105 Ways to Give a Book

The 48 Hour Book Challenge

48 Hour Book ChallengeSo, what did you do this weekend? Did you, for instance, challenge your fellow book bloggers to a 48-hour reading marathon?

It seems like I already have some people ready to play. And they’ll tell two friends, and they’ll tell two friends, and so on, and so on...

Let me set out the rules as I see them. I am open to suggestions if you’ve got them, or ask me questions so I can establish a related rule. Here goes:
  1. The weekend is June 16–18th, 2006. Read and blog for any 48-hour period within the Friday-to-Monday-morning window. Start no sooner than 7:00 a.m. on Friday the 15th and end no later than 7:00 a.m. Monday. So, go from 7:00 p.m. Friday to 7:00 p.m. on Sunday... or maybe 7:00 a.m. Saturday to 7:00 a.m. Monday works better for you. But the 48 hours do need to be in a row.

  2. The books should be about fourth-grade level and up. Adult books are fine, especially if any adult book bloggers want to play.

  3. It’s your call as to how much you want to put into it. If you want to skip sleep and showers to do this, go for it (but don’t stand next to me). If you want to be a bit more laid back, fine. But you have to put something into it or it’s not a challenge.

  4. The length of the reviews are not an issue. You can write a sentence, paragraph, or a full-length review.

  5. For promotion/solidarity purposes, let your readers know when you are starting the challenge with a specific entry on that day. When you write your final summary on Monday, let that be the last thing you write that day, so for one day, we’ll all be on the same page, so to speak.

  6. Your final summary should be posted online after 8:00 on Monday morning, even if you finished your 48 hours on Sunday. Include the number of books read, the approximate hours you spent reading, and any other comments you want to make on the experience.

  7. Sign up at the original post (unless you already have). Post the challenge on your site to catch the bloggers that come your way but don’t come mine. I don’t have a lot of links on my blogroll because I never get around to setting them up, but I would love it if some of the other bloggers join in. Point them to the original post to sign up.

I’ll work on some prizes for most books read, most hours spent, and probably something else. Make a suggestion.

I’ll post the rules again as we get closer, to incorporate suggestions or to answer questions that have come up. Should be fun, gang!

7 comments:

Emy said...

June 15 - 17 is a Thursday - Saturday.

MotherReader said...

Whoops! It should be fixed now.

Anonymous said...

Can you read the book ahead of time? Or is the reading to be done during the same 48 hour limit?

Anonymous said...

Is anyone reading books for the lower grades?

MotherReader said...

The books need to be read during the 48 hour period. At this point, I am limiting the books to the older elementary/teen books. My idea being that we as readers and reviewers find the time for shorter books, but sometimes the longer books start stacking up. Plus, if we all do the same type of book, the number of books will be more fair for everyone concerned. That said, I am thinking of having a kind of parallel competition that will allow the picture book readers to play along too. It's still in the works, so come back to the site to check. Thanks for your interest.

Anonymous said...

Great idea! I'm throwing my hat in the ring.

Anonymous said...

Are you only looking for 'proper' children's lit bloggers, or are you including people who read you (and sometimes talk about children's/teen books in their own blogs?) Sounds like fun, and I'd be interested if the latter!