The Bout of Books Read-a-Thon was created by Amanda @ On a Book Bender on a complete whim in August 2011. It took on a life of its own and was such a hit that Amanda decided to do it again and turn it into a somewhat regular occurrence. There are no set dates for Bout of Books; rather, Amanda tries to work with Bout of Books participants to determine the best dates for them. – AMANDA, YO.
TIME DEVOTED TO READING
MY GOALS
- Attack at least half my list.
- Find balance between reading and studying.
- Complete at least half the mini-challenges.
- Attend all the Twitter chats, if possible.
- Do not neglect the hubs or kitties.
BOOKS TO READ
I Hunt Killers– This month’s Not So YA Book Club choice!Career Day(I Hunt Killers short)Awaken(again – to prepare for upcoming sequel blog tour) - Currently ReadingPretty When She Dies(also counts for AS, AS and RCCleanup)- Pretty When She Kills (also counts for AS, AS and RCCleanup) – Currently Reading
- Alien Proliferation (also counts for AS, AS)
Natural Evil(also counts for AS, AS)Devil’s Gate(also counts for AS, AS and RCCleanup)- Fairlyand (also counts for AS, AS and RCCleanup)
- Ashes, Ashes (also counts for RCCleanup)
Finding Magic(also counts for AS, AS)Beauty Queens(audio) – Started prior to BoB but finished during!
UPDATES
Monday
Number of books I’ve read today: 2 novellas, 100 pages of I Hunt Killers
Total number of books I’ve read: 2
Books:
Challenges:
My books do a lot of things after I read them. Many sit on my shelf or are passed to friends. Some are cycled through PaperbackSwap.com or sent to family. A few end up at libraries. I’ve heard of BookCrossing.com and have actually received BC books via PaperbackSwap. I should look into that community more.
Tuesday
Number of books I’ve read today: Career Day (I Hunt Killers short), 75 pages of I Hunt Killers, 30% of Finding Magic
Total number of books I’ve read: 3 novellas
Books: Natural Evil, Devil’s Gate, Career Day
Comments: I sucked today. I was not very interested in reading…
Challenges:
The Grammarian’s Review: Relocate!
I’m currently reading I Hunt Killers which is set in a little po dunk town with a population of nil, pretty much. Jazz is the son of a serial killer who is trying desperately not to take over the family business. It’s a morbidly awesome. Anywho, I think we should take Jazz and place him in The Hollows (Kim Harrison). I think he’s make a great addition to Vampiric Charms due to his investigation skills and determination. They already have a ballsy, fiery witch, a vampire that will take you down with her looks as well as her wit, and a pixie with tricks up his tiny sleeves and a very unfiltered mouth. Since this is set in Cincinnati, OH, quite a large population compared to Jazz’s little town, he might need some time to adjust. Of course, meeting Newt, a highly unstable demon, during a run with Rachel might make Jazz rethink his career move…
Curiosity Killed the Bookworm: Limericks
We all seem to love a good story
Some of us even like them gory
But those who do not
May become fraught
And instead will read about john dory
Wednesday
Number of books I’ve read today: 30% of Finding Magic and 45% of Pretty When She Dies.
Total number of books I’ve read: 3 novellas, 1 book, 1 audio book
Books: Natural Evil, Devil’s Gate, Career Day, I Hunt Killers, Beauty Queens
Comments: Another lackluster day.
Challenges:
I loved The Busy Bibliophile’s Zombie Cover Challenge! I didn’t know all of them though, and that makes me sad!
The Musings of ALMYBNENR’s Book Word Search was SO COOL! I love word searches. 
Thursday
Number of books I’ve read today: Finished Pretty When She Dies and Finding Magic , Started Pretty When She Kills and Awaken
Total number of books I’ve read: 4 novellas, 2 books, 1 audio book
Books: Natural Evil, Devil’s Gate, Career Day, I Hunt Killers, Beauty Queens, Pretty When She Dies, Finding Magic
Comments: Today went well.
Challenges:
Reading in Winter: A Book for Every Season
This was interesting to me because I am, in now way, a “season” reader. I don’t read Christmas books or “Summer” love stories or any of that stuff. Here are my weird answers.
Spring 
This book makes me immediately think of Spring. All the wonders and enchanting things that happen inside this circus remind me of the amazing things that nature brings us each Spring.
Summer
This makes me think of Summer immediately because it takes place in Australia, under severely scorching temperatures. This book is NOT a summer romance, however, though it will leaving you feeling many emotions.
Autumn 
This book reminds me of Autumn. If I remember correctly, that is the season in this book, but if I’m wrong, I still think of Autumn. I think of the wind lightly blowing, the leaves on the trees turning vibrant colors, the couples getting cozy in Central Park. Mainly, it makes me think of the couple, Adam and Mia, who are estranged but slowly rediscovering one another as they walk through the nooks and crannies of NYC.
Winter
This is a given, I guess. It takes place during the Winter. You can definitely feel the environment as the author does a fab job of describing the elements and how her characters react to it. Luckily for us, this book warms our hearts up, big time.
BookSmartie: The Candy Challenge!
I LOVE to snack while eating, but i don’t have a typical snack. This week it’s been hot cheetos. Sometimes it’s carrots and hummus, or cookies, or fruit gummis or Garden Salsa Sun Chips, or popcorn, or something! I have to say that I rarely eat candy while reading, mainly because we don’t usually buy it. Hubs has a thing with will power, so we just don’t keep in the house. lol
Friday
Number of books I’ve read today: I finished Awaken.
Total number of books I’ve read: 4 novellas, 3 books, 1 audio book
Books: Natural Evil, Devil’s Gate, Career Day, I Hunt Killers, Beauty Queens, Pretty When She Dies, Finding Magic, Awaken.
Comments: I was not in the mood today. However, I inhaled Awaken. I swear I could read that book once a month and love it just as much every time. I cannot wait for Middle Ground!
Challenges:
Pages of Forbidden Love: Most Looking Forward To
1~ What book are you most looking forward to based on summary alone? Feel free to show off the summary!
Peter is quick, daring, and full of mischief—and like all boys, he loves to play, though his games often end in blood. His eyes are sparkling gold, and when he graces you with his smile you are his friend for life, but his promised land is not Neverland.
With this haunting, provocative, relentlessly thrilling reconsideration of a timeless children’s classic, the acclaimed artist Brom dramatically displays another side of his extraordinary talent. Exploring the stygian blackness that gathers at the root of the beloved Peter Pan legend, he carries readers into a faerieland at once magically wondrous and deeply disturbing.
Fourteen-year-old Nick would have been murdered by the drug dealers preying on his family had Peter not saved him. Now the irresistibly charismatic wild boy wants Nick to follow him to a secret place of great adventure, where magic is alive and you never grow old. Even though he is wary of Peter’s crazy talk of faeries and monsters, Nick agrees. After all, New York City is no longer safe for him, and what more could he possibly lose?
There is always more to lose.
Accompanying Peter to a gray and ravished island that was once a lush, enchanted paradise, Nick finds himself unwittingly recruited for a war that has raged for centuries—one where he must learn to fight or die among the “Devils,” Peter’s savage tribe of lost and stolen children.
There, Peter’s dark past is revealed: left to wolves as an infant, despised and hunted, Peter moves restlessly between the worlds of faerie and man. The Child Thief is a leader of bloodthirsty children, a brave friend, and a creature driven to do whatever he must to stop the “Flesh-eaters” and save the last, wild magic in this dying land.
Beautifully illustrated by the author with haunting portraits and indelible images, Brom’s The Child Thief is a daring novel of darkest contemporary fantasy that will, at once, haunt and exhilarate any reader who agrees to follow Peter on his desperate crusade.
2~ What book are you most looking forward to based on cover art alone? Feel free to show off the beautiful cover art!
That cover is SO spooky creepy. I will pick up the damn thing and read it, eventually.
Saturday
Number of books I’ve read today:
Total number of books I’ve read:
Books:
Comments:
Challenges:
My Not So Real Life: Music Challenge
Well, I read I Hunt Killers this week. It’s a morbid little book about a serial killer’s son, Jazz, hunting serial killers, all the while trying to remain human himself. I couldn’t help but think about House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil’s Rejects movies, only because of the seriously twisted monsters in that movie that remind me of Jazz’s sociopath father. Anywho, this, of course, led me to Rob Zombie. So here you go.
Sunday
Number of books I’ve read today:
Total number of books I’ve read:
Books:
Comments:
Challenges:
© 2012, Smash Attack Reads. All rights reserved.
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Good luck balancing everything, and good luck with the reading too!
Much thanks!
Good luck with your goals! I plan to not neglect hubs or the dogs, either. And Twitter! Participating in the chats is dangerous … I’ll try not to get too distracted!
Your books look great! Maybe I’ll pull down my owl to keep me company.
It’s hard to neglect them when a good book is more interesting…LOL. I LOVE the chats. It really gets out of hand. heh.
OWL LOVE!!!!!!!
I hope you meet your goals! I really want to read I Hunt Killers and Ashes, Ashes. Have fun reading your books
and completing your challenges.
Much thanks! I wish luck to us all!
All of these books sound amazing, especially Pretty When She Dies. I’ve heard I Hunt Killers is great too! Good luck with your goals!
I sure hope I like them! Reading a bummer book during a read-a-thon is the pits.
“Do not neglect the hubs or kitties.”
Probably the most important one! The boyfriend is gone next weekend, so I don’t have to worry about this so much.
I hope you’ll come by for all Twitter chats. They’re fun.
And I look forward to reading with you!
I’m sure I’ll be by for all the Twitter chats, to witness Twitter jailings and all. :Þ
Pfff I’m totally just going to ignore hubs for a week – he knows the score!
Ashes, Ashes was an interesting read, and yay for Rhiannon Frater.
Good luck!
LOL. I’m going to try and read when hubs is NOT home, so as not to hurt his feelings.
You’re a better woman than me! I just send him in the general direction of the xbox, whilst holding a book in my hand!
Bless him, Mr Kat has buckets of patience.
HAHAHA. Hubs may read with me some of the time. He’s doing the Game of Thrones 150000000 pages books now. Otherwise, I will send him off to cook, which he enjoys, as do I. Win/Win.
Great list of books. Like your goals too. I really need to add a few myself. Like, remember the hash tag when I talk or chat and try to fit sleep into my schedule and if that doesn’t happen try not to fall asleep at work. LOL! Good luck and have fun!
Yes, the elusive hastag will get ya! And please sleep. We need a nice, perky Shirley to have fun with. LOL
It’s clear that god is smiling on your goals. Oh, and also your stuffed owl.
Well, he always smiles at my stuffed owl!
I love your goals! A lot
I need to make sure I maintain the house while this readathon goes on. I tend to neglect the chores 
Good luck this week!
Yea, I did some chores yesterday in between to break up the reading. It worked out well!
I can’t wait to see what you think of Alien Proliferation since that is the next book I need to read in that series. You would probably like Koch’s new self published book The Night Beat as well. I haven’t read it yet but Gini talked about it at a book signing and it sounds like a great UF read. I know I sound like I’m trying to sell you a book but I swear I’m not!
Have fun reading and I hope you are able to accomplish all of your goals!
I will have to check out The Night Beat! And um, I totally support #BookBully-ing.
Thanks for entering my challenge! I love the summary that you picked out, plus that cover does look spooky!
I’m jealous that you read Finding Magic, I really need to catch up on that series!
Good luck with your goals this week! You’ve got a good stack of books to dive into – happy reading =)
Much thanks! ENJOY!
Gini Koch is on my HUNT list. I look in Half Price Books every time I go in. But I’ll probably just order them all one day. They sound good.
She is a HOOT! She brings the laughs and I adore her personality.
Good luck Smash!! You’re already one down – amazing.
You too, Logan! ♥
Good luck! It looks like you’ve got yourself set up well for meeting your goals.
I hope you meet them all! 
Thanks, Stephanie! Good luck to YOU, as well! Enjoy!
Whoa, I like the books you chose! =D I Hunt Killers sounds amazing and good luck with finding the balance.
Here’s my Bout of Books post!
Sana @ artsy musings of a bibliophile
I always get side-tracked when coming to your blog cause I love the layout so much :3
Fab progress so far, and good luck for the rest of the week!
Lauren @ Northern Plunder
Bout of Books Posts
cutie limerick. I like them a bit gory
I love how you were so logical in answering the relocation challenge. And the clashing of two stories? Love. I didn’t even think to do that. Awesome answer!
Haha love your limerick. Thanks for joining in with the challenge.
Perfect Day 1! You are a reading fool
Happy reading!
Hey, you still did great on Day 2!
I suppose. I’m not sure today is turning out much better.
Wow , you are a reading machine…keep up the great progress!
I am trying!
This is my first boutofbook but I just wanted to let you know how much I’m enjoying your site and your organization on this page. Very inspiring. Next time around, this will be my guide. My blog is very new, so much to get in order. Thanks for the inspiration.
Awww, than you so much. I never will deny my freakishly organizational side.
I hope you are enjoying yourself!
You are doing fantastically on this read-a-thon!
I’m glad you enjoyed the word search! I also have to say that I love your blog design. I love owls and the colors are awesome.
Thank you!! I’m an owl fiend, and I decided to incorporate my wedding colors (lemon, lime and tangerine) since I love bright, Spring colors.
I actually got to the challenges today. Progress! Hope you’re having a good week. BTW – If I Sty almost killed me, but in a very good way
YAY! I’m glad you didn’t die but glad the emotion was overwhelming. That is why it’s so fantastic. I enjoyed Where She Went more, but only because of how If I Stay set it up.
Psh. I had a crappyyy two days reading. Yesterday was decent, totally DEVOURED Confessions of an Angry Girl! Today is A Want So Wicked. I hope you get to read some more today! Good luck Ash!
GOOD LUCK TO YOU! Devour away!
You’re still doing awesome! How are you liking Pretty When She Dies?
It’s awesome, of course. I did have an issue with her grandmamma and cousin’s unbelievable reaction to her change, but otherwise, I’m enjoying it! She and Cian have met and um….woah, buddy!
I kind of liked that her grandma and cousin didn’t have the same reaction as her dad … And yes! Her and Cian – YUM!
Oh, I’m glad they didn’t react like dad, but I like more realistic reactions in these type of stories. Thy were way too calm, but it’s obvious that grandmama is a bit open to the supernatural. However, happy they didn’t turn their back on her.
Shiver is a good pick for winter!
Oh, I eat carrots a lot, too! I dip them into salsa sauce, though
OMG love the owls. I will be back to look at your blog again. You are doing great with the read a thon. Happy Reading
You’re doing great so far! Keep up the good work! I just read Stolen and I agree it’s definitely a summer book. Here’s my updates. http://harleybearbookblog.blogspot.com/2012/08/bout-of-books-50.html
Hey girl! I love your choice of music for I Hunt Killers. I think I’m going to have to read that book soon. It sounds delightful!
Looks like you’re doing well, Ash. You’ve gotten a lot of reading and challenges done. That book Autumn looks creepy. I’d read it based on the cover too.
Have a good weekend and happy reading.
You’re doing awesome! One more day!