Good Luck to the 48 Hour Book Challenge Participants!

Sorry folks, but for the first time in 3 years, I won’t be doing the 48 Hour Book Challenge.  It is a really busy weekend for me and thinking about squeezing the challenge into my schedule makes me feel stressed rather than happy.

This weekend is the annual city wide garage sales for our town and I have already been shopping it up over here.  I plan to go out way early tomorrow and hit the good sales.  One of the sales at the library has GIRL SCOUT COOKIES!!!  The last two years I have rushed through the sales like a crazy person to get back and read, but tomorrow I am going to take my time and browse to my heart’s content.  Then I have a teen program at night and a meeting on Sunday (ugh).  So I am not going to have a lot of time to read.

Not only will I be pressed for time, but I am also well on my way to my summer zombie-fied state.  I read like a freakin’ maniac during the rest of the year, but in the summer I literally stop functioning outside of work.  Last night was our summer reading kick off and there were like 400 people there.  After something like that I just want to sit on my couch and stare at the wall for days, because my brain literally can’t handle a book.  I will try to keep up my reading this summer, but my amount of books read is going to decrease dramatically from now until August.

So, I have rambled on for way to long, just to say that I’m not doing the challenge this year.  So good luck to everyone who is already reading away (go Abby!) and I hope you all reach your reading goals!

Jen

 

Why Amber didn’t do the 48-Hour Book Challenge Either

1. Last weekend, I stumbled upon the final episode (well, it was one of the Specials really) of the VICAR OF DIBLEY–MY NEW FAVORITEST SHOW. So I put all the DVDs on hold on at the library when I got to work on Tuesday, and they arrived for me on Friday meaning allllllllll weekend (when I have not been shopping for Velvet ribbon with Mom or playing Kickball with Steve) I have been watching pure loveliness such as this:

***first thing I think about when watching any British show or movie: who was he/she in the Harry Potter films??? In the case of Dibley, it was Dawn French’s voice that caught my attention…She was the Fat Lady!!!

Owen looked awfully familiar, too, although I couldn’t remember so I had to look him up–He was Barty Crouch! Haha, and apparently Cecil will be Kreacher in both Deathly Hallows!

2. Also, I totally forgot about the #48hbc until this week so I felt a little panicked to come up with a reading plan! Books that I would have read if I had done the challenge: Heist Society by Ally Carter, The Westing Game by Ellen Ranskin, and The Magic Thief: Found by Sarah Prineas. I just finished The Agency: A Spy in the House by Y.S. Lee which was EXCELLENT, but Jen already told you that 😉

Amber

Why I Didn’t do the 48-Hour Book Challenge

I was SO excited for the 48-Hour Book Challenge this year.  I’ve had it marked on my calendar since I heard the date.  Unfortunately, it did not happen for me this year for several reasons…

1)  I’m catsitting this weekend.  Normally, this wouldn’t really affect anything because reading and petting a cat at the same time is pretty nice, but there’s half an hour between my apartment and my friend’s and because of reason #2, I’m not staying there.  This means a lot of time in the car, and I didn’t get any audiobooks from my library.

2)  Family unexpectedly came Friday night.  I had some family come into town Friday night and needed somewhere to stay.  Unfortunately my apartment needed cleaned but I didn’t have time until Friday after work.  So Friday night was a whirlwind and my reading wouldn’t start until Saturday morning.  Still do-able, I know.  But let’s move on to #3.

3)  I’M MENTALLY EXHAUSTED.  Work has been so exhausting this week.  I feel like my brain doesn’t shut off anymore.  Our Summer Library Challenge starts this Monday.  That probably explains enough for all your librarian friends in the blogworld.  We’ve been tying up loose ends involving prizes, and I’ve been spending A LOT of time this week on stuff for the summer teen volunteers.  Let me just say this:  Figuring out a schedule for approx. 50 teens to volunteer every hour the library’s open is kind of difficult.  Throw in actually creating the schedule, letting the teens know, telling staff things they need to know, preparing time cards, etc. etc., I’m tired.  Oh, and I worked yesterday for several hours.

4)  I read a lot last week and am a little burnt out.  Last weekend, I unfortunately did not have any plans, which I’ve concluded is just sad for a 3-day holiday weekend, so I read A LOT.  I finished The Line by Teri Hall (great!), Dark Life by Kat Falls (great!), and Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy by Ally Carter (also great!) and got through about half of The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson (so far, great! 🙂 ).

I think I might tackle a 48-hour book challenge another weekend on my own.  Good luck to all of your readers participating!  I’m enjoying your updates and book reviews!  🙂

– Jill

Why I Won’t Be Doing the 48 Hour Book Challenge

Last year, all of us NerdGirls did MotherReader’s 48 Hour Book Challenge.  I am not sure if my fellow girls are going to do it this year, but I will not be (officially) participating.  I just wanted to do a quick post explaining why I won’t be doing it.

The first reason is that every weekend for me is like a 48 hour book challenge.  When the weekend rolls around, I hole up in my apartment and read for literally at least 20 hours.  It is wonderful!  I have already read 341 books since January (sadly, that is not an exaggeration).  So the “challenge” aspect of it wouldn’t really be anything new for me.  The only way it would be different would be if I was one of those people who didn’t shower, sleep, or eat during the 48 hours, which I refuse to do.

The second reason is that my internet only works some of the time, and I never know when it will poop out on me (who knows? it might even die on me in the very middle of this post, which has happened many times in the past).  This would make the book challenge incredibly stressful.  I can just see myself settling down on Friday after work, curling up on the couch with my first book and some strawberry milk, picking up my computer to post my starting time and being faced with no internet.  That would be truly frustrating.  Internet is required in order for the challenge to work, and I don’t want to camp out and do all of my reading at the library.  (Some of you might ask why I don’t get my internet fixed if it is so unreliable…..well, I am not exactly paying for it…….it is a random wireless signal I pick up and since I make less money than the average high school dropout, that is about as good as I can afford.)

So, I will gladly be reading right along with all of my friends in bloggerworld, I just won’t be an official participant.  I might post something at the end of the weekend with my rough hours and the books I read, but that is only if I am lucky and get a signal when I need it.

So, to everyone participating this weekend, I wish you luck!!!!  I look forward to hearing all about what you read over the weekend.

Jen

Jen is Done!!!

Even though my time isn’t technically up until 6:30 tonight, I am definitely done.  This challenge has wiped me out.

Since I am very excited to get back to my normal life of watching tv and being an all around lazy fool (and lounging around in my brand new air conditioning) this will be brief.

Last night:

9:16-9:41 Blog blog blog

9:41-10:57 Finally finished The Lincolns!!  Huzzah!!!

When I read the quote on the 2nd to last page about Mary Lincoln (something about a crazy woman lurks inside) I couldn’t help but think of the story Candace Fleming told that went along with it.  The story was perfect and touching and too long to go into here, but it was one of the things that made me love her (both Mary Lincoln and Candace Fleming).

9:40-11:41 Specials by Scott Westerfeld  (opinion below contains spoilers)

Ugh.  So glad to be done with these books (I am NOT reading Extras).  This quote pretty much sums up how I felt about the main character Tally: “This was the final price of her massive ego.”  Yep, that was my entire opinion of her, just one big massive ego.  I also didn’t like how everyone thought she was so awesome because she could think for herself and she changed her own mind.  But really, when you think about it, she only ever changed because of the BOYS around her.  She never thought for herself, she needed help from the guys in the story to help her realize what she needed to do.  It was pretty much the opposite of the classic beauty and the beast story.  She changes for the better because of the men around her.  Great message.  Also, I was really pissed off at the ending.  I would have been much happier if Tally would have wasted away in that tiny cell for the rest of her hundred years.  Yeah, that’s right, I can be cruel to fictional characters.

11:41-1:00  And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

1:45-2:16   “”            “”

This was a rather broken up reading experience first because I ate lunch in between and also because my landlord came over to install my window air conditioner.  He’s a very nice guy but not a great landlord.  He hasn’t cashed any of my rent checks and he totally knocked over and chipped one of my pitchers while trying to install the air conditioner.  Thank God that’s over.

Anyway, I loved this book!!!  The beginning was very slow and I almost stopped about 13 pages in, but then they got to the island and things took off.  I don’t usually like horror movies, but reading this book felt like watching one.  It was super suspenseful and I had no idea what was going on.  Very very good.

2:33-4:00  Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell

I have wanted to read all of Sarah Vowell’s stuff ever since I saw her extra feature on The Incredibles DVD (she played the voice of the daughter Violet).  She comes across as a little crazy in the book, but crazy in a good way.  It is all about how she travels to different places that deal with the assassinations of Presidents Lincoln, Garfield, and McKinley.  It is hilarious and informative and all around awesome.  I’m not done with it yet, but I’ll hopefully finish it soon.  I also have two of her other books checked out too so I am looking forward to those as well.

So not including this last blog (which is just too much math for my brain to handle), here are my totals

Total books:  7.5

Total hours: 20 hours 12 minutes!!!!

Yea!!!  I think all my math is correct, I can’t vouch for it right now because I am a little loopy, but now I am going to go eat a Buster Bar from Dairy Queen and lots of potato chips.

Jen

Jen’s 2nd Day Update

A lot of things got in the way of my reading today, but hopefully I am not completely done yet.

This morning I went to lots of garage sales in the rain (yea for a new pretty cat carrier!) and then got a new driver’s lisence (yea for looking like a drowned rat in my picture!!).  There was also a lot of other unnecessary running around in the rain as well (Amber, I bought some of that Be Curly stuff!!).

Unfortunately as the morning wore on I started to feel very icky.  Yesterday I had a really bad sore throat that I attributed to one too many classroom speils about the summer reading program.  Well last night it was really terrible and today I started to get the all-around-exhausted-icky-malaise feeling that comes with actually being sick.  This is not good.

Anyway, to quit rambling, here is what I accomplished today.

Throughout the Day (3 hours 7 minutes)–Percy Jackson The Demigod Files audiobook

This morning while I was out and about and then tonight while I ate dinner I listened to the inbetweeny Percy Jackson book of short stories.  I found it relatively amusing and I always like to see what my favorite characters are up to.  I don’t think I got the whole experience by listening to the audiobook because I think there are portraits of the characters in the actual book, so I am sad that I missed those.  Thank the Gods for being able to listen to an audiobook to break things up!

1:13-2:19 Mates, Dates, and Inflatable Bras by Cathy Hopkins

This book was okay.  It didn’t really have much substance and the characters didn’t really resonate with me but I am so glad that I read it because I adore the name Nesta!!!  And anything British-y is fine by me.

2:19-4:46 Had to take a nap…..darn sickness catching up with me.

4:46-6:36  Once Upon a Marigold by Jean Ferris

I liked this book a lot!  It is right up my alley.  I totally have a weakness for fairy tale/princess stories.  I loved that it was told from the guy’s point of view.  Now I need to get my hands on the 2nd one.

6:36-7:31  Ate dinner and finished the Percy Jackson audiobook (not counted in time since audiobook was already listed)

7:31-8:26  Continued The Lincolns by Candace Fleming

Still liking this book a lot.  One thing that really hit me was that I would not have wanted the Lincoln family to visit my library.  Apparently Mary and Abraham let their kids do whatever the heck they wanted and they totally would have gotten a mean librarian glare from me.

8:26-8:41 Blogs and stuff

Then I was interrupted by my mom calling, which was a nice break and now I am blogging again.  I think I will keep reading a little while longer, but I don’t know how much longer I can go tonight.  I don’t plan on waking up real early in the morning, but I know I can make my goal of 15 hours.

Totals so far:

4.5 books (still working on the Lincolns)

7 hours 13 minutes counted today (including blogging and audiobook) so far and with the 6 hours from yesterday that makes 13 hours 13 minutes……….oooooohhhhhh, unlucky way to end the day…..must read some more!

Jen

P.S.  I know I said I would read Specials today, but it just didn’t happen, we will see about tomorrow.

The Last Nerdgirl Starts the 48hbc (late but whatever)

Ok, I know I’m starting way late, but I was hanging out with family yesterday and this morning.  I’m starting as of noon on Saturday, but technically I had to start as of 7 AM.  So I’m already a little behind.  I think my goal is to read 12 hours.  If I do more than that, it’ll be great, but I figured for my first 48hbc, I should just try for the average.  I think it will be challenging enough.

I have a stack of books to read that I borrowed from my older sister.  I’ve had them since January.  Oops.  And later today I’ll have a stack more of library books that my sister is loaning me because the library at home is way small and doesn’t have anything new — or everything’s checked out.  I’m in the middle of Specials right now, so I think I’ll go ahead and finish it before starting something else.  That should still count, right?  It’s reading.  

Ok, time to read.  More later!

-Jill

First Day Totals For the 48 Hour Book Challenge

So I started reading today at 6:30 and this is what I’ve done so far (and some things might be a little spoilery from here on out):

6:30-9:00  Pretties by Scott Westerfeld

I read Uglies a few days ago and really enjoyed it a lot.  I liked the set up of the world Tally lived in and all of the ways it tied in to the society we live in right now.  The book really made me think about whether I would be more like Shay or Tally and I couldn’t help but think I would be much more concerned with being Pretty than actually thinking for myself.

Well, I tried to like Pretties, but I just don’t think I did.  I’m going to go on and read Specials and probably Extras too since it doesn’t take much time to finish the books, but my heart won’t be in it.  I just really stopped liking Tally in this book.  I can’t put my finger on what it was about her, but I totally did not care what happened to her at all.  I felt like the book replayed exactly what happened in Uglies.  Tally makes bad choices–bad things happen to people around Tally–everyone gets mad because Tally is so “lucky”–everything around Tally falls apart—they are right back where they started at the beginning of the book, except for the fact that it’s much worse.

I don’t know….something about it just rubbed me the wrong way.  Maybe everything will tidy itself up in Specials, but my hopes are not high.  I think I will have to read that one tomorrow because I don’t think I would be able to tackle it on Sunday when I am worn out and tired of reading.

9:00-10:50 The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie

I have never read an Agatha Christie book before, so I thought I would give it a whirl.  I enjoyed this one, even though I am not big on mysteries.  I didn’t realize it was a Miss Marple mystery until I was a few pages in.  It’s interesting because she wasn’t really in the book all that much.  She just showed up occasionally to talk about how awful people can be and then came in at the end to point out how obvious the killer(s) were.  There were a lot of characters to keep straight, but it was a nice quick read and now I know what all the fuss is about.  I might have to Netflix some of the Miss Marple movies from PBS because she is quite the feisty character.  Gotta love the old spinster who doesn’t take any guff from anyone.  I should take some pointers from her.

10:50-12:00  The Lincolns by Candace Fleming

I love Candace Fleming!  I have seen her several times in person and each time she is so cute and charming and just plain fun to listen to.  After hearing her speak about this book I knew I had to read it sometime, and I am enjoying it so far.  It is slow going compared to reading the other books, but there is a lot more going on that I want to savor.  I might spread this book out over the weekend to break up the fiction reading.  So far I have learned about Abraham and Mary’s early lives and they just got married.  I love reading about the lighter side of Abraham, especially all of the little quotes and stories about him that she includes.

12:00-12:30  Catching up on everybody’s blogs and writing my own.

Now I have to go to bed so I can run errands like a crazy person tomorrow morning.  Up next reading wise is going to be The Demigod Files audiobook, probably Airhead, and maybe Once Upon a Marigold.

Jen

P.S.  The reviews above are examples of why I don’t write book reviews very often.

P.P.S.  I literally just spelled write as “wright.”  I think I need to go to bed.

Okay NerdGirl Number 2 is off!

I am officially starting the 48 hr Book Challenge at 7:05 pm central time!!!

My first book will be The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets by Eva Rice which I borrowed from the lovely Miss Chelsea L. back in like January…so now I can finally read it and return it to her. And yes, I do think I remember her saying she bought the book because of the cover, and if she didn’t… well I would have. THE COVER IS GORGEOUS. I think Miss Piggy would be all over this book (hmmm, note to self: only read books now that you think Miss Piggy would like? think on it.).

The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets by Eva Rice

amber

Here I Go!

I am officially starting the 48 Hour Book Challenge right now!  Here are the books that I have lined up:

A Few Agatha Christie Mysteries

The first few Mates, Dates Books

A Couple of Iowa History Books

Pretties and Specials by Scott Westerfeld

Airhead by Meg Cabot

And several more books that are two numerous to count.

Here is some evidence of my weekend agenda:

Wish me luck!!!!

Jen