It's day TWO of the Bout of Books Read-a-Thon. So far, I'm ahead of my goals (yay!). Darian is a little behind on his, but that's only because I think he was crazy to aim for 1200 pages and 5 books. I have far more time to read than he does. But...we'll see. He's determined.
I had the luxury of having the day off today, but somehow that didn't translate to more reading time than yesterday. I managed to get up early enough to be ready, run to the school twice, and work on this post before the 10am (MST) On-Air Chat this morning. That worked out nicely. Unfortunately, I then burned the last of the morning working on the challenges for today and getting caught up on a few other internety/bloggy things.
We also lost a little bit of reading time tonight due to a couple of meetings at his school. I regained a little bit of my time by making tonight's dinner ruling: leftovers. Clean out the fridge and save me an hour of time? Perfect. Double win. I also got to read outside in the sunshine for a bit this afternoon. That was lovely.
The plan is to keep posting our updates around 10pm MST, just enough time after Darian goes to bed for me to finish writing and get them polished. He gives me his stats before he heads up and I take care of the rest.
Today was another good reading day!
Elle's Current Stats
I had the luxury of having the day off today, but somehow that didn't translate to more reading time than yesterday. I managed to get up early enough to be ready, run to the school twice, and work on this post before the 10am (MST) On-Air Chat this morning. That worked out nicely. Unfortunately, I then burned the last of the morning working on the challenges for today and getting caught up on a few other internety/bloggy things.
We also lost a little bit of reading time tonight due to a couple of meetings at his school. I regained a little bit of my time by making tonight's dinner ruling: leftovers. Clean out the fridge and save me an hour of time? Perfect. Double win. I also got to read outside in the sunshine for a bit this afternoon. That was lovely.
The plan is to keep posting our updates around 10pm MST, just enough time after Darian goes to bed for me to finish writing and get them polished. He gives me his stats before he heads up and I take care of the rest.
Today was another good reading day!
Elle's Current Stats
When I Read Today: A little bit this afternoon before Dar got home from school and a bit after his meetings tonight. I'll be continuing for a while longer after I finish this post.
Other Things Accomplished Today: Dropped the kids off at school, went back to the school to take Darian his forgotten math book, meeting for 8 in 6 program at Dar's school, parent's ALP meeting (where Darian was a presenter) at Darian's old elementary school. There was a lot of back and forth.
Minutes Read Today : 1 hour 26 minutes (86 minutes)
Total Time Read: 518 minutes
Goal: 20 hours (1200 minutes).
Pages Read Today: 97
Total Pages Read: 372
Goal: 1200 pages.
Goal: 4 books.
How I'm Feeling: I wish I would've been able to be more productive today with my reading. Oh...and I really don't want to go to work tomorrow. I'd much rather stay here and get lost in a book.
Today's Challenges:
1. Books You're Looking Forward To: Oh, I have a giant pile of books on my TBR list. But I'll pick out my top 10 "can't wait to read" books.
- Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
- The Opposite of Maybe by Maddie Dawson
- The Winter Sea by Susana Kearsley
- Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
- Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
- Looking for Alaska by John Green
- On the Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta
- The Absolutely True Story of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
- Someday, Someday, Maybe by Lauren Graham
- Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
2. Bookish Battle Royal: Somewhat like my BOTY Bracket Challenge, this pits book characters against one another in a duel to the death. Fantastic! Right up my alley. Let's see here...
I'm going with bad ass dystopian chicks.
Contestant One: Katniss from The Hunger Games
Strengths: Independent, Dead Eye Shot, Adept at Trapping
Weaknesses: Stubborn, Rash, Emotional Ties to Family/Friends
Contestant Two: Lena from Delirium
Strengths: Determined, Good Runner, Resourceful
Weaknesses: Inconsistent, Naive, Lovesick
Contestant Three: Cassia from Matched
Strengths: Daring, Strong-Willed, Inquisitive
Weaknesses: Careless, Naive, Unobservant
Contestant Four: Tris from Divergent
Strengths: Strong-Willed, Good with Knives, Brave
Weaknesses: Low Self-Esteem, Impatient, Reckless
Alright...let's make this quick and dirty.
Round One:
Contestant 1 (Katniss) v. Contestant 2 (Lena) and Contestant 3 (Cassia) v. Contestant 4 (Tris)
This one's pretty easy. The lovelorn girls are going to lose it. Both Katniss and Tris have athletic skill and weaponry on their side. Though Lena does run quickly, that won't stop Katniss from getting her with an arrow.
Round Two:
Contestant 1 (Katniss) v. Contestant 4 (Tris)
This one's a little trickier. And it's all going to come down to skill. The two are fairly evenly matched in the weapons department...arrows vs. knives. Katniss does have a slight edge here simply because she can take a target from a little farther away. Both are nervous to kill and have to be at their breaking point to be that aggressive. So that's a wash. Both are hasty decision makers on occasion, something that has been problematic for each of them. So in the end, it's going to come down the one extra skill that's going to push winner ahead by a nose. It will be a knockdown drag-out and not a fight to end quickly, but in the end....the winner will be...
Katniss Everdeen
The Hunger Games
Her experienced hunting skills are going to set this girl apart. She can hunt, track, set traps, and shoot. It may take some time for her to beat out Tris, but in the end she will emerge victorious...the badest dystopian badass chick of them all.
Darian's Current Stats
When I Read Today: Between 9 and 9:30pm
Other Things Accomplished Today: Went to school, forgot my math book, did homework and chores, and attended two school meetings. Presented at one of the meetings.
Minutes Read Today : 27 minutes
Total Time Read: 140 minutes
Goal: 15 hours (900 minutes).
Goal: 15 hours (900 minutes).
Pages Read Today: 26 pages
Total Pages Read: 128 pages
Goal: 1200 pages.
Books Finished Today: None
Total Books Finished: 0
Goal: 5 books.
0/4 Books
How I'm Feeling: Kind of bored. Even though I'm at the most exciting part of the book, it's not as exciting as it was the first time.
Today's Challenge:
1. Books You're Looking Forward To:
- Speaker of the Dead by Orson Scott Card
- Xenocide by Orson Scott Card
- Children of the Mind by Orson Scott Card
- Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card
- Shadow of the Hedgemon by Orson Scott Card
- Shadow of the Giant by Orson Scott Card
- Shadows in Flight by Orson Scott Card
- Ender in Exile by Orson Scott Card
- Meetings in the Enderverse by Orson Scott Card
- Fablehaven by Brandon Mull
My contestants are:
Eragon from The Inheritance Series
Strengths: Can Use Magic, Good with a Sword, Confident
Weaknesses: Soft-Hearted, At the Wrong Place at the Wrong Time
Hermione from The Harry Potter Series
Strengths: Smart, Good Reflexes, Tries to Stay Out of Trouble
Weaknesses: Afraid of Failure, Rule Follower, Sometimes Doesn't think Clearly
Katniss from The Hunger Games
Strengths: Observant, Good with Bow & Arrow, Doesn't Fully Trust Anyone
Weaknesses: Naive, Soft-Hearted, Rash
Katniss starts out setting traps while she's also getting supplies and Hermione tries to get a good shelter, while Eragon tries to get as far away as he can from the others. Katniss and Hermione face each other as the first battle. Katniss barely wins with a slight edge of a little bit more skill. Eventually, Eragon and Katniss face off and this is a hard decision. The battle gets very aggressive and the two affectionate people go ballistic. Eventually...
Eragon
comes out victorious. With magic on his side and good skills, he has very smart tactics and he is able to win without wasting all of his energy. Katniss tried to get him with her bow & arrow, but unluckily for her Eragon can use magic to block her arrows and catch up with Katniss. Her advantage of distance doesn't work out.
You're both doing great! Darian reminds me a lot of my daughter--she's always set herself lofty goals, but 9 out of 10 times she makes it. So I'm definitely betting on Darian! :) I loved reading both of your battles!
ReplyDeleteThanks Debi! He's happy with where he's at for now, so we'll see what happens. I'm sure the weekend is going to really help him out.
DeleteSounds like a great day 2! :) I hope you both are having tons of fun!
ReplyDeleteSo far, so good Karsyn. We're having a blast! I hope it's going as well for you.
DeleteMy husband is currently reading through the Ender's series. Pretty sure he's up to Ender's Shadow. Also, I really enjoyed Someday, Someday, Maybe.
ReplyDeleteDarian has become OBSESSED with that series this year. He has a teacher at school who really likes it, so they talk about it a lot in class. I'm glad to hear you liked Someday, Someday, Maybe. I've heard mixed reviews. But I LOVE Lauren Graham (Gilmore Girls die-hard over here), so I just have to read it.
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