Roof Beam Reader
Adam Burgess
Bout of Books: I’m In!
Hello, Readers!
The semester is winding down (one week to go!) and I am very much looking forward to spending more time with you all very soon. I will be teaching and taking one course this summer, so there will still be plenty going on for me out there in the “Real World,” but I think I’ll manage to get much more accomplished here on the blog, too.
That being said, I’m taking this opportunity to sign-up for Bout of Books, for the very first time! The event takes place during the first week of summer break — a perfect time to celebrate a little “freedom” by reading a whole bunch of pleasure/just for fun books that I’ve had to put on hold for months and months. Woo!
I should also note – Austen In August will be back this year! I plan to post the sign-ups and guest contributor forms sometime in early June, so be on the lookout for that. 🙂
Here are the details for 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, May 12th and runs through Sunday, May 18th 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 10 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team.
While this list is in no way official, here are some of the books I’m thinking of reading during “The Big Bout”:
- Anatomy of Criticism by Northrop Frye
- The Long Walk by Stephen King
- Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
- Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather
- To a God Unknown by John Steinbeck
So, is anyone else participating this year? Any thoughts from past participants on how to organize your time, posts, etc.? If you are planning to participate, what books are you looking forward to reading?
Roof Beam Reader 
I love bout of books! I’m a BOB Expert this year so if you need any help let me know 🙂
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Yay, another familiar face to stalk all week! I’m definitely in – it’s about my seventh time, I think – and I can’t wait to get stuck in, especially if we have some nice weather so I can lounge around outside with a book for a bit. 🙂
You can pretty much post however you want; I like to do some of the challenges, and add photos, and sort-of live-blog what I’m reading during the day (my thoughts on the book so far, quotes I like, non-reading stuff I’ve been doing) if I get chance, so I start a new post every morning and just keep adding to it. By the end of the day my post might have three or four updates, a couple of photos and a challenge entry, so I’m ready to start a new one the next morning! Some people cover a couple of days per post, or go for a ‘stats only’ approach all in one post and do separate ones for challenge entries, but I like to chat about my books as I go during readathon week so that would never work for me!
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I’m always intrigued by how organised people are that do these read athons and how forgiving their family must be when clothes done get washed, shopping done etc
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Ooh, I may actually be able to participate in this read-a-thon!! Thanks for letting us know about it! 🙂
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Whenever I participate I like to devote one hour a day just to reading, I schedule it in the way I would anything else. This is, of course, in addition to any reading I would already do during the day.
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I’ll be joining in! I’d say join at least one of the three scheduled Twitter chats…they’re fun!
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This is also my first time participating in bout of books! I am super excited to finally be able to dedicate more time to reading. Hope you are able to make it through some good books.
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Adam, reading your post has convinced me finally to join!: http://wordsandpeace.com/2014/05/03/bout-of-books-10/
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Woohoo!
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Fabulous reading list, Adam! I’ll be making my list in a moment, but I’m thinking another John Green book is in order for sure. Also, very excited for Austen in August! It’s my favorite time of year. 🙂
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I love the Bout of Books Read-a-thon because it really helps me to realign myself! I usually post an update every other day, depending on how lofty my goal is. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do! Great list of books, you’re more ambitious than I am this round! 😉
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Read-a-thons are not something that I can ever find time to participate in, but I admire those that do. Excellent reading list. I’ve been toying with reading Mrs. Dalloway, and I loved Death Comes for the Archbishop when I read it long ago–really need to reread that one.
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It’s my first time as well. I’m still working on my goals but I’m excited about it.
Also I can’t wait until Austen in August I’ve already reread three this year and I’ll try and leave the other three until August. That’s if Emma doesn’t come up in the spin tomorrow!
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