Regency Box Set: (completed one month ahead of schedule)

1. His Jilted Bride (Banks Brothers Brides #3) by Rose Gordon 1 star

2. My Lady of Deception by Christi Caldwell 1 star

3. Much Ado about Dutton by Claudia Dain 0 stars

TBR Read Down:

4. The Dilemma of Charlotte Farrow (Avenue of Dreams #2) by Olivia Newport - 2 stars

5. Say Yes to Death (Debutante Dropout #6) by Susan McBride - 4.5 stars

6. Revelations (Blue Bloods #3) by Melissa de la Cruz - 3 stars

7. The Van Alen Legacy (Blue Bloods #4) by Melissa de la Cruz - DNF

8. The Carousel Painter by Judith Miller - DNF

9. Tempted by Midnight (Midnight Breed #12.5) by Lara Adrian - 2 stars

10. Her Christmas Earl by Anna Campbell - 3 stars

Non-fiction Challenge: (37/50; 74% completed)

11. The Mercy of the Sky by Holly Bailey - 5 stars

12. The Dressmaker of Khair Khana by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon - 3 stars

13. The Whole Brain Child by Daniel J. Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson - DNF

14. What I Know Now edited by Ellyn Spragins - 2 stars

15. F5 by Mark Levine - 3 stars

16. Not Left Behind: Rescuing the Pets of New Orleans by Troy Snow/Best Friends 5 stars

17. Not Just the Levees Broke by Phyllis Montana-LeBlanc - 0 stars

18. Hell on Earth: The Wildfire Pandemic by David L. Porter w/Lee Reeder 2.5 stars

Summer Bingo:

19. Brave Like My Brother by Marc Tyler Nobleman - 2.5 stars

20. Othello by William Shakespeare - 2 stars

Reading Challenge: 125 out of 150 books (83% completed) - this is according to GoodReads, as BL did not have two of the novels in the regency box set as a separate books, just as part of the box set.

Events:

DoD-MWR Summer Reading Program (ended August 12th)

COYER (ends today)

Bout of Books cycle 17 (August 22th-28th)

Moonlight Reader's Summer Bingo

Final Thoughts:

This has been a busy summer and the autumn season looks just as busy reading-wise. I had to DNF three books (two in one day), and let one series go (bye-bye Blue Bloods). I started reviewing on GR (just one days BL was running extra slow), but I am looking at backing up my reviews on my Blogger page in case BL's servers/motivation to look after the site goes down further.

Done with another challenge - the Regency box set was completely read one month ahead of schedule thanks to my participation in Bout of Books cycle 17. Speaking of challenges, I blacked out my card for Moonlight Reader's Summer Bingo. I won the adult division of my base library's Summer Reading Program and received a Kindle Fire (5th gen). And I had a lot of fun talking with other readers/bloggers in the COYER FB group while also getting many books read off my NOOK.

I am very ready for autumn - cooler temps, pumpkin spice EVERYTHING, and reading about all things paranormal/supernatural. Little man starts Kindergarten in a few days, and I am both excited and teary-eyed. Bring on Halloween Bingo to keep me occupied.

Happy 30th Anniversary to Ann M. Martin's The Babysitters Club. I glommed this series when I was a kid. Claudia was my favorite, with Mary Anne a close second; Dawn was my least favorite.

I concentrated on reading more than the social aspects of the read-a-thon because I wanted the Regency box set done before the summer ended. It is difficult to participate in the Twitter chats when one lives outside the US time zones. The challenges this cycle didn't appeal to me.

I finished four books this week; three were from my original TBR pile set aside for this challenge and one was a left over from last month. The two books from the TBR pile I didn't read will go on the back burner so that I can concentrate on reading through my Halloween Bingo reading list. Four books is pretty average for me.

Overall, I would still recommend this read-a-thon to anyone looking for a positive but low-key challenge in their reading life. I look forward to participating in cycle 18 in January (2nd-8th), hopefully with better books from the TBR pile and more social interaction on my end.

When I posted my sign up post for Bout of Books cycle 17, I really only had a rough draft of my reading goals, as it was still weeks away. Now it is hours away from the start, here is my official list:

1. His Jilted Bride (Banks Brothers Brides #3) by Rose Gordon (Regency box set)

2. Lowcountry Bordello (Liz Talbot #4) by Susan M. Boyer

3. My Lady of Deception (Brethren of the Lords #1) by Christi Caldwell (Regency box set)

4. Lowcountry Book Club (Liz Talbot #5) by Susan M. Boyer

5. Much Ado About Dutton (More Courtesan Chronicles) by Claudia Dain (Regency box set)

6. Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital by Sheri Fink (I only plan on starting this by the end of the read-a-thon, but I do want it done by the end of August).

To everyone doing Bout of Books this week - good luck!