#48HBC Finish Line

And the 10th Annual 48-Hour Book Challenge draws to a close!

My time went from 2:30pm Friday to 2:30pm today. During that block:

Total time spent reading & blogging: 20 hours
Books finished: 7.5
Pages read: 1715 + one hour listening to an audiobook

The books I read during the challenge were:

Terrible Typhoid Mary by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

Enchanted Air by Margarita Engle

George by Alex Gino

Bayou Magic by Jewell Parker Rhodes

The Sound of Life and Everything by Krista Van Dolzer

Another Kind of Hurricane by Tamara Ellis Smith (this was the half-book I started this morning!)

Hamster Princess: Harriet the Invincible by Ursula Vernon

The Boys Who Challenged Hitler: Knud Peterson and the Churchill Club by Phillip Hoose

and the audiobook I dipped into is Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari

My favorites this year were the nonfiction titles: Terrible Typhoid Mary, Enchanted Air, and The Boys Who Challenged Hitler. 

All in all, it was a fun challenge year with many great books, although it turned out not to be the very best weekend for us. Fiance lost steam after Friday night and he was feeling a little under the weather, so I'm not sure he got much reading done. Ah, well. Maybe next year! 

I want to give a huge shout out to Pam of MotherReader for hosting the challenge!!! Thanks for all that you have done. :D 

#48HBC: The Sound of Life and Everything

Book finished: The Sound of Life and Everything by Krista Van Dolzer

What a strange, beautiful book. In 1950s California, Ella Mae's family is still dealing with their grief over losing Ella Mae's brother Daniel and cousin Robby in the war. When Ella Mae's Aunt Mildred responds to an ad in the paper claiming that scientists can bring Robby back if she has a sample of his DNA (which she does - the blood on his dog tags), Ella Mae thinks she's crazy. Crazier still is what happens next. It wasn't Robby's blood on the dog tags, but the blood of a Japanese soldier. When Takuma is brought back to life, lost and alone in this strange land, Ella Mae's mother ends up taking him in. But anti-Japanese sentiment runs strong in this small California town and it won't be an easy ride for anyone.

This is a really interesting blend of historical and science fiction that made me think of the tone of classic science fiction stories like Robert Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land.

Challenge update:

Time spent reading/blogging: 18 hours 20 minutes
Pages read: 1574
Books finished: 7

#48HBC Check-In

Well, I'm over halfway through my time slot in the 48-Hour Book Challenge. I'm at 16 hours of reading & blogging so far and I have until 2:30pm tomorrow, but we'll probably be leaving for Father's Day lunch earlier than that.

I've slowed down tonight because I'm pretty tired and I'm having a little trouble figuring out what book to pick up next. I did spent some quality time with an audiobook (Aziz Ansari's Modern Romance), but I'm heading to bed soon. Hopefully I will wake up with lots of energy tomorrow and get through the last 4 hours I need to meet my goal!

How's the challenge going for you?

#48HBC: The Churchill Club

Book finished: The Boys Who Challenged Hitler: Knud Petersen and the Churchill Club by Phillip Hoose.

This is a completely gripping true adventure story about a group of teenagers who started the Danish resistance after the Nazis invaded. I couldn't stop turning the pages! Highly recommended.

Challenge update:

Hours spent reading/blogging: 14 hours
Pages read: 1312
Books finished: 6

#48HBC: Enchanted Air

Book finished: Enchanted Air by Margarita Engle

What a beautiful book! This memoir in verse shares Margarita Engle's childhood memories of traveling to Cuba as a young girl and living in America during the '50s and '60s when conflicts like the Bay of Pigs Invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis were going on. This is a valuable perspective and a beautifully crafted memoir. Fans of Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson (obviously one of my favorite books!) should NOT miss this one.

Challenge update:

Time spent reading/blogging; 10 hours 35 minutes
Pages read: 1104
Books finished: 5

Still a few more hours before today's appointment, so I think I can start one more book before it's time to leave. I don't know how long it will take today, but I will definitely be doing some more reading when we get back this evening!

#48HBC: Harriet the Invincible

Book finished: Hamster Princess: Harriet the Invincible by Ursula Vernon

This is a cute and funny fractured fairytale with a kick-butt princess protagonist. Babymouse meets Whatever After. I'm really looking forward to adding this one to my booktalking repertoire for the fall and I can already tell it's going to be really popular with our young readers!

Challenge update:

Time spend reading/blogging: 8 hours 37 minutes
Pages read: 911
Books finished: 4

It's up-and-at-em this morning! I'm glad to get a fairly early start since we have an appointment for several hours this afternoon. I may be able to squeeze in one more book before we have to go do that stuff, so back to reading for me! :D

#48HBC: Bayou Magic

Book finished: Bayou Magic by Jewell Parker Rhodes

This is a lush love letter to the Louisiana bayou. Almost-ten-year-old Maddy is summoned to spend the summer with her Grandmere in the Bon Temps bayou, a place about as far from civilization as you can get. Feeling an immediate connection with her Grandmere upon arrival, Maddy spends the summer falling in love with the flora and fauna of the bayou and figuring out the special role she holds in her family and in this close-knit community. 

Challenge update:

Time spend reading/blogging: 6 hours 45 minutes

Pages read: 664

Books finished: 3

It's getting close to bedtime for me, but I will try to start one more book tonight before I fall asleep. Fiance has finished a couple of his Swamp Thing graphic novels and just started Get Jiro by Anthony Bourdain. 

#48HBC: Terrible Typhoid Mary

Book finished: Terrible Typhoid Mary by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

This finely crafted work of nonfiction is a page-turner and paints a vivid picture of Mary Mallon's life and the typhoid epidemic in the early 1900s. Bartoletti uses examples from today to put the events in perspective (example: 6% of Americans today say that they do not trust scientists or scientific information AT ALL, so it's easy to see why Mary did not believe those accusing her of hurting people, especially when she wasn't sick!).

Challenge update:

Time spend reading/blogging: 4 hours 20 minutes
Pages read: 425
Books finished: 2

Fiance is home from work and working on his stack of Swamp Thing graphic novels!

#48HBC: George

Book finished: George by Alex Gino

This is a book getting much buzz (at least in my bloggity teacher/librarian circles) and I was really excited to be sent an ARC. This is a middle-grade story about George, who desperately wants to play Charlotte in her school's production of Charlotte's Web. But Charlotte is a girl part. And George is not sure that they'll let her play Charlotte because George is a girl who is in a boy's body. This is a much-needed addition to our middle-grade shelves and will proudly take its place alongside Ami Polonsky's Gracefully Grayson. 

Challenge update:

Time spent reading/blogging: 1 hour 45 minutes

Pages read: 195

Books finished: 1

48 HBC: Starting Line

It's time! It's time!! It's time for the 48 Hour Book Challenge, hosted by Pam at MotherReader.com. I love this weekend and I'm looking forward to delving into some GREAT books this weekend!

It's not too late to join us! You only need to read/blog for twelve hours to be an official participant! You can do it! Head over to the Starting Line post at MotherReader.com to sign in. :D

I have a few things going on this weekend - we're spending time with our families on Sunday for Father's Day and we have an appointment for several hours on Saturday, but I'm hoping to be able to read & blog for 20 hours this weekend.

Here's my book pile:

I will not read all of these, but I like to have lots of choices so I can pick up whatever I'm in the mood for. (I also have 90 million other books on my bookshelves, so deviation may occur...!)

Boyfriend Fiance is reading along with me and participating unofficially since he doesn't have a blog (I am a lucky librarian!). Here's his pile (and he also just got a whole set of reference books on mythology, so he may be picking those up, too): 

My time will run from 2:30pm Friday to 2:30pm Sunday (although I will probably have to stop before 2:30pm on Sunday). I will be checking in periodically and posting short reviews (with longer reviews scheduled to post later in the summer). 

Ready... set... go! 

Don't Forget: 48 Hour Book Challenge is Coming!

Have you been thinking about next weekend's 48 Hour Book Challenge?! I am really looking forward to one of my favorite bookish events of the year! I have already started putting my TBR pile together (and a TBR pile for The Boy), and even though I won't be able to devote quite the ENTIRE weekend to reading, I hope to read for at least 20 hours!

Head over to MotherReader.com for more details about the challenge and to sign up in the comments. 

Hope to see you reading next weekend! It's always a really fun event. :D

Save the Date: 48-Hour Book Challenge!!!

It's time to start gathering your To Be Read pile up and stocking up on snacks! Pam at MotherReader has just announced the TENTH ANNUAL 48-Hour Book Challenge will be held on the weekend of June 19-21!! This is one of my favorite weekends of the year and you can bet I will be reading with bells on (um, is that a thing?). 

More details to come at MotherReader.com, so stay tuned. 

PS: I know I have been failing at blogging lately. Summer Reading is coming and my budget is frozen and that's all I'm going to say about that (for now). But I will try to get back to it soon. <3 p="">

Cheering from the Sidelines #48hbc

Today begins the annual 48-Hour Book Challenge, hosted by Pam over at Mother Reader. Sadly, although it is like my favorite weekend of the WHOLE YEAR, I won't be participating this year since I can't blog about books. (And who am I kidding? Every day is like a 48-Hour Book Challenge for me this year!)

It's not too late to sign up! Pam's got the starting line up at Mother Reader. If you're not participating this year, head on over to the starting line anyway and give the participating bloggers some encouragement!

This year's theme is #WeNeedDiverseBooks and I'm so excited to learn about some new-to-me diverse books through everyone's blog posts.

So, read on, readers. I'll be rooting for you!

48-Hour Book Challenge: #WeNeedDiverseBooks

Oh, happy day! Happy day!

Mother Reader has announced the Ninth Annual 48-Hour Book Challenge!

The 48HBC is one of my very favorite times of year - a weekend devoted to putting everything aside and whittling down that To-Be-Read pile while connecting with other bloggers doing the same all over the world!

This year's event will be taking place the weekend of June 6-8, 2014 and there's an awesome twist.

You may have heard the outcry as thousands of readers took to social media to let the world know that #WeNeedDiverseBooks. This year's 48HBC is dedicated to "reading, sharing and reviewing books that show diversity in all ways." What a wonderful way to read and promote books that reflect our diverse world!

Sadly, I will be unable to participate since I am serving on the Newbery Committee and thus can't blog about eligible titles. That makes it more important for you to participate so I can live vicariously!!! I will definitely be cheering you on!

Need some suggestions to build that TBR pile of diverse titles? I've got a Pinterest Board for that!

This Pinterest Board, We Need Diverse Books, will point you to diverse books I've reviewed on my blog over the years. You can find more suggestions on Yapha's Pinterest Board and Jennie's post at Biblio File. Don't miss Diversity in YA. Check out Kelly's great list of contemporary teen fiction featuring diverse characters. Of course, you'll want to fill in any reading gaps you have in diverse book awards like: 

• American Indian Youth Literature Awards
• Arab American Book Awards
• Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature
• Coretta Scott King Awards
• Pura Belpre Awards
• Schneider Family Book Awards

And I'm going to add another dimension to your challenge: as you're finding and reading great diverse books, please consider nominating them for your state book awards! Almost every (if not every) state has a children's book award. I'm sure each state committee runs theirs a little differently, but when I served on the Young Hoosier Book Award, we were limited to books that had been field nominated throughout the year. If no diverse books were nominated (which was not the case), our hands were tied! Seek out info about your state book award and make sure you're nominating great diverse books!

Stay tuned to MotherReader for more info about this year's 48-Hour Book Challenge and please share more links to lists or Pinterest boards of diverse books in the comments!

#48hbc : Finish Line

Well, it's close to the finish line and dinner's here, so I'm calling it!

Final challenge update:

Total time blogging/reading/social networking: 26 hours
Total pages read: 2005
Books finished: 7 + 65% of Rose Under Fire

The books I finished this weekend were:

• The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey
• Pi in the Sky by Wendy Mass
• This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales
• Eruption!: Volcanoes and the Science of Saving Lives by Elizabeth Rusch
• The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp by Kathi Appelt
• Rapture Practice by Aaron Hartzler
• Doll Bones by Holly Black
• and 65% of Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein

I also listened to some of The Case of the Left Handed Lady (Enola Holmes #2) by Nancy Springer while exercising (and not while cleaning or doing laundry since I haven't done any of those things yet!!). 

This was a really fun weekend for me because I loved every book that I read this weekend. I guess my favorite out of all of them was Doll Bones, but really they were all excellent. It's especially exciting because when I started thinking about crafting my TBR pile (over a month ago), I didn't think there was anything I was particularly excited to read! Some time spent perusing Netgalley and Edelweiss proved me wrong, and I'm really glad. 

Boyfriend had a nice time this weekend, too! He finished the following books: 

• How to Grow Up and Rule the World by Vordak the Incomprehensible
• Science Ink: Tattoos of the Science Obsessed by Carl Zimmer
• Relish: My Life in the Kitchen by Lucy Knisley
• Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation by Michael Pollan
• A Tale Dark and Grimm by Adam Gidwitz
• Frankenstein's Cat: Cuddling Up to Biotech's Brave New Beasts by Emily Anthes
• and part of Lincoln's Grave Robbers by Steve Sheinkin

I want to give a shout out to Ms. Yingling of Ms. Yingling Reads for being our fabulous challenge organizer this year! It's really a fun weekend and I'm glad we could make it happen. Thanks, also, to everyone who participated. (And thank you so much to my obliging Boyfriend who will take a whole weekend to sit inside and read quietly beside me. :)

Don't forget to head over to the Finish Line to share your finish line post and enter your stats in the form for prize drawings!!

#48hbc : Doll Bones

Book finished: Doll Bones by Holly Black

An excellent, creepy, atmospheric middle-grade novel, Doll Bones is a book I'm going to thoroughly enjoy pressing into the hands of kids over and over again. There's a seriously creepy doll that might be haunted and three best friends who go on a quest to put her bones to rest. It's just the right level of scary and I honestly didn't want the story to end. Seriously, one of my favorites of the year. 

Challenge update:

Time spend reading/blogging: 21.5 hours

Pages read: 1731

Books finished: 7

Boyfriend finished Cooked and found it interesting, but overwritten. He said he could have edited it down to about 100 pages. He also finished A Tale Dark and Grimm by Adam Gidwitz (one I snuck onto his pile), which he liked. 

A little over 4 hours until I cross the finish line - can I finish one more book? Maaaaaybe...

#48hbc : Rapture Practice

Book finished: Rapture Practice by Aaron Hartzler

More YA memoirs, please! Aaron Hartzler's true story about growing up in a very religious household and questioning his faith is one that will hit the right notes with many teens. I really enjoyed reading Aaron's humorous and frank memoir and I hope he'll continue writing because I want to find out what happens to him next...!

Challenge update:

Time spent reading/blogging: 19 hours
Pages read: 1487
Books finished: 6

Still going strong (my book-choosing mojo is with me this year; everything I've read has been awesome!) and going to read as much as I can until my time ends at 7pm.

How's everyone doing?

#48hbc : True Blue Scouts & halfway point!

I've reached the halfway point in my 48 hours and I'm still going strong! I think I've crafted my TBR pile well this year and I've enjoyed every book that I've picked up. My biggest problem has been deciding what to read next when I finish one because I want to read ALL THE BOOKS AT ONCE. (Which is impossible. For me, anyway.)

I'm at about 14 hours of challenge time, so it should be no problem to get another 10 hours in before the deadline and meet my goal of 24 hours. Boyfriend has not been as into the challenge this year (maybe last year he was just trying to woo me?), but he's read several books and will probably read more tonight and tomorrow.

Anyway, onto my latest finished book!

Book finished: The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp by Kathi Appelt

Kathi Appelt is a master storyteller and this is one of my favorite books of the year. Reading this book, I honestly felt like I was sitting in front of a storyteller hearing the story unfold. It has the same excellent writing and strong sense of place that The Underneath had, but the story's lighter and more humorous, giving it a wider audience. Don't miss it! 

Challenge update:

Time spend reading/blogging: 14 hours

Pages read: 1056

Books finished: 5

Boyfriend is working on Cooked and took a break to BAKE BANANA BREAD. I am the luckiest librarian. :D

#48hbc : Eruption!

Book finished:  Eruption!: Volcanoes and the Science of Saving Lives by Elizabeth Rusch

I love the Scientists in the Field series and this is a nice entry, exploring volcanologists and the work they do to predict when volcanoes will erupt and try to keep people safe. It's not so easy to order an evacuation - it can be risky and expensive, and if nothing happens people are unlikely to evacuate twice. I'm doing a program on volcanoes later in the summer, so I wanted to read this in preparation!

Challenge update:

Time spent reading/blogging: 12.5 hours

Pages read: 720 (plus about half of my next book, which I'll add in the next update!)

Books finished: 4

Boyfriend started Cloud Atlas, but I think it wasn't his thing (he says "It feels like I'm reading a book that's in another language... and I'm on drugs."). So now he's picked up Cooked by Michael Pollan (which he is enjoying more).

#48hbc : This Song Will Save Your Life

Book finished: This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales

I have LOVED Leila Sales's past two novels and I love this one, too. It's a really solid contemporary story about the power of finding yourself through music and about accepting that it's okay to be who you are. These are concepts that have been done before, but the realistic protagonist makes this book stand out. Full review to come closer to pub date (September!). 

Challenge update:

Time spend reading/blogging: 9.25 hours

Pages read: 644 (plus about an hour of an audiobook)

Books finished: 2.5ish

Boyfriend finished Relish: My Life in the Kitchen by Lucy Knisley last night and is currently napping, so...