Bout of Books 6.0: Master Post and Goals

 

Yes, the time has finally come.  It's my last day at work for over a week, which is insanely exciting because 1) NO CUSTOMER GRIPES ALL WEEK! and 2) in a beautiful, beautiful twist of fate, this unusual January week off just HAPPENS to fall at the same time as Bout of Books 6.0.  THIS HAS NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE!  I usually have to work six days out of seven and get one day off, not the other way around!  THIS IS SO BRILLIANT!

Okay, now, in case you've been living under a rock (by which I of course mean "actually have a life outside the blogosphere"), or haven't read-a-thonned before, or missed my hearty participation last time around, here's the official blurb:

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 at 12:01am on Monday 7 January and runs through to the end of Sunday 13 January 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 6.0 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog.

- From the Bout of Books 6.0 team

 

 

~ My Goals ~

 

My first goal is to finish Jane Eyre.  It took me ages to read the (long, academic) introduction, but given that I first read this book when I was... six??... and it's super-gripping and exciting and one of my favourites, I'm thinking that the actual novel won't take so long!  All the Harry Potter talk sweeping the blogosphere right now (YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE, POTTER PEOPLE) is making me itchy to start a reread of my own, so I'd also like to read Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone this week. 

 

 

And just to push things a little bit, I'd like to maybe get a good way through - or even finish - ONE other book.  Something I've been dying to read, bought recently, or got for Christmas perhaps.  I'm not going to add all the covers because frankly, the broken Blogger upload thingy is driving me crazy - but my options include:

• Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn
• The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry - Rachel Joyce
• Ready Player One - Ernest Cline
• The Day of the Triffids - John Wyndham
• The Fault In Our Stars - John Green
• The Little Bookstore of Big Stone Gap - Wendy Welch
• Lightning Rods - Helen DeWitt
• The Killer Inside Me - Jim Thompson
• The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin

Books aside, I'm also hoping to lay down a kind of unofficial rule for the week, in which I'd like to finish reading by about 8pm and then watch a movie each night.  I might not end up doing that EVERY night, but it'd be nice to get to 8pm and have a choice!  Normally, when we've taken a break over Christmas and New Year, I've spent a fair amount of time watching new movies on TV and catching up on some of the DVDs my sister or I have bought but that I haven't watched yet.  When we're at work I tend to go to bed early and get up early, so I miss a lot of movies on TV in the evening and don't always make time for any of my new DVDs, and it sucks!

 

So I'm going to choose from some of my (and my sister's) new movies this week too!  Some I've had for ages but haven't watched.  Some Hannah's bought and I haven't borrowed them yet.  Some I've bought recently or had for Christmas.  My options include:

• Jane Eyre - starring Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender
• Batman Begins - starring Christian Bale and Michael Caine
• Seeking a Friend for the End of the World - starring Steve Carell and Keira Knightley
• Life As We Know It - starring Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel
• Midnight in Paris - starring Owen Wilson and Rachel McAdams
• Snow White and the Huntsman - starring Kristen Stewart and Charlize Theron
• The Phantom of the Opera - starring Emmy Rossum and Gerard Butler
• The Decoy Bride - starring David Tennant and Kelly Macdonald
• Hulk - starring Edward Norton and Liv Tyler
• X-Men: First Class - starring James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender
• Easy A - starring Emma Stone and Amanda Bynes
• The Kids are All Right - starring Julianne Moore and Annette Bening
• Angel - starring Romola Garai and Sam Neill
• New stand-up DVDs by Jon Richardson, Rhod Gilbert, Dara O'Briain and Michael McIntyre

 

~ My Updates ~

 

I'll be updating here on the blog, as well as on Twitter.  My handle is @Bookshop_Girl, and I'll be using the read-a-thon hashtag #boutofbooks.

 

Since I like to keep my read-a-thon updates chatty, and add pictures, and participate in challenges, and all that jazz, I'm going to start a new post for each day of the read-a-thon.  I'll post the basic template first thing each morning and add updates, photos, statistics and challenge entries throughout the day.  Wash, rinse, repeat!  I'll add the links to each post here for quick reference.

 

1.  Monday

2.  Tuesday

3.  Wednesday

4.  Thursday

5.  Friday

6.  Saturday

7.  Sunday

8.  Wrap-up post

 

 

Good luck to all my fellow Bout of Books-ers - and feel free to leave your links, comments, encouraging words or random book-addled thoughts at the bottom of any of my posts this week and I'll do my best to return the visit!