48 Hour Book Challenge

MotherReader is hosting the 4th Annual 48 Hour Book Challenge. I observed from the sidelines last year, shook my head, and said, "These ladies are crazy!" Well, now I've decided to take the plunge, too. I don't think I can forgo showers, but my calendar is wiped clean in order to participate. This will be a great way for me to slim down my TBR mounds, and will still count for the Spring Reading Thing challenge! Here are the rules from MotherReader herself:

Here are the basic guidelines:

1. The weekend is June 5–7, 2009. Read and blog for any 48-hour period within the Friday-to-Monday-morning window. Start no sooner than 7:00 a.m. on Friday the fifth and end no later than 7:00 a.m. Monday. So, go from 7:00 p.m. Friday to 7:00 p.m. on Sunday... or maybe 7:00 a.m. Saturday to 7:00 a.m. Monday works better for you. But the 48 hours do need to be in a row. Edited to add: But during that 48-hour period you may still have gaps of time in which you can’t read, and that’s fine. In the middle of the three different challenge weekends I’ve had to go to work, attend a ballet recital, and drive for a Girl Scout event. You can certainly work around the other events in your weekend.
   
2. The books should be about fifth-grade level and up. Adult books are fine, especially if any adult book bloggers want to play. If you are generally a picture book blogger, consider this a good time to get caught up on all those wonderful books you’ve been hearing about. Two graphic novels can be included in the reading. I’m not trying to discriminate, I’m just trying to make sure that the number of books and page counts mean the same thing to everyone.
   
3. It’s your call as to how much you want to put into it. If you want to skip sleep and showers to do this, go for it. If you want to be a bit more laid back, fine. But you have to put something into it or it’s not a challenge.
   
4. The length of the reviews are not an issue. You can write a sentence, paragraph, or a full-length review. The time spend reviewing counts in your total time.
   
5. On your blog, state when you are starting the challenge with a specific entry on that day. This makes it easier to track the participants. Write your final summary on Monday, and for one day, we’ll all be on the same page, so to speak.
   
6. Your final summary needs to clearly include the number of books read, the approximate hours you spent reading/reviewing, and any other comments you want to make on the experience. It needs to be posted no later than noon on Monday, June 8th.
   
7. Sign up in today’s comments. You’re more than welcome to post the challenge on your site. Point them to today’s post to sign up. On Friday, June 5, I’ll have a starting-line post where you can sign in to say you’re officially starting the challenge.

Books that I plan to read include:

Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli

Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko

Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer

The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

I doubt I'll be able to read all of these, let alone more, so I'll stop before I disappoint myself entirely with an unrealistic goal. The point is not to win, but to challenge myself.

For the Greater Good, I pledge to donate $1.00 for every 50 pages I read to Literacy KC and Rosebrooks.