Summer Reading Musings

Hello all! What an eventful week it has been- huh?
- tornado's
-the royal wedding
-the grizzlies
-Osama
I mean i am about media-d out if i don't say so myself....
SO If you would like a little break away from it all let me recommend a GREAT summer reading series:

THE HUNGER GAMES

I literally CONSUMED these books and apart from them making me a little paranoid that one day what occurs in this book will occur in America - it doesn't take much for my inner conspiracy theorist to flair up- I LOVED THEM. I wasn't sure what to think about them at first seeing as they were classified as "teen fiction" but heck so was Harry Potter and don't get me started!

According to wikipedia : Collins's career began in 1991 as a writer for children's television shows.She worked on several television shows for Nickelodeon, including Clarissa Explains It All.... (need i say more who DIDN'T love that show?!)

The book takes place in "a not-too-distant future, the United States of America has collapsed, weakened by drought, fire, famine, and war, to be replaced by Panem, a country divided into the Capitol and 12 districts. Each year, two young representatives from each district are selected by lottery to participate in The Hunger Games. Part entertainment, part brutal intimidation of the subjugated districts, the televised games are broadcasted throughout Panem as the 24 participants are forced to eliminate their competitors, literally, with all citizens required to watch. "

Its intriguing... I don't know if i read somewhere (or made up) that in college the author loved the psychology behind what people will do in extreme circumstances and it seems that the Hunger Games deals a lot with that theme.

Collins states that "Despite criticism of the kid-on-kid violence in her bestselling Hunger Games trilogy, [she], 48, believes the books pack a powerful antiwar message. 'My dad was career Air Force, a Vietnam vet, and a doctor of political science,' she explains. 'He felt very strongly about educating his children about war. And in turn, I feel drawn to creating stories for kids that might help them understand it.”

Whatever your thoughts on war is this book is entertaining, interesting, has a love triangle (MUCH better than the whole vampire - warewolf- human thing) and has some great political themes (so you do, in fact, feel smarter). It also, in a way, critiques reality tv (FINALLY someone does!) but that is a soapbox for another time.

Pick it up this summer... best for a vacation... b/c if not you will be up until the wee hours of the morning wanting to know what comes next...

Her cliffhangers are heartless.