Another Book Review: The Hunger Games

Ooh, I just finished The Hunger Games for my book club coming up tomorrow night. I am still trying to digest the book and figure out what my opinion is on it. I am biased in the fact that I generally hate science fiction. Really really hate it. But I did not hate this book and I'm trying to understand why. It was nasty subject matter, a horrible world that I did not like spending time in, and a classic commentary on mans inhumanity to man along the lines of Lord of the Flies or Animal Farm... So why am I not writing a horrible review on how gross and icky it was?? Okay, I'm thinking it was because I got involved in the story of the main character. I liked how plucky and courageous she was. I like the tangled romance and especially the sweetness of the would be love interest Peeta. The story line kept you on the edge of your seat.

Oh I guess I should say what the story was about. So there's this world that exists in what was once North America. It has a main government seated in the Capitol with 12 "districts" surrounding it. Well at one point there were 13 districts, but the districts rose up against the Capitol and were beaten down with the 13th district being completely obliterated. So as punishment for the uprising the Capitol draws the names of 2 children from each district and makes them compete to the death in "The Hunger Games". Doesn't that sound absolutely disgusting? And really it is. But I got so caught up in the story that I didn't hate it all. It was such a quick read and I do recommend it. It was not a feel good book, but interesting and cleverly written. I guess it was like a really nasty and to the death Survivor. Crazy that I like it. Um, the ending totally perturbed me though and I'll leave it at that so that I don't give anything away.

Time Out, Fish, and Tess

Time to play catch up. I can't believe I've gotten myself out of the blogging loop again. I really don't know what's wrong with me this winter... Anywho, I've had a pretty full last week and here's what I did (with pictures!!):

Time Out for Women:
This was a really fun event that I went to with Ashlee. The talks were all very inspiring and some of the music was great - to my surprise I really liked Michael Maclean. Not in a buy all his albums kind of way, but I thought he was quirky and actually a really funny guy. I did find out I'm not a huge Kenneth Cope fan, but that's okay, right? He's just a bit cheesy to me. The exception being "His Hands" which I think is an absolutely beautiful song. Some of the presenters were Mary Ellen Edmunds, Michael Wilcox (I've read one of his books - Fire in the Bones), and Deanne Flynn. These were my favorites anyway. I really got a lot out of Michael Wilcox's presentation about the personality of Christ. It was such a comforting and inspiring message about the love that the Savior has for each one of us. Deanne Flynn's presentation was just plain funny, she had us all laughing the whole way through. It was so neat to spend so much time listening to inspiring things and chatting with Ashlee. I definitely plan on going again next time its here in Colorado, so if you want to go too let's go together!


Aquarium:
Sophie and Ben had Monday off of school and preschool and instead of hanging around the house all day I decided to take the kids to the aquarium and it was so fun. The kids have been talking about it non-stop since and even Nina loves to mention sharks and fishies whenever she can. I loved the otters (they are so darn cute) and I think the kids all loved the shark tank. We went through really slowly and I let the kids turn around and go back to anything they wanted to see again (needed to get our money's worth right?!), so it was a nice leisurely day and I'm so glad I decided to try it. Next time maybe the childrens museum...


There were fish up above you in this area of the aquarium and I love this shot of Nina straining to see a shark go by.


Book Club:
I'm so happy to be a member of 2 book clubs! Yay! Right now they are my only extra-curricular activities (for lack of a better word) and it's great that we've been reading some challenging books that are great for discussion. On Wednesday we discussed Tess of the D'Urbervilles. Oh Thomas Hardy... I wish I could have met him because he must have been a very sad and twisted soul that needed some cheering up - maybe I would have made him some cookies or taken him a pass-along card or something. I'm not going to lie and say that I loved Tess. I can definitely appreciate the writing, but man it was painful - nothing is EVER happy, or if it is momentarily happy you know something horrible is right around the corner. I could not believe the whole Angel sleep walking scene... Okay its very symbolic and everything for him to say "dead, dead, dead" to Tess and then lie her in an open tomb, but honestly was that necessary?? Golly, that scene was morbid and horrible. I won't even mention the murder at the end or the laying herself up as a human sacrifice in the middle of Stonehenge... But then I guess I just did.:) Lots of misery and pain. Bleak stuff. But the book did point out some horrible social issues of the Victorian age and others that transcend time and place so all was not in vain. It's hard to think that there are places in the world right now were women are still treated like this. Also I appreciated the book because it is a really interesting study of someone who feels trapped by sin. It shows what someone does and thinks when they feel completely worthless and unworthy of love. Tess did not sin, she was sinned against, but she blamed herself right along with everyone else. THAT was hard to read. Oh, and I think Alec is one of the most deplorable characters I've ever read, Tess's mother and father are dangerous loonies, and Angel is a complete and total dork (even after he comes back, oh I'm not forgiving him at all and am glad he got sick in Brazil). But I digress.... Back to the book club. We had a great discussion about the book and other tangent topics as all book clubs should include. I love talking with these ladies and hearing their perceptions and perspectives. It was a good night.

Amazon Funny

I had to quickly post about this... Almost everyday I get an email from Amazon telling me about the wonderful products on their site that I might be interested in because I've bought such and such DVD or book. Well today's email is the darn funniest email I've ever got from them (quite possibly the funniest email I've ever gotten full stop). It said:

"We've noticed that customers who have purchased or rated The 1900 House have also purchased The Girls Next Door - Seasons 1-4 on DVD. For this reason, you might like to know that The Girls Next Door - Seasons 1-4 will be released on March 10, 2009. You can pre-order yours at a savings of $58.93 by following the link below."

WOW. I guess all the other 1900 House buyers are a freaky-deaky bunch, eh?!! Do you see a connection between these 2 images??

Yeah, umm... Amazon I'm thinking I'll pass on your generous offer on those Girls Next Door DVDs. I have a funny feeling that a slight judgment error was made in sending this particular email out to all your 1900 House buyers... While I am a huge fan of PBS period reality series and do own and enjoy the 1900 House, I'm pretty sure that a series about a lovely British family living in turn of the 20th century conditions is quite a bit separated from the floozies living in the Playboy Mansion... Call me crazy if you like.

Last Week

Argh. I have not been a good blogger at all. Not at all. I have been reading posts, really, but haven't commented for weeks now. Sorry 'bout that. And I haven't been posting because I'm completely boring. For the last week I've pretty much stayed at home except for the occasional trip to Sonic for a big old diet cherry lime-aid (we all have our weaknesses, right?) and a day out yesterday with Sophie. We've been staying home because Nina's immune system is really suppressed due to the oral steroids that she was on for a week so we've kept away from public places to hopefully avoid another upper-respiratory infection. We've been having Sophie and Ben use hand-sanitizer as soon as they get home from school or preschool. Right after Nina got home from the hospital she got a horrible stomach flu and couldn't keep down any food for days (that one she probably got from the hospital or her doctors office because those were the only places she had been). Poor thing, she really has had a rough couple of weeks, but is now feeling much much better. We are doing her breathing treatments only 3 times a day now - yay!

Oh, this last week I think I created a tradition. I read the whole Shopaholic series over and I realized it was this time last year that I did the same thing (link to last years post). I think it's an awesome February/March thing to do. Winter can be bluesy, but you can not have the blues while reading these books. Hilarious. I love Bex! And Luke is quite Mr. Darcy-esque which is also very happy.

Maybe due to the whole Shopaholic reading and being stuck inside all week I decided yesterday to take Sophie for a mother-daughter date to the mall for some shopping. I've been needing some new jeans and it was fun to spend some one on one time with Sophie. She got a little bored after a few stores, but made very good critiques of different outfits. I think she's going to be a great shopping buddy in a couple years. I found a jean skirt and a great navy sweater that was over half off at the Sundance store (I LOVE that store tho I probably wouldn't buy anything there not on sale). SO many sales right now in all the stores, I guess everyone wants you to spend your tax returns at the mall. Sophie and I couldn't believe the number of people walking out of the Apple store with computer boxes. Sophie didn't want to shop for any clothes for herself (she's not all that into clothes yet), so after I found what I was looking for we headed to Mrs. Fields and that made us both happy. It was a great day out with my sweet Sophie and made me realize how important it is to spend more one-on-one time with my kids. They are each so different from each other and it's amazing to discover more and more about them as they get older and more opinionated.