Bout of Books 4.0 Wrap Up

 

Last week I participated in Bout of Books 4.0. This was my third (second?) attempt at a read-a-thon, and once again life didn’t give me much help in my efforts. My sister’s baby decided she was good and ready to get out into the world, so mid-week I rushed to Nebraska to meet my new niece. (I tweeted a pic in case you missed it.) Then I had to rush back to Chicago to work all weekend protecting civil liberties during the NATO summit. 

So, you know, pretty quiet week. 😉

Despite these hiccups, I actually managed to finish two books and start a third, which is a pretty impressive week for me all things considered. I’ve been reading soooo slooooowly this year, and this read-a-thon jump started my reading life a bit. Big thanks to Amanda at On a Book Bender, Kelly at Reading the Paranormal, Shirley at Creative Deeds, and Hannah at Once Upon a Time for running the event and keeping me entertained on Twitter!

My goals were to:

• Read four books
• Finish at least one physical book I already own
• Catch up on my backlog of comics

Well, I read pages out of three different books, and that’s something. Although I didn’t finish a physical book, I at least started one (A Clash of Kings). I did not get to my comics – I brought a stack to work with me over the weekend hoping to tackle some during downtime, but there was no downtime to be had!

Books I finished:

• Bourne by Lisa T. Bergren
• Lover Avenged by J. R. Ward

Books I started but in no way came close to finishing:

• A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin

The Game of Thrones books require lots of concentration from me. Martin has this way of writing that seems full of hidden puzzles that I must read carefully in order to ferret out. During one day’s roundtrip commute I can generally fly through 80-100 pages of a book. Martin’s book? Try 30 pages, if I’m lucky. I find myself re-reading the same passages over and over. Is it just me? Maybe this is why I don’t read more fantasy. I’m always terrified I’m missing things.

You can see a more detailed break-down of my reading week in my Bout of Books 4.0 update post. I know I may not have read anything close to what other people did, but the beauty of these read-a-thons is that they are to challenge yourself. I set pretty high goals (which frankly I didn’t think I’d meet anyway), but given the craziness of the last week I’m REALLY proud of myself. I got farther than I thought I would, and it got me excited about reading again. 

And that’s always a good thing. 

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