48-Hr Finish line?

Thanks to those who stopped by to cheer me on in the challenge. I think I'm going to have to stumble across the finish line early. In addition to reading with a 9-month old baby pleasantly distracting me, I am also packing and leaving this afternoon for my grandmother's funeral. Unless I can read in the car, which I haven't had success with in the past almost-30 years, I think my totals up to now shall be my final numbers.

Time Spent Reading: 3 hours, 10 minutes
Pages Read: 300
Books read: 1 1/2

I really enjoyed The Cryptic Crinoline, but I got bogged down with my second choice, Three Willows by Ann Brashares. She jumps so quickly from one character to the next, and so far they all sound kind of shallow to me. I wasn't connecting with these girls as I did the Traveling Pants girls. I was also turned off when one of the first sentences described students "piling into the gym" for an end-of-school assembly. "Piling" as a verb is one of my pet peeves. And then there was another one on the same page, something like "hauling her backpack." The writing just isn't very interesting, or maybe I just picked too fluffy a book on a weekend when I simply have not felt so fluffy.

Congratulations to all who met their reading goals this weekend. I will still be donating to the JEB Foundation, and will give more than $2.50 an hour since I really did hope to read more than just 3 hours+.

48 Hour Challenge, update 2

I finished a book! I enjoyed The Case of The Cryptic Crinoline by Nancy Springer as much as all the other Enola Holmes novels, and now, I have to admit, am getting as hooked on the relationships in Enola's family in the same way that I watch the TV show "House" to see what happens between House and Wilson, and the other characters as well.

Everytime these Enola Holmes books end, I just can't wait to see how things will continue with Enola and Sherlock and whether the greatest minds in detective work will ever find their mother again. (I believe they will, but I love seeing how the author draws out the drama of the pursuit.)

I also very much appreciate the vocabulary choices in these books. They have a ridiculously high Lexile level because of it.

Total time: 1 hr, 35 minutes
Total pages: 176

48 Hour Challenge, update 1

I managed to read for an entire hour last night. This sounds like I put in minimal effort, but it was actually great effort to fit in 7 minutes here, 13 minutes there, and then to have 2, uninterrupted periods of 20 minutes each.

I'd like to say I've begun my reading for today, but all my time, including this one-handed typing, has been spent with a sweet, 9-month-old girl who I love even more than books. ;)

She has a few words to add: jiknm hcfy r yfhcgv

Starting line: 48 Hours

I'm home from work after icky, rainy traffic. The smallest member of my household is asleep. The other member is nowhere to be found. Just the right time to start with The Case of the Cryptic Crinoline, the latest Enola Holmes mystery.

6:09 pm: GO!

Fourth Annual 48-Hour Readers' Challenge

Mother Reader says you have to commit something to this challenge or it doesn't count. Since having a baby, it's taken me, on average, 3 weeks to finish a book. If I can finish even one book or spend two hours reading this weekend, I will have risen to the Challenge!

I basically keep this blog in existence so I can participate in the Readers' Challenge each June.

Thanks for adding the contribution aspect. I will be donating $2.50 for every hour I read to The JEB Foundation, which benefits pediatric cancer patients.

It's not easy (readers)

It's not easy coming back to work after 15 weeks with a beautiful baby daughter, but these new easy readers made the day a bit brighter:
Houndsley and Catina and the Quiet Time by James Howe is a lovely story for a winter's day.
Are You Ready to Play Outside? by Mo Willems continues the hilarity of Gerald and Piggie.

Lunch with Laura Amy Schlitz

Well, it's not everyday that one can say she had lunch with the Newbery Award winning author. But today I did, thanks to my friends at Pratt Library in Baltimore who invited me to be a presenter at their staff retreat for children's librarians.

Laura worked for Pratt at one time. Today she spoke about the 4 books she's had published, and she told two stories. What a wonderful storyteller! I could have listened to her all afternoon.

Fortunately, she was seated at my table at lunch. I had a chance to ask her about her upcoming fairy tale that's being published and about what she is currently writing. I hope we will see many more books from her! She kindly signed my copy of A Drowned Maiden's Hair. She and I also had a conversation about Fuse #8; we both agreed Betsy's been a fan of her books and that we look to Betsy's blog when we purchase books because she's so perceptive about children's reading preferences. (So, Betsy, if your ears were ringing at lunchtime, it's because you had some good "company" in Baltimore!)

Lois Lowry

Although I didn't plan it particularly, I did end up having a bit of a Lois Lowry fest during the 48 Hr challenge, reading The Willoughbys, Gathering Blue, and Messenger. Going back through some old email today, I found this link to a Chicago newspaper article about Lowry, sent to me by a friend who lives out that way. It's a great article, and reinforces what I had been thinking about the diversity of Lowry's writing, from Anastasia Krupnik to Number the Stars to The Giver.