Bout of Books

I have hit a bit of a reading rut. Of course I've been reading for my essays - so much reading that I thought my eyeballs would fall out. As such, my reading of late has consisted mainly of feminist literary criticism. Nothing wrong with feminist literary criticism but I am itching to stick my nose in some actual literature as opposed to criticism. I made a massive Amazon order to celebrate successfully submitting my essays, so I now have a plethora of books to read (to add to the astounding number of books sitting in my flat also waiting to be read). What better way to get back into reading than a read-a-thon. And so...I will be participating in 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 13th and runs through Sunday, May 19th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 7.0 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

May 13 - May 19 Reading
Goals
I will be reading all week. I hope to devote at least 2 hours (hopefully more like 3 or 4) a day to reading Monday - Thursday. I will have a visitor for the weekend and so I am hoping to manage at least half an hour of reading each day Friday-Sunday.
I am aiming to read 3 plays for school and finish reading the 4 novels I have started in the past few weeks. I will also be continuing my audiobook listening.

We'll see how this changes over the course of the week depending on my work schedule, but it's nice to have goals.

Books
For dissertation:
The Revenger's Tragedy - Thomas Middleton
Philaster - Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher
The Duchess of Malfi - John Webster

Non-dissertation:
I listen to audiobooks while I walk to work and travel around the city and so this week I hope to finish listening to Harry Potter & the Half Blood Prince and begin Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows [unrelated note: I listen to the Harry Potter audiobooks read by Jim Dale once every year, a tradition from the days when my family played them during our summer holidays to Cape Cod - 8 hour car ride and then a week of no TV or internet]
Seraphina - Rachel Hartman
The Clockwork Princess - Cassandra Clare
Just Kids - Patti Smith
The Age of Miracles - Karen Thompson Walker

A note on time management: My schedule is always a bit hectic. I work 4 days a week, mornings and late afternoons. I usually have 11am-2:30pm to myself, now to be devoted to dissertation work, as well as my evening free after 8pm (asleep by 11pm). This week I will try to fill every free moment with reading, including my walk to and from work when I listen to my audiobook. Unfortunately, my tight schedule doesn't allow me to participate in the 3 scheduled twitter chats, but I will try to join in the community of readers as much as I can this week. This is my first Read-a-Thon, but I'm really looking forward to it. Should be a lot of fun!

My reading will begin tomorrow morning as I am asleep before midnight. I will be updating throughout the week and tweeting my progress @missrosepip