The One With the End of Bout of Books 10.0

Well, this whirlwind of a week is now over. 

Bout of Books 10.0 = I SURVIVEDDDD!!!!

Guyssss I hit my goal of three books! Woohoo!! That right there is worth celebrating in and of itself. Even better? I got 247 pages into my 4th book. HECK YEAH! 

So, what are my final stats for Bout of Books 10.0?

I'm glad you asked.

Pages read today: 40

Books completed:

Poison Dance

The Falconer
The Winner's Curse

Currently Reading: House of Hades (Heroes of Olympus #4) - 328 pages in

Total Pages Read: 1,147 - WHAT?! I just calculated this and read over 1,000 PAGES! CRAZY!!!!

Thoughts: Guyyssssss I DID IT!!!! I'm so beyond proud of myself! No lie, this is probably the first read-a-thon where I've actually met my goal and didn't have to change it. Makes me happy! I also participated in a Twitter-chat and had a blast. Met and followed some awesome new people. Though some of those questions were hard to answer!

Ex - In response to Q1 - "If I could only read one genre for the rest of my life _____" I promptly answered with a

A3. If I could only read one genre for the rest of my life...WHAT KIND OF QUESTION IS THIS?!?!? #boutofbooks
— OhForTheLoveOfBooks! (@OTheLoveOfBooks) May 17, 2014

I thought it fitting.
@bookbender likes to torture us so.

Another hard question? Asking us to give recommendations! Took me 4 tweets and even that didn't cover it!

A5. Oh....this is a hard one. You truly do like to torture us don't you @BookBender - Harry potter, Tamora Pierce Song of lioness series....
— OhForTheLoveOfBooks! (@OTheLoveOfBooks) May 17, 2014

A5. two books I read this week: The falconer by Elizabeth May and The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski #boutofbooks
— OhForTheLoveOfBooks! (@OTheLoveOfBooks) May 17, 2014

A5. Throne of glass series by Sarah J. Maas and the Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer #boutofbooks
— OhForTheLoveOfBooks! (@OTheLoveOfBooks) May 17, 2014

A5. The Blood of Eden series by Julie Kagawa! Anything Percy Jackson related by Rick Riordan!
— OhForTheLoveOfBooks! (@OTheLoveOfBooks) May 17, 2014

Hint Hint. Shameless promotion. Go read them. Now.

Also participated in some great challenges!
Day 2 Challenge where we create a list of books we are looking forward too hosted by River City Reading - Check out my 2014 Anticipated reads here.
Also, my 2nd challenge was to retitle your current read hosted by Oh Magic Hour - Here is my awesome list of fantastic new names - very creative might I add.

So, all in all, tons of fun!! I'm really glad I participated and hope to participate in future Bout of Books Read-a-thons!

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The One Where I'm in a Bout of Books

So....this is a bit of a last minute decision, but a good one at that! I have officially decided to join the

Bout Of Books

Yes, yes, hold the applause. I know how incredibly dull it would be without me and my humor so I have deemed this read-a-thon worthy of my presence. Also, it gets me reading, so there's that. 

Never heard of the Bout of Books or am curious about joining? Here's a bit of info: 

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 12th and runs through Sunday, May 18th 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 10 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog.

  This is a last minute post so it's nothing fancy. I'll add my goals and all to a post tomorrow. Make sure to look for daily updates on my progress! 

Also, 

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

To all you wonderful mothers out there - we thank you. All of you are fantastic and amazing and the world would be a crazy (and nonexistent) place without you. Continue to go forth and be your awesome selves. 

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Beat the Heat Readathon Progress Report (Updated Daily!)

*Format inspired by Auntie Spinelli's awesome blog progress post! 

Monday 7/29
Currently reading: Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas
Progress: 40%
Books completed: None

Tuesday 7/30
Currently reading: Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas
Progress: 64%
Books completed: none

Notes: Unfortunately, I didn't read as much as I wanted. I got sidetracked by Pretty Little Liars. Curse Netflix and it's many seasons of shows....

Wednesday 7/31
Currently reading: Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas
Progress:  NONE
Books completed: NONE!
Notes: I read nothing. Absolutely nothing yesterday. I didn't even pick up my Kindle, much less turn the freaking thing on. I'll be better today. I promise! My goal is to finish this book by tomorrow morning and get started on the next. What should I read? 

Thursday 8/1
Currently reading: Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas
Progress: 70%
Books completed today: None
Notes: Um....hardly read any. Yet again. 

Friday 8/2
Currently reading: Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas
Progress: 74%
Books completed today: None
Notes: Wow....a whopping 4%...I'm just that good :P It seems whenever I plan to read, I never actually do. It has to be spontaneous! But I WILL finish this book by tomorrow. Challenge accepted. 

Saturday 8/3
Currently reading: Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas
Progress: 100%
Books completed today: Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas
Notes: I honestly am at a loss of words for how absolutely amazing this book was. If I could give it a thousand stars I would. Actually, even that wouldn't cover it. Hopefully I will be able to make a coherent review of this absolutely wonderful book. 

Sunday 8/4
Currently reading: Nothing
Progress: Nothing
Books completed today: None

WEEK 1 SUMMARY

Books I completed this week: Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

                                                                                                                       

Monday 8/5
Currently reading: Sweet Venom by Tara Lynn Childs
Progress: 100 of 344
Books completed today: None

Tuesday 8/6
Currently reading: Sweet Venom by Tara Lynn Childs
Progress: 261
Books completed today: None

Notes: So far, Sweet Venom is a fun, mythological adventure! The three girls are about as different as you can possibly get, yet I love all three of them! Though, Greer is a bit hard to like, I understand where she's coming from so I feel as if she'll redeem herself :) 

Wednesday 8/7
Currently reading: Sweet Venom by Tara Lynn Childs
Progress: COMPLETED!!
Books completed today: Sweet Venom by Tara Lynn Childs
Notes: What a fun adventure! I love how distinctly different the girls are! However, I was wishing for a bit more plot wise. Overall, definitely worth reading!

Thursday 8/8
Currently reading: Defiance by C. J. Redwine
Progress: 6%
Books completed today: None
Notes: This one has been on my radar for a while so I'm excited to get started! 

Friday 8/9
Currently reading: Defiance by C. J. Redwine 
Progress: 26%
Books completed today: None

Saturday 8/10
Currently reading: 
Progress: 
Books completed today:

Sunday 8/11
Currently reading: 
Progress:
Books completed today:

WEEK 2 SUMMARY

Books I completed this week:  

2 WEEK FINAL SUMMARY
Total # pages read: 
Total time spent reading: 
All books completed:  

All the best ♥

Mackenzie

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Beat the Heat Read-A-Thon!

• The Beat the Heat Readathon runs from July 29th through August 11th. What does this readathon entail, you ask? Well, read as much or as little as you want – the main point is to READ! You set your own goal, and for two weeks you read as many books as you can/want to reach your goal!
• There will be mini-challenges throughout the Readathon for participants, along with a grand prize giveaway at the end!
• Sign up at Auntie Spinelli Reads or Phantasmic Reads. You may join whenever you like, but to be eligible for our grand prize giveaway, you must sign up by August 5th.
• To join, all you have to do is make a sign-up post – even if it’s just a “Let’s do this!” thing - and add your post URL to the linky below! You can put your goals and progress (will be required for the final giveaway) in your sign-up post, or you can make it separate. Totally up to you! Feel free to copy and paste this handy little list for your post. We don’t mind. :)
• In order to enter for the grand prize, you must have a post to keep track of your progress so we can see that you participated.

*Progress post coming later tonight!*

So...I know I said I probably wouldn't participate in another read-a-thon, but I lied. Sue me. This one is totally worth it! This is the last leg of summer before school starts up again so I decided to go out with a bang! Well, probably not a bang because, let's face it, who knows how much I'll read. But, it'll be fun participating in the challenges and at least pushing myself. Both of the other challenges I participated in I only set my goal at 3 books, which I barely finished, if I finished at all. I admit it, I can be a slow reader and I also don't know how much time I'll have to read because of my volunteering and getting last minute stuff ready for school, so my goal will be small but that's okay! Honestly, if I finish 3 or 4 books I'll be incredibly happy! 

I'm currently reading Crown of Midnight and OKMSDFLKAJGADKLSFSDFISFL!!! Okay....calming down. It's good. Obviously.

Future books - I don't really know for sure what books I'm going to read, but here's a list of books I'm going to choose from (a lot of them have sequels coming out or I've had them a while and just want to read em!): 

        

I really don't know what books I want to read so I'm asking y'all to help me out. What books do y'all recommend? 

And are y'all participating? 

Let me know in the comments below!

All the best ♥

Mackenzie 

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Read-a-thon wrap up and WordPress questions

Read-a-thon = epic fail

Yeah....I technically didn't even read a full book. I finished a book that I had already started before the read-a-thon began so I guess that kind of counts right? My goal was 3 books. And I would've completed my goal....

if I hadn't gotten sick.

Ughhhhhh....most sicknesses allow you plenty of time to read. Heck, you're in bed all day anyways, might as well pick up a book.

But not this sickness. No. I couldn't get that lucky. 

I had dizziness, vertigo and nausea. I slept on the bathroom floor constantly for a day and a half. I couldn't even really look at a computer or a book for long periods of time until today. Quite frankly, it sucked. I'm still not perfect yet, but at least I'm feeling a whole lot better. I believe it has to do with my inner ear (allergies and I've had a ton of ear problems) so I still have to get it checked out, but it completely ruined my reading time. Boo. 

But oh well. What can I do? At least I finished one book. And it was a great book! So I'm relatively happy. 

And guess what? Now I'll be getting on a regular schedule. I'll have a review up tomorrow and some memes up throughout the week. 

*Side question: I've just seen another blogger move to WordPress and I admit that I've always been curious. Is it worth it? Is it hard? Let me know in the comments below!

All the best ♥

Mackenzie

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The Hot Summer Reads Read-A-Thon

So guess what guys? I've decided to join another Read-a-thon! Why? Well, honestly, it keeps me reading. I'm an awful manager of time. I really am. I love to watch TV  and often times I end up getting side-tracked by it because my sister is watching Netflix and I just can't seem to pass it up. However, knowing I'm participating in a read-a-thon makes me put books as a priority and learn to manage my time better. 

I'm now joining the Hot Summer Reads Read-A-Thon. It goes from July 14 through the 20th. A full week of reading? I'm game. 

My goal? 3 books. I just feel like this is a good number. Not to many, not to few. I volunteer at the Education Center here on base and I may be taking another trip this weekend, but hopefully I'll have plenty of time to accomplish my goal.

Current read: Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo. Loving it! Though, unfortunately, not as much as I hoped. But don't fret! This is all my fault! Ever read of book that you know is a great book, but your kind of in just an "ehh" mood? Yeah, unfortunately that's where I'm at. The book is great! Truly it is! But I'm not zooming through it because I'm just not in the reading mood (hence the Read-A-Thon! A way to make me read!) 

Future books? Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Mass - cue hyperventilating. 
OMGOMGOMGOMG I haven't read it yet but I know it's going to be fantastic. Some people I trust very much have loved it so it'd be an understatement to say I'm not excited. In fact, when I got it through Netgalley, I may have squealed like a little kid in a toy store. No shame. I need more Chaol. NOW. 

And after that? I have no idea. I'll probably have to have y'alls help with picking a book. I just can't make the decision!

Note*- I will have reviews soon. I promise. I've written some and am writing/editing others, I've just been a bit unorganized. Also, these read-a-thon's get me reading which means more reviews for y'all! The reviews will start once this read-a-thon ends.

All the best ♥

Mackenzie 

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Read-A-Thon Progress Update

First off,

HAPPYFOURTHOF JULY!!!

Remember to thank a vet and remember why we celebrate this amazing day!

Progress: 1 book down

I finished Something Strange and Deadly last night and "something strange and deadly" is right. I went into this book not expecting anything amazing but I was wonderfully shocked! What a fun book! Great characters and plot and no shortage of action. And zombies!

I'm now on to book 2: City of Bones. 

I recently finished Cassandra Clare's prequel trilogy The Infernal Devices and 

loved. every. moment. 

This trilogy just had such great character depth and they were incredibly admirable. So, I decided to give her original series another chance. I read the first book and enjoyed it, but I didn't love it. But, I'm on a Shadowhunter high and need to get my fix, so I'm giving it another go. I'm enjoying it, but still not in love with it. The plot is definitely intriguing enough, but I'm not really feeling Jace (and I know I'm gonna get a lot of flack for that!). So far, I'm interested, but hopefully that'll improve! 

Hopefully I'll finish City of Bones by tomorrow and can move on to book 3....what to read, what to read? 

All the best ♥

Mackenzie 

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Summer Wrap-up Read-a-Thon

Welcome to the Sumer Wrap-up Read-a-Thon!

This is my first read-a-thon and I must say I'm rather excited! 

This really is my last week to really read since I leave for college on Friday. 

So crazy! It's coming up a lot sooner than I thought! But I get to go hang with my brother and sister-in-law before I move in so that'll be fun :) I really don't know how much I'll 

actually be able to accomplish when it comes to reading since I'm leaving 

earlier than expected but I'm gonna try my hardest! Here's my list of 

books that I'm currently reading and some books I'll try to 

finish this week (Most are August Netgalley titles).

Currently Reading:

Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

To Read: 

The Serpent's Shadow (The Kane Chronicles #3) by Rick Riordan

Seven Wonders by Adam Christopher

The Sinister Sweetness of Splendid Academy by Nikki Loftin

Kissing Shakespeare by Pamela Mingle

I highly doubt I'll finish all of them. I'm thinking maybe The Night Circus and two more. I'm kind of limited on time but I think it will still be fun.

Also, look forward to my post and giveaway coming tomorrow at 6pm Pacific Time Zone! And be sure to check out the other bloggers that are part of the read-a-thon here. 

I hope y'all had a fantastic summer! 


All the best ♥
Mackenzie 

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