Next week Jenn and I will be participating in our twenty-first bout of books.

The Bout of Books readathon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly Rubidoux Apple. It’s a weeklong readathon that begins 12:01am Monday, August 16th and runs through Sunday, August 22nd in YOUR time zone. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are reading sprints, Twitter chats, and exclusive Instagram challenges, but they’re all completely optional. For all Bout of Books 32 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

-Richard

End of reverse read-a-thon,

I did not read as much as usual as other things going on, but, had a much needed relaxing couple of days!

Total pages read:  753

Total time read:  10 hours 24 minutes 

Books finished:  3

-Richard 

I finished reading:

“Hot Six” written by Janet Evanovich.  336 pages.  Three stars.

The eighty fourth book of the year.  29,465 pages at an average of 351 pages per book.

-Richard 

End of read-a-thon hour 18 (3/4’s through):

Pages read:  517

Time read:  6 hours 20 mins

Books finished:  2

-Richard

End of read-a-thon hour 5:

Time for bed so an update:

Pages read: 294

Time read:  3 hours 31 mins

Books finished:  2

-Richard 

I finished reading:

“Indian Killer” written by Sherman Alexis.  420 pages.  Three stars.

The eighty third book of the year.  29,129 pages at an average of 351 pages per book.

-Richard 

I finished reading:

“The Righteous Men” written by Sam Bourne.  562 pages.  Three stars.

The eighty second  book of the year.  28,709 pages at an average of 350 pages per book.

-Richard 

Reverse read-a-thon opening post:

 1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today? - The Woodlands, TX

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?   Red Comet
3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?  Golden Oreos!
4) Tell us a little something about yourself!  English Ex-Pat "Lost in Texas"
5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to?   Not really focused on goals.   A combination of reading and watching Olympics!!

-Richard

I finished reading:

“Wild Horses” written by Dick Francis.  338 pages.  Three stars.

The eighty first book of the year.  28,147 pages at an average of 347 pages per book.

I finished reading:

“Christianity Without Beliefs” written by Marshall Davis.  125 pages.  Five Stars.

The eightieth book of the year.  27,809 pages at an average of 348 pages per book.

-Richard 

I finished reading:

“The Foundation Pit” written by Andrey Platonov.  180 pages. Five Stars.

The seventy ninth book of the year.  27,684 pages at an average of 350 pages per book.

-Richard 

I finished reading:

“Murder at the Kennedy Center” written by Margaret Truman.  334 pages.  Three stars.

The seventy eighth book of the year.  27,504 pages at an average of 353 pages per book.

-Richard 

I finished reading:

“The Discoverers: A History of Man’s Search to Know His World and Himself” written by Daniel J. Boorstin. 684 pages.  Three stars.

The seventy seventh book of the year.  27,170 pages at an average of 353 pages per book.

-Richard 

I finished reading:

“The Tailor of Panama” written by John le Carre.  400 pages.  2 stars.

The seventy sixth book of the year.  26,486 pages at an average of 348 pages per book.

-Richard 

I finished reading:

“Gemini:  The Illuminae Files_02” written by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff.  659 pages.  Five stars.

The seventy fifth book of the year.  26,086 pages at an average of 348 pages per book.

-Richard 

I finished reading:

“whose names are unknown” written by Sanora Babb. 222 pages.  Five stars.

The seventy fourth book of the year.  25,427 pages at an average of 344 pages per book.

-Richard 

I finished reading:

“The Rhythm of Prayer” edited by Sarah Bessey.  146 pages.  Four stars.

The seventy third book of the year.  25,205 pages at an average of 345 pages per book.

  -Richard

I finished reading:

“The Rule of Four” written by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason.  346 pages.  Three stars.

The seventy second book of the year.  25,059 pages at an averse of 348 pages per book.

-Richard 

I finished reading:

“Goodnight” written by Abram Tertz (Andrei Sinuavsky).  364 pages.  Five stars.

-Richard

I finished reading:

“Selected Poems” written by Frank O’Hara.  258 pages.  Five stars.

The seventieth book of the year.  24,349 pages at an average of 348 pages per book.

-Richard

I finished reading:

“The Train” written by Vera Panova.  281 pages.  Five stars.

The sixty ninth book of the year.  24,091 pages at an average of 349 pages per book.

-Richard 

I finished reading:

“The Ghost” written by Robert Harris.  412 pages.  Four stars.

The sixty eighth book of the year.  23,810 pages at an average of  350 pages per book.

-Richard 

I finished reading:

“The Water Dancer” written by Ta-Nehisi Coates.  403 pages.  Four stars.

The sixty seventh book of the year.  23,398 pages at an average of 349 pages per book.

-Richard 

I finished reading:

“The Souls of Black Folk” written by W.E.B. Du Boris.  165 pages.  Five stars.

The sixty sixth book of the year.  22,995 pages at an average of 348 pages per book.

-Richard

I finished reading:

“Devil Bones” written by Kathy Reichs.  390 pages. Four stars.

The sixty fifth book of the year.  22,830 pages at an average of 351 pages per book.

-Richard

I finished reading:

“Lies Across America:  What Our Historic Sites Get Wrong” written by James W. Loewen.  467 pages.  Three stars.

The sixty fourth book of the year.  22,440 pages at an average of 351 pages per book.

-Richard 

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I finished reading:

“Code to Zero” written by Ken Follett. 452 pages.  Four stars.

The sixty third book of the year.  21,973 pages at an average of 349 pages per book.

-Richard

I finished reading:

“The Book of Joy” written by Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu with Douglas Abrams.  348 pages.  Three stars.

The sixty second book of the year.  21,521 pages at an average of 347 pages per book.

-Richard

I finished reading:

“The Seventh Secret” written by Irving Wallace.  390 pages.  Two Stars.

The sixty first book of the year.  21,173 pages at an average of 347 pages per book.

-Richard 

I finished reading:

“The Fierce and Beautiful World” written by Andrei Platonov.  264 pages.  Five stars.

The sixtieth book of the year.  20,783 pages at an average of 346 pages per book.

-Richard 

I finished reading:

“The Gathering” written by Anne Enright.  261 pages. Four stars.

The fifty ninth book of the year.  20,519 pages at an average of 348 pages.

-Richard 

I finished reading:

“DeRo: My Life” written by Dwayne De Rosario with Brandan Dunlap.  192 pages.  Four stars.  

The fifty eight book of the year.  20,257 pages at an average of 349 pages per book.

-Richard

I finished reading:

“Murder of the Leviathan” written by Boris Akunin.  223 pages.  Two stars.

The fifty seventh book of the year.  20,065 pages at an average of 352 pages per book.

-Richard 

I finished reading:

“High Five” written by Janet Evanovich.  317 pages.  Three stars.

The fifty sixth book of the year.  19,842 pages at an average of 354 pages per book.

-Richard 

 End of Bout of Books Day 7, May 16th and Final Stats:

Pages read on Day 7:  341

Books finished on Day 7: 1

Total Pages Read: 1,105

Total Books Finished: 3

-Richard

I finished reading:

“The Night Manager” written by John Le Carre.  429 pages.  Two stars.

The fifty fifth book of the year.  19,525 pages at an average of 355 pages per book.

-Richard 

 End of Bout of Books Day 6, May 15th:

Pages read on Day 6:  142

Books finished on Day 6: 0

Total Pages Read:  764

Total Books Finished: 2

-Richard

 End of Bout of Books Day 5, May 14th:

Pages read on day 5:  118

Books finished on day 5:  0

Total Pages Read: 622

Total Books Finished:  2

-Richard

 End of Bout of Books Day 4, May 13th:

Pages read on day 4: 94

Books finished on day 4: 1

Total Pages Read:  504

Total Books Finished: 2

-Richard

I finished reading:

“Cold Warriors: Writers Who Waged the Literary Cold War” written by Duncan White.  692 pages.  Five Stars.

The fifty fourth book of the year.  19,096 pages at an average of 354 pages per book.

-Richard 

 End of Bout of Books Day 3, May 12th:

Pages read on day 3:  122

Books finished on day 3: 0

Total Pages Read:  410

Total Books Finished: 0

-Richard

 End of Bout of Books Day 2, May 11th:

Pages read on Day 2:  130

Books finished on Day 2: 1

Total Pages Read:  288

Total Books Finished: 1

-Richard

I finished reading:

“Slay Ride” written by Dick Francis.   279 pages.  Three stars. 

The fifty-third book of the year.  18,404 pages at an average of 347 pages per book.

-Richard 

 End of Bout of Books Day 1, May 10th:

Pages Read on Day 1:  158

Books Finished on Day 1:  0

-Richard

 This week we will be participating in our twentieth "Bout of Books":

The Bout of Books readathon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly Rubidoux Apple. It’s a weeklong readathon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 10th and runs through Sunday, May 16th in YOUR time zone. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are reading sprints, Twitter chats, and exclusive Instagram challenges, but they’re all completely optional. For all Bout of Books 31 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

-Richard

I finished reading;

“The Turkish Gambit” written by Boris Akunin.  211 pages.  Three stars.

The fifty second book of the year.  18,125 pages at an average of 349 pages per book.

-Richard 

I finished reading:

“New Monasticism” written Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove.  174 pages.  Four stars.

The fifty first book of the year.  17,914 pages at an average of 351 pages per book.

-Richard 

I finished reading:

“Grandmaster” written by Warren Murphy and Molly Cochrane.  431 pages.  Four stars.

The fiftieth book of the year.  17,740 pages at an average of 355 pages per book.

-Richard 

I finished reading:

“Darkest Hour:  How Churchill Brought England Back From the Brink” written by Anthony McCarten. 265 pages.  Three stars.

The forty ninth book of the year.  17,309 pages at an average of 353 pages per book.

-Richard

I finished reading:

“Lives of Unforgetting: What We Lose in Translation When We Read the Bible” written by Stant Litore.  363 pages.  Four stars.

The forty eighth book of the year.  17,044 pages at an average of 355 pages per book.

-Richard 

 Read-a-thon final step and closing survey

Pages Read:  1021

Time Read:  11 hours 42 minutes

Books Finished: 5

Closing Survey

1. How would you assess your reading overall?   Patchy.... some hours read well,  others struggled
2. Did you have a strategy, and if so, did you stick to it?  Yes
3. What was your favorite snack?   Strawberry Dip w/Ginger Nuts
4. Wanna volunteer for our next event? Stay tuned for the recap post!

-Richard

End of read-a-thon hours 16-18:

Pages read these hours:  153

Time read these hours 1 hour 50 minutes

Books finished these hours:  1

Total Pages Read: 1004

Total Time Read:  11 hours 29 minutes

Total Books Finished:  5

-Richard 

I finished reading:

“Four to Score” written by Janet Evanovich.   313 pages.  Three stars.

The forty seventh book of the year.  16,681 pages at an average of 356 pages per book.

-Richard 

End of read-a-thon hour 13-15:

Pages read these hours:  140 pages

Time read these hours:  2 hours 6 minutes 

Books finished these hours:  0

Total Pages Read:  851

Total Time Read:  9 hours 29 minutes 

Total Books Finished:  4

-Richard 

End of read-a-thon hour 10-12:

Time read these hours:  1 hour 24 mins 

Pages read these hours:  171

Books read these hours:  1

Total Time Read:  7 hour 23 mins

Total Pages Read:  711

Total Books Finished:  4

-Richard 

I finished reading:

“Saga Vol. 9” written by Fiona Staples and Brian K. Vaughan.  154 pages.  Three stars.

The forty sixth book of the year.  16,368 pages at an average of 356 pages per book.  

-Richard 

 End of read-a-thon hours 7-9:

Pages read these hours:  278

Time read these hours:  2 hours 8 minutes

Books finished these hours:  3

Total Pages Read: 541

Total Time Read:  5 hours 59 minutes

Total Books Finished: 3

-Richard

I finished reading:

“Zom-B: Bride” written by Darren Shan.  234 pages.  Four stars.

The forty fifth book of the year.  16,214 pages at an average of 360 pages per book.

-Richard 

End of read-a-thon hours 4-6;

Time read these hours:  2 hours 13 mins

Pages read these hours:  183

Books finished these hours:  2

Total Time Read:  3 hours 51 minutes

Total Pages Read:  163

Total Books Finished: 2

-Richard 

I finished reading:

“Beneath the Bleeding” written by Val McDermid.  484 pages.  Four stars.

The forty forty book of the year.  15,980 pages at an average of 363 pages per book.

-Richard 

I finished reading:

“The Girl Who Played With Fire” written by Stieg Larsson.  503 pages.  Three stars.

The forty third book of the year.   15,496 pages at an average of 360 pages per book.

-Richard 

End of read-a-thon hours 1-3:

A slow start!!

Time read these hours:  1 hour 38 minutes 

Pagers read these hours:  80

Books finished these hours:  0

-Richard 

 Today we are participating in another Dewey's Readathon.   I will post updates after every three hours.

Here is the opening summary:

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?  The Woodlands, Texas, USA (35 miles North of Houston).
2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?  All of them!!
3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?  My wife's strawberry dip
4) Tell us a little something about yourself!  Chemist, poet, English, husband - "lost in Texas"
5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to?  This time we will be staying home so we can also take care of our rehabbing dog and "super" senior cat.

-Richard

I finished reading.

“The Confession” written by John Grisham.  515 pages.  Four stars.

The forty second book of the year.  14,993 pages at an average of 357 pages per book.

-Richard 

I finished reading:

“Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” written by John Berendt.  388 pages.  Four stars.

The forty first book of the year.  14,478 pages at an average of 353 pages per book.

-Richard 

I finished reading:

“This Was A Man” written by Jeffrey Archer.  403 pages.  Four stars.

The fortieth book of the year.  14,090 pages at an average of 352 pages per book.

-Richard 

I finished reading:

“A Vision Unfulfilled:  Russia and the Soviet Union in the Twentieth Century” written by John M. Thompson.  561 pages.  Four stars.

The thirty ninth book of the year.  13,687 pages at an average of 351 pages per book.

-Richard 

I finish reading:

“Sisters in the Wilderness:  The Challenge of Womanist God-Talk” written by Delores S. Williams.  239 pages.  Three stars.

The thirty eighth book of the year.  13,126 pages at an average of 345 pages per book.

-Richard 

I finished reading:

“The Winter Queen” written by Boris Akunin.  242 pages.  Three stars.

The thirty seventh book of the year.  12,887 pages at an average of 348 pages per book.

-Richard