Bout of Books 7.0 Read-a-thon

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 13th and runs through Sunday, May 19th 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 7.0 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team

This is my first time joining the Bout of Books read-a-thon. It’s a week-long read-a-thon, running from Monday May 13th 12.01 in the morning, to Sunday May 19th at night.

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Time devoted to reading

I’ll be reading every day, lunchtimes, coffee times and in the evening.

My goals

I calculated how many books I read per week on average over the last 10 week: 3.6 books. That’s almost four. So, in a read-a-thon setting, I should be able to read a bit more. I’ll go for 5 books.

Books to read

This is my tentative list:

De laatkomer [The Late Arrival] by Dimitri Verhulst

A Trick I learned from Dead Men by Kitty Aldridge

Poollicht [Pole Light] by Jolanda Linschoten

The Thief by Fuminori Nakamura

The Perfume Collector Kathleen Tessaro

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Updates

Monday

Number of pages read today: (page 5, the beginning of the book, to page 102=) 97 pages

Total number of pages I’ve read: 97 pages

Number of books I’ve read today: Ha ha! This is a very short one (140 pages) and I didn’t manage to even finish this one. Zero. 

Total number of books I’ve read: Zero

Books: De laatkomer [The Late Arrival] by Dimitri Verhulst

Comments:  I had great fun in the Twitter Chat, if it hadn’t been for that, I’d easily finished my book. But it was more fun than reading!

Tuesday

Number of pages read today: 103-140 in De laatkomer =  37 pages plus 220 pages in IV by Arjen Lubach – page 7, the beginning of the book up to page 227)= 257 pages

Total number of pages I’ve read: 354 pages

Number of books I’ve read today: Finished one book today.

Total number of books I’ve read: 1

Books: De laatkomer [The Late Arrival] by Dimitri Verhulst [DONE], IV by Arjen Lubach

Comments: I did my volunteer work in the school library today and came across the Dutch book IV, that I have been wanting to read. I could not help myself and took it home. Started as soon as I finished my other book. In the evening I was distracted by the tv, the movie The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, which was good fun. At least I read A LOT more than Monday!

Wednesday

Number of pages read today: pages 228 to 320 in IV by Arjen Lubach = 92 pages plus 52 pages in Poollicht [Dutch] by Jolanda Linschoten (pages 9-72) plus 74 pages in The Perfume Collector by Kathleen Tessaro (pages 1-74) = 218 pages

Total number of pages I’ve read: 572

Number of books I’ve read today: Finished one book today.

Total number of books I’ve read: 2

Books: De laatkomer [The Late Arrival] by Dimitri Verhulst [DONE], IV by Arjen Lubach [DONE], Poollicht by Jolanda Linschoten; The Perfume Collector by Kathleen Tessaro

Thursday

Number of pages read today: 71 pages in Poollicht [Dutch] by Jolanda Linschoten (pages 73-144) plus 413 pages in The Perfume Collector by Kathleen Tessaro (pages 75-488) plus 21 pages in A Trick I Learned from Dead Men by Kitty Aldridge (from page 14, the beginning of the book to page 35) = 508 pages

Total number of pages I’ve read: 1080 pages

Number of books I’ve read today: Finished two books today.

Total number of books I’ve read: 4

Books: De laatkomer [The Late Arrival] by Dimitri Verhulst [DONE], IV by Arjen Lubach [DONE], Poollicht by Jolanda Linschoten [DONE]; The Perfume Collector by Kathleen Tessaro [DONE], A Trick I Learned from Dead Men by Kitty Aldridge

Friday

Number of pages read today: 175 pages in A Trick I Learned from Dead Men by Kitty Aldridge (pages 35-210)

Total number of pages I’ve read: 1255

Number of books I’ve read today: Finished one book today

Total number of books I’ve read: 5

Books: De laatkomer [The Late Arrival] by Dimitri Verhulst [DONE], IV by Arjen Lubach [DONE], Poollicht by Jolanda Linschoten [DONE]; The Perfume Collector by Kathleen Tessaro [DONE], A Trick I Learned from Dead Men by Kitty Aldridge [DONE]

Saturday

Number of pages read today: 56 pages in The Thief by Fuminori Nakamura (from page 1 to 56) - almost nothing!! = 56 pages

Total number of pages I’ve read: 1311

Number of books I’ve read today: Hah! About a quarter of a not-so-big book!

Total number of books I’ve read: 5

Books: De laatkomer [The Late Arrival] by Dimitri Verhulst [DONE], IV by Arjen Lubach [DONE], Poollicht by Jolanda Linschoten [DONE]; The Perfume Collector by Kathleen Tessaro [DONE], A Trick I Learned from Dead Men by Kitty Aldridge [DONE], The Thief by Fuminori Nakamura

Comments: I read hardly anything but had a great day. I went shopping in Amsterdam with a friend, followed by an evening with author Joe Dunthorne and 25 strangers, talking about his book Wild Abandon. 

Sunday – final day!

Number of pages read today: 155 pages in The Thief by Fuminori Nakamura (from page 57 – 212, the end) plus 95 pages in Down the Darkest Road by Tami Hoag (from page 5-200) = 250 pages

Total number of pages I’ve read:  1561

Number of books I’ve read today: Finished one book today

Total number of books I’ve read: 6 [and a half]

Books: De laatkomer [The Late Arrival] by Dimitri Verhulst [DONE], IV by Arjen Lubach [DONE], Poollicht by Jolanda Linschoten [DONE]; The Perfume Collector by Kathleen Tessaro [DONE], A Trick I Learned from Dead Men by Kitty Aldridge [DONE], The Thief by Fuminori Nakamura [DONE], Down the Darkest Road by Tami Hoag

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Book spine poetry:

After a Starter For Ten,

The Uninvited Guests

Don’t Sing at the Table.

But Left Neglected,

They Replay Popular Music

With the Queen of the Big Time

I’ll be updating this list during the week and let’s see if I get to my five books!

Are you joining in?

The 24 Hour Read-A-Thon!

It’s time to start the 24 Hour Read-a-thon! Almost 500 book bloggers and other book lovers all over the world will be reading as much as they can within 24 hours. Some will read 6 hours, some will try and read the full 24 hours.

Everyone starts at the same time, 12 GMT, which is 2pm for me here in the Netherlands. As I was going to be on holiday, I did not expect to be able to join in. But now that I can, I will! Only, I will give my family priority this time.

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Here’s where I will update my progress.

Starting questionnaire:

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today? I’m from near Utrecht, in the centre of The Netherlands.
2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to? Probably The Travel Auction because it looks like a nice, light read.
3) Which snack are you most looking forward to? Ooops! I didn’t really prepare any snacks, but I know we have crisps, peanuts, chocolate – enough to keep me happy.
4) Tell us a little something about yourself! I wasn’t going to take part and now that I am, I’m 2 hours behind! But I’m all ready to go now.
5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to? I’m less prepared compared to other times, because I wasn’t going to take part. It’s a last-minute thing.

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Hours 1-2: I spent the first 2 hours in a bowling/pool centre playing pool and darts with my family. It’s holidays here in the Netherlands so they needed a fun outing. Now it’s time to start reading.

Hours 3-6: I read most of the time, but also got distracted by Twitter and blogposts a lot. But hey, that’s part of the fun! I “finished” my first book Amity and Sorrow, i.e., I only had 64 pages to go in the book. But it feels like an achievement. Then I continued in another book that I had started before the readathon, a Dutch book called Vrij spel. I’m now at page 131. I read a total of 64 + 93 pages = 157 pages so far.

Hours 7-10: I was distracted SO much! There was In it to Win it and The Voice UK on the (British) tv, which is standard fare for us on a Saturday night. I tried to read at the same time, but. At last I finished a book, Vrij spel, but now it’s midnight, and I’ll just read a little bit in my next book, The Travel Auction, but then it’s time for a sleep. I’ll continue tomorrow morning – the readathon finishes at 2pm for me. I read another 125 pages + 157 pages = 282 pages so far. How sad. That’s nothing!!!

Hours 11-17: I was fast asleep.

Hours 18-19: I read in bed. I’ve got to page 109 in The travel Auction, which means I read 109 + 282 pages = 391 pages so far.

Hours 20-24: I had a bath and breakfast and finished (with half an hour spare) my second book, The Travel Auction. So, in the end, I read just 2-and-a-bit books. But that’s fine. The more books I read, the more reviews I have to write!

I read a total of 575 pages. Not as much as some times, but not really all that bad. I had a great time taking part when I thought I wouldn’t (take part, that is).

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End of Readathon Questionnaire:

1. Which hour was most daunting for you? None, because I went to bed just after midnight (hour 11) and had 6.5 hours of sleep.
2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? I enjoyed Amity & Sorrow by Peggy Riley, which I think would be a good one.
3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? No, it’s getting better organised each year.
4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon? The hourly posts were all nicely on time.
5. How many books did you read? 2 and a bit
6. What were the names of the books you read? Amity and Sorrow by Peggy Riley; The Travel Auction by Mark Green; Vrij spel by Carlijn Vis
7. Which book did you enjoy most? Not sure, they were all good in their own way.
8. Which did you enjoy least? -
9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders? -
10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time? Very likely! I’d be a cheerleader, I think – I didn’t sign up this time because I wasn’t going to be around for the readathon.

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These are the books I’m planning to read:

DONE Amity and Sorrow by Peggy Riley. Two sisters and their mother ran away from their polygamous father and husband. 249 pages total, ebook. I read 185 pages before the read-a-thon, so I’m almost done with it. DONE Read 64 pages.

DONE The Travel Auction by Mark Green. A man advertises for a female travel companion. Chick-lit (ish). 287 pages total, ebook. DONE Read 293 pages

My Soul to Take by Yrsa Sigurdardottir. A thriller taking place in Iceland. 416 pages total.

Stern by Thomas Heerma van Voss. Dutch. A hardworking teacher is made redundant. 224 pages total, ebook.

DONE Vrij spel by Carlijn Vis. Dutch. Historical novel about WWII. 256 pages total. I read 38 pages before the read-a-thon started. DONE Read 218 pages.

Important Artifacts and Personal Property from the Collection of Lenore Doolan and Harold Morris, Including Books, Street Fashion, and Jewelry by Leanne Shapton. The story of a divorce told in the form of an auction catalog. 144 pages total.

I don’t expect to read them all, but it leaves me a bit of freedom to choose.

Once I’ve started reading, I’ll be back with regular updates.

Are you participating? What will you be reading?

Please leave a link to your starting post so I can easily find you.

Easter Read-a-Thon

I’m joining Kate of Nose in a Book in her Easter Read-a-Thon. From Friday morning until Monday evening we’ll be reading!

I need a goal. I can do a 24-hour read-a-thon and read many of those hours, and do nothing else. I cannot read 4 days straight, so I need to set a different challenge: I’ll be reading one book a day for four days. The last time I read a book a day I didn’t like it one bit. But that was a week, and it was exactly one book in each day. This time, I hope to average one book a day, so I don’t need to start and finish a book on each day. That’s a bit more relaxed!

This is what I’m planning to read:

Four books for four days. Three of them are Dutch, two of them you might recognise, the others you probably won’t have heard of (unless you’re Dutch, maybe) -

1. DONE - I’ve already started with Het Diner [The Dinner] by Herman Koch. I’ve read it before but now that it’s so popular in the English translation, I decided to re-read it. I’ve got a flip-back book version, a nice, handy format. It’s the first time I read such a book.

It’s about two brothers and their wives who meet up for a meal in a restaurant. The story is told by one of the men and I find his observations very funny.

2. DONE -  Starters by Lissa Price. My son read this YA book and loved it. I had seen it on some people’s blogs, too, so I now want to see for myself what it’s like.

It’s a dystopian story involving body banks and a cool teenage girl who is to carry out a dangerous assignment.

3. Dieptepunt [Low Point] by Maria Rijk. A Dutch book I came across in the library. I’ve never heard of this (Dutch) writer but the book looked interesting.

A thriller about a woman who is attacked by another (unknown) woman. This affects her life thoroughly.

4. Een stil vertrek [A Quiet Departure] by Annette Zeelenberg. A Dutch book I’ve had for ages, it’s on my to-read list for March anyway, so the read-a-thon is a good time to read it.

Kay leaves the Netherlands very suddenly for a job in the USA. She feels unsafe and buys herself a little pistol, that she uses to threaten a man with. He claims to have come to protect her. Sounds really weird!

What will you be reading this Easter?

Thankfully Reading Weekend 2012: Wrap-Up Post

This weekend was the Thankfully Reading Weekend that lasted from Thursday morning until Sunday night. A good excuse to spend a lot of time reading over the Thanksgiving weekend (in USA, or just any old weekend here in the Netherlands ).

These were the books I attempted:

• Heft by Liz Moore – FINISHED I had read 82 pages before, so for this read-a-thon I started counting at page 83!
• Nacht in Parijs (Night in Paris) by Michael Berg –  FINISHED I had read 35 pages already so I started counting at 36. This is an ebook.
• The Sealed Letter by Emma Donoghue. READING I’m reading this in Dutch, for review.
• Eerst een huis (First a House) by Cathelijn Schilder. Never got round to it

I didn’t read all that much on Thursday and Friday, managing 391 pages in total. On Saturday I finished the first 2 books, and read 396 pages that day. Not bad! On Sunday I read another 200 pages, making a grand total of 987 pages.

Wow! That’s almost 1,000 pages in 4 days!

I loved joining in with this read-a-thon! Thanks to the organisers, Jenn of Jenn’s Bookshelves and Jennifer of The Literary Housewife!

 

Thankfully Reading Weekend 2012: Starting Post

Today, Thursday, is the start of the Thankfully Reading Weekend that lasts until Sunday night. A good excuse to spend a lot of time reading over the Thanksgiving weekend (in USA, or just any old weekend here in the Netherlands  ).

It’s not easy to choose from all the great books on my shelves but in the end I chose these (and started some already before the read-a-thon):

• Heft by Liz Moore – FINISHED I had read 82 pages already, so for this read-a-thon I’ll start counting at page 83!
• Nacht in Parijs (Night in Paris) by Michael Berg –  FINISHED I had read 35 pages already so I’ll start counting at 36. This is an ebook.
• The Sealed Letter by Emma Donoghue. READING NOW I’ll be reading this in Dutch, for review.
• Eerst een huis (First a House) by Cathelijn Schilder.

As always, this looks like too many books, but it’s something to aim for. I’d hope to finish the first three books and make a dent in the fourth. I’ll update as I go along and let you know on Sunday night how I did!

First update: Friday morning- Yesterday I read to page 110 in Heft, i.e., 27 pages. I read to page 156 in Nacht in Parijs, i.e., 120 pages. Total Thursday: 147 pages. Today, Friday, is a normal day and I have several other things on my to-do list. Hopefully the afternoon/evening will be spent with some extra reading.

Second update: Saturday morning- Yesteday I did read a bit more than usual, but as it was a normal Friday for me, I didn’t read all that much: I almost finished Heft, I read to page 312, whish is 202 pages. I read to page 198 in Nacht in Parijs, which is 42 pages. So, Friday I read a total of 244 pages which makes a grand total so far of 391 pages.

Today, Saturday, I have more time to read (although the Saturday newspaper is winking at me, too) so I should be able to finish both books and start in the third. Happy reading everyone!

Sunday morning update: Finally I finished the first 2 books! On Saturday, I finished Heft, 352 page total, is 40 pages read. Nacht in Parijs has a total of 337 pages, so I read 139 pages. Total- 377 pages. Start with Sealed Letter, and read 19 pages (to page 30). Total for Saturday: 396 pages, grand total for the long weekend: 787 pages.

Today it’s windy and gray, and we have no plans. Except for a walk, I think I’ll just read a bit a lot.

Are you joining in? Sign up HERE.

The 24-Hour Read-A-Thon- Finishing Line

It’s the end of the 24 Hour Read-a-thon! More than 400 book bloggers and other book lovers all over the world have read as much as they can within the last 24 hours. Some have read 6 hours, some have tried to read the full 24 hours.

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End of Event Questionnaire:

1. Which hour was most daunting for you? Hour 24, because even though I had slept for 7 hours from hours 12-19, I still had an after lunch dip in the final hour (it’s 2pm here).
2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? Forgotten by Catherine McKenzie is an engaging read and I’m planning to keep reading it today. 
3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? No, all is fine.
4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon? The posts on the readathon page seem all to go up on time and there were some great mini-challenges.
5. How many books did you read? 3.5
6. What were the names of the books you read? Mrs Queen Takes the Train by William Kuhn, Tweestrijd [Duel] by Linda Jansma, Strangers on the 16:02 by Priya Basil and (not finished) Forgotten by Catherine McKenzie.
7. Which book did you enjoy most? I actually enjoyed them all, but Forgotten is a great read.
8. Which did you enjoy least? None.
9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders? N/a
10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time? Definitely. Reader and maybe cheerleader.

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In my earlier post, you can read what I did during the 24 hours. In short, I read for 17 hours (about 45 minutes of each of those 17 hours, because I checked other people’s blogs and tweeted too). I slept for 7 hours from hour 11 to hour 19. I finished 3.5 books and have 1.5 books left from the to-read pile. But I knew I was never going to read them all, so I’m pleased with that result.

Total pages read: 1143

These were the books on my to-read list for the readathon:

That’s three English books and two in Dutch:

• DONE – Strangers on the 16:02 by Prya Basil – Less than 100 pages, for an interlude between bigger books
• HALF – Way – Forgotten by Catherine McKenzie – easy-going chick-lit
• DONE – Mrs. Queen Takes the Train by William Kuhn – a fun book about the queen going undercover.
  
• DONE – Tweestrijd [Duel] by Linda Jansma – a Dutch thriller
• The Red House by Mark Haddon – My back-up book for if one of the others is a disappointment, or if I finish them all

Have you participated?

How many hours did you read?

The 24-Hour Read-A-Thon Is Starting!

It’s time to start the 24 Hour Read-a-thon! More than 400 book bloggers and other book lovers all over the world will be reading as much as they can within 24 hours. Some will read 6 hours, some will try and read the full 24 hours.

Everyone starts at the same time, 12 GMT, which is 2pm for me here in the Netherlands.

I’ll read as much as I can as I have no other commitments (of course not! I kept this weekend free for the read-a-thon). I’ll update regularly – for today in this post and tomorrow in a new post.

Come back if you like to check up on me and cheer me on. If you’re also taking part, leave me a comment and I’ll come and visit you too.

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Introductory Questionnaire:

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today? I’m from the Netherlands and live in a small town near Utrecht, in the center of the country.
2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to? I’m looking forward to Forgotten by Catherine McKenzie, because all her books are such fun and light reads. 
3) Which snack are you most looking forward to? I’ve got some white chocolate and cranberry cookies – I could eat the whole packet but I think I’ll share with the family.
4) Tell us a little something about yourself! This is my 5th or so readathon and I know I will need a rest in the middle. The local time is 2pm now (at starting time). I read over 150 books per year and have a Dutch book blog in addition to this one.
5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to? I’ve tried to find books that are easy reads. I often end up reading that one big book that I’ve been looking at for a long time, and while that’s OK, it might mean I only finish 1.5 books or so in total. I hope to get to 3 or 4 today.

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At 16:00 (after 2 hours): I’m 100 pages into Mrs Queen Takes the Train. My friend has joined me, she’s reading for school. We’ve been drinking tea and eating cookies. No mini challenges done yet.

At 18:00 (after 4 hours): I read another 115 pages, now at page 215 of Mrs Queen Takes the Train. My friend has left, she got a great deal read for her school assignment so she was really pleased with the reading-enhancing atmosphere at my house. With tea, cookies and nuts. Now making a simple dinner.

At 20:00 (after 6 hours): I am at page 308 of Mrs Queen Takes the Train now. I seem to be reading about 50 pages per hour. My kids are a little difficult, which would not be strange if they were 5 years old with me reading all the time, but they’re 13 and 15. The 13yo doesn’t think playing computer for most of the day is enough. He wants to play after dinner, too. But that’s not going to happen. So, there is the usual teenager/parent squabbling. Keeping that in mind, reading the amount I did is pretty good. 3/4 way into the book. Still fun.

At 22:00 (after 8 hours): I have finished my first book! All 446 pages of Mrs Queen Takes the Train. It was a fun book, 4 stars. I better write some short review notes before I continue with the next book, Tweestrijd. Doritos and salsa have been consumed. I decided not to join in all the mini-challenges because I don’t actually want to win any more books or book vouchers for the moment, or to put it differently: I have so many books to read still, that I would rather that other people win those mini-challenges. In case you wonder: I do tend to win at these things. Somehow.

At midnight (after 10 hours): I am well into my second book, Tweestrijd. I read 126 pages. This is a thriller and it’s very engaging so I almost forget the time (and this update). Soon, I’ll be going upstairs and read a bit more in bed. Goodnight!

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At 8am (after 18 hours): Yawn! I’m awake and ready for the final 6 hours. My husband is distracting me by suggesting an impromptu short holiday in Spain (I’m tempted, but… the hassle!) but for now I’ll keep reading. I’m at page 187 in the Dutch thriller Tweestrijd, over half-way (and it’s good!). While the boys are still asleep, I better get some more pages read!

At 10am (after 20 hours): I’ve finished Tweestrijd, 309 pages. Total Pages so far: 755. I’ll have a bath now and plan to read Strangers on the 16:02 next.

At 12noon (after 22 hours): I’ve finished Strangers on the 16:02 (96 pages) and started Forgotten, I’m 85 pages in – and I’m really enjoying it. I won’t be able to finish the 400+ pages within two hours, but I’ll get over half-way at least. Lunchtime.

Also read my final post.

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These are the books I’m planning to read:

That’s three English books and two in Dutch:

• DONE- Strangers on the 16:02 by Prya Basil – Less than 100 pages, for an interlude between bigger books
• Forgotten by Catherine McKenzie – easy-going chick-lit
• DONE – Mrs. Queen Takes the Train by William Kuhn – a fun book about the queen going undercover.
  
• DONE – Tweestrijd [Duel] by Linda Jansma – a Dutch thriller
• The Red House by Mark Haddon – My back-up book for if one of the others is a disappointment, or if I finish them all

I’m starting with Mrs. Queen Takes the Train and will then read Tweestrijd. I’m expecting to finish two, maybe three books at the very most, but you never know. From experience I know I always read less than I would like.

I’ve bought some nice food to keep me happy. If you need any food ideas see this guest post by Kristin of Peace, Love, and Muesli about good foods for the read-a-thon.

Are you participating? What will you be reading?

Please leave a link to your starting post so I can easily find you.