Via the Twitter-verse (where I get much of my networking info these days) I learned about Bout of Books Read-a-thon (October 24th-30th) via Amanda at On a Book Bender. And this past Friday I signed up for it.
Why did I participate in this read-a-thon?
A) Because I'm a book lover and as a writer I love learning from books.
B) See A.
With my ever growing crazy schedule the fact that this read-a-thon takes place over a week and not a weekend seemed feasible. And plus I'm kind of backed up on books I got from Book Expo and that I'm just dying to read in general. I already have an indie bookstore trip planned where I intend to do my part to help stimulate the economy. And it's good prep since NaNoWriMo starts in November. So get in a bunch of reading just before for inspiration! Good idea? Yes.
Plus, it's always good to connect with fellow book lovers! Book bloggers are gaining followings because they tend to give voice to books that get lost in the shuffle. In speaking with an editor for a major NY publisher he affirmed that publishing houses reach out to book bloggers more and more because of the fact it helps get the word out about their books.
So, the goal that I have set for myself is to read 3 books in a week. Considering my schedule this can be a stretch as I do most of my reading on the subway to/from work and sometimes in the evening. Basically for this read-a-thon one must spend every extra minute you have reading!
The books I am hoping to complete are as follows:
Since I've been writing my own short story collection I wanted to delve back into contemporary ones. And Danielle Evans' collection has won the PEN/Faulkner and she was chosen as one of the National Book Foundation's 5 Under 35 this year.
I snagged ARCs of Eve by Anna Carey and Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick at Book Expo and haven't had the chance to get to them as much as I wanted to. So I'm eager to finally get to them. Especially Wonderstruck as the illustrations look gorgeous.
If I'm unable to read one of these I may switch it out for another book I have on my shelf to be read, Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater.
I'll be logging my progress on Goodreads and posting finished titles on Twitter as well. And I'll be rooting everyone on!
If you're interested in still signing up feel free to do so via Amanda's website. She's leaving sign up open until October 28th. (You have to have signed up to be able to participate in giveaways hosted at a new website daily during the Bout of Books challenge.) And if you're on Twitter remember to tag #boutofbooks in your post on status and to other participants.
Happy reading everyone!