LuLu's Living Library

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Again, a lot of work going on today. Plus, meeting here and there...so I didn't have time to continue reading Iron Kin like I wanted to today, but I was able to finish the audiobook I started yesterday.

• Books Read Today: Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
• Pages Read Today: 147
• Hours Spent Reading Today: 3 hours
• Challenge(s) Completed Today: Book M.A.S.H. Challenge hosted by Rocky Top Real Talk

• Total Books Read: 1
• Total Pages Read: 440
• Total Hours Spent Reading: 10 hours

For my M.A.S.H. Challenge, I chose 5 of my favorite books and choose my options for a husband, transportation, location, occupation and pet from those books.

These are books I used:

Here is my M.A.S.H with all the options filled in and the number I will be using:

This is what my completed M.A.S.H. looks like:

A summary of my life as dictated by the Book M.A.S.H. Challenge:

Challenge Hosted By

I had a lot of work to do today as well as a significant amount of time in the car between meetings and running errands, so I decided to start one of my audiobooks. 

• Books Read Today: Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
• Pages Read Today: 144
• Hours Spent Reading Today: 3 hours
• Challenge(s) Completed Today: Book Scavenger Hunt Challenge hosted by The Book Monsters

• Total Books Read: 0
• Total Pages Read: 293
• Total Hours Spent Reading: 7 hours

1. A book that begins with "B" (for Bout of Books)

FOUND! 

2. A book I am currently reading for Bout of Books

FOUND! 

3. A blue book

FOUND! 

4. A book from my favorite genre (urban fantasy)

FOUND! 

5. A book on my TBR shelf

FOUND! 

Challenge Hosted By

First day of the Bout of Books read-a-thon and the first day back to work...

Even given the chaos of the day today, I still feel successful with my reading!

• Books Read Today: Iron Kin by M.J. Scott
• Pages Read Today: 149
• Hours Spent Reading Today: 4 hours
• Challenge(s) Completed Today: Fictional World Travel Challenge hosted by Between Library Shelves

• Total Books Read: 0
• Total Pages Read: 149
• Total Hours Spent Reading: 4 hours

I currently live in the US, so I chose six books set in countries that I would love to travel to  one day.

This book flies me to 1930s England. 

This book transports me to 18th Century Scotland.

This book carries me away to Wales.

This book makes me feel like I live in Ireland.

 This book takes me away to Australia. 

 This book teleports me directly to Prince Edwards Island, Canada.

Challenge Hosted By

Between Library Shelves

The following is the my daily reading plans for the week:

• Monday, August 17th 

• Tuesday, August 18th

• Wednesday, August 19th

• Thursday, August 20th

• Friday, August 21st

• Saturday, August 22nd

• Sunday, August 23rd

After my success with the BookTube-A-Thon, I have decided to give myself some reading challenges to complete throughout the week to encourage more reading. To be honest, I might not meet all of these challenges because this week will be hectic for me...going back to work after a week of vacation and making preparations for a big event coming up this weekend...but I am going to try...really try!  So, here are the challenges I came up for myself: 

1. Read a book you really want to read.

Since I didn't get a chance to read this one during the BookTube-A-Thon and I recently acquired the second book in this series, it has increased my desire to jump into it. 

The Singular & Extraordinary Tale of Mirror & Goliath by Ishbelle Bee

2. Finish a series.

I started this series during the BookTube-A-Thon and I am really loving it, so I would like to finish the last two books in this series this week.

Iron Kin & Fire Kin by M.J. Scott

3. Listen to an Audiobook.

I have had this on my TBR list for a while now and my library has it on audiobook that I can download on my iPad, so I decided to give it a try.  I have never listened to a complet audiobook and I am a little worried about this challenge because I am not an auditory person, but I am willing to give it a try.  And since it is a YA book, I am hoping it might be easier to listen to. 

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher 

4. Read a book from the genre you've read the least of this year.

I started this book about a year and half ago and really liked it, but just never finished it.  So I am going to have another go.  I have the physical book and I also checked-out the audiobook from my library to help me along. I generally do not read a lot of nonfiction for pleasure because I read so much of it for work, so I thought this would be a good challenge.

How Children Succeed by Paul Tough

5. Re-read a book.

Anne of Green Gables is my all-time favorite book and I have been really wanting to re-read this series.  What better time to start than during this read-a-thon, right?

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

6. Read a that you have never read before written by your favorite author.

As state above, Anne of Green Gables is favorite book and likewise L.M. Montgomery is my favorite author.  I have not read this volume and I am very excited to read something new from my favorite author. 

Chronicles of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery

7.  Read seven books.

This is just an extra book in case I do not read the above mentioned books.

The Contrary Tale of the Butterfly Girl by Ishbelle Bee

Success!  Finally, I feel like I have been successful after completing a read-a-thon.  Even though I did not participate in the video challenges, I was still able to read 7 books and complete 5 out of the 7 reading challenges.  

Here are the challenges I completed:

1. Read a book with blue on the cover.  ✔

2.Read a book by an author who shares the same first letter of your last name.✔

3. Read someone else's favorite book. ✔

5. Finish a book without letting go of it. ✔

7. Read seven books. ✔

Here are the books:

Here are the Fails:

4. Read the last book you acquired.

The reason I failed this challenge is because I was continuing to acquire books and I couldn't make up my mind which book to read.  After making my original TBR list for the BookTube-A-Thon I acquired a total of 15 new books.  Since The Singular & Extraordinary Tale of Mirror & Goliath by Ishbelle Bee was no longer the last book I acquired, I did not see that it would meet this challenge and chose not to read it.  

6. Read a book you really want to read.

Even though I really wanted to read the Poldark books, there was just not enough time to.  Also, after reading the first book in the Half-Light City series and purchasing the next three books, my interest has shifted somewhat.  While I still want to read the Poldark books, I think I will save them for the Bout of Books Read-A-Thon next week (after I finish the Half-Light City series this week).

Overall, I am very pleased with my reading this week.  I generally only read one to two books a week, which is equivalent to approximately 300 to 700 pages a week with about 5 to 10 total hours spent reading during the week.  Therefore, with my total pages read, I have read about 459 pages more that I would have normally and an extra 8.5 hours spent reading during the week.  

I hope the success continues when the Bout of Books 14 Read-A-Thon begins on August 17th...

It's the last day and I finished my 7th book...success!

• Books Read Today: Shadow Kin by M.J. Scott
• Pages Read Today: 212
• Hours Spent Reading Today: 5 hours
• Challenge(s) Completed Today: Read a book by an author who shares the same first letter of your last name (Shadow Kin)

• Total Books Read: 7
• Total Pages Read: 1159
• Total Hours Spent Reading: 18.5 hours

I went shopping with my mum today...so I was out and about for 10 hours today.  Thus, not much reading was accomplished today, but I'm okay with that because I was spending time with my mum.

• Books Read Today: Shadow Kin by M.J. Scott
• Pages Read Today: 61
• Hours Spent Reading Today: 1.5 hours
• Challenge(s) Completed Today: None

• Total Books Read: 6
• Total Pages Read: 947
• Total Hours Spent Reading: 13.5 hours

Since it is my first official day of vacation, I slept in today.  So, my reading time didn't start until later in the afternoon.

• Books Read Today: The Story of the Treasure Seekers by E. Nesbit; Shadow Kin by M.J. Scott
• Pages Read Today: 207
• Hours Spent Reading Today: 3 hours
• Challenge(s) Completed Today: Read someone else's favorite book (The Story of the Treasure Seekers--J.K. Rowling's Favorite Book)

• Total Books Read: 6
• Total Pages Read: 886
• Total Hours Spent Reading: 15 hours

So, work was crazy today since it was my last day before I have a week vacation; therefore, I did not get to read anything today.

• Books Read Today: None
• Pages Read Today: None
• Hours Spent Reading Today: None
• Challenge(s) Completed Today: None

• Total Books Read: 5
• Total Pages Read: 679
• Total Hours Spent Reading: 12 hours

Today was very busy with working and other meetings, but I was still able to complete two books. Even though I am behind schedule and I am still happy with what I've been able to read this week and hope I can catch up reading during the weekend. 

• Books Read Today: Quidditch Through the Ages by J.K. Rowling; Jane Austen's Emma by Nancy Bulter
• Pages Read Today: 225
• Hours Spent Reading Today: 3 hours
• Challenge(s) Completed Today: Read someone else's favorite book (Jane Austen's Emma--J.K. Rowling's Favorite Book)

• Total Books Read: 5
• Total Pages Read: 679
• Total Hours Spent Reading: 12 hours