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 11th and runs through Sunday, May 17th 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 13 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team
To see my sign-up post with goals and proposed TBR, check HERE!
Bookish Survey Challenge
Today’s challenge is a survey, located at Writing my Own Fairytale.
1. How do you organize your shelves?
I just got new bookshelves a couple of weeks ago and completely reorganized all of them. I started the reorganization at 11:30 at night, which wasn’t smart, but it got done pretty quickly. The way I organized them may not make sense to most people, but it somehow works for me. Here’s how I decided to organize my shelves (for now):
- Tall black bookshelf – nonfiction and women’s studies, books I’ve read, adult fiction
- Skinny white bookshelf #1 – hardcover TBR (fantasy and any non-contemporary), John Green books, holiday-themed, small paperbacks, older books
- Skinny white bookshelf #2 – more TBR (mostly contemporary, some non-contemporary), series to read, women’s fiction, ARCs
- Black bookshelf/entertainment center (these books are mostly stacked in a decorative way) – Harry Potter collector’s edition boxed set, favorite books, new hardcovers to read, dark and light spines, favorite series, nonfiction and memoirs, paperbacks to read
2. What is one of your favorite book that’s not in one of your favorite genres?
I generally don’t read historical fiction books. I only have about 15 of them on that Goodreads shelf because usually they just don’t appeal to me. I will consider them if they involve some kind of magical or fantasy elements. I’m not sure why, but that kind of makes them a little more interesting to me!
My favorite historical fiction book would have to be the Gemma Doyle trilogy, started with A Great and Terrible Beauty, by Libba Bray.
3. What is the last 5 star book you read?
Dang, this was a while ago! I usually read a lot of GREAT books but some of them have been mediocre over the past month or so. My last five star read was All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven because it murdered my heart. I just finished The One Thing by Marci Lyn Curtis (out in September) and it was SO CLOSE to being five stars, but I had a tiny issue with some of the romance in it. It’s definitely worth mentioning though since it was so fantastic.
4. What book are you most excited to read during the read-a-thon?
I decided to leave my TBR kind of wide open. I’m really bad at sticking to them usually, so I figured I shouldn’t even waste my time with coming up with one. I decided to break it into four categories though – one backlist/older book, one 2015 release, my Book Buddies read for May (The Program) and one Kindle book. I’m currently reading Saint Anything for my 2015 release and am SO excited to get back into Sarah Dessen. I haven’t read one of her books in ages.
5. What book do you recommend the most?
I like to make a blanket recommendation for KASIE WEST. Her books haven’t gotten less than 4.5 or 5 stars from me, so I’m constantly saying to read all of them. She’s a master of swoony banter, which is my all-time favorite. She also has the Pivot Point / Split Second duology that fall on the paranormal side, which are EXCELLENT. (See my Kasie West reviews here!)
Today’s Reading Plan
Day 1 – 5/11
Reading Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen
Listening to This Shattered World by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner
Ahhh . . . . All the bright places was SO GOOD. I still tear up when I think of that ending. Good plan on not having an exact TBR. There are a couple of books that I would like to read during the read a thon, but it’s not a hard and fast plan. I just want to enjoy what I read so I will read whatever I feel like. 🙂
That’s always the best way IMO
Omg I did this challenge also and I recommended anything by Kasie West too! Haha she really is great, all her books just fly by for me. 🙂 Good luck on your TBR!!
YES So great!
First of all, I want to say what a pretty blog you have here – such a cute layout! 🙂 Second, I finished Pivot Point a couple of months ago and I really want to read the second book of the duology soon – I have no idea what to expect from the ending, yikes!
Thank you! <3333
Split Second was almostttt as good as the first! Loved it.
Been trying to read “A Great and Terrible Beauty” forever now. I keep getting distracted by other books. I’ll have to give this one another try!
B.O.B. Survey
It can be hard to read at times! It took me forever.
Oh you’ve already started on This Shattered World! (You’ll have to let me know what you think, I’m trying to hold out for the paperback hahaha). I love that you updated your post with your reading plan for the day, mind if I borrow the idea? 🙂
Of course! Borrow away 🙂 I started it with audio but had no motivation to listen to it… I ended up requesting the hardcover from the library so I’m waiting for that to come in! I plan on buying the paperback for my collection once it comes out 😛
I bought All The Bright Places last month, and I’m excited to read it. Maybe I’ll get to it this week for bout of books.
Ah be prepared to cry!