Miscellaneous is the tagline to store random posts that don’t really belong elsewhere. They may involve tags, awards, challenges, and other book blogging nonsense.
What’s Miscellaneous Today?
Bout of Books 14
Oh shit—it’s been a year since I last participated in Bout of Books (which was 11) so why not join in on the festivities again!
What’s Bout of Books?
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, Aug 17th and runs through Sunday, Aug 23th 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 11 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog.
My Thoughts
Since I’m also participating in #ARCAugust, with two books left in that challenge, I figured I’d try carrying those into Bout of Books 14.
I’ll still continue reading Una LaMarche’s “Don’t Fail Me Now” (which has like 20+ page chapters–my attention span cannot deal) but instead of Erin Bow’s The Scorpion Rules (WHICH I KEEP SAYING “THE SCORPION BOW”) I think I’m going to give Dawn Kurtagich’s “The Dead House” a go. I skimmed through the book and the way the writing is presented includes police records, psychiatric reports, video transcripts, and diary entries. It was pretty intriguing!
Bout of Books 14 Reading Goals
Una LaMarche’s “Don’t Fail Me Now” – # of pages: 288
Five people in a failing, old station wagon, living off free samples at food courts across America, and the most pressing question on Michelle’s mind is: Who will break down first–herself or the car? All the signs tell her they won’t make it. But Michelle has heard that her whole life, and it’s never stopped her before….
Dawn Kurtagich’s “The Dead House“ – # of pages: 400
Part-psychological thriller, part-urban legend, this is an unsettling narrative made up of diary entries, interview transcripts, film footage transcripts and medical notes. Twenty-five years ago, Elmbridge High burned down. Three people were killed and one pupil, Carly Johnson, disappeared. Now a diary has been found in the ruins of the school. The diary belongs to Kaitlyn Johnson, Carly’s identical twin sister. But Carly didn’t have a twin . . .
There are manga that I could catch up on as well but that’s not much of a priority read.
Afterthoughts:
But if I do end up finishing both (which I doubt), I’ll go back to The Scorpion Bow Rules. …or I’ll let myself read Cline’s Armada. Either or but they aren’t priority.
Get hyped for #boutofbooks!
(You should totally ignore the red tint in Armada…it reflected my shirt LOL.)
Cheers,
Joey
connect: afterthoughtAn // twitter | anotherafterthought // goodreads
thoughts and afterthoughts. 
…so do you take requests? After all, you gave NA books a go this year…
If so, please read: Clockwork Angel because you never mention Cassandra Clare and she’s so popular?? Yeah, I know her books doesn’t fit your usual sci-fi genre (not that I think you limit yourself to that genre only)… but I’m really curious to see your thoughts. And I’ve already checked for you. There’s 476 pages, 20 chapters, and 4 1/2 page epilogue. So it’s not too daunting, right?
(I’ve kind of given up on encouraging you to continue HP. You’ve already seen the movies anyway.)
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Dude…Clockwork looks so huuuuuuuuuuuuuge (re: series). I’d rather read HP again than..well, no, that’s not true…
I don’t think I could JUST read one title though. I know what you seek: a rant. STOP TRYING TO POKE THE BEAR.
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The suggestion was all wishful thinking. I had to try! 😉
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I’ve been so keen to read Armada! But I want to read Ready Player One first so since that seems to be the book that made everyone so eager for Armada and Earnest Clines writing. Your not alone with messing up The Scorpion Rule I keep going to call it The Scorpion Races every time!!
Have a run Bout of Books 🙂
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Haha that’s what I hear about RPO too but I just assumed that “okay J, you play enough video games as is–you can skip RPO for now”
Oh! That’s a good misspelling of Scorpion Bow too!
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20-page chapters?! I can sympathize with your attention span. Lol. Good luck with your challenge!
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Yeah, like, wtf? *reads one page* *flips page to see if its over yet* *groans* *repeat*
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Good luck finishing your goals! 😀 HATE 20+ PAGE CHAPTERS. DRAGGING TOO LONG AFTER 10.
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I’M SUCH A HYPOCRITE THO—COMPLAINS ABOUT 20 PAGE CHAPTERS….WRITES 20000 PAGE DISCUSSION. HMMM.
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JOEY. IT’S NOT THE SAME. YOUR DISCUSSIONS ARE INTERESTING. LONG CHAPTERS ARE NOT.
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Woohoo glad you’re participating Bout of Books! It’s been quite a while since I joined this readathon, too. I hope you like The Dead House! It looks like my type of read so I’m interested reading your thoughts after you finish it.
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Yeah it’s been a year since I last did Bout LOL. I forgot what it felt like!
The Dead House was really enjoyable and among the few books I’ve read this year that I’d actually go out of my way to recommend.
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I’ve seen so much about Bout of Books, but I haven’t looked at people’s goals for the week. These two sound so good! I’ll have to check them out myself.
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If you’re a mood reader like me, then most goals are pretty arbitrary (because if a read doesn’t work then better to wait for a different time than to force feed it to yourself).
If you’re participating this week, then I wish you the best of luck on your goals! If you aren’t, then I hope you consider it next time around (which is in Jan 2016 I believe)
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Thanks for the information! Yeah, I am pretty much a mood reader also, but sometimes I can “schedule” a couple of books at a time and do pretty well with that. I’ll definitely consider trying it out next time. Good luck participating!
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Looks like you will have some interesting reads for this read-a-thon! I will have to add these titles to my wish list. Happy reading!
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Likewise–I hope you enjoyed that Martian journey!
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I’m looking for new book reviewers.
The Defeatist is FREE on Amazon 17/8/15- 18/8/15
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I am insanely jealous that you have The Dead House. I hope it’s awesome. Glad to see you’re joining in! I love this week. ALL THE READING.
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AND NOW YOU HAVE IT! (Also sad that when you tweeted that you received it–I remembered it should be from Little Brown…and I got rejected yesterday for something *cries*)
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I’m excited to hear what you say about Armada and The Dead House! I know that Armada got a lot of mixed reviews and I’ve started it but when I say “started it” I mean, I read five pages and stopped.
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The Dead House was super fun if you like to play detective with that skeptical hat! I know the feels for negativity towards Armada. I feel as though Ready Player set the bars pretty high and people just didn’t find it enjoyable…? Who knows! I’m hoping to get to it soon but so many other stuff I need to read before I get to it.
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