Rest of the Motherreader Prizes Arrive

So here's the prizes from the #48hbc, and wow, I'm in love with absolutely everything I've gotten. Thank you so much MotherReader. Only thing missing from the pictures (and just a sleepy hindsight) is the Catching Fire ARC, an extra copy that was graciously donated by another of MotherReader's readers. Extra thanks there, as I stated in my review, I consider it a must read.

Going through the pictures, the first is an overview of everything. There's a t-shirt saying 'Plot, it builds character.', the trophy cup bearing a quote from Thomas Jefferson "I cannot live without books.", A set of four magnetic bookmarks, a 10$ Barnes & Noble giftcard, ARC of Timelock, ARC of The Doom Machine, A signed edition of Fablehaven book 4 (which is perfect, I'd read the first 3 books in the #48hbc and lamented that I didn't have the 4th), A copy of 100 best-loved poems, a copy of The Art of Reading, a copy of Crazy for the Storm: A Memoir of Survival, and a lovely little necklace made by MotherReader herself.

Book Review: Suzanne Collins - Catching Fire

Title: Catching Fire
Author: Suzanne Collins
Format: ARC
Length: 391 pages
Ages: 12 & up
Grades: 7 & up
Summary:

Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has won the annual Hunger Games with fellow district tribute Peeta Mellark. But it was a victory won by defiance of the Capitol and their harsh rules. Katniss and Peeta should be happy. After all, they have just won for themselves and their families a life of safety and plenty. But there are rumors of rebellion among the subjects, and Katniss and Peeta, to their horror, are the faces of that rebellion. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge

I was excited to find my ARC of Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins in the mail today. I'd won a copy of it from MotherReader's 48 Hour Book Challenge thanks to a gracious extra donation of the book. So, first thing, I ripped the book out of the envelope and examined it thoroughly. I've never read through a book as fast as I did Catching Fire. Anyways, on to the review.

Suzanne Collins continues the storm she began brewing with The Hunger Games. It doesn't relent for one second the entire book. Katniss continues to grow in multiple ways. She becomes more aware of her own feelings and more aware of the forces in play around her. Unfortunately, the other characters don't share as much growth or shine nigh as bright as Katniss. This is perhaps reflective of Katniss' world in general. She is very self-focused and she being the one telling the story, it's perhaps meant to be that way. There's no real complaints cause as I was reading I was enthralled. Only in hindsight writing this review do I even bother to think about how each individual character changed, if at all, throughout the story. The worst part is that there's more to come in another book that won't be available for quite some time and I'll be pining for more the entire time till then.

I will say that if you've read The Hunger Games this is a must-read book. If you haven't, then you definately should, and then read Catching Fire.

How do you guys keep up?

So, due to the 48hbc and all I've discovered a corner of the internet I hadn't known about before, namely a large group of blogs interested in YA fiction and reading in general. But, there's so many great blogs to keep track of, how do you guys manage it?

Contest at http://thereadingzone.wordpress.com

Win a copy of the Dork Diaries at The Reading Zone.

Suzanne Collins - Gregor the Overlander

Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins is about 11 year old Gregor and his 2 year old sister who inexplicably find themselves in the Underland. A place inhabited by oversized intelligent cockroaches, rats, and bats.

The book was a great read, and kept me turning pages from start to finish. Well... almost. The very beginning was very mundane and unexciting, but, that only lasts for a small while until Gregor and his sister get whisked away to the Underland.

The characters are fun, especially Gregor's younger sister. While there's action and the plot is serious, the slightly over-used device of adding in a child cared for by a child does add some levity with her naivette and care-free nature. That being said, I'm getting a little tired of seeing children care for children. City of Ember, The Hunger Games, and countless others are very guilty of this trope of YA fiction. I think it's mainly tacked on to throw a bone to young girls that want their dolls and the like, but, past that I'm a little clueless as to what the point of including such baggage in such books is good for. Often they're not even hindrances, but, somehow magically help solve the problem in an unexpected way. I trail off topic on that though cause even though I'm reaching my tipping point on that particular bit, it wasn't that horrible in this book.

The book's plot moves fairly fast after he reaches the Underland and as I'm fond of saying of the books I like, it's over too soon and I was left wanting more.

Just had my life saved cause I adopted a cat.

So. Today I was following normal routine, but, had to stop by Pet'sMart to buy rat food and flea & tick shampoo for the dog. Pulling up to one intersection before getting to the store, I saw a lady try (and fail) to catch a stray kitten that was around a drainage pipe. We watched for a bit until that lady gave up, and I asked my wife if she wanted me to try and catch it. She nodded meekly and so we pull around, and thus the thought had been planted to get a kitten. I couldn't catch the kitten either it had scurried far into the drainage pipe. So, we reluctantly left and were browsing around Pet'sMart at different things and this cat was there at Pet'sMart, he caught both of our eyes cause he has beautiful blue eyes, and just a semi-unique color. We checked out with the rat food and F&T Shampoo, and I noticed my wife just dragging along, we couldn't really afford a cat could we? I ask if she really wants it, she says yes, and we adopt. As we're filling out the paperwork, a storm hits, and if we hadn't adopted the cat, our next destination was the farm where the horse is boarded and such. However, since we were getting the cat, we called ahead and asked the owner to take care of the horse for us. Shortly after we got home, we got a call from the farm, a tornado had hit the farm. Lot's of property damage, all the animals and all the people are okay though. However, if we'd gone to the farm, we would have been out in the middle of it when it hit.

Trying not to lose steam.

I started the blog for the 48hbc, cause it gave me a clear goal, clear motivation, and something to post about. I've tried blogging before and I always seem to lose interest in my own writings. Without the books and constant progress, I feel like I don't really have a lot to say x.x;

New Books!

So, as a present from the wife who's proud that I did what I set out to do, I got to go to the bookstore. xD. So, yeah, a tiny bit of torture, but, who am I kidding. I adore books.

So, I picked out 4 new books.

Once Dead, Twice Shy by Kim Harrison
Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr
Scepter of the Ancients by Darek Landy
Glass Houses {The Morganville Vampires - Book One} by Rachel Caine

Not actually sure when I'll get around to reading, but, always nice to icnrease the inventory!

48HBC Finished.

So.... I'm finished. I'm horribly tired again. As if what's been building up has suddenly slapped me with a sledgehammer. I'm at a loss for really what to say and my brain throbs as I try to compile the totals.

I made 12 blog entries prior to the competition ending. Each entry starting with a blurb announcing the book and being edited when I finished the book to include a small portion of my thoughts about the book.

I also made infrequent updates to twitter, not sure whether to consider those networking or blogging, however, they were made only a few times in the middle of a book, mostly when I finished a book I posted that I'd finished it and that I was moving on.

All in all, I logged 61 minutes blog/networking. They were merely hiccups in my reading meant to assure people I was still alive and still reading. I'm kinda upset that it added up to that much time, even though it counts for the contest, it -does- mean if I want to be truly honest with myself about reading for 48 hours straight, after this post I have to go back to a book for another hour.

I have to say thanks again to the people commenting, the people congratulating, and so on. Also have to give thanks to my wife once again for putting up with all this silliness and making it possible for me to devote every waking minute to it and tolerating it well.

So. Totals!

Blogging/Networking: 1 hour 1 minute
Reading: 46 hours 59 minutes
Breaks: 0
Snacks: 12 granola bars, 2 apples.
Drinks: 14 bottles of water were sacrificed.
Pages Read: 3374 :: 1.52 pages per minute.

Final thoughts.

I went into this because I felt like I had the time to spend and I generally don't do a whole lot better with my time. I didn't imagine that it would actually exhaust me to the point it did. I've been up for many a 48+ hour stretch due to back pain and insomnia, so I didn't think reading would add too much to the normal fatigue. I was dead wrong. If I ever participate again, I don't think I'll aim for a 48 hour solid stretch.

Book 12 - Jeanne DuPrau's The City of Ember

Going to read Jeanne DuPrau's The City of Ember for my 12th book of the 48HBC. I don't suspect that I'll finish it in an hour. But will get as far as I can.

--

Buzzer on contest sounded directly at 7:00pm. 93 pages into the book. I will finish it, but, later. After this, I'm going to want a few days away from books I think.

The portion I've read was very enjoyable. It's shaping up to be a great read, and I stopped right before what I'm sure is a very important part ;-;. It might drag me back in. Poppy had just chewed on something she shouldn't have! :(.

But, I digress, I try not to mention events in the books too often in my reviews cause I -hate- spoilers. I've enjoyed what I've read so far, and it's an interesting world that the characters live in. It does a decent (but not perfect job) at being believable. Will finish it up later.

Books 9, 10, and 11 - L.J. Smith's Night World No. 1

Tackling something a bit different this time. An multiple book tome. L.J. Smith's Night World No. 1: Secret Vampire; Daughters of Darkness; Spellbinder.

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Finished 'Secret Vampire' at 38 hrs 22 minutes.

Finished 'Daughters of Darkness' at 42 hrs 31 minutes.

Finished 'Spellbinder' at 46 hrs 43 minutes.

All 3 of the books contained in this tome are great stories. The way they're laid out reminded me of some of the old TV serials like Outer Limits or Tales from the Darkside. The recurring theme are the rules governing Night World, they're the rules that keep the creatures of the night seperate and 'safe' from human interference. In each of the three tales the characters skirt the rules and consequences around them.

I've got approximately and hour and 1/2 left of reading. My wife is absolutely wonderful for putting up with me. I've been reading for 46 hours straight. During this time she's been providing me with snacks, drinks, and moral support. Putting up with the fact that I have a book in my face while eating dinner and basically sacrificing my presence for as long as this competition has gone on.

I'm sorry that in my semi-sleep deprived state, I've only just now noticed the people that have left comments for me to read. -Thank you!- I appreciate the support, contact, and communication. I apologize as well that I'll answer them, but, only after finishing my 48 hours and getting some rest. I've not socialized yet, and don't intend to detract from the challenge I gave myself to read for 48 hours straight any more then I've had to with the twitter posts and blog updates.

I will say, that at this point, my body has given up on obtaining sleep, and I seem to be a bit more lucid (god only knows if I really am) then I have been in the past 12 hours. Almost feel a bit hyper since the ending is coming up.

Going to be finishing the contest reading Jeanne DuPrau's The City of Ember.

Book 8 - Children of the Lamp: The Akhenaten Adventure

Book 8 will be P.B. Kerr's Children of the Lamp: The Akhenaten Adventure. Would have loved to be reading Fablehaven #4 just to get the series finished, but, I don't have it. :(

So, off we go into a different series!

--

Finished 33 hours 27 minutes in.

A very, very, hard to read book at this point in time. Perhaps if I was more lucid it wouldn't bother me so much, but the font and typesetting in this book were horrid. Along with several large capital words when discussing 'focus words' that allow the djinn to focus their power. Phillipa's word is just down right astonishingly -bad- to see on paper. This alone made me rather distasteful of this book. The story itself isn't -that- bad, but, it's easy to get distracted from the story itself with the awful type and some of the large capital lettered words littering the page. I do think I will give this book a second chance when I've not been reading for 33 hours straight.

Book 7 - Fablehaven #3: Grip of the Shadow Plague

The 3rd installment in the Fablehaven series and my 7th book of the 48hbc. I'm starting to question my ability to go on, and I haven't even reached the halfway point. I'm lucky to have the support of my wife in this endeavor. My brain is starting to falter from lack of sleep. Will try to keep the posts making some semblence of sense and on topic, but, forgive me if they go steadily south from here.

--

Finished at 29 hours 25 minutes.

Follows a familiar formula for the fablehaven series, although the kids both seem more capable and more familiar with their surroundings in Fablehaven and less clumsy overall. It's more of the same.

Book 6 - Fablehaven #2: Rise of the Evening Star

The 6th book for the 48hbc will be Brandon Mull's Fablehaven #2: Rise of the Evening Star. I'm starting to feel a little bit of the wear and tear of the challenge, but, will ask for coffee to be made and have my pile of snacks replenished. Maybe get some of those 5 hour energy drinks as well.

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Finished at 21 hours 26 minutes. This is starting to hurt. I'm not sure I can do 26 1/2 more hours of this. I'm very determined to try my hardest though. I'm very much feeling the lack of sleep right now, but, wanting to wait as long as possible before downing energy drinks and other methods of keeping myself awake.

The book was fun, a little better than the first in my opinion, but, still carried the same theme of kids screwing up/being irresponsible and then things turning out alright. It does have some themes about the nature of people and how people use other people for their own ends and how they earn trust only to turn it around. It feels more thought out than the first book in some respects, but, again the whole 'dues ex machina' thing where just the right item is provided early on to placate one of the largest threats presented in this book. I'm finding it harder to write these reviews the further I get into this. I'd not say it's a bad book, cause I enjoyed reading it. But, it lacks the feeling that there's ever any real danger cause anytime something bad happens, you know they've been given a solution to the problem far earlier in the book.

Moving on to Fablehaven Book 3: Grip of the Shadow Plague.

Book 5 - Fablehaven

Announcing next book in my running of the 48hbc, Brandon Mull's Fablehaven.

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My mind is starting to lag after 17 1/2 hours of straight reading, and I have trouble thinking of what to say about this book. I enjoyed reading it, but, parts of it felt guilty for enjoying it. The ending was very much a case of 'deus ex machina'. A lot of it reminded me of Harry Potter in that kids do something wrong and then by nigh accident manage to set it all right again before the end and are rewarded for the misbehavior.

Book 4 - Redwall

Book #4 in my bid for 48hbc glory. Brian Jacques' Redwall. Going to try and take my time on this, as stated in my previous post, I just feel wrong consuming these books that fast. Especially with Alanna, I just want it to keep going and don't want to finish the story cause then there'll be no more left!

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Finished at 13 hours 28 minutes into the challenge.

I begrudgingly bid adieu to the world of Redwall and it's inhabitants. I can't believe that I've let this book go unread for so long. I'm saddened that I don't have more of the books in this setting.

Next up, Brandon Mull's Fablehaven.

Starting my third book in the 48hbc, Tamora Pierce's In the Hand of the Goddess.

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Finished 9 hours 26 minutes into the 48hbc

In this book, Alanna blossoms into a strong capable woman and brings a bit of closure to some things from the first book. I'm eager to tackle the next book in the series after this, but, almost feel guilty that I'll probably read all four books in less than 24 hours. Some of this constant reading feels like it detracts from the value books provide. An author spends months writing a book, and I've consumed three in less than 10 hours. Anyways, enough babble, more reading. So, even though I'm eager to read more of Alanna's adventures. I'm going to take a detour into the land of Redwall for my next book.

Second Book - Tamora Pierce's Alanna

Chose and started Tamora Pierce's Alanna, first book in the Song Of The Lioness series, one of her many novels set in the Tortall lands. Decided I better write this post before I forget entirely. :)

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1:30am on Saturday, that makes it 6 and 1/2 hours into the 48hbc, I've finished Alanna. An amazing read. The cross-dressing/gender-bending might be an issue to some, however, it does a wonderful job of conveying the strength and conviction of a young girl in achieving her goals. I'm going to start the second book in the series 'In The Hand of The Goddess' next.

Starting 48HBC!

Writing this post a little early so not to cut into my time, but officially starting the 48hbc. I will be starting with Bruce Coville's Into The Land Of The Unicorns.

Official start time for me is 7:00pm on June 5th.

--

Finished after 2 1/2 hours. I feel like my reading engine is slow, maybe it's just warming up. So 2 1/2 ours into the challenge and 159 pages. I'm delighted to report that Into The Land Of The Unicorns was a fun fantasy romp. I think it was mainly me that made this a slow read, kinda trying to pace myself in the challenge and not breeze through my entire stack of books.

On a 5-star scale rating, it gets 4 stars. The biggest let down being that it's over all too soon.

Entering the 48HBC

Starting this blog specifically for the 48 hour book challenge. It officially starts tomorrow at 7:00 a.m.. Not sure exactly when I'll start my 48 hour period of reading, but it ends no later than 7:00 a.m. Monday. So, there's a tiny bit of leeway. Wish me luck~.