Friday 10 May 2013

Bout of Books Goals


It's Bout of Books on Monday, and I thought I should probably write about my goals for the week, just so that I know where I'm starting from in order to judge how spectacularly I've failed at the end of the week. Defeatist? Me? Never...

Anyway! Because I love taking photos of piles of books (and Rhys hates it because I inevitably end up leaving piles of books lying around the house in unlikely places which he then falls over in the middle of the night), here is a pile of books (sorry Rhys!):

The Perks of Being a Wallflower, The Story of the Treasure Seekers, and Laura's Handmade Life I've nearly finished already. I may even finish TPOBAW before Monday but it's on there just in case I don't, because I must. The bottom three (Jamrach's Menagerie by Carol Birch, The Rose Petal Beach by Dorothy Koomson, and Citadel by Kate Mosse, in case you can't see) are just examples of how awesome my library is, and I am definitely going to get to them in the next couple of weeks. I like to have variety at the moment, as I don't seem to be able to read one book at a time anymore....

And in the name of variety, these are some of my many review copies (most of which I was meant to review a while back but the baby and the library got in the way!) that I really want to get to:

The two which particularly excite me are Pictures at an Exhibition by Camilla Macpherson, because it's about the National Gallery's Picture of the Month scheme during World War Two, and each chapter has those code things you scan with your phone and you can see the painting for that month. I love the idea of this! Also, Sketcher by Roland Watson- Grant just arrived today and it sounds awesome. Plus I want to keep up the roll that I'm currently on (I was sent a graphic novel to review earlier in the week and finished it the day after it arrived. Review pending).

I will inevitably end up reading half a book and feeling crap by the end of the week, but there we go. If I don't dream big, I have nothing to aspire to!

Aside from unrealistic piles of books, my goals for the readathon are thus:

  1. Read for at least an hour a day. 
  2. Go to bed half an hour earlier than usual and read before sleeping. 
  3. Visit people's blogs and comment! I am so crap at commenting lately so maybe if I make myself do it, I'll get back into the swing of it!
  4. Make awesome snacks - I'm thinking popcorn, muffins and probably something with cheese. Maybe cheese straws or cheese scones...
I feel like lately my reading has been really fragmented and pushed to one side, because I've been crafting like crazy (see here,here and here for pretty things I've made since the last time I told you about pretty things I'd made!) and learning about the Ancient Greeks, but that's just finished and although I'm working on an order for a friend, there's no deadline for it so I reckon I can just make next week reading week. I'm seriously looking forward to it. 

If you're participating let me know so I can come and check out your posts and COMMENT! :-) 

7 comments:

  1. Bexxxxxx, (haha, that makes your name look like a porn film...)

    Anyway! I think I'm going to do Bout of Books in a wholly non-pressurey but hopefully an encouragey of reading kind of way. I think it's going to be good :) I like your idea of going to bed earlier to read, too, I think I'm going to have to do that. Then even if it's the only reading I do, it's still reading, right? Right.

    I'm glad we had this discussion :)

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    1. LOL I knew there was a reason why I go by rebekah at work (so nobody mistakes me for a porn film...)

      Anyway! Do it! That was my thinking too since benji is distracting in the day plus reading before bed is relaxing and stuff. Except when I read something that freaks me out and then have to read something nice to counteract it...

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  2. Yay for BoB! I always get very aspirational with my reading goals too - sometimes it only sticks for a day or two, but at least I'm AIMING high, right? *adopts best 'career counsellor' face and nods wisely*

    I've got a fair few of these books floating around in my bookish peripheral vision so I'll be interested to see how they go! Also, can I just say that those knitted alphabet blocks are THE CUTEST THING EVER! :D

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  3. I love pictures of book piles! good luck with your readathon - it looks like you have your work cut out for you. I'll be interested to see what you think of Citadel. I've liked a couple of her books, but not all. So I'm curious about this latest one and if I should add it to my TBR pile or not.

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  4. I always love Bout of Books - mostly because I like it that at any time my day is a bit rubbish, I can log onto Twitter and find hundreds of people reading and talking about reading.

    I'm dying to read Citadel - I can't wait until it's out in paperback and I can match it up to my other Kate Mosse books. Ok, that sounds weird but I hope you like it all the same!

    Oh, and home-made cheese straws sound amazing - go with those :)

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  5. Yay for overly-ambitious piles of books! I love it. It's the best part of readathoning.

    Popcorn sounds so good right now! I haven't even thought about food yet... there are a few Skinnytaste recipes I've been meaning to try, maybe now's the time...

    Good luck on your goals!!

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  6. I like your reading goals! At least they're sensible and achievable, not OMG I AM GOING TO READ ALL THESE BOOKS.

    I think you should read Jamrach's Menagerie so I can stop eyeing it up in charity shops and actually decide once and for all whether to buy it or not :)

    I am really curious about Perks/Wallflower, although I'm kind of scared of it. I'm anxious about not liking it as much as everybody else to begin with and secondly I'm going to have to try REALLY HARD not to assume it's rubbish just because it's been tainted by Emma Watson...

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