Book Reviews
The 48 Hour Book Challenge wound up yesterday morning. Winners are posted here.
The Challenge was to choose a 48-hour period between Friday a.m. and Monday a.m. and read/review as many books as possible during that period. Reviews were to be posted on your blog. Books were to be about 5th grade level and up, comics, graphic novels, and other picture-heavy books excluded.
One Challenge Champ read for 42 of the 48 hours (19 books, 4364 pages). What do you suppose s/he did during the other 6 hours–sleep or eat? Actually, you can eat and read. It had to be sleep. I’m fairly certain I couldn’t read for 42 of 48 hours. I wonder if s/he suffers from insomnia.
Another Challenge Champ read a whopping 27 books (6479 pages) in the more reasonable 31 hours s/he spent reading. Now that’s a fast reader. I’m fairly certain I couldn’t read that many pages that quickly, even reading MG and YA books. Actually, I’m a pretty slow reader.
Twenty-one participants put in 20 or more hours of reading/reviewing during their 48-hour period. That’s impressive!
Check out the magnifiers Linda clips to her glasses. How handy are those? Glasses are in my not-too-distant future, and when it comes time for a magnifier, this seems like the most convenient choice. There are stand-alone magnifiers and magnifiers with lights, but you can’t beat these for convenience and portablity.
I’d like to see this Challenge done with a group of teens–a lock-in kind of scene where the group spends 48 hours in a school gym or at summer camp (bring your own sleeping bag), reading and blogging about the books on a Challenge Wiki. Oooo…a 48 Hour Book Challenge Wiki–how great would it be to have the reviews in one place rather than on 40+ different blogs?
My teacher friend, Cathy, would be the perfect person to organize a school Challenge and Book Review Wiki. Her students already share info via class wikis.
Okay MotherReader and Cathy, carry out my wishes, please.
As you know, I was stitching rather than reading. I did, however, offer a personalized, signed Clueless in Alaska: Know More! as a prize, so I got to participate a little. Now, I get to read the book reviews. To find some of the reviews, check the comments of this post. So far, I’ve added four books to my Recommended Reading list based on Challenge reviews.
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Shelly Wrote,
Can grown-ups come to the lock-in Challenge? If so, I’m in. Jen, it’s been such a transformation for you. I don’t recall your being much of a big reader in school. But now you’ve developed such a love for reading over the past 25 years. I know that you’ve been loving to read for quite a long time now, but it’s still cool to watch the metamorphosis take place. I love it!
Also, can I participate in the lock-in Challenge even though I’m only interested in reading one or two blogs and haven’t a clue what wikis are? It has the same root as Wikipedia, but that’s all I know.
Link | June 10th, 2008 at 9:16 am
Jen Wrote,
You recall correctly; I was NOT a reader in school. In fact, I wouldn’t argue if someone wanted to label me a reluctant reader through high school. And I wasn’t a very good reader, whatever my grades may have implied.
I’m all for a multi-generational 48 Hour Reading Challenge lock-in. The kiddos will teach you what a wiki is. Yes, Wikipedia is an example. In a nutshell, it’s a page or site that (almost) anyone can contribute to. But don’t ask me how to set one up or use one. I only vaguely know what they are.
Link | June 10th, 2008 at 12:13 pm