The Hunger Games. YES.

Since I'm spending the summer doing a lot of nothing (when in actuality, I should be planning for the many classes I'm teaching this fall), I have decided to put some hours on my Kindle.  We know from an earlier blog post that 50 Shades of Grey just didn't do it for me, so I opted for something that had caused mass hysteria at the movies - The Hunger Games.  Let me reiterate, I'm usually not one to follow the crowd, but if I ever expect to win Jeopardy I need to delve into pop culture a bit.  Anyway, I borrowed the first one with the monthly lending allowance on Kindle, and figured I'd take my time with it and borrow another one in the next month.  Well, 24 hours later I had knocked that one back and was ready for another.

I did what any good resourceful person does when faced with a challenge like this, took to Facebook to beg for a lender.  I immediately found someone (three people actually) who was willing to digitally lend me the last two books in the series and I went to work on them.  The first book was definitely the best, and they sort of petered out from there, but altogether, they were exciting enough.  The author did excellent descriptive work, I could really picture the Capitol and the 12 (13) districts, the characters, the reaping, and the arena in the Hunger Games.  The character development was thorough and the plot was filled with exciting developments that led to a good story overall. 

Some of it was predictable, but that is okay.  The whole love story was weak.  However, the way Katniss tells the man she chooses that she loves him was kind of cute there at the end.  I guess since these books were for young adults they couldn't get too raunchy.  Stealing kisses and glances here and there was about all we got.  The whole dynamic of the post-apocalyptic United States and a powerful Capitol who makes slaves out of the people of the districts was really quite clever.  It seemed plausible but totally ridiculous all at the same time.  I liked it.  It mixed the days of the Glaldiator fights in the Roman Coliseum with the technology and advancements of the future. 

I was sad to see this series end.  My cousin graciously send me almost 700 books for my Kindle so I have enough free books to keep me entertained all summer and then some.  I'm currently reading a murder mystery by James Patterson.  The story is good enough but the typos on the digital version are driving me insane.

Unrelated:  only a month left until I start work.  I'm getting antsy because I feel like I should be doing something, yet I'm so overwhelmed that I don't even know where to start.  Sometimes between now and then, probably around my birthday, we are taking a family trip to the beach with my in-laws.  I'm really excited to be spending a few days with my kids on the beach.  The big ones love it and hopefully Brayden will enjoy it as well.  I'm actually supposed to be looking for a place to stay now, so I better get back on that.  Until next time.