The Third Annual 48 Hour Book Challenge
It’s time. I’m setting the date for the 48 Hour Book Challenge — that special contest that allows you to read guilt-free for as long as you can stand it! I’m avoiding ALA and Father’s Day weekends, plus I like having the Challenge on my birthday. So the chosen weekend is — ready for it? — June 6–8, 2008.Here are the basic guidelines:
- The weekend is June 6–8, 2008. 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 sixth 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.
- 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. No graphic novels. 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- For promotion/solidarity purposes, let your readers know when you are starting the challenge with a specific entry on that day. Write your final summary on Monday, and for one day, we’ll all be on the same page, so to speak.
- 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 9th.
- Sign up in today’s comments. You’re welcome to post the challenge on your site. Point them to today’s post to sign up. On Friday, June 6, I’ll have a starting-line post where you can sign in to say you’re officially starting the challenge.
I’ll post the rules again as we get closer, to incorporate suggestions or to answer questions that have come up. So how many books do you think you could read if you devoted a weekend to the task? Ready to find out?
If you’d like to contribute to the prizes, shoot me an email at motherreader AT gmail DOT com. I’ll be taking my Girl Scout troop out of town tomorrow, so I won’t get back to email until Monday.
Labels: 48 Hour Book Challenge
posted by MotherReader @ 9:00 AM
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Man, I look forward to this one day when my girls are older. Unless I can just get everyone out of the house that weekend. Mwhahahahahahaha.
I'm in! I've been thinking about my strategery all winter! (How do you spell words the president made up?)
And, looking at the calendar, that's a weekend where I work Friday instead of Saturday! So I actually have 48 hours in a row! wahoo!
Jules, this is when you tell dad/grandma/cousins/friends to take the kids so you can read. Take care of you and just you. It's great.
Yeah Jennie! Glad to have you.
I should have mentioned that even if you have an activity smack dab in the middle of the 48 hours, you can still participate. I may be working a couple of hours on Sat, but I'll just read around that time - consider that my regrouping time.
Yay! I'm definitely in! :D
I'm definitely in!!! I'm on my way to post about it now!
Barring any unforeseen events, I should be able to participate. Cross my fingers and hope it'll work out.
Yay! I have it on my calendar, and will do my best to keep the weekend free of other obligations. I was sad missing it last year. What a nice announcement to start the weekend with.
Wow - I haven't signed up for a challenge all year, so let's make this the first one...count me in!
I'm in! I can't wait.
Oh well - younger daughter will be melting down that weekend just prior to starting her Leaving Cert exam (state exam which determines university acceptance), so she'll be first priority. But I'm still in and will do all the reading I can around making her breathe into paper bags, dousing her with lavender essential oil, and dragging her out for calming walks!
All right, I'm tentatively in. I have a reunion/alumni sing thing in the middle of Saturday, but I'll see how much I can squeeze in before and after. Squee!
Yay! I'm in! I'd been wondering if there would be another one.
I missed this last year - this year I'm planning on participating :) Thanks for hosting. I've posted this to A Novel Challenge blog.
Wooo hoooo! I was wondering when this would be this year. It just so happens to fall on our very first day of summer vacation:-) Hopefully, I'll be able to participate this year. I have not had much luck with past dates. But I must say, I enjoy the whole IDEA of this 48 hour book challenge. I enjoy it even if I can't participate. 48 whole hours devoted to my own reading! Can't wait. It is on my calendar.
I can't wait and wanted to try this last year but never made the time. My husband has agreed to help entertain the boys a bit. It is the first weekend of summer break and I am in!!!
I'm upping the ante on prizes donated this year. So I'm offering a gorgeous readergirlz pendant, signed copies of both First Daughter books, and a picnic lunch for two (me and recipient :)) on a glorious summery day in the courtyard of the Boston Public Library. I'll bring the samosas and lassis.
All right, Mitali! Way to represent!
Authors and illustrators are you going to let her show you up? Uh-uh, I don't think so.
I'm glad to get so many sign-ups so far. Let's keep it going. Clear your calendar for some kick-ass reading!
I'd love to participate, but I can't make a commitment until closer to the date. I'll also consider what sort of prize I could donate. :)
June 6 is my first day of summer break, and I can't think of a better way to kick off the summer -- I'm in! I tracked other people's reading last year during the 2nd annual Challenge, but now that we have our blog up and running, it will be great fun to participate!!!
I left a comment earlier but it didn't show up. Would love to join you in this challenge.
May I listen to a CD or must I read a book?
What about donating gifts -- do I qualify to do this?
You say "let your readers know when you are starting ..." not sure what this means.
Thanks Becky!
Jan (in Edmonds)
I'm so in...looking forward to seeing what everyone manages to read in 48 hours!
I'm in.
I missed the official challenge last year but I did a personal 24 hour challenge a couple of weeks later. I plan to participate this year. How exciting!
Hooray! This year I will be able to participate for the first time and blog along at SLJ's Practically Paradise. The children will be out and I have a friend already booked to come play with the dogs and cats so I can focus. I'm looking for a good photo to go with my sign "I want to be alone." I'm going to put a sign on the outside door to ward off strangers. Now to start thinking about the books. I'll want to be sure I have enough on hand. Hmmmmm. I love reading and this is a great reason to devote my attention to my craft.
Sign me up! Can't wait. :)
Ooooh... *fingers crossed* Don't know if I'll be home that weekend, but if I am, I'll have to come back and participate.
OHHH the pressure! Karen put the screws to me to participate, and how could I say no! I'm in and looking forward to it. My strategy? Coffee, lotsa coffee!
woohoo I have been waiting al spring for the date announcement. I have now placed it on the calendar.
I'm in! And I added a note about it on my blog! How fun!
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Okay, so I left a comment, then realized I couldn't do it that weekend, deleted my comment, realized I actually could participate, and here I am, fickle and crazy saying, "I'm in!"
Please don't judge me.
I am going to participate this year - sounds fun!
I am so in. I had so much fun doing this last year, and I just wish I could retreat to a hotel with a stack of books and a laptop to enter reviews. Oh, well, I'll just have to do it the hard, interrupted way.
Count me in! This is the first hour challenge I have joined! Hopefully it will help me finish some book challenges!! :) Thanks for hosting!
I'm in! That weekend's going to be BUSY.
Hope your troop had fun!
Hurrah! This was a lot of fun last year - I'm definitely in again.
I am looking forward to this! It seems to be a busy weekend already for me (SATs, ugh), but I will pick my least-busy 48 hours and read. I'm excited already!
I'm in.
Sounds fun! What a way to spend a weekend.
Count me in!
I'm in!!!!!!!
I am SO in! I love these challenges you host...gives me an actual excuse to sit down and read for more than 5 minutes at a time. Plus by that point I'll be 7+ months pregnant and will need an excuse to be off my feet!
I'm in! I've been eagerly awaiting the date and hoping it might be that weekend because the only thing I have planned is a trip to a ballet recital (I know someone who is "wind" in Wizard of Oz.) And, like Amanda, by then I'll be starting my 7th month of pregnancy and ready for an excuse to sit and read!
i can't wait! i'm going to invite the tow of my girls who will be home to participate as well. last year i was at the in-laws and couldn't join in and i've been looking forward to this ever since!!
This sounds kind of awesome. I think I'll give it a shot. =)
I have been out of the loop -- can I play in the 48 hour Challenge? I'd be happy to donate a signed copy of Hattie if you'd let me in. ..
Remember it's that historical, not hysterical, novel. . .
Kirby
Hello - I've come via Aerin's blog and i hope you don't mind if i take your challenge to Blighty. I will be in the middle of a writing course at that time but I'll look on this as practise!
I'm in and I'd love to donate photos/haiku as a prize. Great fun!
I'll be in, if I can find someone to watch my babe for a significant amount of time over the weekend.
Ok I don't have my mother coming this year, but I think I can ignore my family for a while. I hope I will be able to read more than last year.
48 hours of reading did you say?? SOLD! I am so IN!
I am in like Flynn! There are a gang of books I want to read and that will be a great opportunity to do so.
The 48 Hour Book Challenge is like a holiday for Gail at my house. I am most definitely in.
I will also donate A Girl, a Boy, and Three Robbers as a prize, though I may not have my copies until later in June because it doesn't come out until the beginning of July. It might have to go to someone who is willing to wait a bit.
I'm late to respond, but I'm totally in. :)
Wow, what a great idea! Sign me up. I think I will encourage my teen daughter to spend the weekend reading with me.
Kathie
On my calendar. Yay,I can participate this year.
Sign me up!
I want to do this challenge I hope I do not have much distractions that weekend. My hubby graduates on that Thursday. I have to start thinking about books I will use all the books I have are quite lengthy.
Okay, I'm in. And I'll donate something for a prize.
This is great! Sign me up.
Count me in!
I would totally do this, but I work on weekends. I might do it starting that monday running through wednesday or something.
I want to play! My blog doesn't exactly have any "readers" yet, but I write (sometimes) and this will be a perfect excuse to more than quadruple my post count! (so can I?)
I may have a dance recital all weekend long (and now my parents are coming to visit, too) but I'm willing to give this a shot! Plus, I need to get back to blogging and reading is a perfect excuse.
Count me in! I totally plan to surpass my pitiful showing last year.
This is pretty much the worst possible weekend for me to do this, because graduation festivities for my students will eat all of Saturday and a good chunk of Sunday, plus Friday is a normal work day.
But what the hell? I don't need to be conscious to watch my kids graduate! Heh.
I would like to know: Do audio books count at all? How about non-fiction books that are picture heavy as well as text heavy? ie something like Thimmesh's Team Moon or Sill's From Rags to Riches? How about poetry? (I'm being boring and practical and attempting to make a major dent in our county's six and seventh grade reading lists.)
Yeahhhh!!! Hubby's going out of town that weekend and I have the house totally to myself. And it's only 3 days after my 40th birthday. Sign me up!! I can't think of a better birthday present (OK, maybe I can, but we can't afford it ;>)). I'll get a post up on my blog later today.
I'm in.
ZG @MidwesternLodestar
I'm going to try and play again this year. No obligations, duties, assignments or previous engagements are on the calendar but life has a way of smacking me on the forehead. Can't wait. I'm starting my stack now.
I've decided to try this - I'll be starting Friday afternoon and will post this challenge to my blog sometime today :) This sounds like so much fun. I have a stack of Early review books I HAVE to read in June...this will make me get right down to it! Thanks for hosting!
Okay, I'm finally deciding to go for it. I've got some commitments, but I am going to read through a pile in between them.
Amanda
I've been a lurker for more than a year now -- so I think it is time that I jump in and play. My blog is REALLY new. I have had several classroom blogs, and just started a new one for my incoming kiddos. Is that okay?
I am in for the 48 Hour Book Challenge. Looking forward to some long-awaited time to catch up on my reading.
Ooh! Count me in! We'll see how much I can actually do...
Wow. Lot of people signing up. Very exciting!
Couple of questions I've seen that I'll answer, pretending that you're coming back here to read my answers.
I'm allowing a couple of graphic novels in the mix this year, but I'm going to leave poetry and picture-heavy non-fiction out. Too hard to judge book length, page count, etc. Sorry Ms. Lauren. An audio book or two? Yeah, why not.
New bloggers are most certainly welcome. I've even had people start a blog just to play. Okay, maybe it was one person, but still.
Breaks to attend graduations, recitals, work, leg waxings, etc. are fine. Last year I had to carve a huge chunk out in the middle of my reading for some Girl Scout thing. It does effect your total time, for sure, but it doesn't mean that you can't participate.
OK, I'm in. I'm gathering my books together, a nicely judged mixture of various genres and subjects...I'm sure my houseguests won't mind it if I ignore them.
Signing up for myy favorite online event of the year! Maybe it will get me out of my reding/writing slump.
This will be my first 48 hour book challenge. I'm ready to battle!
How out of it have I been that I'm just now remembering about this...I'm in, but what with most of Saturday taken up by lame meetings...sigh.
I hope it's not too late to sign up, this sounds like fun.
I'm half in. I'm going to do it, but I just won't post the titles of books I'm reading.
I'm in this year. I've parked the kids elsewhere and assembled a big pile of to-reads.
Beth
Crap, Saturday is my son's 5th birthday party - with 18 kids under ten in the back yard I don't think I'm gonna make much headway into The Battle of the Labyrinth... *pout.
Next time!
Is it too late to sign up? I didn't think I'd be able to do it, but some of my plans for the weekend got canceled, so I actually have some time, and I'd hate to miss it!
Yippee! A summer reading challenge for adults! I would be reading anyway, but now I can tell my husband that I need to read a lot this weekend to win prizes...maybe :)
I'll be reading manuscripts all weekend, but I told the readers of my blog they should participate! And I'm giving away an ARC of my client's book THE UNNAMEABLES to the reader who posts the most books read -- I'm happy to send one to you as a prize as well.
Cheers,
Kate Schafer Testerman
kt literary
I would have loved to do this! Unfortunately I was working all weekend and only just found out about it. It is, however, a public holiday tomorrow (in Australia) and it's freezing outside - perfect for snuggling up in bed and reading all day long!
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