48 Hrs - The Summoning

The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong

Fifteen year old Chloe, five foot nothing and still being given the kiddie menu in restaurants, would like to shake her life up a bit. But she's thinking more along the lines of dying red streaks in her hair than of starting to see ghosts.

A particularly horrific vision lands her in the hospital, and then a group home for mentally disturbed teenagers, with a diagnosis of schizophrenia. As Chloe gets to know the other kids in the home, particularly the seemingly normal Simon and his frighteningly large, hostile foster brother Derek, it becomes harder to believe that what's happening to her--and perhaps to all of them--is really mental illness. And having supernatural powers might turn out to be far more dangerous.

Narrated by Chloe, The Summoning smoothly blends the everyday and the paranormal as it sets up its supernatural world, with time for reflection and character growth as well as action and horror. Although it has both sad and frightening moments, it isn't particularly emotionally powerful, which makes it harder to ignore that it's also somewhat derivative. (With Chloe a devout Hollywood film buff, the lack of any reference to The Sixth Sense is really an elephant in the room.) But it's an absorbing, increasingly exciting read; even before I reached the cliffhanger ending, I was looking forward to the sequel. (13 & up)




R: 2 hours, 35 minutes
B: 1 hour
RB: 2 minutes

running totals

R: 7 hours
B: 1 hour, 16 minutes
RB: 2 minutes

48 Hrs - The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

What a thoroughly awesome book! It reminded me of a mash up of "Veronica Mars," "Gilmore Girls" and the essay portion of Dorothy Bryant's A Day in San Francisco, as written by Judith Ivory. And more!

I don't dare attempt an actual review, I would still be at it long after the challenge was over. Wish I had the time right now to browse around and see what everyone else has written about it, but that will have to wait til Monday.


R: 2 hr, 25 m
B: 4 m

Running Totals

R: 4 hours, 25 minutes
B: 16 minutes

48 Hrs - The Game of Love

I won't write much about this, since it won't interest most of the readers of this blog, but my, what a densely written book. Edith Layton was really a master of wordplay and it seems as if almost every line has a double or triple meaning. I keep reading and rereading to make sure I'm getting all the nuances. Add in paragraph-long sentences in the old style and teeny-tiny-eyestraino-vision print and I'm not getting through it very quickly.

Anyway, I will save the rest for tomorrow's gym trip; now on to Frankie!



R: 2 hours
B: 4 min

Running Totals:
R: 2 hours
B: 12 m

48 Hrs - on my mark, get set...

GO! Starting 2 p.m. on Friday

I wanted to dive right into the YA pile, but realized I need to go to the gym soon and I don't have any YA small enough to hold in one hand while I exercise. Also, I kind of hate reading a book I might choose to review while exercising, because it could affect the way I perceive the book.

So I'm going to keep reading the adult book I was already reading, The Game of Love, which was chosen in honor of the memory of the wonderful historical romance author, and fellow Georgette Heyer list member, Edith Layton. After the gym, I plan to start on The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, because it came up so many times, in such intriguing ways, during the recent Books Wars.

memories

It was during the first 48 Book Challenge that I realized my son was truly reading.

Last year, during the third, he was inspired by my involvement to try his very first chapter book.

This year, he will probably completely disrupt my reading by playing a prank on me he's learned from the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series.

What was I thinking, not planning to participate this year? It's such a family tradition.