I decided to go ahead and try the 48 hour book challenge. It is going to be very low key this year. I plan to pledge $1 per hour to RIF, and try for at least 12 hours.
Have you heard that the 2012 Boston Globe-Horn Book winners were announced yesterday? The first book I plan to read is Life: An Exploded Diagram by Mal Peet, which was one of the fiction honor books. (My library didn’t have No Crystal Stair, the winner.)
I also recently received The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay (thank you, Karen), and not wanting to be the last person on the planet to have read them, will probably start those as well.
My TBR stack so far:
Let the reading begin!
Have you read any of these? I would love to hear your comments and recommendations.
It is time again for the 48 Hour Book Challenge, a reading marathon session, coming up next weekend June 8–10, 2012.
This year the sponsor, MotherReader, is asking that reading marathon participants pledge to Reading is Fundamental. First you need to sign-up at MotherReader. Gather your books, from chapter books on up, and decide how much time you want to devote reading in a single 48 hour period during that weekend (there are different levels). Then June 8–10, 2012 read, blog about what you’ve read, and Tweet your thoughts with the #48hbc hashtag.
I participated last year and found myself spending as much time visiting the blogs of the other participants as reading. I found out about some great books and book blogs. It was a blast!
Check out the FAQ’s if you have any further questions.
How long has it been since you’ve spent the weekend reading?
For the 48 Hour Book Challenge, I read a total of 14 hours from 7:00 p.m. Friday until 7:00 p.m. tonight. Some of time was spent reading aloud, some was spent reading while wiping down the bathroom mirrors, but most of the time was spent with my nose in a good book.
The Summary:
The Iron Butterfly: Memoir of a Martial Arts Master by Choon-Ok Jade Harmon with Ana María Rodríguez. (See yesterday’s post. Full review is now posted).
Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya, which is required summer reading for incoming freshman taking honors English at our local high school. Now that I have read it, I can understand why. Although this book probably is not for everyone, the author does use many of the techniques in the writer’s toolkit in a fairly transparent way. Even a novice writer can find the foreshadowing, for example.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian by Sherman Alexi, which I finished today. Yes, it does deserve the hype. Sherman Alexi threw out the standard writer’s toolkit Anaya used and made up his own fresh ones.
I had listed Redwall by Brian Jacques, Book 1, but didn’t read that one.
I also read from Bill Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods, and a few other nonfiction titles for various upcoming events.
I’m going to throw in one of those Amazon widgets, because I’m too tired to make all the covers look pretty.
If you hadn’t done so, run on over to the 48 Hour Book Challenge links and take a look around. I found some great books to read in the upcoming months, including:
Science Fair Season: Twelve Kids, A Robot Named Scorch… and What it Takes to Win by Judy Dutton at Abby the Librarian blog.
Iron Guy Carl at Boys Rule Boys Read suggested The Philosophical Breakfast Club by Laura J. Snyder, The Throne of Fire by Rick Riordan and Milo: Sticky Notes and Brain Freeze by Alan Silberberg.
Ms. Yingling Reads reminded me I wanted to read Shirley Duke’s Unthinkable. You need to go see how many books she read.
MotherReader has Bitter Melon by Cara Chow, which might be interesting to contrast with The Iron Butterfly.
At Check It Out, Jone reminded my I wanted to read The Book Thief and The Mermaid’s Mirror.
Thank you to everyone who stopped by and who participated. What a wonderful community!
As the half-way mark slid by in the 48 Hour Book Challenge, I have managed to read for 8 hours.
Saturday morning I finished The Iron Butterfly: Memoir of a Martial Arts Master by Choon-Ok Harmon with Ana Maria Rodriguez. This unique memoir is by a woman who, against great odds, became a master of the Korean martial art, Kuk Sool Won. Born during the economic turmoil of post-war Korea, Choon-Ok survived an impoverished childhood where her family had to scrounge for food to have one meager meal per day. She was not allowed to attend school because her family had no money to pay the fees. When her family moved to the city, she wanted to study martial arts. She had an opportunity to learn when her sister married Chief Master of a school. Eventually she came to the United States via an arranged marriage to an American who studied the same form of martial arts. Yes, the two of them corresponded by mail and had only met once before they were married!
Interesting contrast to the book MotherReader read, Bitter Melon. Hope Iron Butterfly doesn’t get lost in the whole Tiger Mother thing.
I read aloud to my son from Bill Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods, (selecting leaving a few of the “juicier” parts out).
Saturday afternoon, I plowed through Rudolfo Anaya’s Bless Me, Ultima. This books is assigned summer reading for our local high school’s honors freshman English class. I’m still processing it.
Then last night, my son and I read a book about cacti for an upcoming science club meeting.
I was thinking that writing might be more cathartic than reading, but sometimes there’s nothing like getting caught up in a good book. What do you think?
Iron Butterfly
Hardcover: 224 pages
Publisher: Pelican Publishing (February 8, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 9781589808904
ISBN-13: 978-1589808904
Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya
Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Warner Books (April 1, 1999)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0446675369
ASIN: B000LP674W
I decided to go ahead and try the 48 hour book challenge. It is going to be very low key this year. I plan to pledge $1 per hour to RIF, and try for at least 12 hours.
