Now that my thesis is almost done, I indulged my appetite for good books this Christmas break. One series I'm excited about is The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I've read book one and the second book, Catching Fire.
How to begin? The Hunger Games is a mixture of Survivor and Gladiator. In a post-apocalyptic world in which authorities keep the citizens down by yearly selecting a male and female child to participate in the Games. Twelve districts send their two children to fight to the death. The victor returns home and has food and housing provided for the rest of their life.
Collins does a surprisingly tasteful job dealing with the violence. I cried multiple times in both books, but the emotions just prove how aware Collins is of the struggle between survival and mercy. Her pacing makes Katniss's story move quickly and held my interest the entire time. I confess, the addition of romance was totally satisfying and not overly done. The series is marketed to young adults, but I think most adults would find them fascinating if not enjoyable.
While others doubted our plans, we did make it from Southern California to Virginia in 3 1/2 days despite making two long stops to connect with friends. First, we met up with Joy and Jeremy in Oklahoma City for dinner. We walked to the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial which is one of the best I've seen.
