Finish Line Post

Well, 7:30 has come and gone, as has this challenge for 2012. I had do a lot of driving around today, so got much further in my audiobook Night Train to Memphis by Elizabeth Peters. I also had a chance to start reading the next book on my "to read" list, Secret Places, Hidden Sanctuaries: Uncovering Mysterious Sights, Symbols, and Societies by Stphen Klimczuk and Gerald Warner of Craigenmaddie. Got about 37 pages in, so not too bad.


My tally stands as follows.

Current tally:

Friday night 9:10-9:25 read more of Crown of Serpents while preparing for bed. (15 minutes)

Saturday 

5:34-7:39 listened to Night Train to Memphis while out on my morning walk. (2 hours 5 minutes)

8:04-8:15 read Crown of Serpents (11 minutes)

8:44-2:19 finished Crown of Serpents (5 hours 35 minutes)

2:22-3:01 logging book here and at Good Reads. (39 minutes)

3:09-6:30 read Homer & Langley by E.L. Doctorow (3 hours 21 minutes)

7:14-9:40 finished Homer & Langley, logged it here and at Good Reads (2 hours 26 minutes)

Sunday: 

8:34-8:38 listened to Night Train to Memphis (4 minutes)


11:12-11:27 listened to Night Train to Memphis (15 minutes)


11:30-11:15 read Secret Places (20 minutes)


3:39-3:51 read Secret Places (12 minutes)


5:17-6:05 listened to Night Train to Memphis (48 minutes)


6:22-7:30 read Secret Places (1 hour 8 minutes)


Total reading/blogging time for the challenge: 17 hours 19 minutes

I beat my time from last year, but not the number of books. This year I only completed two books, but they were quite a bit longer than past years. I'm pretty happy with 17+ hours considering I had to work for four hours right in the middle of the challenge. Already looking forward to next year.

Hope you all had a great challenge as well.

Book Number Two

The next book on my "to be read" list was Homer & Langley by E.L. Doctorow. Homer and Langley Collyer were recluse brothers living in New York during the early part of the 20th century . This book is a fictionalized account of their lives told in particular from Homer's point of view.

The true story is sad enough to read about. Even though Doctorow takes considerable liberties with their story (giving them a much longer lifespan than they really lived), this is one powerful piece of writing. Homer & Langley is one 2012 read that's going to stick with me for a very long time, especially the final paragraph.

Highly recommended to fans of literary fiction, historical fiction, and stories of odd and interesting people.

I haven't read any of Doctorow's other books. If this one is typical of his writing, though, I definitely want to read more by this author.

Current tally:
Friday night 9:10-9:25 read more of Crown of Serpents while preparing for bed. (15 minutes)
 
Saturday 5:34-7:39 listened to Night Train to Memphis while out on my morning walk. (2 hours 5 minutes)

8:04-8:15 read Crown of Serpents (11 minutes)

8:44-2:19 finished Crown of Serpents (5 hours 35 minutes)

2:22-3:01 logging book here and at Good Reads. (39 minutes)

3:09-6:30 read Homer & Langley by E.L. Doctorow (3 hours 21 minutes)

7:14-9:40 finished Homer & Langley, logged it here and at Good Reads (2 hours 26 minutes)

Total reading/blogging time so far: 14 hours 30 minutes

And now, with that powerfully emotional story fresh on my mind, I'm headed off to bed. Have a great night, everyone.

Book One of this year's challenge

Yep, you read that right. I just finished book number one for this challenge. I don't know how many pages the "real life" hard copy is, but my e-copy was 494 pages. So, that takes awhile. The first book for this challenge was Crown of Serpents by Michael Karpovage.

Plot: Army Major Jake Tununda is on his way to an appointment when an emergency call is picked up on his portable police scanner. GPS coordinates read out by the dispatcher indicate he's very close to the scene. So, he stops to give aid. Little does Jake know he's about to become involved in something much deeper...a plot involving the Free Masons, a Native American secret society, and a politically powerful fellow tribesman bent on gaining even more pose. It all centers around a tidal legend and the torture and death of a revolutionary war soldier - a true event that's never really been explained satisfactorily.

This is a first novel, self-published and I had a heck of a time finding a copy in my local libraries. I eventually purchased it electronically. It's been on my to-read list for a good couple years now. I have no idea how I found out about it, but I'm glad I did. Secret societies, family secrets, loads of action, treasure hunting...what's not to like?

Some of the writing seemed a bit forced. Some of the plot points were wrapped up a little too neatly for my liking. Still Karpovage has great potential as a fiction author. His website indicates he's at work on book number two. I'll be watching for it to add to my to read list.

Highly recommended to fans of Dan Brown novels, stories involving secret societies, and fans of movies like National Treasure.

Current tally:
Friday night
9:10-9:25 read more of Crown of Serpents while preparing for bed. (15 minutes) 

Saturday
5:34-7:39 listened to Night Train to Memphis while out on my morning walk. (2 hours 5 minutes)

8:04-8:15 read Crown of Serpents (11 minutes)

8:44-2:19 finished Crown of Serpents (5 hours 35 minutes)

2:22-3:01 logging book here and at Good Reads. (39 minutes)

 Total reading/blogging time so far: 8 hours 45 minutes

Saturday's Reading So Far

As I said, I did read while getting ready for bed last night. Then, this morning I started the audiobook Night Train To Memphis. It's the fourth book (I think) in the Vicky Bliss series by Elizabeth Peters. It's been awhile since I listened to the previous book, so it was fun to revisit the characters in Vicky Bliss's world. Here's my count so far today: Friday night 9:10-9:25 read more of Crown of Serpents while preparing for bed. Saturday morning 5:34-7:39 listened to Night Train to Memphis while out on my morning walk. Now, on to breakfast. I wonder if it's possible to read while cutting fruit and making toast. Hope the rest of you are having a great day of reading :)

My progress so far

As I said below, I officially started the challenge at 7:30 p.m. Here's how the evening shaped up 7:30-7:35 First blog post and signed in to the challenge. 7:35- 9:10 Made progress on my first book, Crown of Serpents by Michael Karpovage. It's one I started a few days ago and I look forward to finishing it in one fell swoop. It's got lots of action and a bit of mystery/conspiracy. I'm having a hard time putting it down. Alas, I have too, though. My husband and I generally take a long walk on Saturday mornings. If I want to get out before it gets too warm, I'm going to have to get up mega early. So, I'm headed off to get ready for bed. Rest assured, I will be reading as I brush my teeth, etc. I won't stop until I have to. To those of you trying to make it 48 hours straight, I wish you good luck and to everyone, I bid you good night. Total reading/blogging time so far - 1 hour 35 minutes

48 Hour Book Challenge 2012

Nearly time to get this party started. I'm headed over to the Mother Reader blog to sign in to the 48 Book Challenge. My official start time will be 7:30 p.m. I've got about four books lined up and the snacks are all planned out. I'll post regular updates and will log my books as I finish them. Happy reading everyone.