Library Day

Boy this one snuck up on me...I think I still have Christmas in my brain and I can't quite shake it. Yesterday was blissful! We had nothing to do so we did nothing! Prince Charming was home for the day and we just enjoyed being home. The kids were happy to play with their toys, eat pancakes and watch a little more TV. We did have some exchanges to take care of so Prince Charming ran out early and did a few quickies in town then we went out after nap and took care of the biggies. My mom had us over for some leftovers, which is fine with me, I'm always happy not to have to think about what to make for dinner! Then it was home and to bed early, the kids really need to get back into our normal routine. JB in particular, he's been a bit crabby for the last day and a half, too much crazy!!!

So I was thinking, what book can I highlight for Library Day today? I think I've done all I can with Christmas titles and nothing new is hitting me. Then I remembered my new favorite books. So I'll plug them, since all of you reading this are adults, maybe you'd like a book suggestion for you instead of the preschooler in your life :)

First let me just say I'm a bit of a kamakazi reader. I love to read and I do it at top speed. I start off like a normal person, than when the book clicks with my brain (which sometimes only takes a page or two, sometimes half the book) I'm in go mode. I have to know how it ends immediately and I won't cheat by just reading the end. The funny thing about this "style" of reading is, when I'm done, I rarely remember the details of the story. Certainly I understand the story as I go, and I can tell you the "big picture" but don't ask me too many questions, I won't know the answer. I should probably be labeled with some sort of reading disability relating to comprehension, but I guess I'm too old for that. My style has served me well, I can read the blurb on the standardized test, immediately answer the ten stupid questions then clear my mind to go to the next section. What can I say, it's a gift :)

OK, OK...the book! It's no secret that the world has fallen in love with the series, The Hunger Games. I saw it on the library shelf about a year and a half ago, read the back cover and then tried to convince my then book club to give it a try. At that point I think it must have been brand new, because noone had ever heard of it and it's Survivor like quality seemed to turn some of my club off. Oh well, we read something else and I completely forgot about it.

Fast forward to this past July and I decided, after hearing EVERYONE and their BROTHER, talk about it, it was time to read The Hunger Games. Little did I know EVERYONE and their BROTHER had not read it and I think it was mid-September before the library called and said it was finally in and my turn to read it. I picked it up on a Monday morning and by 10 o'clock Monday night it was finished. I read the whole thing in about five hours! COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN! (read: children are neglected when mommy has a good book) There was no way I was waiting another three months to read the next installment so a good friend at church (Who happens to teach Miss M in Sunday School and Cubbies and still allows me to be her friend) lent me her Nook. I read part two over two days, just as great as the first. That same wonderful friend had part three too, so I borrowed her book and finished up the series.

I highly recommend them! They are considered Young Adult fiction so they are a quick read. The other benefit of that category is that the content is fairly "clean". I'm not a fan of bad language or explicit sex and violence. The very nature of this story has a violent theme to it, but the book is not gratuitous at all. Someone did ask me what age I thought they were appropriate for, I hate that question. I don't want to be the one to recommend a book that then destroys some innocent quality in a child!! My best answer to that question is "read it yourself and then you decide". I mean really, don't you want to know what your kid is reading/doing/playing/seeing on fb/watching. (oh sorry, I was just about to step up on my soapbox and preach)

I can't think of a fun craft or game to go with this book...just get all three and hunker down...you'll thank me later :)