Bout of Books 8.0 - Wrap-up

And so ends yet another read-a-thon. Bout of Books 8.0 officially ended Sunday at midnight. After 7 long days I'd have to say I'm fairly pleased with how I did. Although I didn't finish all the books I had included in my TBR at the start I was still able to read well over 150 pages a day. My original goal of 150 pages for Monday to Thursday and then 250 pages Friday to Sunday would have totalled 1350 pages, only 90 pages more than what I did accomplish and I picked up a couple other books that I hadn't planned on.

Rapture by Lauren Kate: This first book I had started prior to the RAT and then finished during it, banking 268 pages. I gave it 4/5 (though a slightly lesser 4/5 than the 4/5 I gave its predecessor, Passion). I listened to the audiobook by the lovely Justine Eyre. She does such a great job with giving each character a recognizable voice. I listened to it over Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

 

Blood Brothers in Louisbourg by Philip Roy: This  next book I also started prior to the read-a-thon but dispite a valiant attempt I didn't finish it during the week (Monday, Tuesday & Saturday) as I found its small print was eating up my time & the storyline (so far) wasn't intriguing me enough to want me to read the next page, the next chapter, etc. I hope to finish it sometime soon though when I get more time to devote to it. I had such high hopes for this book. I banked 48 pages with this book.

Hard Run by Tsugumi Ohba: The first book I picked up and began once the read-a-thon started was this next book. I also finished in completely on Monday, banking 193 pages and giving it 4/5 as I continue with the Death Note series of graphic novels.

Left Neglected by Lisa Genova: Continuing with my planned TBR, I picked up this adult contemporary book on Tuesday. I continued reading it Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, banking 322 pages and giving it 5/5 as I absolutely loved it! It really changed my outlook on life and how we take for granted things like knowing left exists and being able to see the left side of the world around us. It is also a definite contender for one of my favourite books of the year and for sure my favourite book I read during this RAT. Not my favourite cover for this book but here's the one I read:

Spore by Alex Scarrow: On Saturday I also bought/downloaded this short story which is #8 in the Doctor Who E-Shorts series which are released one per month on the 23rd and are each based on a reincarnation of The Doctor from the first (William Hartnell) to the eleventh (Matt Smith) by well-known children's authors. This one was thus based on the Eighth reincarnation played by Paul McGann, whom was only seen in Doctor Who the movie in 1996 however there are several books that depict more of his adventures. This e-short banked 40 pages towards my total and I gave it 4/5 stars. My most anticipated ebook in this series will be that of the tenth doctor, David Tennant, which will be released this October.

Love by Tsugumi Ohba: After such an emotional and thought prevoking book like Left Neglected I needed something fun to keep my reading going. That's where this book came in, the fourth in the Death Note series of graphic novels. I picked it up on Saturday and finished it the next day, banking 204 pages and giving it also a 4/5 as this one came out with some pretty funny lines that had me laughing out loud at times. Just what I needed.

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater: By Saturday I realized I was missing out on adding to my page counts because I no longer had an audiobook on the go. Time when I was merely driving back and forth to work, and cooking and eating dinner were time being wasted as I was unable to read/hold a physical book at the same time. So I started this one. I love Maggie Stiefvater's books in audio as they always include some music at the beginning and end that she composed and performed herself. I also figured, since I also had a hardcopy of this book, that I could switch back and forth between the two mediums based on the situation. This was enjoyable but I found I was often relistening to sections of the book I had physically read just to read had the narrator said and name or how a new character's accent came across. I am still making my way through this book/audiobook but banked 185 pages of it during the RAT (Saturday and Sunday).

Here's my totals:

Day One/Monday: 250 pages
Day Two/Tuesday: 41 pages
Day Three/Wednesday: 199 pages
Day Four/Thursday: 166 pages
Day Five/Friday: 111 pages
Day Six/Saturday: 301 pages
Day Seven/Sunday: 193 pages

Weekly Total: 1260 pages
Daily Average: 180 pages
Books/Graphic Novels/Novellas Finished: 5
Partial Reads: 2

Let me know how you did if you participated in this read-a-thon, if you've read any of these books and would like to share your opinion (spoiler-free) on them, or if you have anything else you'd like to share!