Excellent 48 Hour Book Challenge

Alas, the challenge is over for another year. I got through some great books. Even better, my husband who's not a big reader (unofficially) participated with me. That so touched my heart :)

My total reading time this year was as follows:

Friday - 2 hours 58 minutes reading, blogging, and exploring other participant websites

Saturday - 11 hours, 47 minutes (reading, listening, and social media

Sunday - 5 hours, 39 minutes (reading and blogging)

Total time: 20 hours 24 minutes

Books: Maisy Dobbs  by Jacqueline Winspear, Crow by Barbara Wright, Glory Be by August Scattergood, and The White Cascade: The Great Northern Railway Disaster and America's Deadliest Avalanche by Gary Krist.

Thanks Mother Reader for hosting the challenge again this year. It was a great weekend!

Juli

Last Book of the Challenge

Just finished what will be my last book of the challenge, The White Cascade: the Great Northern Railway Disaster and America's Deadliest Avalanche by Gary Krist. All I have to say about this one is...wow!

In late February 1910 a passenger train became stranded at the small town of Wellington, Washington. This town (now a ghost town) serviced trains going through the dangerous Cascade mountain range. The passengers were stranded, living in the train cars for five days while storm after storm moved through the region piling up snow that was impossible to clear. At 1:10 a.m. on March 1, 1910, the hill above the town let go sending an avalanche down the hill and knocking both the passenger train and a mail train down a steep ravine. In all about 90 people were killed in that particular tragedy. Other slides in the area took the lives of 10 others resulting in a death toll of about 100 people.

Krist did an extensive amount of research and makes the details readable. This book took my breath away and I have a feeling I will be digesting it for days to come. I highly recommend this book to those of you who like survival stories, stories of natural disasters or are just looking for an intense non-fiction read.

Many thanks to Mr. Krist for bringing this story to light.

With that my challenge for this year is at an end. Today's tally:

Continued listening to Maisy Dobbs - 1 hour 4 minutes
Continued and finished The White Cascade - 4 hours 26 minutes
Blogging this post and calculating totals - 9 minutes

Today's total - 5 hours, 39 minutes.

Calling it a Night

Got in a lot of good reading this evening, but my eyes keep falling shut. I'm off to set up the coffee pot for tomorrow morning, then heading off to bed. It's been  great day of reading.

Here's how the rest of my evening shaped up:

Reviews posted to Goodreads - 27 minutes

Started The Great White Cascade: The Great Northern Railway Disaster and America's Deadliest Avalanche by Gary Krist - 38 minutes

Listened to Maisy Dobbs while cleaning up dinner dishes - 44 minutes

Continued reading The Great White Cascade - 2 hours 57 minutes

Total time for the second half of my reading day: 4 hours 47 minutes 

Current total of hours -  13 hours and 30 minutes of reading and 1 hour and 15 minutes of blogging/tweeting/posting reviews to Goodreads for a total of 14 hours and 45 minutes.

See you all tomorrow!

Juli

Another Book Down

My second book of the challenge was Glory Be byAugusta Scattergood. This one is also set in the south and is about race relations and civil rights. This time the setting is Mississippi in 1964. Glory Hemphill will turn 12 on the Fourth of July and this is one summer that isn't going as planned. Both her older sister, Jessalyn, and her best friend Frankie are changing. New people are moving into town and, in the words of the townspeople, are "stirring up trouble." The entire town is on edge as the civil rights movement begins to swell. By the end of summer, though, Glory has learned a thing or two and is ready to face whatever the future holds.

This is another book in which I fell in love with the characters, especially Glory herself and Miss Bloom, the town's courageous librarian. This was Scattergood's debut novel and I look forward to seeing what else she has written since 2012. 

I only set aside five or so books for this challenge (based on previous years' accomplishments) and the next two that are up are non-fiction. I think this is the last of my diverse books for this challenge, but I'll keep you posted as I read on.

Happy Reading, Everyone.

Juli

Total stats so far today

Maisie Dobbs (the chosen audio book for this challenge) - 2 hours 18 minutes

Crow (completed and blogged) - 1 hour 43 minutes

Glory Be - 2 hours 21 minutes

blogging/social media - 40 minutes

Total - 7 hours

First Book Completed

My first book completed for this challenge is Crow by Barabara Wright. Moses Thomas' idyllic childhood comes to an end with the Wilmington Race Riots of 1898. It is during this event that his family's life is turned upside down forever.

I was completely drawn in by Wright's vivd descriptions of the African American Community of 1898 Wilmington, North Carolina and by her use of dialogue to relate events of the story. It also helped that she told it from Moses' point of view (first person point of view). Moses completely captured my heart and I wanted to protect him from what was to come. 

This was definitely an intense, emotional read. I highly recommend having a box of tissue handy if you decide to read it.

Time for a bit of exercise. Off to enjoy my chosen audiobook while enjoying a brisk morning run and some housework.

Juli

Up and At 'Em Again

Woke up around 6 or so and caught up on my email, etc. Then, I struggled with the Overdrive app on my phone in order to acquire an audiobook to enjoy on my morning run and while doing homey type tasks today. 

Next it was off to make breakfast. Enjoyed some of the participant blogs while eating. Now it's back to book stack. Hope everyone's reading is going well.

Juli

Alas, I must call it a night

I had grand hopes of staying up into the wee hours to finish my first book, Crow by Barbara Wright. However, I didn't sleep well last night and am functioning on about five and half hours of sleep. My eyes can no longer focus or stay open. So it's off to bed for me

Here are my stats so far:

6:42-9:25 Read Crow by Barbara Wright

9:27-9:45 exploring starting line links on the MotherReader blog and updating this site.

Total time so far: 2 hours, 58 minutes. 

To all of you reading through the night, have fun. See you in the a.m.

Juli

Let the Challenge Begin

Books? Check

Yummy finger foods? Check

Cozy Sweats? Check

Let the reading commence. Official start time 6:40 p.m

Happy Reading Everyone!!

Countdown to the 2014 Challenge

The ninth annual challenge is almost upon us. Just five days to go. I've got a few books lined up and am planning what to have on hand for snacks. Even better, my husband will be joining me this year.

Hope you all have a great week. Happy reading, everyone :)