Weekend In Reviews

I had big plans this weekend to marathon Felicity and eat ridiculous amounts of junk food with my 16 year old cousin Claire but at the last minute she had to cancel which left me with a gaping hole in my agenda and no good excuse to eat my weight in sugar and carbs.  Fortunately I found a way to fill the time. 

Saturday I hung by the pool with some family friends, splashing and laughing with a couple of tots and my wacky water-loving dog who has taken to hurling herself into the pool at great speeds and from rather impressive heights.  All that swimming meant I didn't have to feel guilty about the guacamole and homemade mac and cheese I ate. 

After such an eventful day, it seemed like the best thing to do was lay low on Sunday.  So I basically stayed in bed and read The Hunger Games all day.  I can not say enough good things about this book and there is no way to convey how mad I am at myself for not reading it sooner.  The only compliment I could ever muster for the wretched Twilight series was that Stephanie Meyers writes in such a way that makes the book go by fast.  Virtually nothing happened in the entire series yet I was able to speed through them as if the action was propelling me the story.  There was a briskness to her prose that was able to get you through it all fast enough that if nothing else, kept the books from stealing too much of my free time. 

Suzanne Collins writes with a similar, if more enjoyable and less treacly briskness.  And while that style can make a terrible book almost bearable, it can make an excellent book exquisite.  It takes only a few sentences to make me care about Katniss and her story and all of District 12.  Post-apocalyptic, distopian society stories aren't usually an easy sell for me but The Hunger Games didn't feel like some kind of sci-fi warning about the perils of American excess so much as the story of one girl in an extraordinary circumstance doing what she has to to survive and take care of the people she loves.  It could have been 100 years in the past just as easily as 100 in the future. 

How did Katniss not see that Peeta was genuinely in love with her?  Why wasn't she in love with him?  Why doesn't Gale marry the Mayor's daughter?  These are all questions that haunt me still.  Oh, I'm also desperate to know what becomes of these relationships so I started reading Catching Fire at lunch today.  I might try to make this one last a bit.  Savor the story for a week rather than devouring it in a day.  Plus, I'm trying to rally my book club back together with the whole series.  I think it could give us just the boost we need to get back together after almost a year. 

After a day in bed, Monday called for some shit to get done so I cleaned and did laundry while I watched the first 10 episodes of Everwood's 4th season.  I am not going to lie to you, I know what shit is coming down the pike from Bright and Yarn Slut and still I think he's perfect.  Perfect.  The love I have for Bright Abbott is real and deep and can not be swayed by one, horrible moment of horrible judgement and so much horribleness.  He thinks about her EYELASHES, you guys!  Besides that, I'm really just trying to love Little McQueen despite the fact that he's a huge pain in the ass and to not scream "get a HAIRCUT!" at Ephram every time he's on screen.  There was so much emotion in the 4th season!