Bout of Books: Wrap-Up

 

I can't believe how fast this week's flown... but flown it has, and Bout of Books 6.0 is over, and IT'S TIME TO WRAP THIS THING UP. 

 

~ So, how did I do? ~

 

Well, if you take my (unrealistic) goal post as a marker, then... not well.  Aaaah, hindsight.  I'd blithely assumed that I'd glide merrily through Jane Eyre, leaving a couple of days at the end of the week to devour Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone whole and maybe start another book too.  Sadly, once again I had failed to take into account the fact that my ability to read that way has completely crumbled since I was at uni. 

 

These days I have to read most classics (most BOOKS, in fact) semi-aloud under my breath, enjoying the cadence of the language and the complexity of the sentences.  I don't know what it is - overuse of the internet and fast-moving social media, perhaps? - but I USED to just be completely sucked into a book and that was that.  Now, if I try to read, say, a portion of Jane Eyre silently, like a grown-up, my eyes immediately start flicking around the page, my head starts playing whatever song's been stuck in it this week, and within seconds I'm basically just staring blankly at some swimming words while mentally humming Angel of Music from The Phantom of the Opera.  All of which means it's better to whisper to myself like a crazy person, which takes MUCH longer as a reading experience.  *sighs*

 

 

I also hoped, entirely unrealistically, to stop reading at 8pm each night and watch one of the many DVDs I've bought but haven't actually seen yet.  Of course it was always so tempting to just read one more chapter, or I'd get caught up on Twitter, or I'd get chatting with my family, and before I realised where I was it was ten o'clock and I was starting to feel a bit sleepy and it REALLY wouldn't be worth sticking a film on.  I DID watch some movies, but not my own DVDs and they were all crammed into Saturday when me and my sister had a girlie bonding day because she wasn't feeling well...  :)

 

 

~ The Books ~

 

In the end, I read a total of 284 pages this week.  To most of this week's participants that's the kind of number that flew by somewhere around midday on Day 1, it seems!  I'd probably have a much higher count if I had been reading gripping modern novels or YA like I normally do during read-a-thons, but I REALLY wanted to kick my year off with Jane Eyre, so it was worth it really.  I'm nearly halfway through the book and enjoying every moment!  I also read a chunk of A Book Addict's Treasury, mostly when I was eating or had just woken up and wasn't quite ready to dive into life at Thornfield again yet.

 

 

 

~ The DVDs ~

 

I watched three movies and a stand-up DVD this week, but only one of them was my own and the others were all crammed in together on Saturday!

• Funny Magnet - Jon Richardson's new stand-up comedy DVD, which Dad bought me for Christmas.  Very funny, a bit naughty, and full of all the quirks and commentary on social awkwardness that I've come to love!
• Despicable Me - Hannah got this one for Christmas and has been bugging me to watch it for ages!  I was sceptical, but ended up falling in love with it and even welling up a time or two along the way. SHUT UP THERE WERE ORPHANS.
• The Naked Gun - One of Hannah's go-to movies when she needs cheering up.  Nothing like a bit of farcical comedy and plenty of filthy double entendres of a weekend!  ;)
• Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian - We watched this one on telly right after the other two, oops.  I'd never seen it before, but I loved all the cultural references thrown in alongside the historical characters this time.  The famous art works moving and coming alive were fantastic!

 

 

 

~ The Social Stuff ~

 

As always, the social side of Bout of Books was one of the most fun aspects, if also more time-consuming than the reading, I think!  I'm not 100% sure on this, but I THINK I read (or at least skimmed) every #boutofbooks Tweet this week.  Including the two Twitter chats I missed actually participating in.  I realise now that this is absolutely crazy - but it was fun at the time!  Definitely something to reel in next time I think, for my own sanity as well as for the sake of my page count... :)

 

So, aside from stalking the read-a-thon feed generally, I DID actually participate in the first Twitter chat, which was a lot of fun, as always!  The second one was in the middle of the night here, and I think I was watching Naked Gun during the last one, hehe.  I also blog hopped quite a bit, either via Twitter links, from my blogroll, or by strolling through the Bout of Books update lists each day.  I've found some new bloggers to follow, and been followed by a few new people in turn, so that was nice!

 

 

~ My Posts ~

 

I created a new post every day of the read-a-thon and tried to fill each one with fun updates and photos, as well as taking part in challenges throughout the week!

 

• MONDAY - In which I was still at work and generally unproductive, though I DID take part in the Twitter chat and waxed lyrical about the sex appeal of my favourite literary leading men for the Scientific Discovery Challenge.
• TUESDAY - In which I visited a patchwork shop, quoted Keats, sympathised with the young Jane Eyre, fangirled over book covers for the Cover Love Challenge, and decided to marry Jon Richardson.
• WEDNESDAY - In which I ate a muffin, bought snacks, went blog hopping, startled some builders, and wept over poor tragic Helen Burns, before being struck down by the Wisdom Tooth From Hell.
• THURSDAY - In which I ate another muffin, spent too much time on Twitter, accompanied Jane Eyre to Thornfield Hall, compared movie adaptations, and swooned over my favourite vamps for the Vampires in Popular Fiction Challenge.
• FRIDAY - In which I had excellent intentions, tried my hand at amateur bird photography, reached the exciting fiery 'starting to fall in love' bit of Jane Eyre, then stayed up until 2am battling a really vile Trojan on my laptop.
• SATURDAY - In which I didn't read a page, but spent the entire day in the living room watching movies with my sister, started transferring laptops, and completed both the Bookish Dress-Up Challenge AND the Book Crack Challenge. 
• SUNDAY - In which I read A Book Addict's Treasury, talked bookshelf-gazing, fell victim to some familial Richard Armitage-gushery, and got ALL THE FEELS about the Jane vs Blanche Ingram heartache in Jane Eyre.

 

Okay, I think that's everything!  I just want to say thanks to Amanda and Kelly for hosting, organising and entertaining us all once again, and thank you to everyone who's read along and commented and Tweeted in my direction this week.  I really appreciate it, it's been a lot of fun! 

 

Now... roll on Bout of Books 7.0!