'The Hunger Games' 3

Summer has been so busy lately that I've neglected to read our books for the past couple of months. Thanks to Kimberly for letting me borrow her book this month or I probably wouldn't have been able to get my hands on it.

'The Hunger Games' was definitely an exciting read. I stayed up late every night last week because I just couldn't put it down. Once I finished it I stayed up even later with thoughts running through my head. I couldn't sleep. I even convinced Wesley to read this one, and he rarely reads novels. Now we are reading the second book 'Catching Fire' together. It's been fun.

Here are some of the thoughts that kept me awake all last week:

First of all it made me think of war and the brutality of it. It never leaves anyone the same, no matter the circumstances you experience it in (whether watching, or being in the thick of it or even just living close to those who have loved ones involved).

I also thought a lot about government and choices in this life. We are so blessed to have them. I can't imagine living in a world where so many things are controlled by someone so distant and withdrawn. The Hunger Games are all about power and keeping the lower classmen in their place. How sad it is that the government officials place so little value on the human life that they force people to murder for their own entertainment. It's a sick idea really, but not far from wars that take place today when you think about it.

Katniss was always so brave and at the same time lucky. She could have died so many times. I was touched by the acts of mercy/kindness in the arena. It shows how human they all were even in the midst of the horrors they were living. I think that in that kind of a situation it would be difficult to remember that you were really human, and that you could control what happens to you even though there are those who would make you think otherwise.