Bout of Books 15 Read-a-thon

 

Happy New Year! It is finally the time for Bout of Books 15! I feel like participating in a readathon is the perfect way to kickstart a new reading year, and I look forward to a week (and a year) full of new stories, adventures, and characters! For anyone who doesn’t know what Bout of Books is, read on.

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, January 4th and runs through Sunday, January 10th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 15 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team

If that sounds like something you’d like (what’s not to like?), be sure to join!

Monday

• Pages Read: 114
• Books Finished: 1

Monday was not the best reading day, but I did manage to finish Library of Souls by Ransom Riggs. It was a fast-paced, action-packed and exciting read, and a great conclusion to a very unique and strange series. I definitely liked it better than the previous instalment, though not as much as the first book, which is, and will always remain, my favorite. The ending felt very rushed and too convenient; I would have preferred not to have the last chapter at all. But all in all, I am a fan of both this series and Ransom Riggs, whose imagination and masterful writing kept me entertained for hours on end.

Tuesday

• Pages Read: 117 (Total: 231)
• Books Finished: 1

I have been reading Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard and despite the hype and very mixed reviews I am enjoying it a lot so far. True, the story is not at all unique and has that “commoner becomes a princess” trope, but it is quite fast-paced and the main character is beautifully flawed and morally ambiguous, and the secondary characters seem very interesting.

Wednesday

• Pages Read: 88 (Total: 319)
• Books Finished: 1

Meh, I would have loved to read more, but with the busy, festive day I had, I am still quite proud of my 88 pages. Let me tell you, I am still enjoying Red Queen a lot, but, objectively, it does lack originality and world building. The main character Mare reminds me of so many YA heroins – Celaena (Throne of Glass), Katniss (The Hunger Games), Tris (Divergent), Alina (The Grisha Trilogy) – in the sense that she is strong, very good at hiding her emotions, very bad-ass, and working against the “system”. Though it is all wonderful, I would have loved it more if Mare was more unique.

Thursday

• Pages Read: 66 (Total: 385)
• Books Finished: 1

I can’t believe how slowly my reading is going. I really hope to catch up over the weekend. So many books, so little time. Red Queen annoys me a little right now, yet I am still enjoying the heck out of it. Only a little bit is left, and I cannot wait to see what happens.

Friday

• Pages Read: 258 (Total: 643)
• Books Finished: 2

On Friday I finished Red Queen. Overall, I really liked it. The plot “twists” did not surprise me at all, and I was kind of annoyed at that, since I saw them coming since the first chapters. But the fact that things are always more complicated than they seem definitely adds to the reading experience – building a new world should not be easy, and anyone can betray anyone. (By the way, we are told that anyone can betray anyone very early in the book, and this phrase was very prominent in the story, so I guess that is why the “twist” wasn’t at all twist-y.) I also started Passenger by Alexandra Bracken, and managed to read a third of the book. I absolutely love it so far. The plot is very enticing; the language – beautiful and descriptive; the setting – absolutely amazing; the main characters – interesting and intriguing, and very authentic.

Saturday

• Pages Read: 159 (Total: 802)
• Books Finished: 2

I am still reading Passenger, and I really, really, really love it! It is a very exciting adventure and time-traveling story that also deals with very serious topics, e.g., women equality and race issues. I can’t wait to finish it!

Sunday

• Pages Read: 191 (Total: 993)
• Books Finished: 3

On the last day of Bout of Books I finished Passenger by Alexandra Bracken, and it is definitely my favorite book of this year so far. I enjoyed it immensely! I also started Truthwitch by Susan Dennard, but 20 pages in, I couldn’t get into reading, so I just went to sleep. Will probably re-read it from the beginning once more today.

Wrap-up

I really enjoyed this Bout of Books readathon; I read a total of 993 pages (couldn’t read those 7 pages to reach a 1,000 for the life of me), and finished 3 books. I finished both the books I started last year (Library of Souls and Red Queen), and picked up a new release (Passenger), which I loved! Passenger is the kind of story I loved reading as a kid – a girl looking for treasure, traveling through space and time, having adventures of her life. I have never re-read a book, but I have a little list of books I would like to re-read in the future, and Passenger is there alongside with Outlander. Hope you had a great reading week, as well, and I’ll definitely see you for Bout of Books 16.0!