomy (E)	Divination (E)
Broommaker		Arithmancy (E)	Herbology (E)	Charms (A)
Herbologist		Herbology (O)	Potions (E)	Care of MC (A)
Journalist / Writer		Hx of Magic (E)	Muggle Studies (A)	A in 1 add’l subject
Magizoologist		Care of MC (O)	Charms (E)	Herbology (E)
Potioneer		Potions (O)	Herbology (E)	Arithmancy (A)	Care of MC (A)
Seer		Divination (O)
Wandmaker		Herbology (O)	Care of MC (E)	Charms (A)

My highest priority will be working toward the career of Magizoologist. Thus, I need an O in Care of Magical Creatures, and E in Charms, and an E in Herbology, for a total of seven books. However, as is befitting my Ravenclaw nature, I'll also be working to achieve grades in as many other courses as I can manage. Because I like options. Thus, my TBR reaches beyond the prompt requirements set for the Magizoologist career path.

As such, here is my current TBR for the NEWTs Readathon:

Magical Readathon – NEWTs
Read	Course	Requirement	Title	Author
	Ancient Runes	Recommended by a friend
		Book written in past tense
		Been on TBR for ages
	Arithmancy	Ends on an even page #	100 Days of Sunlight	Abbie Emmons
		A standalone	An Ocean of Minutes	Thea Kim
		Longer than 350 pages	Tidelands	Philippa Gregory
	Astronomy	Moon on cover or in title	When the Moon Was Ours	Anna-Marie McLemore
		“Night” in title or series name	Night	Elie Wiesel
		Sci-Fi or Stars on cover	The Book of Etta	Meg Elison
x	Care of MC	Book that starts with A	The Art of Taxidermy	Sharon Kernot
		Under 300 pages	The Multiplication of Elmer Whit	Karsen Kipp
		Bird on the cover	Postcards for a Songbird	Rebekah Crane
x	Charms	Gorgeous cover	The Gillespie County Fair	Marc Hess
		Under 150 pages	Animal Farm	George Orwell
		Paperback book
	Defence DA	Black under the dust jacket
		First book you remember	The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo	Taylor Jenkins Reid
		Written by Eng. Author or set in England
	Divination	A white book	Educated	Tara Westover
		Short story or collection of short stories
		Last book borrowed or bought
x	Herbology	Audiobook or green cover	The Book of Dreams	Nina George
		350-390 pages	The Book Charmer	Karen Hawkins
		Flower on the cover	The Husband’s Secret	Liane Moriarty
	Hx of Magic	Fantasy	Rebel of the Sands	Alwyn Hamilton
		Includes a map	Shadow and Bone	Leigh Bardugo
		Reread a favorite or read a classic
	Muggle Studies	Cover with actual photo element	Believe Me	Eddie Izzard
		Set in our real world
		Written by a person of color
	Potions	Friend’s favorite book	Anne of Green Gables (audio)	L.M. Montgomery
		Book in Hogwarts house color	This Tender Land	William Kent Krueger
		Starts with a prologue	Spellslinger	Sebastien de Castell
	Transfiguration	LGBTQA+ representation
		Not a first in a series
		Over 500 pages
	Restricted Section	Replaces any other prompt	Spellslinger	Sebastien de Castell
8.1%

As you can see, I have already completed three of the prompts, garnering myself As in Care of Magical Creatures, Charms, and Herbology. I am currently working on my A in Potions and my E in Herbology. I expect I'll have those finished by the end of the weekend. 

Why Potions you say? Well...I'm constantly listening to an audiobook. Unfortunately, the books I have set for my Magizoologist prompts are not available through my library or Prime Reads as audio selections, so I went with what was available at the time.

Now...since one read-a-thon is never enough, I'll also be participating in Bout of Books from August 19th to August 25th. 

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 19th and runs through Sunday, August 25th 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 26 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

Bout of Books is one of the first read-a-thons I ever participated in and it's one of my favorites. It should also (hopefully) help me boost my August reading so that I can get through all of these NEWTs I'm attempting to tackle. I'll be setting my individual goals for BoB when it gets a bit closer.

It will be a busy, but fun month. Do you have any read-a-thons or other fun reading events you're participating in that I should know about?

Bout of Books 25: The Wrap Up

Okay. So...obviously I completely dropped the ball on any updates for Bout of Books 25. But I did participate! I was able to attend the first Twitter chat and did a couple of Instagram challenge posts, but life was just a little too crazy for more. That's what happens when you have a trip across the country with an infant in the middle of the read-a-thon...especially when it's a quick trip.

And though it's been a few days since things wrapped up officially, I'm just now getting to my own personal wrap up.

I'm doing things a little different this time around in terms of the organization of this post, so just bear with me. Always good to try out new things, right?

So...we're starting with the summary of my stats via the tracker.

You'll notice one glaringly obvious change when you compare this read-a-thon to my past rounds of Bout of Books participation. Yep. I didn't finish a SINGLE BOOK of my own. How embarrassing.

I did manage to read every day of the week. Every day contained at least 30 minutes of reading, with the exception of Saturday. Saturday was my one full day in Idaho and I was absolutely beat by the time I got to bed. I had good intentions, but there was some craziness near bedtime that changed my plans. Thus, there was minimal reading that day...really just barely enough to consider it a reading day. But...I did spend some great time with family and friends, so I consider that day a total win just the same.

As far as minutes and pages go, this was on the lower end of my averages for weekly read-a-thons. I usually get to at least 400 in each category. That's a bummer, but I think I still read fairly decently considered the chaos that was my week. However, the minutes and pages accounted for does not include anything done via audiobook...so I've got that going for me.

I read pretty well with the boys, mostly thanks to a recent BookOutlet order that showed up mid-week. I was also (thankfully) able to participate in the initial Twitter chat. That always totally makes my read-a-thon week.

Now...let's talk about that dreadful empty column.

No. I didn't finish a book of my own. But...there were three books technically involved in the week.

Before Us Like a Land of Dreams by Karin Anderson was the book I started the week off with. I was part way into the book when the read-a-thon start and I tried desperately hard to finish it. But...ultimately, this book was just not a book I could connect with. The narrative felt overly disjointed and I couldn't keep a focus or identify an actual plot. More than a novel, this really felt like a collection of family history anecdotes. For the first time in 2019, I DNF'ed a book. In sum total, I've only ever put a small handful of books (under 10) in the DNF pile. I am an obsessive reader in that way. I hate giving up on a book. But this one sucked up four days of my read-a-thon and I wasn't going to take it anymore.

Checking Out by Nick Spalding is the audiobook I started listening to last week. This one has been a pleasant surprise. I've never read Spalding before, but I'm definitely going to be picking up more of his novels. His writing is flippant and hilarious. Despite the serious backstory of the plot, the book is highly entertaining and comical. I have a little over an hour left of the book and I sneak it in while I'm getting ready in the mornings and when I'm doing housework. The language of the book isn't very child appropriate, so there hasn't been the usual use of the audiobook on our walks or in the car, but I keep itching to get back to it.

Lastly, Things That Fall From the Sky by Selja Ahava was my primary read for the week once I decided to let go of Before Us Like a Land of Dreams. This one is a comfortably gloomy read. I'm not sure how to describe it without making it sound so awful, but gloomy really is the right word. I'll be doing a full review on the book when I finish it, but trust me when I say that gloomy isn't necessarily a bad thing. I snuck my book club read in right in the midst of this one, but I'm getting back to it now. I'm hoping to wrap it up by tomorrow.

And there you have it. Maybe not the most eloquent of wrap-ups (and definitely not the most timely), but it's there. Now...let's hope the rest of my May reading goes a bit more smoothly. I'm terribly behind on my TBR plans with no chance of catching up by the end of the month. But...if I can finish Things That Fall From the Sky and then get to two more books before May wraps up, I'll consider that a success. And I'm more or less caught up on ARCs, so that's a big win.

Happy reading, everyone!

Bout of Books 25: The Sign Up

Here it comes again! It's time for the Bout of Books Read-a-Thon! This is the 25th round of one of my favorite read-a-thons and it will be my 13th (whoa!) time participating. Fittingly enough, it starts on the 13th of May.

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

It's a nice and relaxed, week-long read-a-thon and always a good time.


The Plan:

I'll be participating, but I won't be around for the entire week. I will be headed out of town for a whirlwind trip to a friend's college graduation on Friday and returning on Sunday. There will be some airline reading on both Friday and Sunday, but Saturday I'll mostly be spending time with my family. This means I most likely won't be around for the Saturday Twitter chat, but I'll still be popping in on social media here and there over the three-day span. In addition, I'm taking the Baby with me on the trip, so my airline reading may be minimal. Oh well...just remember, it's just flailing...not failing.


What I'll Be Reading:

I have a pile of ARCs to get through this month, as well as some book club reads and other TBR pile selections. I've gotten to love audiobooks over the last couple of months, so I will likely be mixing text and audio as I go. I find that audio works really well while I'm getting ready for the day or anytime I'm doing a lot of driving.

Currently Reading: 

I'm more than halfway through this one and it's reading fast, so I imagine I will have it finished before the read-a-thon starts on Monday, but I'm listing it just the same.

TBR Pile:

I'm creating this list based on a couple of things. Some are ARCs that I need to finish in the next couple of weeks, some are book club reads, and some are books that I put on my TBR at the beginning of the year. Oh...and don't worry, I don't expect to read all of them. I will be lucky to complete one-third.

 

Yep. It's a big ol' pile. And while I'm not sure which books will actually get read, I can give you an idea of some priority.

Definitely in the list:

          1. Before Us Like a Land of Dreams by Karin Anderson
          2. Things That Fall From the Sky by Selja Ahava
          3. Tamarack County by William Kent Krueger

On Standby (in alphabetical order, but not necessarily reading order):

          1. After the End by Clare Macintosh
          2. Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire
          3. Believe Me by Eddie Izzard
          4. Child of the River by Irma Joubert
          5. Daisy Miller by Henry James
          6. Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
          7. Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly
          8. On the Come Up by Angie Thomas
          9. Red Clocks by Leni Zumas
          10. The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
          11. They Both Die At the End by Adam Silvera
          12. Where Are the Children? by Mary Higgins Clark

Goals / Progress:

Bout of Books 25 Goals:

1. Read every day. (Totally counts even if it's 5 minutes.)
2. Read a total of 450 minutes (7 1/2 hours).
3. Read at least 3 books. (Finish at least 2.)
4. Read at least 8 books to the boys.
5. Read at least 400 pages.
6. Participate in a Twitter Chat.
7. Participate in at least three Instagram challenges.

Per the usual, I'll be busting out the Goal Tracker. I'll be keeping track of my progress using my spreadsheets and then presenting the progress via the tracker.

Updates:

Since my time is a bit scarce these days, there won't be a ton of updates. I'll likely do one mid-week and another for wrap up. Other than that, I'll be posting little mini updates on my Instagram feed.

I'll be updating the tracker as I go, as well as keeping a list of what I'm reading and what I've finished. You know...the basics.


Now...what about you? Are you going to join? You should! Not only is this one of the best read-a-thons for using your own pace, the Twitter chats are fantastic. Fair warning though...they may result in a more burgeoning TBR...the other participants sometimes have fantastic literary taste. Head on over to the Bout of Books website and sign up. You won't regret it!

Bout of Books 24: And In the End...

You probably think I went off the grid again, disappearing from the blog for an unannounced hiatus. But...I didn't. I just went on vacation and ran out of time to do my wrap up post before I left. These things will happen.

Despite my complete lack of time for posting, I did find time for reading. I'm pretty darned happy with how this Bout of Books went -- except for the part where I completely space cadeted on the second Twitter chat. That was really a bummer.

I've finished up a couple of books since the end of Bout of Books and my reading for 2019 has gotten off to a really good start. I will credit Bout for a good part of that.


Currently Reading:

Only Ever Her by Marybeth Mayhew Whalen

I got this one from the publisher in exchange for an upcoming review. I'm really enjoying it so far. I'm completely confused as to where it's going to go and I'm quite liking that.

As far as how I did during the actual Bout of Books itself...the tracker looks pretty darned good with all its happy little checkmarks.

I managed to meet the majority of my goals. If I had tracked the pages read to the boys, I probably would have made my 600 page goal as well. But...I kind of consider that cheating since a lot of those pages have fewer than 20 words each.


Books Read:

 

1. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman: 4 stars

2. Britt-Marie Was Here by Fredrick Backman: 3 1/2 stars

I completed two books this time around, one for a book club and the other just for fun. They turned out to be somewhat similar in their genre due to the quirkiness of the primary characters, but that worked out well for me.

If you didn't participate this time, but want to get in on the action, the next Bout of Books is scheduled for May 13th - May 19th. It's a long time to wait, but there will be other read-a-thons in the meantime. Next up for me: 

24 in 48

(1/26 - 1/27)

The 24 in 48 Readathon is THIS WEEKEND. I'm super happy to be rolling right into another good reading period. 

What are you reading??

Bout of Books 24: Progress Report #1

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, January 7th and runs through Sunday, January 13th 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 24 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

Well...how fast the time does go! We're already halfway through Bout of Books 24. I hate how fast these things always go. Good thing they happen every three months. I'm doing much better than I anticipated...although that has been the result of staying up too late in the evenings. On the upside, that's because I was reading a good book. I hit up the Twitter chat on Monday night and had myself a pretty darned good hour. Those never last long enough either.

I'm popping in quickly to do a little update and then I'm headed back to the books. The kids both dropped off early this evening thanks to a very long day, so I may just get myself an extra reading hour. Yay!!


Currently Reading :

Britt-Marie Was Here by Fredrick Backman

This one is starting out pretty good. I will admit, it was an interesting choice after just finishing Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman. But...so far it's working for me to stay in something of the same vein.

Progress:

It's all filling up quite nicely. I've been able to read every day and I'm trucking along on both minutes and pages. With any luck, Britt-Marie will read just as well as Eleanor (I'm pretty certain it will...Fredrik Backman has never failed me before). Reading with the boys is also going great.

I've finished two mini-challenges so far, both over on Instagram. It seems to be an efficient platform for me in managing to gain some progress on those. It's quick and easy and gets the job done well. That will probably be my go-to method for a while. We'll see how it pans out.

Now...I'm going to get back to the reading and see how much of my second book I can get through tonight. Happy reading!!