I’ve been off my reading game in general this year and specifically in the last month, so I’m excited to participate once again in the Bout of Books:

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 11th and runs through Sunday, May 17th 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 13 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team

When I participated in January, my goals included reading daily, finishing a couple books, and blogging about what I was reading. This time, I think my goals will be similar:

1. To read at least a few pages every day.
2. To finish at least one book and/or read 300 pages across several books.
3. To update you on what I’ve been reading. Daily would be nice, but let’s be realistic and aim for three posts this week.

Today’s Bout of Books challenge is to answer a survey posed by Lori at Writing My Own Fairy Tale:

1. How do you organize your shelves?

I have a loose understanding of the word organize in this context. I have a couple shelves with books of sentimental value: works by Louisa May Alcott, Laura Ingalls Wilder, C.S. Lewis, L.M. Montgomery, my bible and dictionary, a book that used to belong to my dad’s aunt, etc. And there’s a second half-shelf that has some other books that were gifts and are valuable for that reason. Otherwise, things are vaguely arranged by genre and/or time of acquisition. Poetry books are all together. Crafting books are all together. Feminist texts are all together. Books acquired at one of the ALA meetings I went to are all on the bottom shelf of my desk. Books that came into the Burrow during the period I served on the Cybils committee are in or on the blue cabinet. Library books are by my chair. Fiction is spread all over the house, as is appropriate.

2. What is one of your favorite book that’s not in one of your favorite genres?

I guess I tend not to read a whole lot of history, so let’s go with Cait Murphy’s Crazy ’08: How a Cast of Cranks, Rogues, Boneheads, and Magnates Created the Greatest Year in Baseball History.

3. What is the last 5 star book you read?

According to GoodReads, it was The Book of Unknown Americans, which I read last summer. (I don’t award five stars frequently: something on the order of twice a year.)

4. What book are you most excited to read during the read-a-thon?

I hope to get to Jasper Fforde’s latest in the Chronicles of Kazam, The Eye of Zoltar. I’m just hoping I remember enough of the previous two books to dive back in comfortably. I also picked up the second volume of Ms. Marvel last weekend, so that’s high on my list, too. And I’m finding The Soul of Baseball: A Road Trip Through Buck O’Neil’s America surprisingly comforting.

5. What book do you recommend the most?

For what and whom? For Bout of Books participants? I don’t feel like I have a single pat answer. But I suppose if you haven’t read The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde you should do so immediately.