Survival

Well, I finished three books in one week: I was NOT expecting that. I really should have heeded my friend's warning that once I started The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, I would not be able to stop. She was right.

Normally I start reading around midnight so that I can settle down to sleep and get an hour of reading done. That didn't happen last night. Even though I was sleeping in my own bed for the first time in 6 months, I stayed up till 5:30am, at which point I MADE myself put the book down and get some rest. Needless to say I finished it the next afternoon.

This book was just so enthralling and full of excitement, there was literally no good stopping point. I think this is the first book I've ever read where I can honestly say there was never a dull moment. It was a perfect balance of adventure, badassery, survival, politics, romance, and fun. I generally have an aversion to books set in the future, but this one had enough primal awesomeness and nature to keep me interested.

The author is very clever for coming up with this concept. Since it's supposed to be a Most Dangerous Game type reality T.V. show, the narrator is constantly dreading when the producers are going to intervene to make it more dramatic. Of course, this constant barrage of excitement not only pleases the audience in the Capital, but it pleases the reader too. How brilliant is that?

I really fell for the characters too. I almost teared up at parts, and "aww'd" at others. The likeable characters were all so good, I could never choose a favorite.

One weird affect that this book had on me was the realization that I would never last in the Hunger Games. I spent the afternoon thinking of ways I would survive (probably most like Foxface: using my wit and mooching off the people who knew what they were doing, while keeping a low profile), but I would be useless on my own. I go backpacking, but without gear I feel like I'd be pretty retarded. That's why I really admire Katniss, she's awesome. I also tried to think of ways I would kill people, and how I would probably end up being the asshole who slits throats while people are sleeping, when I realized how creepy it was that I was thinking that. But hey, you gotta do what you gotta do.

But yeah..even though I have loads of homework I'm probably going to finish the other two books in the series this week. Starting next month I'm going to be going back to school full time so I'll have a lot less time to read. Oh, and I changed the layout of this whole thing. I think the book background is a little obvious but I love it haha. The end.