Bout of Books Challenge: Alternate Titles

Welcome to one of the two challenge being hosted on the second day of Bout of Books! I hope your first day of reading went well and if not, it's only day two! You have time to catch up! Now onto the challenge:

Alternate titles: what if you had the chance to rename a book? What would you title it? You could take your mission seriously and think of a new, better fitting title or you could do a silly new title. Just pick any book you've read and give it a new title OR you could pick a book you either read or haven't read and give it a new title based on the book's cover. Just get to renaming!

Our alternate titles:

 The One With All The Swoons* By Lisa Kleypas

*Disclaimer. This does not refer to a specific Lisa Kleypas book but rather it refers to ALL her books. They all have MAJOR swoonage!

 

The Regency Girls Guide to the 80's: Of Tanning Lotions & Big Hair by Julie Anne Long

Just look at that piece of art of a cover! Doesn't the new title fit? (by the way, this is one of our favorite books EVER! Don't judge a book by it's cover, or it's awesome retitle ;D)

The Guardian by Richelle Mead

I don't mind Vampire Academy but some people find that title cheesy and embarrassing so The Guardian totally fits! However, the rest of the series is actually has super fitting titles.

                             Reminders:

-You have 24 hours to complete this challenge (Closes Wednesday at 12:00 am CST)
-There is no giveaway this time, sorry!
-Re-title as many titles of books you've read as you want or re-title as many titles based on the cover as you want, just have fun with it!

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Racquel's Bout of Books 7.0 Goals & Updates

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, May 13th and runs through Sunday, May 19th 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 7.0 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog.

I'm participating in the Bout of Books read-a-thon again because it was fun last time plus I'm *whispers* 12 books behind. Yeah. That's NOT good!! I need to get caught up!

Goals:

• Read at least 4 books
• Participate in at least 1 Twitter chat
• Participate in at least 4 challenges

I originally wanted to challenge myself with a reading goal of 5 books but let's not kid ourselves. I haven't been on top of reading lately, I'm obsessed/addicted/need-major-help with Merlin and I'm kind of busy with end of school stuff so I'm not going to set up myself for disappointment. 

Books I should but probably won't read during this read-a-thon:

So good luck and happy reading to everyone reading and check back here on Tuesday for the challenge Sharon and I are hosting here :D

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(Bout of Books 7.0) Goals & Updates

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, May 13th and runs through Sunday, May 19th 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 7.0 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog.

I am so excited, you guys! I lovelovelove readathons, and Bout of Books is my favorite of them all! This time around, you might notice my goals are a little light. This is due to the fact that I graduate on Saturday, move into my new apartment this weekend, and start my internship (along with my job that I already work) on Monday...which is also the day Bout of Books starts. So my life is going to be a little hectic. But am I going to let that stop me? No, siree! Also, due to the whole just-moving-into-the-apartment thing, it is likely that I will not have super reliable internet access, so I probably won't be able to do as many challenges as I usually like. But we will still be hosting a challenge here! Fear not.

My Goals for Bout of Books 7.0

   • Read 4 of the following books
   • Discover some awesome new blogs and friends
   • Participate in at least one of the Twitter chats
   • Participate in two or more challenges (not including the one hosted here)

Books To Read

   01. Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
   02. Charmed Thirds by Megan McCafferty
   03. Kiss Crush Collide by Christina Meredith
   04. How to Lead a Life of Crime by Kirsten Miller
   05. About Last Night by Ruthie Knox
   06. Can't Buy Me Love by Molly O'Keefe
   07. Never Seduce a Scot by Maya Banks
   08. Silk Is for Seduction by Loretta Chase

*If I feel so inclined, the rest of the Jessica Darling books totally count as acceptable substitutes.
**Also, I will be reading This Is What Happy Looks Like as part of a readalong during these dates! So it will be included for sure.

Updates

Monday (5/13)
Books Read Today:
  Completed:
  In-Progress: This Is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith (270 pages)
Challenge: None
Total Books Read: ~.75
Total Pages Read: 270

Tuesday (5/14)
Books Read Today:
  Completed: This Is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith
  In-Progress: Kiss Crush Collide by Christina Meredith (278 pages)
Challenge: #1: Alternate Title Challenge hosted here at The Book Barbies!
#2: Soundtrack Challenge hosted at Medusa's Library
One of the first that comes to mind for this is the Breaking Dawn Part 2 soundtrack and the Matched trilogy. I was obsessing over this soundtrack at the same time as I was reading these books, and they actually went really well together! So now the two are connected in my head.
Total Books Read: ~1.75
Total Pages Read: 411

Wednesday (5/15)
Books Read Today:
  Completed: Kiss Crush Collide by Christina Meredith
  In-Progress: Silk is for Seduction by Loretta Chase (78)
Challenge: None
Total Books Read: ~2.25
Total Pages Read: 524

Thursday (5/16)
Books Read Today:
  Completed:
  In-Progress: Silk is for Seduction by Loretta Chase (78)
Challenge: None
Total Books Read: ~2.25
Total Pages Read: 524

Friday (5/17)
Books Read Today:
  Completed:
  In-Progress: Silk is for Seduction by Loretta Chase (107)
Challenge: N/A
Total Books Read: ~2.5
Total Pages Read: 553

Saturday (5/18)
Books Read Today:
  Completed: Silk is for Seduction by Loretta Chase
  In-Progress: Scandal Wears Satin by Loretta Chase (11)
Challenge: None
Total Books Read: ~3
Total Pages Read: 1086

Sunday (5/19)
Books Read Today:
  Completed:
  In-Progress: Scandal Wears Satin by Loretta Chase (40)
Challenge: None
Total Books Read: ~3.25
Total Pages Read: 1115

Wrap-Up
Okay, so apparently, I underestimated the sheer amount of time an internship, plus a job, plus moving (and all the errands that entails) takes. Plus how much it made me actually want a decent amount of sleep each night. Not to mention the fact that I didn't have internet, and apparently our library's public wifi is practically nonexistent. Which, sadly, meant that I could not participate in any of the Twitter chats. And only one challenge besides ours (which Racquel typed; we communicated about it via text). This was officially my least successful BOB ever. I still had fun and consider myself a participant, because I did try to read more than I would have otherwise. But I am definitely looking forward to the next BOB when I'll be able to fully participate.

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Bout of Books 6.0 Wrap Up

Racquel's wrap up:
So my goals for my first Bout of Books was to read at least 4 books, participate in at least one challenge and one twitter chat and I'm happy to report back that I achieved all my goals! I participated in one and a half Twitter chats (I missed the first half of the last chat) and two challenges. My favorite challenge was the Book Spine Poetry hosted by Escape Through the Pages.
So the books I read were:

1. The Book of Broken Hearts by Sarah Ockler 
2. The Edge of Never by J. A. Redmerski 
3. Save the Date by Jenny B. Jones 
4. The Raven Prince by Elizabeth Hoyt 
5. Just One of the Guys by Kristan Higgins

All 5 of these books were terrific, terrific reads (except for The Edge of Never which I liked but I didn't LOVE like the other 4 books) and I'm definitely participating in the next Bout of Books! If you don't know, you can vote for when you want the next Bout of Books to take place. The week of May 13-19, the week of May 20-26 or the week of May 27-June 2. I'm happy that all those dates work for me especially since I graduate June 7th so you know I'll be dragging my feet all of May and counting down so a read-a-thon will be a good distraction! Thanks to everyone for making this such a fantastic event!

Sharon's Wrap-Up

My Goals for Bout of Books 6.0

   • Read 6 of the following books

   01. Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta (started, but not finished)
   02. Live Through This by Mindi Scott
   03. Pizza, Love, and Other Stuff That Made Me Famous by Kathryn Williams
   04. Unbreak My Heart by Melissa C. Walker
   05. Of Poseidon by Anna Banks
   06. Hooked by Liz Fichera
   07. A Notorious Countess Confesses by Julie Anne Long
   08. Not Quite a Husband by Sherry Thomas

Verdict: Not quite 6 of the aforementioned books, BUT 5.1/6 is not bad AT ALL compared to what it has been in the past years. I read plenty of books, but usually only maybe 2 from the list.

Additional books I read:
Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
Sugar Daddy by Lisa Kleypas (re-read ♥)
Blue-Eyed Devil by Lisa Kleypas (re-read ♥)
Smooth Talking Stranger by Lisa Kleypas (re-read ♥)

   • Discover some awesome new blogs and friends
   • Participate in at least one of the Twitter chats
   • Participate in four or more challenges

Verdict: Success on all fronts!

Overall, it was a great week! I had a blast, although I would have preferred to do a few more challenges than I did. Head over to the Bout of Books blog to vote for your preferred week in May for the next Bout of Books.

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Bout of Books Challenge: Scientific Discovery

Welcome to the first challenge of the #boutofbooks read-a-thon! We hope your first day of the read-a-thon is going splendidly so far and we're glad you dropped by. Enjoy our challenge, have fun, and good luck :D

You have made a scientific discovery (who knew you were so good at science?!) on how to bring fictional characters to life. The problem? The method still isn't *perfect,* so you can only bring two people to life, and they must return to the land of fiction in 30 days. Who will you choose as your bestie and your love interest for that one splendid month? (Feel free to add pictures if you like, but they are not required.)

Sharon's Answers:

Best Friend: Kristy Palmetto from The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen. I love Kristy! She's one of my favorite characters from The Truth About Forever (and I love pretty much EVERYONE in that book). She's just so genuine and straightforward and fun. We could totally be BFFs. I think we would have a blast but still be able to have deep and meaningful conversations. And when we're feeling more shallow, we could totally sa-woon over boys and then chat about our mutual love of romance novels. Hanging out with her for 30 days would be fantastic!

Boyfriend: Jamie Fraser from Outlander. This was SO HARD. There were so, so many possibilities to sort through. But when I really thought about it, I decided I probably wouldn't actually want to spend a month making out with a vampire or hanging out with a 38-year-old overprotective über-alpha male. Plus, I promised all our answers wouldn't be YA. So, that helped narrow it down. Ultimately, I decided on Jamie because I just absolutely loved him when I read Outlander last year. He's closer to my age than a lot of romance heroes, and he is just so sweet and strong and wonderful. Plus, I find it an amusing prospect for him to be the one with time-travel culture shock.

Racquel's Answers:

Friend- Chloe from Welcome, Caller, This Is Chloe by Shelley Coriell 
Chloe is a girl full of heart, she's fun and most importantly she's CONFIDENT. If I have 30 days with a character, I'm not going to pick someone who doesn't want to do anything and will spend most of the time sulking because they 1000 problems and while Chloe does have problems, she always looks at the bright side and I couldn't love her more because of this. (more YA characters with a backbone, please! and I don't mean in backbone in the "I'm gonna save the world" sense but in the "realistic and contemporary" sense! They do exist, ya know?)

Boyfriend- Beckett Rush from There You'll Find Me by Jenny B. Jones

It was hard to pick a boyfriend because A) There are A LOT of guys to choose from B) I have a definite list and I don't want to be cliche and mention a guy that I've mentioned a million times before-- Hardy Cates, Alex Fuentes, Owen Armstrong (sorry Sharon, he's better than Wes by .001)-- so I went with a relatively not old book and underdog jem that's sadly not appreciated enough. Beckett Rush is a "teen heartthrob" superstar, the teen version of Ian Somerhalder/Damon Salvatore. But he's sooooooo down to earth and has a heart the size of Texas. Beckett is a genuinely good person and makes me hug my Kindle every time I reread this book.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

So who are your picks? Leave a comment below with your answers or a link to your answers! And make sure to enter in the Rafflecopter for a chance to win your choice of one of the four books we mentioned!

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Bout of Books 6.0 |Goals & Updates|

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. - From the Bout of Books 6.0 team

Racquel here! This is my first time participating in the Bout of Books read-a-thon and I'm very excited! Too bad it started as soon as I started school again so I'm actually not able to read as much books as I want since I' getting the hang of my new classes. Hopefully I can reach my goals! Let the reading begin.

My Goals:

• Read at least 4 books (I could easily read a book per day but since I just started school & I have new classes, I don't know how much time I have!)
• Participate in the challenges
• Participate in the Wednesday Twitter chat (the other two are during school & I don't know how much I could tune in. Boo!)

Updates:

1/7
Books Read Today:
  Completed: None
  In-Progress: Save the Date
Challenge: Today's challenge, is HERE on our blog :D
Total Books Read: 0

1/8
Books Read Today:
  Completed: The Book of Broken Hearts & The Edge of Never
  In-Progress: Save the Date
Challenge: None
Total Books Read: 2

1/9
Books Read Today:
  Completed: Save the Date
  In-Progress: None
Challenge: Page 48 Challenge hosted by Booking in Heels

"I'll only tell one tabloid you put it there." 

"I don't know what's more funny, me putting it there or that you have the tabloids on your speed dial."
"Don't under estimate me, little boy."
"Don't over estimate yourself, big girl."
"Why do I even put up with your crap?!"

Oh that was bad. The next quote would have been perfect but I tried!

Total Books Read: 3

1/10
Books Read Today:
  Completed: The Raven Prince by Elizabeth Hoyt
  In-Progress: --
Challenge: Book Spine Poetry hosted by Escape Through the Pages

"The Lucky Ones are  
Out of Reach
they're Crushed by  
Wanderlove
and Take Me There Vibes
They Love, Love, Love staying Just One Day 
and that's the Truth"

You guys, I think my poem is AWESOME.

Total Books Read: 4

1/11
Books Read Today:
  Completed:
  In-Progress:
Challenge:
Total Books Read:

1/12
Books Read Today:
  Completed:
  In-Progress:
Challenge:
Total Books Read:

1/13
Books Read Today:
  Completed:
  In-Progress:
Challenge:
Total Books Read:

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Bout of Books 6.0: Goals & Updates

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. - From the Bout of Books 6.0 team

It's almost here! It's almost heeere! Pardon me while I dance about. In all likelihood, you haven't known me since August (the last BOB), and if not, you are probably unaware of the fact that I love readathons. And Bout of Books is, hands down, my favorite. I love the superhuman amounts of reading, the wonderful insanity of the Twitter chats, and the diverse and fun challenges. And as I tend to go on giant reading binges in January, this one is perfectly timed! I am also pleased to announce that Racquel and I will be hosting one of the challenges here! (And it's called a challenge for a reason...I still haven't officially decided on my answers. I should probably get on that soon. Don't let me scare you off, though! It's going to be a blast.)

My Goals for Bout of Books 6.0

   • Read 6 of the following books
   • Discover some awesome new blogs and friends
   • Participate in at least one of the Twitter chats
   • Participate in four or more challenges

Books To Read

   01. Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta
   02. Live Through This by Mindi Scott
   03. Pizza, Love, and Other Stuff That Made Me Famous by Kathryn Williams
   04. Unbreak My Heart by Melissa C. Walker
   05. Of Poseidon by Anna Banks
   06. Hooked by Liz Fichera
   07. A Notorious Countess Confesses by Julie Anne Long
   08. Not Quite a Husband by Sherry Thomas

Updates

1/7
Books Read Today:
  Completed: Unbreak My Heart by Melissa C. Walker (231 pages), Pizza, Love, and Other Stuff That Made Me Famous by Kathryn Williams (234 pages)
  In-Progress: Of Poseidon by Anna Banks (85 pages)
Challenge: Scientific Discovery, hosted here at The Book Barbies!
Total Books Read: 2.26
Total Pages Read: 550

1/8
Books Read Today:
  Completed: Of Poseidon by Anna Banks (326 pages), Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver (470 pages)
  In-Progress: Hooked by Liz Fichera (195 pages)
Challenge: None
Total Books Read: 4.53
Total Pages Read: 1,456

1/9
Books Read Today:
  Completed:
  In-Progress: Hooked by Liz Fichera (110 pages)
Challenge: The Page 48 Challenge

I am currently reading Hooked by Liz Fichera, and this is the first complete sentence on page 48:

They're going to go apeshit.

Now, I get to add 4 random sentences and turn the plot any way I desire!

They're going to go apeshit. Who would have expected that the zombie apocalypse would happen here? On a golf course in Arizona, for crying out loud! But no one can deny that it's happening. Now, the only question is...What am I going to do about it?

Total Books Read: 4.84
Total Pages Read: 1566

1/10
Books Read Today:
  Completed: Hooked by Liz Fichera (368 pages), Live Through This by Mindi Scott (304 pages)
  In-Progress: Sugar Daddy by Lisa Kleypas (20 pages)
Challenge: Challenge #1: Book Spine Poetry
If I stay, if we kiss,
Will you unbreak my heart
Before I fall,
if we live through this
one night that changes everything?

Challenge #2: Vampires in Popular Fiction

I have to pick one favorite male and one favorite female vampire.

Adrian from Vampire Academy & Bloodlines Series. This one was super hard. Bones from the Night Huntress series was SUPER close, but I saw a ton of people who picked him, so I wanted to do something different. Plus, I just adore Adrian. So. There's that.

Katherine from The Vampire Diaries series. Okay, so honestly, this is from the television series, because I could not for the life of me think of a favorite female vampire from books. I just don't read a lot of vampire books. But since she is actually IN books, I figured it would count. I just figured I should clarify that I love her from the show only; I have no idea about the books.

Total Books Read: 6.05
Total Pages Read: 1953

1/11
Books Read Today:
  Completed: Sugar Daddy by Lisa Kleypas (371 pages)
  In-Progress: Blue-Eyed Devil by Lisa Kleypas (224 pages)
Challenge: None
Total Books Read: 7.68
Total Pages Read: 2528

1/12
Books Read Today:
  Completed: Blue-Eyed Devil by Lisa Kleypas (328 pages)
  In-Progress: Smooth Talking Stranger by Lisa Kleypas (90 pages)
Challenge: None
Total Books Read: 8.26
Total Pages Read: 2722

1/13
Books Read Today:
  Completed: Smooth Talking Stranger by Lisa Kleypas (352 pages)
  In-Progress:
Challenge:
Total Books Read:
Total Pages Read:

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