Bout of Books 6.0 Goals & Book List

It has been 5 months since the last BoB and I have been patiently awaiting for January 7 to roll around. I've decided to take what I did last time and try and stick with it, instead of attempting more. Because each time I attempt more, I don't quite get there :P So taking it easy! Maybe for Bout of Books 7.0 I can go crazy. I've also decided to read my January books FIRST and then start on my leftover books from 2012. This way I don't get behind on my books I have to read this month and stay behind all year.

The Goals:

• Read 300 pages each day.
• Finish 5 books
• Participate in at least 3 challenges - one down, two to go (Mon); did another (Tues); did my last today (Sun)
• Participate in one Twitter chat - participated in Monday's 1pm CST one :)
• Visit bloggers also participating and leave lots of comment love - every day!
• Beat my last readathon accomplishments: 4 books, 1251 pages

The Books:

• Roseannearchy by Roseanne Barr
• Dry by Augusten Burroughs
• Four to Score by Janet Evanovich
• Crimson Frost by Jennifer Estep (Netgalley)
• Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver
• Gone by Michael Grant
• Hunger by Michael Grant
• Poison Princess by Kresley Cole
• *Added* Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia/Margaret Stohl

Total of 8 books and 3288 pages. To get all of these done, I would have to read over 400 pages a day. But I like to overchallenge myself. :) I at least want 5 books read and 300 pages each day. We'll see what happens!

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, January 7th and runs through Sunday, January 13th 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.
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Monday {updated 7pm}
Books read: Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia/Margaret Stohl, Roseannearchy by Roseanne Barr
Books finished: 0
Pages read: 40 + 134 = 174 (Total: 174)
Other: Visited and commented on goal lists, participated in the Twitter chat today, did the challenge
Thoughts: I didn't get to read as much as I wanted to. I was very distracted by everything. Hopefully Tuesday will be a little better.


Tuesday {updated Weds}
Books read: Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia/Margaret Stohl, Roseannearchy by Roseanne Barr
Books finished: 1
Pages read: 12 + 149 = 161 (Total: 335)
Other: Participated in one challenge
Thoughts: I've been going all morning long. I finally am about to sit down and read..but now I have to make lunch. Ick. Reading while cooking LOL


Wednesday {updated Thurs}
Books read: Crimson Frost by Jennifer Estep, Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver
Books finished: 2
Pages read: 384 + 29 = 413 (Total: 748)
Other: Visited the rest of my quota for goal pages
Thoughts: Today I have NOTHING to do, so I will be making up for lost time and the little pages I've managed to read in the first few days.
2pm: I'm already up to the amount I've read over the last two days, so I'm really happy that I've gotten a lot read today. Tomorrow is going to be rough with an all day long training going on and then an FRG meeting/bowling party.


Thursday {updated Fri}
Books read: Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver
Books finished: 2
Pages read: 29 (Total: 777)
Other: I knew I wouldn't read much yesterday. But seeing 29 as a final page count makes me cringe. Guess I will spend Friday making up for that!


Friday {updated Sat}
Books read: Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver
Books finished: 2
Pages read: 158 (Total: 935)
Other: I just sucked yesterday. Need to get with it Saturday and Sunday and destroy some books!

Saturday {updated Sun}
Books read: Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver, Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia/Margaret Stohl
Books finished: 3
Total pages read: 199 + 52 = 261 (Total: 1196)
Other: Finished Pandemonium and now I'm gonna try and finish BC :)

Sunday {updated Mon}
Books read: Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia/Margaret Stohl
Books finished: 4
Total pages read: 260 (Total: 1456)
Other: Hoping to finish BC today. I'm nearly to my page goal.
Mon: Finished BC!

Lost in Shangri-La [Review]

Stats:
384 Pages [Hardcover]
Published 26 April 2011
ISBN: 0061988340
Find on Goodreads

Entangled [Review]

*4.5 stars out of 5*

Stats:
#1 in Spellbound series
303 Pages [Kindle]
Published 25 February 2012
ASIN: B007BCORJK
Find on Goodreads

Shadows [Review]

*3.5 out of 5 stars*

Stats:
#2 in Ashes Trilogy
528 Pages [ebook]
Published 25 September 2012
ISBN: 1606843788
Find on Goodreads

Splintered [Review]

Stats:
384 pages [Kindle]
Expected to be Published: 1 Jan 2013
ASIN: B008JHQ56Y
Goodreads


Synopsis:
This stunning debut captures the grotesque madness of a mystical under-land, as well as a girl’s pangs of first love and independence.

Alyssa Gardner hears the whispers of bugs and flowers—precisely the affliction that landed her mother in a mental hospital years before. This family curse stretches back to her ancestor Alice Liddell, the real-life inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Alyssa might be crazy, but she manages to keep it together. For now.

When her mother’s mental health takes a turn for the worse, Alyssa learns that what she thought was fiction is based in terrifying reality. The real Wonderland is a place far darker and more twisted than Lewis Carroll ever let on.

There, Alyssa must pass a series of tests, including draining an ocean of Alice’s tears, waking the slumbering tea party, and subduing a vicious bandersnatch, to fix Alice’s mistakes and save her family. She must also decide whom to trust: Jeb, her gorgeous best friend and secret crush, or the sexy but suspicious Morpheus, her guide through Wonderland, who may have dark motives of his own.


My Thoughts:
Splintered is a perfectly creepy take on Carroll's Alice. In fact, the main character Alyssa Gardner is the great, great, great, great granddaughter of Lewis Carroll's inspiration for Alice, Alice Liddell. Alyssa has grown up being mostly raised by her father and scared of ending up like her mother, who resides at Souls' Asylum. She hears flowers and insects talking to her already, it's only a matter of time before she goes full-blown crazy like her mother. Events unfold until Alyssa finds herself seeking out the rabbit hole to fix all of Alice's mistakes to get rid of the curse on her family that has left her mom in her current state.

I found Howard's take on Alice incredible. She did a beautiful job of world building, as well as, building the backgrounds of many characters. The weaving of the traditional characters into these new, kind of demented, twisted characters was brilliant. I really enjoyed how everything turned out in the end. Alyssa was a very interesting heroine.

Thank you to NetGalley and Abrams Publishing for a chance to read this galley.


Previous Review:
Ashes by Ilsa J. Bick {here}


Linked up at...

December TBR List

Books leftover from September:

• The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer [We Heart YA BOTM]

Books leftover from October:

• Rising by Stephanie Judice [We Heart YA - General BOTM]
• Gone by Michael Grant [We Heart YA - Series Read Along] 

Books leftover from November:

• 13 to Life by Shannon Delany ~ currently reading
• Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin
• Poison Princess by Kresley Cole [We Heart YA - General BOTM]
• Hunger by Michael Grant [We Heart YA - Series Read Along]

Books for December:

• The Awakening by LJ Smith
• Sarah's Key by Tatiana Rosnay
• A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin
• A Feast of Crows by George R.R. Martin
• A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin
• The Host by Stephenie Meyer [We Heart YA - General BOTM]
• Lies by Michael Grant [We Heart YA - Series Read Along]

I'm also joining in for I'm Loving Books' Random Reads again :)

Because of the holidays, I'm choosing just one (again) random book off of my massive list on Goodreads. And that book is...You Are So Undead to Me by Stacey Jay.