April 2, 2012 - The Hunger Games

This past week I blazed through a book that has been getting some major hype as of late. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins was first published in 2008 and I truly wish I would've heard about it before the movie trailers were released.

This book was amazing. Here is an excerpt from Google Books:
A chilling tale of survival from the New York Times bestselling author. In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the other districts in line by forcing them to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight-to-the-death on live TV. One boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and sixteen are selected by lottery to play. The winner brings riches and favor tohis or her district. But that is nothing compared to what the Capitol wins: one more year of fearful compliance with its rule. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she is forced to represent her impoverished district in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before - and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love. Acclaimed writer Suzanne Collins, author of the New York Times bestselling Underland Chronicles, delivers equal parts suspense and philosophy, adventure and romance, in this stunning novel set in a future with unsettling parallels to our present.

The Hunger Games was addictive; I could not put this book down. I read every spare moment I had - and with 2 children plus a daycare business, there isn't a ton of time during the day to read. But like I said above, I BLAZED through this book - this novel has been an overwhelming success and now it shows with how well the movie has done over the last two weekends. DH and I are dying to see the movie - hopefully in the next week or so we can arrange to go - as I hear it as great...but of course, not as good as the book.

I am already looking forward to reading the second book in the trilogy "Catching Fire", but want to wait until we have seen the movie...I kind of feel like the two of us are the only ones who haven't seen it yet! ha!
If you haven't read this book - definitely RUN out and grab it. We got the trilogy in hardcover for $35 at Costco. Great price for hard covers....ENJOY!