Bout of Books 30: Sign-up and progress post

As usual, I will be participating in Bout of Books. I have previously found it a good way to kickstart my reading for the year. I will also (as usual) stick my daily updates in this post rather than add a new one per day.

The Bout of Books readathon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly Rubidoux Apple. It’s a weeklong readathon that begins 12:01am Monday, January 4th and runs through Sunday, January 10th in YOUR time zone. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are reading sprints, Twitter chats, and exclusive Instagram challenges, but they’re all completely optional. For all Bout of Books 30 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team

Today is day one, and I am all set to go, I just need to get through this little matter of thefirstworkingdayoftheyear first.

Monday

Finished:
A Presumption of Death – Jill Paton Walsh (inspired by Dorothy L. Sayers) p 135-372
Where the sidewalk ends – Shel Silverstein p 176-183 (reading aloud with the youngest)

Started:
The Land of Green Ginger – Noel Langley p 1-20

Instagram challenge:

 

Se dette innlegget på Instagram

 

Et innlegg delt av Ragnhild Lervik (@lattermild)

Once I’d finished the book I had to ad a comment to my own Instagram post:

You know what? Scratch that. When I wrote the above I was just about half-way through, and Lord Peter had just turned up. Now I’ve finished and I really don NOT think I will spend any further time on Walsh’s versions of Peter and Harriet. She does a decent job on the details of the characters, the setting and landscape, and to a certain extent the plot, but she completely fails to capture the relationship between Peter and Harriet, the dialogue feels clunky and the attempts at continuing Sayer’s version of Harriet’s internal dialogue is almost embarrassing. I might get rid of this one alltogether rather than risk rereading it again in a fit of «but I want MORE» the next time I reread Sayer’s books.

Tuesday

Continued:
The Land of Green Ginger – Noel Langley p 21-158

Started:
Lighting Girl #4: Superpower Showdown – Alesha Dixon p 1-25 (reading aloud with the youngest)

Instagram challenge:

 

Se dette innlegget på Instagram

 

Et innlegg delt av Ragnhild Lervik (@lattermild)

Wednesday

Finished:
The Land of Green Ginger – Noel Langley p 159-288

Continued:
Lighting Girl #4: Superpower Showdown – Alesha Dixon p 26-32 (reading aloud with the youngest)

Would have picked up a new book after Green Ginger, but went to check Twitter quickly and ended up doomscrolling the domestic terrorist attack on the Capitol in DC instead.

Instagram challenge:

 

Se dette innlegget på Instagram

 

Et innlegg delt av Ragnhild Lervik (@lattermild)

Thursday

Started
Forsvarlig behandling – Unni Cathrine Eiken p 1-40
The Outlaws of Sherwood – Robin McKinley p 1-12

Continued:
Lighting Girl #4: Superpower Showdown – Alesha Dixon p 33-45 (reading aloud with the youngest)

Instagram challenge:

 

Se dette innlegget på Instagram

 

Et innlegg delt av Ragnhild Lervik (@lattermild)

Friday

Continued:
Forsvarlig behandling – Unni Cathrine Eiken p 41-98
Lighting Girl #4: Superpower Showdown – Alesha Dixon p 46-60 (reading aloud with the youngest)

Saturday

Continued:
Forsvarlig behandling – Unni Cathrine Eiken p 98-169
Lighting Girl #4: Superpower Showdown – Alesha Dixon p 61-75 (reading aloud with the youngest)

Sunday

Finished:
Forsvarlig behandling – Unni Cathrine Eiken p 170-304

Continued:
Lighting Girl #4: Superpower Showdown – Alesha Dixon p 76-91 (reading aloud with the youngest)
The Outlaws of Sherwood – Robin McKinley p 12-32

Summary

That’s 959 pages in total, which is pretty good going for one week even if it would have been more satisfying to hit 1000. After the events of Wednesday, the official updates and events of the readathon were toned down to a minimum, understandably, and I fell out of the loop Instagram-wise. Hopefully we can return in May (Bout of Books 31 is scheduled from May 10th to May 16th) in a world where the orange cheeto is a nobody (preferably in jail) and where the mob of Wednesday have discovered the little something that is the consequences of their own actions. We’ll see.

Queer Lit Readathon TBR

Background Romance: Meaning a book where the romance isn’t the point of the book, it’s just there.

The Deep by Rivers Solomon has been suggested on the @queer_lit Instagram, and I recently purchased it.

Group ReadSummer of Everything by Julian Winters.

I’ve ordered this (and Only Mostly Devastated, see below), just hope it gets here in time.

Adult Fiction/Nonfiction: Read an adult book that is either fiction or nonfiction.

Love Lives Here by Amanda Jette Knox, also ticks the box for Nonfiction November.

???: Choose Your Own Category – tells us what it is in your TBR

Hør her’a by Gulraiz Sharif. This autumn’s big thing to talk about here in Norway.

Non Coming Out: Read a story that does not have a coming out

Ace/Aro MC: Read a book with an asexual/aromantic main character.

I belive Radio Silence by Alice Oseman will work here, but I’m not sure. I’d read Loveless, but as I just read it it seems like cheating to read it again.

Pre/Non-Medical Transition: This means a trans main character that is pre medical transition, or one that has no desire to physically transition.

George by Alex Gino.

See Yourself: Read a book where a character shares an identity of yours.

The Ace/Aro book will do here, though I guess I’m demi- rather than completely a-.

#ownvoices: Read a book that has been written by an author with that identity

BIPOC MC: Read a book with a main character that is Black, Indigenous, or a person of color.

The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta – would also tick off #ownvoices, I guess?

Winter Vibes: Read a book that gives you feelings of winter.

This Winter by Alice Oseman.

Host Rec: Read a book recommended by one of the hosts

Well, I guess The Deep would count here.

Queer Friends: Read a book about queer friends

Can I reread? Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me would tick off both this and the graphic novel prompt, and I feel like I should reread it anyway, I sped through my first read (I always do). Come to think of it, it’d do for non-coming out, too. I’m open to suggestions, though (though I’m running short on time to get hold of new books).

Graphic Novel: Read a graphic novel

Retelling: Read a retelling of a fairytale, classic story, or the such.

Only Mostly Devastated by Sophie Gonzales as recommended by @queer_lit sounds like fun and is a possible candidate.

MC Not Like You: This is open to of a different sexuality, gender identity, nationality, ethnicity – just read diversely

Well, let’s say The Black Flamingo for this one, too.

Expect changes, but at least I have a plan… Sort of.

TBRs from other participants (lots of tips for books to read in the future here!):

Queer Lit Readathon

Queer Lit Readathon is a readathon I’ve seen others participate in before, most notably @hiddeninabook on various platforms. But for once I’ve caught whiff of the ‘thon before it starts rather than after the act, so this time I’m going to participate.

Round 6 runs from November 29th to December 5th in your timezone. For the details, watch Kathy Trithardt explain on YouTube (or read the video description, which has all the useful links and everything), or go to Rogan Shannon’s blog post about it.

There are 16 challenges, and since the same book can count towards several, the obvious goal is to tick them all off. I’ll have to dig through my TBR and see what sort of plan I can come up with.

Bout of Books 29: Signup and progress post

The Bout of Books readathon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly Rubidoux Apple. It’s a weeklong readathon that begins 12:01am Monday, August 17th and runs through Sunday, August 23rd in YOUR time zone. Bout of Books is low-pressure. All reading-in-place times, Twitter chats, and exclusive Instagram challenges are completely optional. For Bout of Books 29 information and updates, visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team

I should have plenty of time to read this week, and I could do with a boost (or a good kick up the behind, if you like), so I will be «bouting» again.

This post will be updated with progress throughout the week. I will also try to participate in the Instagram-challenges, you’ll find me as @lattermild (same nick on Twitter, but I post less about books there).

Update: Well. I did read, a bit. But I completely forgot to update here. I managed to post pictures on Instagram for the first three days, and then we travelled to Oslo for a long weekend and that unravelled as well. Anyhoo, books finished during Bout of Books 29:

  • Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan
  • Zalt: Dampherrenes planet by Jon Bing
  • Lumberjanes: The Shape of Friendship by Noelle Stevenson, Shannon Watters, Brooklyn Allen, Grace Ellis and Lilah Sturges

Hardly terribly impressive, but not nothing. I also read a few pages of Zeshan Shakar’s new novel, Gul bok.

Bout of Books 27: Signup and progress post

It seems a little optimistic, but what the hey, here I am signing up for Bout of Books again.

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 6th and runs through Sunday, January 12th 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 27 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team

I will update this post as the week goes on. At least that is the plan. The last Bout of Books I signed up for (number 25) didn’t go too well for me, but it’s a question of getting up, dusting oneself off and trying again.

Monday

Book-related activities: I’ve tidied my bloggroll, removing any blogs that have not been updated in 2019 seems safe enough, and I’ve added a couple of new ones.

Despite claiming to ignore all challenges for 2020 I have added both Bookriot’s Read Harder, Elida’s 1001-boksirkel, Bokhyllelesing and Kaosutmaningen to my spreadsheet. Ambitions are low. We will see.

But I blogged today! Golden Bats and Pink Pigeons, which I finished yesterday AND the two graphic novels I read today.

Today’s Instagram challenge: Current read.

Monday reading:
The Eternal Smile by Gene Luen Yang and Derek Kirk Kim, 170 pages.
Edelgran by Fredrik Di Fiore and Geir Moen, 196 pages.
Pashmina by Nidhi Chanani, page 1-73.

Tuesday

Well, I blogged AGAIN. About an audiobook, no less.

Tuesday reading:
Tubakrisen by Pia Lise Selnes (as audiobook), 104 pages.
Heltinner jeg har møtt by Arnhild Skre, pages 1-64.
Dishoom: From Bombay with Love by Shamil Thakrar, Kavi Thakrar and Naved Nasir, pages 1-20.
Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator by Roald Dahl, pages 1-19.

Wednesday

Mucking about with the blog again threw up some issues, and after a quick chat with my web host (the ever helpful Direkte.no) I realised some blog maintenance was in order. So now I’ve ditched my old WordPress theme (Twenty-thirteen. I did say old.), deleted some unused plugins, updated to use https and just generally shaken some dust out of the nooks and crannies.

Wednesday reading:
Heltinner jeg har møtt by Arnhild Skre, pages 64-80.
Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator by Roald Dahl, pages 19-27.

Thursday

Thursday reading:
Heltinner jeg har møtt by Arnhild Skre, pages 81-104.

Friday

Today’s Instagram challenge: Recent five-star read.

Friday reading:
Heltinner jeg har møtt by Arnhild Skre, pages 105-117.
One of OurThursdays is Missing by Jasper Fforde, pages 195-206.
Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator by Roald Dahl, pages 28-35.

Saturday

Saturday reading:
Heltinner jeg har møtt by Arnhild Skre, pages 117-126.
Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator by Roald Dahl, pages 36-46.

Sunday

Sunday I was busy all day with something that meant reading was a no-go, so NO pages.

Summary

Well. While I could certainly have read more during the second half of the week, I’m pretty delighted with the total number of pages (746), and three blog entries (and one draft, soon ready, too). What a nice kickstart to 2020.

Bout of Books 25: Sign-up and progress post

It is Bout of Books time again, and though it falls in a somewhat busy week I will attempt to participate. Perhaps it can push me to getting at least a LITTLE reading done.

For new readers:

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

NEWTs Readathon

Since I managed to tick off a few OWLs in July’s resit, I might as well make a stab at NEWTs in August.

I found out about the readathon from Liz at Travels in Retrospect, but the idea comes from Gintare of Bookroast, and the announcement video can be found here (with links to the rules and tasks in the video description).

Since which NEWTs I can sit is determined by which OWLs I managed to pass, the following are my subjects and tasks. I should surely manage at least an Acceptable in each, right? The book I am about to start right now is Terry Pratchett’s Wyrd Sisters, which should get me going on Charms at least, and then we’ll see how I go from there.

Arithmancy

A – At least 300 pages long: The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill

E – Ends on an even page

O – Not the first in a series

Care of Magical Creatures

A – Has an animal on the cover

E – Book with less than 160 pages

O – Includes dragons in some way

Charms

A – Has magic in it: Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett

E – A cover that charmed you

O – You think it will leave a mark

Muggle Studies

A – Book from a favourite Author: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Original Screenplay by J. K. Rowling

E – Biography

O – Retelling

Potions

A – Has a name of a colour in the title

E – Read a book with a male lead character

O – Book over 350 pages long

Readathon: 10 Years in 10 (well, 11) books

It may be my first Dewey’s readathon, but it’s been going on twice a year since 2007, and so this is the 10 year anniversary. To celebrate, one of the challenges is to recommend a book from each of the years, and though the challenge says 10 books, I make that 11… Anyway, I made another Instagram bookstack.

Here’s a handy-dandy list, with links to my blog posts about each book (if I ever wrote one):

2007: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling. Hardly needs an introduction.

2008: Bad Science by Ben Goladacre.

2009: Shades of Grey by Jasper Ffforde.

2010: Started Early, Took my Dog by Kate Atkinson.

2011: How to be a Woman by Caitlin Moran.

2012: En man som heter Ove by Peter Backman.

2013: Hyperbole and a Half by Alleie Brosch.

2014: Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit. I haven’t technically finished this book, but I’ve finished the essay which gives it its title, and it’s brilliant.

2015: Evna by Siri Pettersen. Never blogged, bad blogger. I did manage to write something about the first book in the trilogy, though, Odinsbarn.

2016: The Hanging Tree by Ben Aaronowitch. Also never blogged. I’ve written about two other titles in the series, though, and I heartily recommend reading every single one.

2017: Tegnehanne: Blod, Svette og Tress-is by Hanne Sigbjørnsen.

And now to get back to reading for the remaining… 102 minutes.

Readathon Prep: Challenge 1 roundup

Half-way through the week I needed to pick up my pace somewhat if I were to have any hope of completing 1000 pages by Monday. That worked out ok, though, because I had a lot more time to read over the weekend. So, to add the details:

The Fortune of War by Patrick O’Brian: 222-329, 107 pages.

The Surgeon’s Mate by Patrick O’Brian: 7-382, 375 pages.

The Ionian Mission by Patrick O’Brian: 7-26, 19 pages.

Lunch-blad 3/2017: 50 pages, Lunch-blad 8/2016: 48 pages and Lunch-blad 2/2017: 49 pages, total 147 pages.

Bobla by Siri Pettersen: 277 pages.

With the 402 pages from before, that makes a total of 1327 pages all together, so I can note challenge completed.

Readathon prep: Challenge 1

In addtion to the 30 Days of Readathon photo challenge (which is happening on Instagram daily, though I will post here as well in round-up posts), there are going to be a few more challenges, run in the Goodreads readathon group. Challenge 1 is to read 1000 pages between the evening of Sunday 24th September and the morning of Monday 2nd October (Pacific Coast time). I noted that I was on page 285 of Desolation Island in my sign-up comment, but I had already read quite a bit since the start of the challenge by that point. Still, I’ll see if I need to consider those 100ish pages or not at the end of the week.

So, here are the stats so far:

Desolation Island 285-325 = 40 pages

The Fortune of War 7-222 = 215 pages

Rammeplan for barnehagen (hey, it’s reading) 7-57 = 50 pages

Lunch-blad (comics):
2015/7 49 pages
2016/7 48 pages

So that’s 402, with three-and-a-half-ish days left. I need to step it up a little.

Yesterday was unintentionally busy, so I was one day late with my Instagram picture, but I’m all caught up now. Here’s 28-23 in the countdown.

28: Red: A stack of books, all good, happening to have a red spine. #30daysofreadathon #readathon #bookstagram

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