Next week I will be participating in Bout of Books 4.0. Bout of Books is a read-a-thon going on from 5/14 – 5/2o and it’s hosted by Amanda at On A Book Bender. In addition to lots of fun reading there are challenges, giveaways, twitter meet-ups, etc. Sign up!

So. In the interest of reading as much as possible (and because I’m, like, 10 reviews behind already) I won’t be posting reviews immediately. I plan to update pretty much every day and hopefully participate in a few of the challenges, but the actual reviews will come some time next month since my posts are already scheduled through the first week of June.

My goal for next week is to read 7 books. I average 4-5 so that’s a pretty big jump. I am hoping to actually do more than 7 because I am really trying to get some of my library pile out of the way in order to read all of the ARCs I have waiting for me. I’ve got some short and/or illustrated books near the top of the pile so doing 7+ should be doable.

Here’s the list of what I plan to read:

1. The Children and the Wolves by Adam Rapp
2. Titanic: Voices from the Disaster by Deborah Hopkinson
3. The Girl in the Park by Mariah Fredericks
4. Steampunk Poe by Edgar Allan Poe/Zdeno Basic
5. White Horse by Alex Adams
6. The Little Woods by McCormick Templeman (ARC)
7. Long Lankin by Lindsey Barraclough (ARC)

Are you participating in Bout of Books? If so, please leave me the link to your goals so I can check them out!

Updates

Monday 5/14
Read: Last 101 pages of Masque of the Red Death, Titanic: Voices from the Disaster
Total Number of Pages: 405
Total Number of Books Completed: 1

Tuesday 5/15
Read: 52 pages of Steampunk Poe (DNF), 205 pgs of Mr. Funny Pants by Michael Showalter
Total Number of Pages: 257
Cumulative Number of Pages: 662
Total Number of Books Completed: 0
Cumulative Number of Books Completed: 1

Wednesday 5/16
Read: last 83 pgs of Mr. Funny Pants by Michael Showalter, first 150 pages of 50 Shades of Grey
Total Number of Pages: 233
Cumulative Number of Pages: 895
Total Number of Books Completed: 1
Cumulative Number of Books Completed: 2

I’m already falling behind on my goal! But I’ve decided to change up some of the books I originally picked. I’ve never been one to stick to a schedule.

Thursday 5/17
Read: Last 364 pages of 50 Shades of Grey
Total Number of Pages: 364
Cumulative Number of Pages: 1259
Total Number of Books Completed: 1
Cumulative Number of Books Completed: 3

Friday 5/18
Read: Nothing…booooo.
Total Number of Pages: 0
Cumulative Number of Pages: 1259
Total Number of Books Completed: 0
Cumulative Number of Books Completed: 3

Because I can never get involved in too many challenges, I’ve decided to sign up for another. This makes four, I think! The Stand Alone Reading Challenge is hosted by Britta at I Like These Books and Hafsah from IceyBooks. The rules are easy-peasy…read 15 standalone books published in 2012.

I’ve decided to read based on this list:

1. Fracture by Megan Miranda
2. Struck by Jennifer Bosworth
3. The Other Life by Susanne Winnacker
4. This is Not a Test by Courtney Summers
5. Partials by Dan Wells
6. New Girl by Paige Harbison
7. Dead to You by Lisa McMann
8. Monstrous Beauty by Elizabeth Fama
9. Mystique by Shari Arnold
10. The Book of Blood and Shadow by Robin Wasserman
11. Dark Eyes by William Richter
12. Trafficked by Kim Purcell
13. Cursed by Jennifer L. Armentrout
14. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
15. Ripper by Amy Carol Reeves

Looking forward to 2012 to start the challenges!

Since I’ve already joined the Debut Author Reading Challenge, I figured it made sense to add this one as well. It’s hosted by Shanyn at Chick Loves Lit.  The way it works is pretty simple and exactly how it sounds – any second YA or MG book published by an author in 2012 counts. You pick 10 novels that qualify, read them before January 2013, and then post reviews on your blog or GoodReads.

Here’s the list of books I plan to read (this list was super helpful!):

1. Insurgent (Divergent #2) by Veronica Roth
2. Untitled (Mara Dyer #2) by Michelle Hodkin
3. New Girl by Paige Harbison
4. Girl of Nightmares (Anna #2) by Kendare Blake
5. The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken
6. Revived by Cat Patrick
7. Don’t Breathe a Word by Holly Cupala
8. Kill Me Softly by Sarah Cross
9. Ferocity Summer by Alissa Grosso
10. Ashen Winter (Ashfall #2) by Mike Mullin

I may change out some of them for others based on whether I end up reading/liking the first of the series or if something is announced that sounds more interesting. But for the time being, this is what I’m going with.

I’ve decided to take part in the 2012 Debut Author Challenge hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren. The challenge is pretty straightforward – you read and review 12 or more debut young adult or middle grade novels. The dates for the challenge are January 1, 2012 through January 31, 2013. Sounds very do-able, especially since I’ve been reading a lot more YA lately than I have in years past and there are a whole bunch of titles being released in 2012 that interest me.

Here’s the list of what I’m planning to read:

1. Fracture by Megan Miranda
2. Article 5 by Kristen Simmons
3. Slide by Jill Hathaway
4. Struck by Jennifer Bosworth
5. The Other Life by Susanne Winnacker
6. Something Strange and Deadly by Susan Dennard
7. Glitch by Heather Anastasiu
8. Velveteen by Daniel Marks
9. What She Left Behind by Tracy Bilen
10. Mystique by Shari Arnold
11. Touched by Corrinne Jackson
12. Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone by Kat Rosenfield
13. Lies Beneath by Anne Greenwood Brown
14. Croak by Gina Damico

I’ll probably add as I go as well.

I’ve decided to make my first challenge of 2012 the Young Adult Reading Challenge, hosted by Jamie at The Eclectic Bookshelf. The challenge rules are as follows:

• Anyone can join.
• You don’t need a blog to participate.
• Non-Bloggers: Post your list of books in the comment section of the wrap-up post on Jamie’s blog.
• Audio, eBooks, paper, re-reads all count.
• No need to list your books in advance. You may select books as you go. Even if you list them now, you can change the list if needed.
• There are four levels:
• The Mini YA Reading Challenge – Read 12 Young Adult novels.
• The “Fun Size” YA Reading Challenge – Read 20 Young Adult novels.
• The Jumbo Size YA Reading Challenge – Read 40 Young Adult novels.
• The Mega size YA Reading Challenge – Read 50+ Young Adult novels.
•  

  At the risk of being underwhelming, I think I’m going to go with the Fun Size challenge. Chances are I’ll read more YA than that in 2012 but since I like to spread my reading over so many genres I don’t want to feel limited because I’ve committed to so many in one genre. And considering that in 2010 I wouldn’t have even read enough YA to complete the Mini challenge, I’ll be pretty happy with 40.