The Hunger Games Trilogy

I guess I’m a bit late reading The Hunger Games since it was published in 2008 by Scholastic. Hunger Games is the first novel in a trilogy, followed by Catching Fire, published September 1, 2009, and Mockingjay, published August 24, 2010.  I read it yesterday for about eight hours, since I couldn’t put it down. To briefly summarize, the Hunger Games are an annual televised event where the Capitol, or the government, chooses one boy and one girl aged 12 to 18 from each of 12 districts for a massive televised battle in which only one person can survive. You can read two chapters on the Scholastic site.

Happy New Year 2012

We still have one more day of 2011, but I’m wishing everyone a Happy New Year 2012.  Even though some predictions are pretty dire, I can’t help but hope that things will get better. I prefer to be optimistic. I’m staying home on New Year’s Eve watching movies. I hope you have a fun, but safe New Year’s Eve.

Merry Christmas 2011

Merry Christmas to all my cyber-friends and family. I’ve been so busy getting ready for Christmas, that I wonder what I’ll do with myself after the holiday is over! Hopefully, you have all of your shopping and cooking done so you can enjoy Christmas Day and the New year. Here’s hoping that 2012 will be an even better year than 2011 for everyone. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas.

11-22-63

I’ve just read Stephen King’s New Book, 11-22-63.  Although, it appears to be about the Kennedy assassination, it is actually a love story about a man from the present who falls in love with a woman from the past. If you were alive back in 1963, you’ll enjoy the references about that era.  The main character, Jack, goes back in time to 1958 thru 1963.  Although the story was interesting, I found the writing about the past to be just as fascinating.  There’s also so much history to learn about Lee Harvey Oswald, the man accused of killing the President.  Mr. King has also done a ton of research about the facts and myths concerning the assassination, and it is all interwoven into the  storyline. This latest epic is huge at 849 pages or 32 hours of audible listening.  Either way, I’m sure you’d enjoy it.

Talking to Siri

If you have the latest Apple iPhone 4s, you also have Siri, the voice assistant. I recently found an ebook on Amazon called Talking To Siri by Erica Sadun and Steven Sande. Even though there are so many things that Siri can do, this book describes more efficient ways of voicing a request and also reveals tips about how to make the most of the service. There are many more things that you can do other than send messages, schedule meetings and place phone calls. For only $4.99, you can learn all about talking to Siri.

Everyday Paleo

I borrowed Everyday Paleo by Sarah Fragoso, a book of paleo recipes, from the library a few weeks ago; and I liked so many of them that I just had to purchase a book of my own. The recipes include pictures, and there aren’t any weird ingredients or difficult cooking methods that take hours. The author also shares her journey to a paleo lifestyle and why she made the decision to eat that way and how she introduced her family to the foods. If you aren’t familiar with the paleo lifestyle, it’s just eating good healthy foods instead of eating processed foods.