Coming up on the 48 Hour Book Challenge I knew that I'd have to contend with working on Saturday and dance recitals on Sunday. I didn't expect to be engaged of the logistics of getting my teen to American Idol auditions, but there you go. So my reading has been disjointed and distracted, putting any writing or connecting on the back burner. Only now, late Saturday evening, can I even figure out what I've been doing.

I started at 6:00 p.m. on Friday, reading until about 10:30 p.m. I am glad I started off easy, with Elvis and the Underdogs: Secrets, Secret Service, and Room Service, by Jenny Lee. I really enjoyed this lightly funny book about a boy and his former service dog that is now living in the White House. Just a good, fun book - which is what I needed. Last Night at the Circle Cinema, by Emily Franklin was not light, and was too much to finish on a distracted night. The rest of the night was spent on preparations for the American Idol auditions, which included conversations about why we were just figuring out to do this the night before the bus pulled into Baltimore.

Up at 5:00 a.m. to get the teen off to auditions with her dad and sister - along with four frozen water bottles, three umbrellas, two back-up phone batteries, various granola bars, hand sanitizer, and sunscreen. Got them out and started reading about 5:30 a.m., finishing the previous book and starting Those Girls, by Lauren Saft. This is the book I kept checking to make sure it was a teen title, because it was pretty explicit in scenes and language. It was like a old-fashioned, trashy novel but with teens. I read until about 9:00 a.m. and then got ready for my work day.

I had a program to supervise in the morning, but some of it was waiting for people to check in - so I got a little reading done then, plus a little time later in the day. Not my usual approach, but it was an unusual day. My book choice there was Nuts to You, by Lynne Rae Perkins, which I really enjoyed. But again, kind of a distracted reading.

Back home after 4:00 p.m., I spent some time catching up. I knew that my teen did not move on in the American Idol auditions, but was glad to hear more about the day. She was happy with her performance and the experience, and she was really glad that we had made the last minute push for her to be able to go. At 5:00, I got back to reading Nuts to You finishing by my 24 hour mark at 6:00 p.m.

Halfway through the 48HBC, I have four books finished with nine hours to the challenge. Not as good as I'd hoped, but tomorrow is another day.