Bob13 Challenge: Your favorite BoB13 read

Today I've decided (/figured out that I'm able...) to participate in another challenge. Once Upon a Chapter has a picture challenge where you find your favorite book in this bout of books so far.

This was surprisingly hard because on one hand I'm currently reading The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay and I'm really enjoying it, on the other hand I really loved How to Build a Girl by Caitlin Moran, which is the book that comes victorious out of this simply because I know how it ends. Who knows, maybe Lions will fall apart completely in the last 150 pages? (I don't thinks so, but I don't know for sure).

BoB13: Bookish Survey

This is a challenge hosted by Lori at Writing My Own Fairy Tale. And since challenges are fun (and social, which is half the bout of books fun) I thought I'd join in. 

The questions in this challenge are as follows:

1. How do you organize your shelves?

I tried to organize them by genre/type and then just go alphabetically, but because I've got a three-layer thing going on in one shelf, and the other is very long under a sloping ceiling I inevitably end up re-arranging that bit by height (even though I've had it by genre/alphabet before).  Below are pictures, well, the first one is mostly just a blur, but you get the idea, that's the one with three layers! Sorry about the quality of some of these photos, it is super dark and rainy outside today and my room is not very well lit. 

My unread books are in actual piles:

 Then there's my looooong shelf, which didn't fit into one picture, so you get two. The second picture starting where the first ends:

2. What is one of your favorite book that’s not in one of your favorite genres?

I don't know. Most of what I read these days is fantasy or young adult. I think I'll have to say Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf or Goodbye to Berlin by Christopher Isherwood perhaps? This is too hard!

3. What is the last 5 star book you read?

According to Goodreads that was Råta by Siri Pettersen, which is probably true (for now). The last English-language 5 star book I read was Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz, which was super sweet and made me cry a lot. 

4. What book are you most excited to read during the read-a-thon?

All of them? While I am very exited to get through most of my currently reading list (7 books in total, 6 left at time of writing). I'm probably most exited about finishing Carmilla and How to Build a Girl because I have no idea why I haven't already (okay, so maybe I lost How to Build a Girl for a little bit, but then I found it and should have finished it, but no whatever I'd started in between was super exiting and so forth). 

5. What book do you recommend the most?

It's probably Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch becaus the Peter Grant series is my favourite! Magic, London and a great mix of the horrible with the hilarious! 

The objects in this photo has nothing to do with what is inside the book, I was just too lazy to move them. 

BoB13!

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 11th and runs through Sunday, May 17th 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 13 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

Apparently one does not do one bout of books without signing up for another, and another, and another. You get the point. Next Monday (May 11.)  it's go time again, and I'm officially IN! 

My last attempt was a bit of a failure, but I'm still super happy with myself from our own Taleathon and ready for more hardcore reading! 

I'll try to be chatty and social (which I failed at last time because I was suffering from winter blah-ness), I want to participate in some challenges (because those are so fun!) too. 

Reading goals?

Empty my "currently reading" shelf/list on goodreads. As I write this there are 7 books on there, one I haven't picked up since 2013 so I think this is a great opportunity to either finish the books or capitulate and write them up as unfinished and MOVE ON!

Stats/Sum-ups per day:
Monday:
Books finished: Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu
Books read in/listened to: Small Favor by Jim Butcher (audio)
I also participated in a challenge: Bookish Survey
I am very happy with the day.

Tuesday
Books finished: How to Build a Girl by Caitlin Moran
Books read in/listened to:
Am moderately pleased with today, I hoped to read more, but wasn't up for reading anything more after finishing the book I read in, but I'm very happy to have done that. I loved the book.

Wednesday
Books finished: Small Favour by Jim Butcher
Books read in/listened to: Run Fat Bitch Run
Today was not a good day life wise, but I did finish listening to Small Favour which is what I planned, and as I am writing this I am planning to read a little bit in a book I've not picked up since 2013 because I got so angry with it (I don't have too much left, I think...).

Thursday
Books finished: Run Fat Bitch Run
Books read in/listened to: Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed and The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay

I finished the running book last night, but since it was after midnight I'm couting it for today. I also read about a hundred pages of The Lions of Al-Rassan and listened to three-four hours of Wild. All in all a very good day, even if I was supposed to read Lions and only that, but couldn't stay away from an audiobook, and I had started it previously, so technically it counts, even if I hadn't originally planned on finishing it. Now it seems that I will.

Friday
Books finished: None
Books read in/listened to: Wild and The Lions of Al-Rassan. I've gotten pretty far in both of those and expect to finish by the end of the weekend, if life doesn't get too much in the way (which it might because I've got plans for Saturday and Sunday is our national day. Which means that there will be less reading than the other days, but I feel relatively confident.

Saturday
Books finished: None
Books read in/listened to: Wild

Sunday
Books finished: Wild
Books read in/listened to: Wild and The Lions of Al-Rassan.

Grand total:
Books finished: 3
I participated in two challenges, commented on a bunch of blogs, and hung out a bit on twitter. I missed the bookchat I'd planned on, but I figured hanging out with real life people was probably something I should do (also go see a movie). I still have three books to read according to my goodreads "currently reading" and my goal was to empty it, but I finished two books I'd been reading for quite some time, and one I only recently started.

I have very little left of The Lions of Al-Rassan though, so I'll be done with that too soon, and my list of books I've started, but never finished (but want to) is going to be down to two, one of which I only very recently started. I just abandoned that one because I wanted to listen to an audiobook instead (that was Wild btw). So I'm writing this up as a successful readathon!

-Kristine