Once again, I’ve signed up to participate in the Bout of Books readathon. If you also love books, you can still sign up through 11:59 p.m. CST today! What is Bout of Books, you ask?

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 12:01 a.m. Monday, January 2nd, and runs through Sunday, January 8th, 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 18 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team

My goals for this readathon are nearly always the same: I’d like to read every day. I’d like to finish a couple books or a couple hundred pages. And I’d like to participate online in some way each day, either by posting an update here, by participating in the online challenges, by commenting on others’s progress, or by sharing updates via Twitter.

Day 1 Progress: Success! I finished Kelly Link’s The Girl Who Drank the Moon early this evening. The length of time it took me to finish the book does not remotely reflect the quality of this magical middle-grade novel about the consequences of a witch accidentally feeding a baby moonlight (rather than nourishing, but benign starlight) during a rescue mission.

I also took part in the #BoutofBooks Twitter chat, which are always fun, if fast-paced. One of the questions reiterated the day’s challenge, which was to describe yourself in six words. I opted for “Quadragenarious knitting reader. Pissed off liberal.”