I will be participating in Bout of Books 22!

What is Bout of Books you ask?
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 14th and runs through Sunday, May 20th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 22 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team.

What are my goals for this Bout of Books?
To stay on top of my TBR and reviews and maybe get ahead on some books as well!
I will be doing updates and challenges in this post.  ​Here are some of the books I hope to read:

Bout of Books Day 1:
Challenge- Introduce Yourself #Insixwords

Outdoorswoman, gardener, toddler & dog mom, scientist.

Progress:
Began Reading: All the Way to Italy
​Percent Complete: 50%

Bout of Books Day 2:
Challenge: The Year of You
Published August 1985- The Castle in the Attic
I remember reading this book in school and falling in love with a new genre.

Progress:
Finished: All the Way To Italy
Began: The Deadliest Sport

Bout of Books Day 3:
Challenge: Show Me Your Precious
Box Set of The Lord of the Rings- it's shiny, too!

Progress:
Finished: All the Way to Italy, The Deadliest Sport
Began: Cocoa Beach

Bout of Books Day 4:
Read Alikes:  I'm a huge historical fiction fan so my read alike is- If you like Phillipa Gregory try Tony Riches.

Progress:
Finished: All the Way to Italy, The Deadliest Sport
Reading: Cocoa Beach

Bout of Books Day 5:

​Challenge:
Space Scavenger Hunt!  I really enjoyed this challenge, here are my picks-

Mercury - Favourite short story/novella:  Trigger Warning by Neil Gaimen
Venus - Favourite book with female protagonist: The Cottingly Secret by Hazel Gaynor
Earth - Favourite book about nature/nature word in the title:  Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard
Mars - Favourite book with a red cover: Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johnson
Jupiter - Favourite tome over 500 pages:  The Belle of Two Arbors by Paul Diamond
Saturn - Favourite book with circle/ring on the cover/in the title: Catarina's Ring by Lisa McGuiness
Uranus - Favourite book set in winter:  White Fang by Jack London
Neptune - Favourite book set at sea, on a boat, or under water:  Thoreau in Love by John Schuyler Bishop
Pluto - Favourite books featuring a dog/with a dog on the cover:  The Dog Who Loved Too Much by Dr. Nicholas Dodman
Moon - Favourite book set anywhere other than Earth: City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett
Sun - Favourite book set in summer:  The Cherry Harvest by Lucy Sanna 
Space - Favourite book set in space: Harvesting Space for a Greener Earth by Matloff et al.

Bout of Books Day 6:

Challenge: Share Your Favorite Bout of Books Moment
My favorite thing about Bout of Books is exploring the other blogs of participants!  I've found some great, like-minded readers that I try to visit throughout the year.

Progress: 
Finished: All the Way to Italy, The Deadliest Sport
Reading: Cocoa Beach

Bout of Books Day 7:
Challenge: Stretch Goal
I am actually doing really well on my goals even though I never read quite as much as I would like.  For my goal revision I would like to finish Cocoa Beach today and begin To Love a Spy.  During the challenge I did get ahead several book for review, so I am very happy with my progress!

Wrap Up!
This was a really productive Bout of Books for me.  I am happy with my progress.  Here is what I read:

Finished: All the Way to Italy by Flavia Brunetti, The Deadliest Sport by June Tropp and Cocoa Beach by Beatriz Williams.
Began: To Love a Spy by Laura Beers
Total Pages Read: 798
Hours Read:  I didn't really keep track, but based on the Kindle estimates about 8.

I've done really well with the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge for 2017, so I am delighted to join the 2018 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge.  This year, I will do the Ancient History Level again at 25 books.  Here are the rules and how to participate:

Here are the Reading Challenge details:

Each month, a new post dedicated to the HF Challenge will be created. To participate, you only have to follow the rules:

• Everyone can participate! If you don't have a blog you can post a link to your review if it's posted on Goodreads, Facebook, or Amazon, or you can add your book title and thoughts in the comment section if you wish.
• Add the link(s) of your review(s) including your name and book title to the Mister Linky we’ll be adding to our monthly post (please use the direct URL that will guide us directly to your review)
• Any sub-genre of historical fiction is accepted (Historical Romance, Historical Mystery, Historical Fantasy, Young Adult, History/Non-Fiction, etc.)

During the following 12 months you can choose one of the different reading levels:

20th Century Reader - 2 books
Victorian Reader - 5 books
Renaissance Reader - 10 books
Medieval - 15 books
Ancient History - 25 books
Prehistoric - 50+ books

To join the challenge you only need to make a post about it, add your link in Mr. Linky below or just leave a link to your blog if you are not yet ready to post about it yet. If you don't have a blog you can just leave a comment for this post saying that you are joining, and link to your Facebook, Goodreads or other social media page where you will be sharing your reviews.

The challenge runs from January 1st to December 31st, 2018.

 Please share about the Reading Challenge to your fellow friends and readers using the hashtag below!
#2018HistFicReadingChallenge
​
If you have any questions or comments please leave a comment on this post or email Amy at passagestothepast@gmail.com.

I have never actually participated in a COYER but has always thought I should!  I will be participating in the COYER Big Summer Birthday Bash. For more information and to sign up go here: http://coyerchallenge.com/2018/05/19/coyer-big-summer-birthday-bash-sign-up-now/

My clean up goal will be A Spring Clean- 11 to 20 books.  I hope to be on the higher end of that. Check back on this post for updates and challenges.
Here are some of the e-reads I want to clean out:

Mini Challenge: 
Artful Covers- Here is some wonderful artwork of Eliza Hamilton and her sister Angelica by Ron Chan for My Dear Hamilton.

Mini Challenge: 
Tell Me a Story- Two of my favorite Short Story collections!
Trigger Warning and My View from the Cheap Seats

Hour 10- Still reading My Dear Hamilton!

Mini Challenge:  
Anthology of Interest- I would love to read an anthology about the thoughts of animals going about their daily lives and their interactions with humans.

Hour 11-
​Bookmark Thoughts:
I am a bookmark user.  Sometimes it is an actual nice bookmark, sometimes it's a ribbon, sometimes a scrap of paper, but always, always, always use a bookmark.

Hour 13- Still chugging along.  Took a dinner break and got everyone situated in the house!

Mini- Challenge
Page Pen Pals!
Right now I'm stuck in the age of Alexander Hamilton, so I would have to say Eliza Hamilton or her sister Angelica.  ​ I would love to know exactly what they thought about everything they had the chance to witness throughout their lives.

Hour 24
Wrap Up
1. Which hour was most daunting for you?
When I began, hour 8 or so.  Trying to read and still do all of the normal daily routine.
2. Tell us ALLLLL the books you read!
I finished My Dear Hamilton!  At 600+ pages, a true accomplishment.
3. Which books would you recommend to other Read-a-thoners?
Anything in your own TBR
4. What’s a really rad thing we could do during the next Read-a-thon that would make you smile?
A themed readathon
5. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? Would you be interested in volunteering to help organize and prep?
I love the readathon and will participate again!  I'm not sure I've done enough to volunteer yet.

I'm participating in the next 24in48 Readathon!  Follow along here for my updates.  

Want to learn more?  Read on...
​
The next #24in48 will be taking place on Jan. 27-28, 2018! And I hope you can join us for a weekend full of warm blankets, snuggly pets, stacks of books, and blessed alone time.

If you’re new to 24in48, this is the basic gist: beginning at 12:01am on Saturday morning and running through 11:59pm on Sunday night, participants read for 24 hours out of that 48-hour period. You can split that up however you’d like: 20 hours on Saturday, four hours on Sunday; 12 hours each day; six four-hour sessions with four hour breaks in between, whatever you’d like.

And that’s it. The format never changes but it’s always an adventure.

Have more questions? There’s an FAQ page for that. Also, we’re still accepting donations to help us send more prizes out to international winners through the PayPal donate button on the sidebar.

Ready to join? Fill out the form below and feel free to list any and all of the places you’ll be hanging out online during the ‘thon. Check out who else is participating. If your entry doesn’t immediately pop in to the spreadsheet, give it a few minutes to populate.
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And you can follow the readathon in all the normal places. We’re on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Litsy (@24in48) and you can use the official hashtag #24in48 everywhere to keep up with your fellow readathon-ers.

Hour 0:
Where are you from, where are you now, and what’s the furthest from home you traveled in the past year?
Batavia,Ny -Rochester, NY - Lake Placid, NY

Have you done the 'thon before? How many times?! If it’s your first time with us, where did you hear about the Readathon?
Just once before and I found out through my friends at Booklikes

Are you readathon-ing alone? If not, who are you doing the Readathon with?
Just me

Do you have a stack, or are you winging it? OR what book are you kicking the Readathon off with?
A stack, kicking off with A Peculiar Courtship
What’s your Hogwarts house?

Not a Harry Potter Fan, sorry :(

Remind us where to find you online this weekend.
stephaniesbookreviews.weebly.com

Hour 6:
I have held onto a very old and tattered illustrated copy of The Hobbit forever

Hour 12:
First Lines- "The day they tried to burn Odysseus's palace down, the queen of Ithaca was at her loom.  So lost was she in the counts and the colors and the threads and the rhythm, she almost missed the entire event." -A Sea of Sorrow

Hour 18:
My Favorite Book to Screen Adaptation: Hidden Figures

Hour 30:
Book that has been sitting on my shelf unread for the longest time: War and Peace, I don't know how many years....more than 10

​I'm participating in the Bout of Books Read-A-Thon #21 on January 8-14.  What is Bout of Books?  Read about it here:

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, January 8th and runs through Sunday, January 14th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 21 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team.

Check back on this post for my challenges and updates!
My goals for this Bout include keeping up to date on books for review as well as finishing a few books that I are past due.  Here are the books I'd like to read: 

Today's Challenge: Six Words to describe myself- Adventurer, Gardener, Mother, Scientist, Dreamer, Dancer
Currently Reading: The Muse of Fire

Today's Challenge: Share Your 2018 Reading Goals!  My goals this year are to read at least 100 books.  I  want to keep up with all my ARC reading, which will mean saying 'no' to more ARC's.  I also want to do more reading for fun, that means re-reads of favorites and incorporating some books that have been on the shelf for a while that I have been meaning to get around to.

Books Read: The Muse of Fire by Carol M. Cram

Currently Reading: The Women in the Castle

Challenge: Favorites List
Favorite Series: The Seven Sisters By Lucinda Riley
Favorite Genre: Historical Fiction
Favorite Cover: Last Christmas in Paris by Hazel Gaynor
Favorite Reading Challenge: The 16 Tasks of the Festive Season
Favorite Bookish Site: Booklikes

Currently Reading: The Women in the Castle
​Books Read: The Muse of Fire

Challenge: Newspaper Headline
Since I can't get it out of my head, here is a headline for The Women in the Castle:
Women Unite to Rebuild

Currently Finishing: The Women in the Castle
Books Read: The Muse of Fire

Books Read:  The Muse of Fire, The Women in the Castle
Currently Reading: TrumpeterVille

Challenge: Post A Review!  
Read my review of The Muse of Fire here, and The Women in the Castle here.
Books Read: The Muse of Fire, The Women in the Castle
Currently Reading: TrumpeterVille

Total Books Read: 3- The Muse of Fire, The Women in the Castle, Trumpeterville
Pages Read: 731
Hours Read: 9
​Challenges Completed: 7