So for one of my goals this year to help me focus more on reading and having more fun with my reading schedule, I am participating in two of the Bout of Books reading challenges (plus a handful of other challenges) this year! I’ve participated in the Bout of Books reading challenges in the past couple years and I’m usually able to get a good amount of reading done – I’ve found it’s a great way to help me focus on reading and have concentrated reading time.

I’m hoping to be able to find enough time for this reading challenge to get a couple of books read. Things have been consistently busy at work all the time, so it my be a little tougher during the week, but I have GOAL DAY next Saturday and I should be able to make up some time then.

For those of you who don’t really know much about Bout of Books, it is basically a week-long, no pressure read-a-thon that has been going strong since 2011! Here is a description directly from the Bout of Books blog:

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly Rubidoux Apple. 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. There are challenges, Twitter chats, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 25 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team

The Bout of Books Read-a-Thon was created by Amanda @ On a Book Bender on a complete whim in August 2011. It took on a life of its own and was such a hit that Amanda decided to do it again and turn it into a somewhat regular occurrence.

• Bout of Books is a week long read-a-thon, usually from 12:01am on a Monday through 11:59pm on a Sunday in whatever time zone you are in.
• It is low pressure, meaning participants are only asked to push themselves to read more than they normally would during any given week. There is no competition between readers.
• How much time a reader wants, and can commit, to read, tweet, or network with fellow bloggers is left to individual preference. All challenges and giveaways are optional.
• Networking with fellow bloggers is actively encouraged, though never required.
• Use Twitter to post updates throughout the read-a-thon. Everyone will be tweeting with the #boutofbooks hashtag.

I’ve been reading pretty close to on schedule lately and I’m hoping to continue that trend over the next week!

Time Devoted to Reading

My Goals

My goals for this read-a-thon are that I’d like to participate in as much as I can: the daily posts plus reading every day. I’d really like to just focus on getting back into reading. My traditional busy season at work goes from January to April and it was a killer this year. I gave up on reading for April since all I was doing was making myself more tired. I’ve just recently picked up reading again and it’s been going well but I need to get back on board with my reading schedule in a big way.

Books to Read

• Read The Bride Test by Helen Hoang
• Read The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren
• Read Next Girl to Die by Dea Poirier
• Read a book for my Bookish Reading Challenge
• Read The Suspect by Fiona Burton

List is a little ambitious but with Friday and Saturday focused a little more on reading who knows how much I’ll get accomplished! I would’ve loved to take the whole week off and just read non-stop but there are just too many things to get done at work. I am lucky that I was able to get one day off and then I also have a half day Friday and Goal Day Saturday so those items  Anyways, I’m really looking forward to this week-long reading challenge devoted to reading ! If you do want to join make sure to add yourself to the page’s Sign Up Post by Tuesday, May 14th at 11:59pm CST! Happy reading!