I am SO not winning this challenge...

...unless the whole point is to make reading a priority for one weekend and to have lots of fun, in which case things are just fine. Because stress and pressure make me all sweaty and nervous, I have done other stuff when I felt like it this weekend - sleeping, cooking, laundry (I like doing laundry, okay?), and movie-going. But there has been lots of reading going on, too.

But NOT anywhere close to my fellow bloggers. 25 hours! 33 hours! 15 books read! Yes, I AM a slacker. But a well-rested, well-fed one (lotsa pasta, lotsa cupcakes).

I read 2 hours last night (finished The Magic Thief: Lost - here's my review - and started Also Known as Harper by Leal).

Didn't start reading until 12:30 pm today (unless the Sunday paper counts. It doesn't? Rats), but then read for 2 hours and finished Also Known as Harper. Review to come soon.

Read blogs and posted my own for 1 hour.

Total time spent reading and blogging so far - 10 hours. But it's only 4 pm and I've got until 9:30 tonight!

And now it's time to start Gone.

Review of The Magic Thief: Lost by Sarah Prineas

Prineas, Sarah. The Magic Thief: Lost. HarperCollins, 2009.

I loved the fresh voice and intriguing premise of The Magic Thief, so I eagerly dove into book 2.

Conn has discovered that explosions allow the magic of his city Wellmet to talk to him, and since his locus magicalicus stone was destroyed at the end of book 1, this is very important to him. Unfortunately, Conn accidentally blows up his master Nevery’s house, at which point he is exiled from the city. This is horrifying to Conn but just as well, as Conn is quite certain that the magic of Wellmet wants him to investigate and solve the problem of the Shadows that have been invading Wellmet – and the root of the evil seems to lie in the desert city of Desh. With his friend Rowan and her retinue, he struggles against a mysterious magician and an ancient, malignant magic.

With the destruction of his powerful locus magicalicus, Conn has seemed to lose some of his vigor and energy. Despite his penchant for explosions, he seems strangely subdued and even taciturn – even Rowan notices, pointing out to him several times that he has stopped talking to her. Even his narrative voice has gotten terser – when Nevery says “Well, boy?” Conn thinks ‘Not really well, no,’ and doesn’t say a word. Getting exiled from his beloved city and its magic – and from his friends and his master – is horrifying and tragic for him, and it just makes him more silent and intense. Although this makes sense, it’s a bit distancing for the reader.

Luckily, some bouts of mortal danger toward the end of the book serve to wake Conn (and the reader) up, and we all gallop together toward the action-packed conclusion. Finally, at the very end, comes the emotional scene that has been lacking, and we realize that Conn and Nevery both have feelings that they very rarely share. Not that they’ll get much chance for that in the near future, as the city of Wellmet is under attack, and we won’t know the outcome until book 3.

Despite Conn's apparent depression, he still has a way with words, especially verbs - he "snickpicks" locks, "wobbleflaps" into the air when Nevery turns him into a bird, and "splat-lands" when he tries to come down for a landing. This fresh way with language embues the narration with some much-needed energy.

Final verdict – all fans of the first book must read this installment despite its occasional lack of affect. By the end, the old Conn is back, and readers will be on tenterhooks to find out what happens next. Recommended for grades 4 to 7.

Ouch - only 5 hours of reading so far

It's a good thing I have plenty of time to read tonight and tomorrow, because I'm far away from the 12 hour goal!

Here's the tally so far:

Friday, June 5 - 9:30 - 10:30 pm - 1 hour (finished The House on Fortune Street by Livesay)

Saturday, June 5 - noon - 2 pm - 1 hour (finally sat down to read, but was interrupted every few minutes by my chatty teenage daughters and my own sugar jones - at which point I gave up entirely and made cupcakes (golden with chocolate frosting - vegan! Book - The Magic Thief: Lost by Sarah Prineas. Food - leftover ravioli for lunch)

Saturday, June 5 - 2 pm - 5 pm - 3 hours (that's what I'm talking about! 3 hours of uninterrupted reading bliss, accompanied by Beaker the Parrot, my current favorite reading companion. Because I don't want her to be lonely during her stay with us, I've hauled her cage inside and outside, from one favorite reading spot to another. She is always ready to engage in intense eye contact and perplexing body language, but doesn't seem to mind when I dive back into my book again. Still working on The Magic Thief: Lost, but almost done. Food - one cupcake, a cup of coffee, and a cup of tea.)

Total reading time so far - 5 hours

Time spent blogging so far - 45 minutes.

A shaky start....

Due to a delightful dinner with friends and then a situation involving the Amazon Grey Parrot my younger daughter is bird-sitting (she let her out of her cage and then we couldn't figure out how to get her back in), I didn't get to my book until much later than my original 8 pm start-time.

However, I did finish The House on Fortune Street by Margot Livesey - here's the mini-review I wrote for Goodreads:

The lives of two men and two women, all connected by their ties to each other and to the house where three of them live, are explored in turn. The writing is fluid and most of the characters are worth delving into - we learn about their troubled childhoods and uneasy psyches. One character, poor lackluster Sean, the boyfriend of Abigail, gets rather shortshrift. His story comes first, but is abbreviated and pale next to the perspectives that follow - Abigail, Abigail's intense friend Dara, and Dara's father, a quiet man with a complicated secret. A tragedy that occurs during Sean's portion is slowly brought out and semi-explained during the following segments, but this isn't so much about this event as about how lives are intertwined and how we have profound and often unknown and unpredictable effects on those around us. Not uplifting but also not a downer - simply a lingering, well-written look into the lives of four folks.

I haven't started reading yet this morning because I wanted to absolutely finish all my chores so that I could flop down on the sofa with absolutely nothing looming ahead of me. Good news - while driving from grocery store to garden nursery, I finished the audiobook of Lady Killer by Lisa Scottoline, a fluffy South Philly tale which was made engaging by the quirky characters and the fabulous voice of narrator Barbara Rosenblat, who switches from accent to accent with aplomb, if not dead-on accuracy.

And now - on to The Magic Thief: Lost by Sarah Prineas!!

48-Hour Reading Challenge - let me at it!

It starts for me at 8 pm tonight with jammies, tea, and a stack of books.

Here's what's in the stack:
The House at Riverton by Kate Morton (a wonderful book for adults; almost done)
The Magic Thief: Lost by Sarah Prineas ('cause I loved The Magic Thief)
Also Known as Harper by Ann Haywood Leal (the blog reviews have been positive)
Gone by Michael Grant (I've been wanting to read this post-apocalyptic YA novel since last year)
Mare's War by Tanita s. Davis (great reviews, neat cover)

I don't have the hubris to list any more - it'll be a miracle if I finish these. But dang, will I have fun trying!