48HBC–Final Update

At this moment I am sitting outside a hospital in upstate NY where I have been visiting with my grandmother. She is healing and in good spirits and I am grateful I am able to be here.

Yesterday morning I was in bed reading Abandon by Meg Cabot when my mother called me to ask if I would drive 8 hours to spend a few days with my Nanny who was admitted to the hospital with pneumonia and dementia.
After that, my planned weekend of reading/blogging/connecting changed drastically. However, I was able to participate in the first 27 hours of the 48HBC with:

3 books read/13.5 hours spent reading/2 hours spent in the blogosphere—not too shabby.

I can’t wait to read the posts from everyone’s weekend. I hope you all had a wonderful time and I can’t wait to do this again next year.

MotherReader, thank you, thank you, thank you for organizing this great weekend.

My review of Abandon will follow later this week–once I have access to a computer and am no longer typing on my phone.

48HBC–Update #2

After my last blogging break and dinner, I read a Stephen King novella called Blockade Billy.   The narrator, third base coach “Granny,” tells the story of Billy Blakely—a mysterious catcher who took the Titans by storm in the late 50s.   From the moment they meet, Granny is aware that there is something off with Billy, but no one realizes what that may be until it’s too late.

The short story “Morality” is included at the end of this book.  Although I enjoyed Blockade Billy (and it had me jonesing for a baseball game to watch) I was intrigued by “Morality.”  A young, married couple trying to make ends meet in NYC are given an indecent proposal–to act as an aging pastor’s proxy for sin in exchange for the money needed to make all their dreams come true.

I love reading Stephen King.  When in the midst of one of his short stories/novellas/novels I am reminded of why I love to read.

37.5 hours left!

48HBC–Update #1

After a wonderful breakfast out with my husband, I began this year’s 48 Hour Book Challenge at 10am.

For my first book I chose Sarah Dessen’s newest title: What Happened to Goodbye. I kicked off last year’s challenge with another Dessen novel: Along for the Ride and it was the perfect way to start the challenge. Like Memorial Day Weekend, I view the 48HBC as an unofficial kick off to summer—specifically summer reading; and there are few writers whose offerings I would rather read during the summer months than Sarah Dessen.

What Happened to Goodbye is the story of Mclean Sweet a girl who moves frequently with her father in the years following her parents’ divorce. In each new town, Mclean adopts a new name and identity and keeps all of her relationships on the surface—forming no real attachments. In Jackson, everything changes. Mclean finds herself at the center of a group of quirky, charming friends and the object of a wonderfully weird neighbor’s affection.

This is a wonderful novel of how one girl comes to terms with the division and re-imagining of her family. Mclean and the characters around her are shown as complex people— “warts and all.” The relationships Mclean has with her parents are realistic, loving and honest—and how those relationships transform is a highlight of the book. The details involving restaurant life and basketball are just gravy on top of a beautiful story about one girl’s journey to find her true self and the place where she belongs.

40 Hours Left!!!

 

48 Hour Book Challenge!

What better reason could there be to jump-start  a languishing blog than the 48 Hour Book Challenge?!  Beginning tomorrow I will dive head-first into a guilt-free weekend of reading and blogging about books.  All of the housework, to-do lists, and needs of those around me will be put on hold while I kick off the summer months by putting a dent in my towering TBR pile.  To sign up, or for more info, click over to MotherReader’s fabulous blog.

Good luck tomorrow!