#AYearAThon Middlegrade TBR

Confession: I am awful at sticking to TBR lists.  I like to be fluid in my reading, not placing any rules or restrictions on myself and reading whatever I want to whenever the urge strikes.  That being said, I never make TBR lists for my regular reading.

However, when preparing for a read-a-thon, I find it helpful to have some sort of game plan.  The last time I tried to do one without any type of TBR, I wasted a lot of time perusing my shelves, trying to find a book.

In light of that, I have come to a compromise of sorts.  I don't make rigid plans, but I set aside a pile of books from which I can choose as I see fit.  Instead of going through all my books, I can sort through the books I've already set-aside, and it saves a lot of time.

So, here is my TBR for the middlegrade themed #AYearAThon, which starts on Monday:

The one book that I am certain I will be reading, and which I plan on kicking the week off with, is A Monster Calls, by Patrick Ness.  I've never actually read anything by Ness, but I know that the Chaos Walking Trilogy is supposed to be amazing.  I want to read one of his stand-alones before I commit to a series, and this one really excited my interest.  This is the book I'm most anxious to start.

I just read the first book from Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events last month, and I'm interested in continuing that series.  All of the books are on my Nook, so I will most likely make it through at least one more.

Another series that I started and want to continue is the Old World Trilogy, by Garth Nix.  I read Sabriel a few years ago, so I need to reread it before moving onto Lirael and Abhorsen.  I remember really enjoying the first book, so hopefully I'll be able to reread it this week and at least start the next one.

June's #AYearAThon was Rick Riordan themed, and I read the first three of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series during that week.  I'd like to finish it, eventually, so I put The Battle of the Labyrinth in my pile in case the fancy strikes me. 

Finally, the last book in my pile is one that I probably won't read.  I start teaching again in September, and the first book the kids I homeschool have to read is The Witch of Blackbird Pond, by Elizabeth George Speare.  I read this book over 15 years ago, so I obviously need a refresher before I try to teach it.  However, it has really failed to interest me at all in the months leading up to school.  At some point, I have to force myself to read it.  It may or may not be this next month.

So those are all the books that I am free to choose from.  Of course, I may end up being unsatisfied with this pile and grabbing something random off my shelves.  This is the loose plan, though.

If you are participating in the read-a-thon, what is on your TBR?  Tell me below!

If you don't know what #AYearAThon is, but you are interested in participating, check out the official Goodreads group for more information.  We do themed read-a-thons every month, and it's open to anyone and everyone.

Happy reading!

Bout of Books 11

I am so excited to participate in Bout of Books 11 next month!

I just started doing read-a-thons this year.  Bout of Books 10 was only the second I'd done, and I absolutely loved it.  All of the challenges, interacting with people all over the world, the cheerleaders - I loved it all.  There are people I met during that week that I still talk to now.

Not only is it great to be able to read with a bunch of people, but this event is organized so well.  The organizers are always available on Twitter to answer any questions. And every day there is at least one challenge, each one held by a different person, so they are really varied.

Bout of Books also makes it a point to be inclusive.  They aren't genre-specific, and they are international, so no one has to worry that they won't be able to participate in the challenges.  Being from Guam, that makes me so happy!

If you want to know more, here is the official blurb from their blog:

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, August 18th and runs through Sunday, August 24th 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 11 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

I strongly encourage you to sign up.  There is no pressure as no one is keeping track of how much you read. It's not a competition by any means.  It's just a week you can set aside to focus on making progress through your TBR.

And you do it with some awesome people.

Bout of Books 10 Wrap-Up

For Bout of Books 10, my goal was to read three books and get a substantial portion of Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin done.

I bought Vicious by V.E. Schwab, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs, and Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson specifically for this week.  In-between reading these, I read my Life Application Study Bible, NKJV.

I started off with Speak as a warm-up read, which I finished in about two hours spread between days 1 and 2.  I didn’t enjoy it, per say, because the subject content it tackles is not easy or entertaining.  That being said, it is an important book that does a great job exploring a very difficult reality.  

I thought that the main character’s journey through the healing process was beautifully experienced.  From the shame and denial to the eventual realization that she is a victim of a crime that doesn’t have to define her life was powerful.  

After that, I read Vicious over a three-day span.  You can find my review of it here.

Since I finished Vicious early in the morning on the fourth day, I went right into Miss Peregrine’sand read that in one, 4-hour sitting.  My review of that is here.

On day 5, having finished my TBR, I still didn’t feel like picking up A Clash of Kings.  So, I reread For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf, by Ntozake Shange.  Since I was 18, this has been one of my favorite works of literature.  It tackles really important feminist issues that are universal.

I didn’t read anything on the sixth day because I was so busy.  Shame shame shame.  And on the last day, the only reading I was able to get in was in order to prepare my history lesson for homeschooling the next day.  

All in all, I read 4 whole books and 1,114 pages and got in almost 18 hours of reading.  Given my schedule, this was pretty good for me.  

I also participated in a few challenges and quite a few Twitter chats with people about books we were reading.  I really enjoyed this week, and I can’t wait until August.