48-hour challege 2008 wrap-up

I've participated in MotherReader's 48-hour challenge for the last two years, but I didn't think I would be able to participate this year. So when my scheduled unexpected opened up for the weekend, I jumped at the chance to get some good reading time in and work on clearing my TBR.

I read from 10:30 am Friday through 10:30 am Sunday. I read a total of four books:

• The Tygrine Cat by Inbali Iserles,
• Dragon Flight by Jessica Day George,
• In the Company of Whispers by Sallie Lowenstein, and
• Seekers: The Quest Begins by Erin Hunter

I also read a little bit of The Dead and the Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer.

Here are my final stats:
Total books read: 4
Total pages: 1177
Total time reading and blogging: 20 hours and 10 minutes

I'm satisfied with my accomplishments, even though I didn't come close to what some people accomplished. I improved on all my stats from last year, which was my goal. I also made a serious dent in my TBR pile, which was my other goal. However, I don't know how much more I'll be able to improve my stats in future years. I'm not a very fast reader, and really the only reason I read more books and pages this year is because I spent more time reading, and there's a limit to how much time I can spend reading in 48 hours. I'm not willing to go without sleep!

Although I knew that I wouldn't even come close to the top of the list on books or pages read, I thought I might have a shot at total time reading, since my schedule was pretty clear. However, my 20 hours pales compared to some of the stats I've seen, which are more like 30 hours. I'm really impressed with those of you who read 30 hours or more in a 48-hour window!

I could probably have improved my stats a little bit if I had written short, capsule reviews instead of full reviews of each of the books I read. I probably average an hour or more on each review, so four reviews was a big chunk of my 20 hours. However, I just can't bring myself to do less than a full review for each book, and I'm afraid if I write a short one and plan to come back later and add to it, that I'll get busy and never get back to it. It's just my obsessive-compulsive nature that makes it hard for me to write less.

Congratulations to everyone who participated. I'm impressed with how much most of you were able to accomplish! I wonder how many total pages were read for the challenge this year...

A big thank you to MotherReader for organizing this again, and thanks to everyone who contributed prizes!

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48-hour book challenge 2008

I'm sorry that my posts here have been few and far between lately. Things have just been really busy. I hope to be able to get back to reviewing more frequently soon, but in the mean time, I thought that MotherReader's 48-hour book challenge seemed like a great way to get caught up on my ever-growing TBR pile. I didn't think that I would be able to participate this year, but some of my plans for the weekend got canceled, so I actually have some time!

Last year, I read books on a theme. This year, though, I don't have a theme; I'm just going to be working my way down my TBR pile. You can see the books I plan to read on my GoodReads to-read shelf:

http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/221257

I'm currently reading Sarah Beth Durst's Out of the Wild, and while I'm really engrossed in it and hate to put it down, I'm going to have to put it aside for now so that I can start fresh with a new book to get an accurate book count. It's now 10:20 and I'm going to be starting with The Tygrine Cat, by Inbali Iserles.

I also have some great books lined up waiting for a review. I've been really fortunate that I've read some really good books recently, and I can't wait to tell you about them. I won't be reviewing them until after the challenge, because I don't want to take time during this 48-hours reviewing books that won't count for the challenge (because I've already read them) but you can see what reviews will be coming here:

http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/221257?shelf=to-review

48 hour book challenge 2007

We're only hours away from the official start of the 2007 48-hour book challenge! Created by MotherReader, the challenge invites you to read as many books as you can within a 48 hour period. The 48 hours can take place any time between tomorrow (Friday) morning at 7 AM and 7 AM Monday morning. There are prizes for the most books read, most pages, and most time spent, as well as some random prizes. Click here for the official rules and click here to sign up in the comments.

I'm not a very fast reader, so I don't expect to win. For me it's a personal challenge, but mostly it's a good reason to spend the weekend reading. I have three books lined up, which is probably all I can handle. If I finish those by some miracle, I have plenty more. I love fairies, so I decided to go with a faerie theme and read some books that I've been wanting to read:

• Faeries of Dreamdark: Blackbringer by Laini Taylor
  
• Ironside by Holly Black
  
• Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr

I'll be starting my 48 hours on Friday morning, since Sunday will be a busy day for me. I'll check in with a post in the morning when I start.