Bout of Books 8.0 Progress Report

MONDAY

Pages read today: 92

Stories read today: "The Shadow over Innsmouth" and"The Haunter of the Dark" from The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories by H. P. Lovecraft

Places I have read: Southsea Coffee Co. cafe, Southsea beach, Southsea-Ryde hovercraft, Number 9 bus, bed

Edible Accompaniments: Cappuccino, fruit and seed flapjack

Today #insixwords: Still fangirling after meeting Neil Gaiman!

Running total: 2 short stories; 92 pages

TUESDAY

Pages read today: 395
Books read today: Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberley McCreight
Places I have read: bed, garden
Edible Accompaniments: Toffee ice cream, Graze "Marvellous Macaroon"
Today #insixwords: Relieved I'm no longer a teenager
Running total: 2 short stories, 1 book, 497 pages

WEDNESDAY

Pages read today: 78
Books read today: In One Person by John Irving
Places I have read: home
Edible Accompaniments: Graze BBQ nibbles
Today #insixwords: back at work, head in clouds
Running total: 2 short stories, 1 1/6 books, 575 pages

THURSDAY

Pages read today: 170
Books read today: In One Person by John Irving
Places I have read: Lunch room at work, home
Edible Accompaniments: Chicken caesar wrap, doughnut, cheesy Doritos
Today #insixwords: Shouldn't have been surprised, but was.
Running total: 2 short stories, 1 1/2 books, 745 pages

FRIDAY

Pages read today: 338
Books read today: In One Person by John Irving
Places I have read: home
Edible Accompaniments: Graze "Raspberry swirl," raspberry ripple choc-ice, Maoam sticks, apple, plenty of coffee
Today #insixwords: lazy greedy day, finished my book
Running total: 2 short stories, 2 books, 1083 pages

SATURDAY:

Pages read today: 67
Books read today: Necropolis by Catharine Arnold
Places I have read: Bed (at stupid o'clock), Lunch room at work
Edible Accompaniments: coffee, ham and cream cheese bagel, wine
Today #insixwords: Distracted by writing; that's good, right?
Running total: 2 short stories, 2 books and a bit, 1150 pages

SUNDAY:

Pages read today: 55
Books read today: Necropolis by Catharine Arnold
Places I have read: home
Edible Accompaniments: Nutella cupcakes and coffee
Today #insixwords: HULK SMASH. HULK MAKE NUTELLA CUPCAKES.
Final total: 2 short stories, 2 1/2 books, 1205 pages

Bout of Books 8.0: Monday

It seems that no sooner has one readathon finished than another has begun. Bout of Books is back with another week-long readathon, and as it so happens, this falls on a week in which I'm working only three days, leaving me plenty of time to do nothing but read ALL the books and blog about it. Or at least, that was the plan. At 8PM on day 1, I have managed to read a single longish short story.

My goals:

As usual, I'm not going to set any strict rules for myself, but I do intend to significantly reduce my to-read pile (pictured on my blog sidebar to the left.) I also intend to visit other bloggers, participate in a few challenges, and to write a bit of a reading journal, with a new post each day tracking my progress. I also hope to take this opportunity to finish off the 15-Day Book Bloggers' Challenge.

At the moment, the most likely books I plan to read are:

A Cuckoo's Calling: Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling)

Reconstructing Amelia: Kimberley McCreight

In One Person: John Irving

Necropolis: Catharine Arnold

I also hope to start China Mieville's epic Perdido Street Station, and to finish Lovecraft's Call of Cthulhu. (Just one story left to go; should be done by this evening.)

Monday.

Bout of Books week began for me in a hotel in Southsea. I woke late (not having got to sleep until 2AM, for Neil Gaiman-related reasons which I will write about in a separate post) and took my book on a little walk around the town: to the Southsea Coffee Co. for breakfast and then to the beach. 

I've been reading H. P. Lovecraft's The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Tales for two weeks now, and was down to the last two stories. Lately, so much of my reading has led back to Lovecraft, and it felt compulsory to fill in this gap in my literary knowledge. It took me a while to get used to Lovecraft's particular brand of writing: descriptive, verbose, and quite stodgy, yet often leaving only a vague and nebulous impression of Something Very Not Right Here. I grew frustrated with "indescribable horrors." You're a writer, man, I grumbled, you're being paid to describe things. Still, his tales are creepy and evocative, and today's story is perhaps the best I've read so far. "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" paints a vivid picture of a dilapidated fishing town, once a thriving dwelling, now delaying and filled with hostile, reclusive and uncanny residents. If you read one Lovecraft story, make it this one: a classic work of American gothic literature (and not a vampire in sight.)

15-Day Book Blogging Challenge: Day Eleven

Day 11: Show off! 5 of your best blog posts!

1. The 50 Greatest Harry Potter Moments.

This one is what it says on the tin. My definitive top fifty moments from the entire series, both books and movies - but if I've forgotten one of your favourite scenes, lines or characters, let me know!

2. When Children's Books Were Two-And-Sixpence

An old post from the days before I actually had more than a couple of followers, before I'd found a book blogging community. In which I rant about kids' classic books being updated for a modern audience.

3: Adults: Why do you read YA?

From 2010, I wrote this post shortly after I'd rediscovered that teen fiction was not all shallow fluff. Also contains pictures of me as a scrawny teenager for you to laugh at.

4. Theatre: Much Ado About Nothing

A review of William Shakespeare's comedy, as performed in London by a certain Mr D. Tennant and Ms C. Tate. Be warned: contains fangirling.

5. V for Vendetta

A review in my very occasional "Graphic Novel Novice" series, this review compares book and film, setting the book against the context in which it was written, and how the different versions of the story complement each other.

15 Day Book Blogging Challenge: Days Nine and Ten

Day 9: Why do you blog about books?

Quite honestly, I blog about books, because most people get tired of me talking about my latest read long before I'm finished with the topic. My English Literature degree taught me how to analyse books, take them apart and study the bits, and believe it or not, this actually enhanced my enjoyment of reading, rather than destroying it. But if I try talking about symbolism, symmetry, foreshadowing, themes, tropes and archetypes as an answer to "what are you reading?" my average acquaintance's eyes start to glaze over. I think fondly of the summer after Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was published, talking for hours with my friend Hannah (another English major) analysing Snape's every action and searching the text with a fine-tooth comb to try to puzzle out the mystery of his motives. But such friends, such conversations, are quite few and far-between, here on the Isle of Wight.

I used to haunt the Lord of the Rings forums, which were great for discussing the works of J R R Tolkien, but less so for Anne of Green Gables or Enid Blyton. I'd find forums, but the posts might be one sentence long, updated maybe once a month. I wanted to talk in depth about Rilla of Ingleside but also Twilight, and also about Neil Gaiman; I had my feet in many fanbases that did not overlap. So I set up the blog, in the hope that other people would find my posts and contribute to the discussion. And when writing blog posts, I can edit my thoughts as I write and so, I hope, my reviews make a bit more sense than my incoherent and rambling fangirling.

Day 10: How do you choose what to read next?

Quite simply, I read whatever I'm in the mood for at the time. My to-read pile has quite a variety of genres: non-fiction, romance, thriller, horror, science fiction and fantasy, as well as the hundreds of books on my shelves. If I have a library book due back, or if I've had a book borrowed from a friend for too long, I'll read that. I don't very often accept free books from authors or publishers, because I don't want reading to become a chore. I'd rather have the freedom to read what I want, when I want, and decide whether or not I have enough to say about it to make it worthwhile reviewing.

15-Day Book Blogging Challenge: Day Eight

Day 8: Quick! Write 15 bullet points of things that appeal to you on blogs.

1. Personal replies to comments. Always good to be listened to and have ongoing conversations
2. Discussion posts about themes, genres, characters, reading habits, etc. etc.
3. Wide variety of books reviewed - old, new, different genres, different age groups... surprise me.
4. Well-written content: correct spelling and grammar, and intelligent discussion of the books reviewed. I'm not asking for a thesis, just an idea of why you liked or didn't like a particular read.
5. Pictures! Give me something pretty to look at. 
6. Blogs that are quick to load and don't make my computer freeze up. My laptop, Ruby, needs to be treated gently, and so I won't visit your site if it crashes the internet every time I try to read it. 
7. Book-to-film comparisons. Is the book always better, or only nearly always?
8. Non-book-related posts, whether that be personal updates, film reviews, shoe collection analysis, crafty creations or beautiful baking. I like to get to know the blogger as well as their reading taste.
9. Rants - whether about feminism or web etiquette or whether the word "indescribable" should be banished from every writer's vocabulary, it's great that people are passionate about things, whether I agree or disagree with the points made.
10. Features, posts or styles that are unique to this particular blogger; not just the same memes and reviews that can be found on a hundred other blogs. (N.b. Memes are great starting points, and I particularly love the Top Ten Tuesdays, but I think your blog benefits from using them sparingly and mixing them with original content.)
11. Theme weeks or months: for example a week of Jane Austen posts, Women in Science Fiction and Fantasy, LGBT in teen literature or Round the World in Eighty Books. (Feel free to swipe any of these feature ideas for your own blogs.)
12. Geekery! Science fiction, fantasy, comic books... a well-placed Princess Bride, Firefly or Star Trek reference will go a long way in making me like you. Geekery combined with handcrafts, doubly so.
13. Likewise, a love of Anne of Green Gables will pretty much guarantee that I will love you forever. Especially if you mention the lesser-known, later books in the series. 
14. Twitter! It's certainly not essential, but it gives me another way to connect with a blogger and get to know them as a person.
15. Bloggers who don't take blogging too seriously. Who do it because they just can't shut up about books, and if anyone from the book industry takes an interest, then that's just a bonus. Book-lovers who want to connect with other book-lovers.

15 Day Book Blogger Challenge: Day Seven

I'm back! I've had to manage the past week borrowing computers and tweeting with my mobile phone, but my computer has been repaired, and business as usual. On the plus side, I've got a decent amount of reading done in my week off, so expect some more reviews very soon.

Day 7: Talk about your blogging quirks.

What constitutes a quirk, I wonder? I'm sure I have my own little eccentricities when it comes to blogging, but I don't know of any other way to do it so... I dunno.

• I blog sporadically. Sometimes I go for weeks without posting, and other times I write several posts at once, then schedule them to be published over a few days. I can't remember how many times I've come back from an accidental or planned hiatus with an apology for my absence, wondering vaguely if anyone's actually noticed I've been gone.
• I have a notebook with me at all times, as well as my reading book, so that I can jot down any thoughts as I have them, later to be written up in review form.
• I outline my reviews before writing them, trying to have at least three paragraphs: introduction and/or synopsis, details of the plot, themes, characters, etc. and then a conclusion. Perhaps this is left over from my English degree essay-planning. 
• I like to photograph my book piles and shelves, though most of the pictures don't end up on the blog. 
• I find it very difficult to give books star (or button) ratings, because sometimes my enjoyment of a book and my admiration of the writing are two very different matters. It's difficult to compare enjoyment of completely different books, anyway.
• I procrastinate a lot. If I'm struggling with a review, I tend to write a sentence, go on twitter, write another, catch up with Facebook, finish the paragraph, lose myself in a TvTropes tabsplosion... you get the gist. Part of my brain keeps ticking over while I'm distracted by mindless internetting. It seems to help...

15 Day Book Blogging Challenge: Day Six

Day 6: Describe how you shop for books.

As I wrote on my first post of this challenge, there is a certain art to book shopping, and it's not just about getting the best bargains - although I would be lying if I said I didn't take advantage of a good bargain. Considering that my job is to sell books, you could say that part of my brain is constantly book-shopping, keeping an eye out for a good read, and knowing when is the best time to buy a certain title because of special offers, staff discounts and limited-period money-off coupons. However, you can't browse for books in your own workplace, because you know exactly what is where, so I am known in the rival bookshop across the road, which has a bigger range than we do.

And if I visit another town, I simply have to visit their bookshops, and hopefully not come home empty-handed. I like to buy something we don't sell in our shop, something unusual or new - or old.

I avoid Amazon like the plague, and if a book is unavailable in shops, I'd rather order it instore for full price even than going onto the same shop's website. I'd rather support a physical bookstore than its online equivalent. Also, I don't buy books in supermarkets. I think I've been deterred by all the customers coming in and whining, "It's cheaper in Tesco/on Amazon," and vowed never again. Bookshops all the way!

15 Day Blogging Challenge: Day Five

Apologies for the delayed update. Unfortunately my laptop is being repaired at present, so I'm having to borrow the computers of friendsandrelations for valuable internetting. I miss my computer.

Day 5: Recommend a tear-jerker.

First of all I was going to go with The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, being the most recent book to require tissues, but that's perhaps too obvious, and no doubt you have all read it already. So instead I will go with the book that caused me to, literally, sit up all night reading through tears: Rilla of Ingleside by Lucy Maud Montgomery.

The final book in the Anne of Green Gables series is quite a departure from the rest of the books, and devastating for many reasons. By this time, Anne Shirley has been happily married to Gilbert Blythe for over twenty years, and has six grown-up or teenage children. But it is 1914, and the world is about to change forever with the outbreak of the First World War.

As you might guess from the title, Anne Shirley is not the focus of this novel. She is always there, but in the background, while the novel concentrates on her children, especially fifteen-year-old Rilla, and nineteen-year-old Walter.

Rilla is a very bittersweet read, especially if you think back to the beginning of Anne's tale as the ever-optimistic, imaginative redhead in a timeless village community. The war brings Anne and the Blythe family into the real world, and reality hits hard. How can Anne's story end with such heartbreak and devastation? But Rilla is an outstanding piece of writing, a contemporary study of World War 1 from the point of view of those left behind, the families who had to watch from afar, to carry on with life and hope that their loved ones would return. It also works as a stand-alone novel. It helps to have read the previous books in the series, but it is not essential.

15 Day Book Blogging Challenge: Day Four

Day 4: What was the last book you've thrown across the room?

That's an easy one: XO by Jeffery Deaver. It was not a great book - a pretty good thriller story, with an interesting premise, twists and turns galore, though not very well written. (There was a lot of telling, not showing, "she thought," "he remembered," that sort of thing.) But there was one point where Mr Deaver made us think something terrible had happened. It's a crime thriller, lots of terrible things happen, but there was one particular event that took things to a new level of awful, the killer crossing the Moral Event Horizon.

Except he didn't. Deaver was trolling us all along. And I fell for it. And the book fell out of my hand to the other side of the garden, where it ended up covered in grass stains. Um, oops?

15 Day Book Blogging Challenge: Day Three

Day 3: Who is your blogging BFF?

It's got to be Ellie the bookshop girl. Her blog is fun and informal, a mixture of book reviews, personal posts (with photos and funny gifs) and ranting about the grim reality behind the romantic ideal of running your very own bookshop. Tragically, not all bookshop customers are kindred spirits, folks!

Ellie's the only blogger I've met in real life, when I visited the Peak District earlier this year, and bought up a huge bag of books from her shop. She's just as lovely in real life as she comes across in her blog, and it's great to meet someone for the first time and feel like you've known them forever. (And she makes my book-buying habits look positively saintly!)