Late to the party, but still had a great time!

Chuck and I have completely lost ourselves in the Hunger Games trilogy.  I know we're late to the party on this one, but wow is it good!  I finished up the third book last night at 1 a.m.  It's been a long time since I've stayed up late to finish reading, but this series has really surprised me.  I read the first book in one night, the second and third in less than a week altogether.

It was such an easy read, with such a profound story.  If you are one of the few people who haven't read these books, then I highly recommend you get out there and read them.  I don't read serious stuff.  I read enough of that at work, so the stuff I read is completely frivolous.  I definitely don't read science fiction.  I don't read action/adventure.  I almost exclusively read romance novels.  So, these books were a true departure for me. 

And as for Chuck, well, Chuck doesn't read much at all.  When he reads, he either reads something really intense like the Odyssey or Sherlock Holmes, or he reads a few pages and then never finishes the book.  But, just like me, he has torn through the first two books of the Hunger Games and will probably start the third book of tonight.  What an adventure!

As I was reading the third book, I started to see statements in the book that are really quite profound, so I thought I'd share them.  I'm sure there are hundreds of these in the books, but I found these in the third book and I wasn't so intensely focused that I rushed past them.  (I have to admit that I devoured these stories and gobbled them up without savoring the descriptions, statements, and language as I normally would have as an English major).

Quote 1:

"We're fickle, stupid beings with poor memories and a great gift for self-destruction."

As a history major (I was a dual major), this really struck me as true.  So much of our history is repeated again and again.  It is depressing that we, as a people, can't seem to learn from our mistakes.

Quote 2:

". . . you can feel the rejuvenating effect that a good meal can bring on.  The way it can make people kinder, funnnier, more optomistic, and remind them that it's not a mistake to go on living."

This completely explains my obsession with food and wine.  It's a comfort.  I love it.  It is uplifting in so many ways.

So, I hope you didn't feel like you were stuck in an 8th grade english class for the last few minutes as you read this post, although, frankly, I'd love to be in an 8th grade english class right now!  Maybe that's my next career.  Or maybe not.  I'd probably end of looking like this.

Wait a minute.  I look like that already. Meh.