48 Hour Book Challenge: Check-In Post #1

I am just over twelve hours into my 48 hour book challenge, which I started this morning. I have spent roughly half my time reading so far - 6 hours and 15 minutes - and I have completed four books and started a fifth. Full-length reviews of these books aren't due to post to my blog until the Fall, but here are some quick thoughts:

• Bandit’s Moon by Sid Fleischman
  This is the 37th book in my Reading Through History Project, and I selected it to represent the 1840s and the Gold Rush. It's a fast-paced story about a young girl who falls in with a band of thieves in order to escape a horrible woman holding her captive. I gave it a solid three stars, as it was fun but didn't have a lot of depth, even though it was based in fact. 
• Bull Run by Paul Fleischman
  And this is book 38 on my Reading Through History list. Many different voices relate the events of the Battle of Bull Run. I was just in Manassas last weekend, so reading this seemed very timely. I read the book in about 45 minutes this morning while pushing my daughter in the stroller, and somehow I think reading it outside in the heat of summer made me appreciate more what it might have been like. I also love the suggestion from the author to use the book for reader's theater. My full review will have a lot to say about this book! 
• Saving Mr. Terupt by Rob Buyea
  This entire series is something I probably could have skipped. It's obnoxiously inspirational with characters who sound nothing like real kids. This was the least believable of the three titles. I only gave it one star. 
• Fuzzy Mud by Louis Sachar
  This was short, sweet, and very different. It's not funny in the way of some of Sachar's other titles, but it's a really interesting science fiction story about the impact some strange "fuzzy" mud has first on three kids, and then on an entire community. Definitely compelling. 

The next book I'm working through is The Sister Solution by Trudy Trueit - I'm about halfway through. I'm hoping to get in another solid 2 hours or more tonight, now that Miss Muffet is in bed, so hopefully I'll finish this book and squeeze in one more. Counting the 15 minutes I spent writing this post, my total is now 6.5 hours. Now I'm going back to reading.