24 in 48. I did it! (Well, sort of.)

So just minutes ago I finished the 24 in 48 challenge, except I didn't finish it in 48. Let me explain. Before I signed up for the challenge, I knew I already had commitments which would take me out of the reading arena for four, maybe more, hours. I decided to start the challenge on Friday to make up for that lost reading time. Then, luck would have it, I ended up coming down with a sore throat and weird mouth infection, which actually made me feel pretty awful, though I could read okay if I didn't talk or eat anything. I just wasn't at the top of my game. Part of the way through the day on Sunday I knew I would not make my 24 hours of reading goal, then I decided to do something different. How about I just read for a total of 24 hours, no matter how long it takes, and total up what all I was able to read in that amount of time. So that is what I did and here are the results (be prepared to be impressed):

Books I finished (having started them before the challenge)-

• The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah. Print. 26 pages. A book club selection for both of my clubs. I really enjoyed this one though the ending may be a bit to Hollywood for my taste.
• Becoming by Michelle Obama. Audio. 6 hours. Anyone who listens to audiobooks knows that it takes longer to listen than to read a book. While listening, I went for a walk with the dog, played a few mindless computer games, and started a puzzle of the National Parks...all things I can do while listening to an audiobook and not getting distracted. The total book was 19 hours long, so I listened to the last third of it. Love it!
• She Walks in Beauty: Poetry selected by Caroline Kennedy. Print, 34 pages. I've been working on this volume of poems for several months but was glad to wrap it up with this challenge.
• Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys. Print. Read 151 pages to completion. This was my Classics Club SPIN selection. It is a highly acclaimed book but I hated it. yuck. Will not be recommending it to anyone. But I finished. (It is short, thank goodness, and I'd only read 25 pages of it before starting the challenge.)

 Books I completed, start to finish:

• Native Nations Miniseries: Chiefs and Warriors by Edward S. Curtis. Print. Considered gift books, this is the first in a series of four which have the prints that Edward Curtis took of Native American warriors and chiefs, with notes he wrote to go along with the photos. I purchased the set several years ago as a gift for my husband. This is the first time I've actually looked inside one of them.
• A Thousand Mornings by Mary Oliver. Print. This was an impulse checkout from the library as I walked past the "New Books" shelf. Oliver just died a week ago and I wanted to read more of her poems. After I finished this slim volume I realized I'd read it before. Oh well, I loved it the second time around, too.
• Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. Audio. I listened to the eleven hours it took to start and finish this book. Once again I dog-walked, drove, worked a puzzle and finished the book at 11 PM last night. This is officially my favorite book of the year and it is only January.
• We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Print. I bought this book nearly two years ago and have been putting off reading it. Why? It took me 30 minutes to read and it says lots of important points about valuing women.

Books I made progress on:

• StarTalk With Neil deGrasse Tyson (Young Reader's Edition). Print. I read around 120 pages, nearly 70% complete. This was a Cybils nominated book I didn't have time to do more than peruse but I love it. It takes a long time to read each pages because of the all the text-boxes and photos. It is very thought-provoking, too.
• Fear: Trump in the White House by Bob Woodward. E-book. I read three more chapters. I had started this book back in September and set it aside. In fact, I set it aside for so long, I lost my charging cord and had to buy another so I could get it charged just to read on. 25% complete.

Book I started:

• An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green. Audio. When I say "started" I mean just started. I am 12 minutes into it. But I have begun. I purchased this book on my Audible account many months ago and my daughter has listened to it already. I am psyched to have started it.

In summary, I finished eight books plus made progress on three others in 24 hours of concerted reading. I usually consider eight books a month to be my average reading goal, which shows me that I don't really spend as much time reading as one would think. I did have three short ones of 50 to 100 pages in length, but I also completed two audiobooks which take lots of extra time to consume. Now to keep the momentum going I hope to blog about all eight of the books in the coming two weeks. Eek. Another big project!