The Hunger Games

I had heard from a lot of people that The Hunger Games trilogy was a good read, so I finally got around to reading the first book. I started reading Friday night. I was done, in tears, Sunday night.

To say The Hunger Games was good would be absolutely true, yet slightly misleading. I found it horrifying and was slightly traumatized by the end. But I LOVED the book.

Here is one brief synopsis from the official website: Set in a dark vision of the near future, a terrifying reality TV show is taking place. Twelve boys and twelve girls are forced to appear in a live event called The Hunger Games. There is only one rule: kill or be killed. When sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen steps forward to take her younger sister's place in the games, she sees it as a death sentence. But Katniss has been close to death before. For her, survival is second nature.

The book takes a dramatic look at the effects of violence on adolescents, and while it is in the extreme (I had to keep reminding myself throughout the book that the society I was reading about was not my society), it raises some interesting questions. The book also begins an examination of politics (again not our politics, but the principles there are true). While the book looks at some pretty serious issues, it is not didactic. The author, Suzanne Collins, perfectly blends an intense narrative with these serious issues.

And while I say I found The Hunger Games horrifying, amid the horror is a delightful mix of humor and wit that balances out the tragedy. All-in-all I’d say this book is practically perfect in every way. If you can only read one book this year, read The Hunger Games.

Charlie's First Birthday

So, I’m a couple weeks behind on posting this, but it’s only ‘cause we didn’t have the internet at our new house until yesterday. (Yes, we bought a home! I’ll blog about that later.)

I had been looking forward to Charlie’s birthday for MONTHS! I was so excited, and the experience lived up to all my expectations. We kept things pretty simple and just had family and friends over for some cake and ice cream. I am actually really proud of the cake I made. It’s a banana cake with chocolate frosting. I chose to do it as a monkey because Charlie’s been our little monkey from the beginning. When he was just a month or so old, if his blanket got pushed down, he would grab it with his toes, pull it up to his hands, and cover himself. It was cute. So a monkey cake for our little monkey.

Charlie got lots of excellent toys and books. And he did a good job opening his presents without eating too much paper. I’m also proud of the fact that Charlie blew out his candle by himself even though I can’t take the credit—my mom coached him on that one.

Now for an overview of Charlie. As is pretty typical of one-year-olds, Charlie is interested in EVERYTHING. Every day is an exploration which unfortunately tends to turn into a lot of no’s. Often when we tell Charlie no, he’ll turn around, shake his finger, and say, “no” as if to instruct some unseen entity. If his uncle Shawn is around, he’s the one that gets instructed. Charlie also has a pretty good vocabulary—there are a lot of words he can say. Whether or not he will is the issue. More and more I see a strong personality trait manifesting itself in Charlie: if he doesn’t want to do something, he will not do it. No amount of coaxing or bribing works. (He’s so much like his father.) The words he says most often are no, oh no, shoes, book, juice, mom, dad, and Shawn. The animal sounds he makes most often are woof and roar. What I think is especially cute about his roar is that it’s quiet—not a lion making his presence known, a lion chuckling mischievously to himself in the tall grass before he attacks. Charlie loves to eat, and he’ll eat just about everything, which explains why he’s over 25 pounds. It was funny to watch him eat his birthday cake, because he wasn’t playing in it and occasionally eating or just mashing it against his face. He strategically maneuvered large pieces of cake into his mouth maximizing the cake devoured; he actually left very little mess.

In general Charlie is a very happy kid. He loves to be around and play with other kids but will also play by himself happily for 30-45 minutes at a time. He’s a mover and doesn’t stay in one spot long. He only cuddles when he is very tired or very sad.

Charlie is a huge blessing in our lives, and I am excited to see what his next year brings!