48HBC Finish Line

Well, that was just a bit of spectacular fail on my part.  Both reading-wise and dance-wise.  In other words, I did not get done all the reading I was hoping to this weekend.  And, to add insult to injury (hah!), Friday night I managed to do something to my big toe, either a fracture or break it, so by today I was in so much pain I had to forgo my solo dance en pointe and do it in regular ballet slippers.  So disappointing because I was all ::squee!:: I have a solo dance en pointe.  My friend Alex had to talk me down from doing it- though I told her the best bet would be to just hid my shoes.  Cause after doing my pointe class dance, I backed down, but by the end of the recital where my solo was, I was ready to try it again (as I did Saturday night- and did it quite well enough, I might add).  But, she wouldn't let me.  Still, it went rather well, all things considered.

I also cried because I fear this may be my last recital and it didn't end the way I wanted it to.  But, that sometimes happens in life.  I just had two quotes running through my head from Black Watch.  The first was "you try doing this with a broken arm", except for me it was "you try doing this with a broken toe".  The second was "this could be the last attack for the First Battalion, the Black Watch".  That was the thought that got me really crying.  Oh, emotions.  You do betray me sometimes.

But, books.  Right, we are here to talk about books!

I managed to read two and start a third today (and, well, some of it was from last night).

Highland Rebel by Sally Watson.

This was my holdout Sally Watson book.  And by that, I mean it is the only one of her original books from the 60s (she has since written a few more that are being self-published) that I hadn't read.  This one being her first published one actually.  And I've owned it for years.  Truth be told, I still have one L.M. Montgomery book I have yet to read (A Tangled Web).  I think I do it because I enjoy their books so much that it is rather dreadful to know that there will never be anything else new to read of theirs.  If that makes sense.  Especially my L.M. Montgomery one.  Cause, you know, she's dead.  Except there is the other voice in my head that tells me I could pop off at any moment and I would be leaving a book unread.  So, I guess it is good that I got to at least one of their books this read-a-thon, eh? 

I do so enjoy her books.  This one is about Lauren Keith Cameron (who is the mother of Lauchlin from The Hornet's Nest- yes her Scottish characters from various books are all related).  She prefers sword fighting to more lady-like adventures, and, of course, this gets her into trouble.  Both within her family, but also with the English.  For the book is set during the time of Bonnie Prince Charles's attempt to take the crown from King George.  And Laurie will learn through great trials and hardship just how strong a character she has.

Pages: 212


Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger.

Having read Gail Carriger's "Parasol Protectorate" series, I was quite interested in reading the first book in her new YA series.  And, it was a fun romp through a different type of boarding school in Steampunk England, especially as it is set in the same universe as her other series.  I just realized that I read two books with very hoydenish main characters who enjoy doing more boyish activities than sitting around being proper girls.  If only there had been a new Cat Royal book, I would have been set for life!

Sophronia has been selected to attend a prestigious girls' finishing school (on her part quite unwilling to go)- but what she and her parents don't realize is that this is no ordinary school.  This school is training young women in the art of espionage.  On the way to the school, their carriage is waylaid by flywaymen who are looking for the "Prototype".  Which, of course, they don't get ahold of, because where would the rest of the story be?  Along the way, our Sophronia makes new friends with a variety of characters, learns that being a girl isn't all that bad, and quite possibly saves the day.  Well, her and her trusted mechanimal, Bumbersnoot.

Pages: 307


Echoes of Love by Rosie Rushton.

This is a modern retelling of Jane Austen's Persuasion that a friend of mine who is a bit obsessed with JA retellings sent me (I really think she owns the vast majority of them).  I can't quite tell you what I feel about it, because I've only gotten a few chapters in.  Actually, the author wrote retellings of all of JA's novels.  But, I've been in a Persuasion type mood lately.  Which is why I went for this one.

Pages (so far): 40

Hours reading: 16 hours, 15 minutes
Hours blogging: 1 hour
Pages read: 1385