"The Hunger Games" - By Suzanne Collins

I had watched the movie of this before reading the book. I'll say that up front. And honestly, the movie didn't thrill me at all. I mostly didn't understand and what I did understand I thought was gruesome.

My older brother has been gone to college all year, even when we had moved we had to box up all his things for him. Well, he came back for spring break, and just when I thought I was through with boxes, we got to go through our storage shed and pull all his boxes out yet again for him to go through them. The lucky thing is that he's a bookie too. So he has all these guy books: military history and such, different from what I have. But he said I could pull aside whatever I wanted, since he wouldn't be using them anyway. So I scored big. Starting with the first Hunger Games book.

It may seem sad that I'm this far behind the Hunger Games frenzy, but I strangely take pride in that fact, though, I must say, I am catching up to frenzy pretty quick.

So, true. A bunch of kids brutally hacking other to the death isn't really a Mary Poppins bedtime story. But the writing - totally not grammatically correct, by the way, which isn't fair - flowed really well. It really is a sit-down read, every chapter flowing into the next.

In case you don't know the story, which would kind of be a shocker at this point but it's possible, the story is about this society in the way future. Every community is a "district" and the harsh government ruling over them is called the "Capitol". Well as the story goes, at one point, the districts tried to rebel against the Capitol. And failed. As yearly punishment for this act and a reminder that they're still in control, the Capitol forces each district to offer up two tributes, a boy and a girl, to participate in a fight to the death called the Hunger Games. When Katniss Everdeen's baby sister, Prim, is chosen, she immediately volunteers to take her place in the games. Katniss views the Hunger Games as a death sentence, but her whole life has been about survival, and she had promised Prim she would do her best to win and not die, so she uses all she knows how in order to keep that promise.

The reason this story is hard to put down is because from the very beginning, well first, you're confused and trying to understand her world, and then you're just stuck, addicted to finding out if she'll die, if the nice guy who claimed to have a crush on her, Peta, will die. Or if they'll kill each other, etc. It's one of those things you just have to know. And Suzanne Collins did a great job of making us this interested in their well-being as we are.

From a moral standpoint, it's iffy. I mean, it is about murder for survival. And at one point, it kind of makes you wonder, how are we different from animals if we act this way. For me personally, it made me grateful life isn't like this in reality. So you can decide for yourself. Like I said very iffy. I don't think I'd want my thirteen year old brother to be reading about this. It really isn't a pretty picture to be selling to kids, nor a clear message of anything. Pure entertainment, I'd have to say. Or for me who wants to be a writer, good studying to see what's trending and what readers like.

VIOLENCE/GORE: Obviously. Haha. Now, I'm trying to remember how graphic it gets. . A boy coughs and sprays Katniss' face with blood. . Blood is spoken of a lot during the battles. And murder. I don't know what else to tell you.

LOVE/SEX: There's a small romance that goes on between Katniss and Peta, as in the movie. In the book, they kiss a few times and sleep in the same sleeping bag, which is more for warmth and survival than romantic. Peta puts his arm around her and that's about it.

DRUGS/ALCOHOL: Katniss and Peta's mentor is frequently drunk and has a reputation for being so. He even throws up in front of them and falls in it. The alcohol isn't seen in a good light, though, since Katniss is bitter toward having her life in the hands of a drunkard, who may just be passed out when she needs him most.

So there ya have it. I was very excited to watch the movie again after reading the book and liked it WAY more the second time. Then I went on and watched an hour long special feature/documentary thing about it. . Yeah, I think I've just been bitten by the Hunger Games bug. I don't know whether to embrace it or be terrified.

Maybe a little bit of both. X-)

"This Lullaby" - By Sara Dessen

It's hard for me to describe this book. Mostly because I've never had a book that "preached" to me like this one. No. More so, I've never had a character that I relate to so much, before this book.

It's kind of weird to say that, since the book is about a girl who has a set routine with how her relationships pan out, making having a boyfriend - but mostly dumping them after a certain amount of time - a hobby, and never letting anyone get close to her. And I'm really not that  or a heart breaker to that extent. My best friend'll understand where I'm coming from with this. But anyway. I just liked it.

This story is about giving love a chance. Getting out of the routine. Bending some of your anus ideals. And letting people in.

Remy never strays from the rules she's set, until Dexter comes into her life, albeit unwelcome. And she just can't shake him. His charm and honesty threaten to soften her up into letting him in. She doesn't know whether to believe in love and open up to hurt, or stay closed, and safe.

The story made me, personally, think about things. I mean, obviously we each have our own ideals or limits we've set regarding relationships or whatever. But really the story is simply about opening up. And by opening up, being willing to brace for the hurt, or happiness, whatever it may be, that come into your life once you do.

Even though, I may not be dating a different guy every two weeks, or have more ex's than I can count on one hand like Remy, I felt like I was looking at myself in the mirror, a certain way. I'll be honest, I can be pretty skeptical about love too - which is funny because I'm such a romantic. But I guess I'll have to agree, which is better? Keeping your pride and being safe, but alone? Or opening up (to anybody, doesn't even have to be romantic) and facing whatever you let in; happiness, hurt, friendship, or even love.

VIOLENCE/GORE: Remy has a hard night and drinks too much, on her way out of the bar, she gets in a scuffle with a man and ends up whacking him in the face, then Dexter comes in.

LOVE/SEX: This story is obviously about love. Remy talks about having an active sexual life before, with no greater details besides that, but says how "she's changed," showing that she knew it was bad and wants to be better. She also stays the night at Dexter's, but nothing happens. She gets this feeling that he won't respect her anymore if she did anything, and for some reason that she doesn't understand since it's never happened before, that means a lot to her.

Some of the boys in Dexter's band work at a photography shop and begin a collection of random photo copies they liked from it to tack up on their wall, some being of women trying to look seductive in their underwear. The book isn't any more descriptive than that.

Adultery is found out in the story also.

DRUGS/ALCOHOL: There is a lot of underage drinking in this book. Remy and her friends are regulars at a bar and know all the bars in town that don't look at their fake IDs too closely. Her and her friends get drunk on and off throughout the book. There's also smoking. Remy has just started to quit.

Besides these things that I know are necessary to make Remy into the tough-as-nails, heart breaker, love-hater she is, I liked this book, personally. Now I don't know if EVERYONE will, but you can always give it a shot. And Sara Dessen is really good at "showing" not telling. =-)