I've been looking forward to Bout of Books all week long. I desperately need some incentive to get myself out of this reading slump. And you should join me! Bout of Books is a pretty relaxed week-long readathon with a bunch of fun challenges, opportunities to win books, and Twitter chats to meets new bookish people. Here are the specifics if you'd like to get in on it:

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, August 22nd and runs through Sunday, August 28th 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 17 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

I'm going to be posting all of my updates here, so be sure to check back. My work schedule is kind of horrible and not super conducive to readathoning, but oh well. I'll also be chatting and updating more frequently on Twitter, complaining w/ weird filters on Snapchat (uulianne), and posting pretty book photos on Instagram. Follow me there and say hi! And be sure to leave a comment if you're participating, so I can see what you're up to!


















I don't actually wholly know what I want to read this week. I kind of just want to ~go with the flow~. But here are some I've had my eye on or am halfway through and need to finish.





MONDAY
Number of pages read today: 10
Books read from today: The Natural Way of Things by Charlotte Wood
Total number of books finished: 0

Starting with a bang, day one!!! I sort of expected not to read much, but I did have four hours between my two different work shifts. I was hyped and ready to read. But then my grandpa wanted to get lunch. And not just any lunch: Thai food. How could I say no? So that just sort of threw everything off. Still not completely into The Natural Way of Things, but I want to give it more of a chance.


TUESDAY
Number of pages read today: 50!!
Books read from today: The Natural Way of Things
Total number of books finished: 0!

Ok, this is much better! I know 50 pages isn't wildly impressive, but I'm finally enthralled in this book and really enjoying reading. Tonight was my big night to read, BUT I had a surprise visit by a friend who insisted on arguing about politics for a couple hours. Then we watched Bob Ross. SO MESMERIZING, I had never seen a full episode of his show. I almost took more time away from reading to see if I could become a master painter in 30 minutes, but I controlled myself. Next week I will paint.


WEDNESDAY
Number of pages read today: 6
Books read from today: The Natural Way of Things
Total number of books finished: 0

I worked 12 hour! Nope!


THURSDAY
Number of pages read today: 25
Books read from today: The Natural Way of Things
Total number of books finished: 0

It felt like I had read a lot today, but I was wrong. Tomorrow and Saturday are my days to fix this very slow Bout of Books.


FRIDAY
Number of pages read today: 86
Books read from today: The Natural Way of Things, Where We Go When All We Were Is Gone by Sequoia Nagamatsu
Total number of books finished: 1

There we go!! I finally finished a book. And read more than 50 pages. Unfortunately, I have really mixed feelings about The Natural Way of Things. I don't know if I liked it or not. There are PARTS I liked. But I think I went in with too high of expectations, because at no point did it blow my mind. I'd rate it somewhere between 3 and 4 stars. I hate to say this, but it might be another 3.5 in the streak of 3.5s I've read. I really have to mix it up right now. I grabbed Where We Go When All We Were Is Gone, because it's a collection of weird short stories. But I feel like I might have to even stray from my stack because nothing there is really exciting me. I need to find a book that excites me back into reading this week!



SATURDAY
Number of pages read today: 107
Books read from today: The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead, Vertigo by Joanna Walsh
Total number of books finished: 0

My best reading day yet! I was out in the middle of nowhere for most of the day and I had little more to do than read. And yet I wasn't especially feeling it. But I started reading a random book, Vertigo by Joanna Walsh, which is just a beautiful little collection of lyrical vignettes. Do I entirely know what's going on in them? Not really. Am I enchanted by the language? Mostly, yeah. I could've finished it last night (80 pages in, with 30 to go), but I was too tired and fell asleep. Oh well. Oh and I read 25 pages of The Underground Railroad, which is pretty hard to rip through. I'm on edge most of the time while reading it.


SUNDAY
Number of pages read today: 43
Books read from today: Vertigo by Joanna Walsh, Intimations by Alexandra Kleeman
Total number of books finished: 1

I finished a second book! Vertigo was pretty beautiful and I really enjoyed reading it. And then I had to go to work. AT work, however, I discovered that my coworker left the new Alexandra Kleeman for me!!! I read 10 pages of it during break and it's so great. And then I got home at 10:30 and fell asleep! Didn't end Bout of Books with a bang, but at least I ended on a couple high notes.