new books (continuation)...

Just to let you know, after writing the last post about the book, The Hunger Games, I finished the book because I couldn't put it down and immediatly bought Catching Fire. I found out there will be one more book to round out the trilogy. Love it!!

new books...

On the airplane, I get really bored. I am constantly scouring the plane for good magazines (Time, Vogue, Glamour, Vanity Fair), bad magazines (people, in touch, us weekly), and any kind of books.

I read a great article in Time magazine recently about a new young adult book series, The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins...

I used to tell my daughter stories about a family of mer-cats--kitties with fish tails--who lived in the East River and how they were persecuted by a mean purple octopus. I spent considerable time and effort coming up with nonviolent ways for the mer-cats to defeat the octopus at the end of each story. Finally one night I asked my daughter Lily, who was 4 at the time, how she thought the mer-cats should handle the problem. She chirpily replied that the mer-cats should find a sharp rock and then stab the octopus till it died. Ha, ha, ha! Kids.

If the time ever comes, Lily might do pretty well in the Hunger Games. As described by Suzanne Collins in her young-adult novel of the same name, the Hunger Games are an annual spectacle in which a group of children are forced by the government to fight one another to the death on TV. A sequel, Catching Fire (Scholastic; 400 pages), will be out on Sept. 1. The Hunger Games is a chilling, bloody and thoroughly horrifying book, a killer cocktail of Logan's Run, Lord of the Flies, The Running Man, reality TV and the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. But it inspires in readers a kind of zeal I haven't seen since the early days of Twilight. Stephen King is a major fan. So is Stephenie Meyer.

The Hunger Games is set in an unspecified future time when things have gone pretty spectacularly badly for humanity. The world, or the bit of it we can see, is dominated by a ruling caste who live in luxury in a city called the Capitol. The rest of us live like peasants in 12 districts that are strictly cordoned off from the Capitol and one another. Life in the districts sucks: it's mostly hard labor--mining coal and farming and working in factories--in dismal conditions.

To make things even dismaler, once a year each district is required to give up two of its children, chosen by lottery, and enter them in the Hunger Games. The kids are dropped into an enormous arena strewn with traps and hazards, with a heap of weapons and supplies in the middle. The last child alive wins a lifetime of luxury and celebrity. The action is filmed and broadcast to the entire world.

We experience this ordeal through the eyes of Katniss, a resident of District 12, a harsh, cold region mostly given over to coal-mining. She is a passionate 16-year-old who hates the Capitol and is devoted to her family; she volunteers for the Games to take the place of her sister, whose name came up in the lottery. Katniss is a skilled hunter and sheer death with a bow and arrow. She doesn't like to kill. But she doesn't want to die either.

Whereas Katniss kills with finesse, Collins writes with raw power. After a life spent in freezing poverty, Katniss experiences pleasure--warmth, food, pretty clothes--with almost unbearable intensity, and that's where Collins' writing comes alive. (Not sex, though. The Hunger Games isn't just chaste, like Twilight; it's oddly non-erotic.)

Likewise, Collins brings a cold, furious clarity to her accounts of physical violence. You might not think it would be possible, or desirable, for a young-adult writer to describe, slowly and in full focus, a teenage girl getting stung to death by a swarm of mutant hornets. It wasn't, until Collins did it. But rather than being repellent, the violence is strangely hypnotic. It's fairy-tale violence, Brothers Grimm violence--not a cheap thrill but a symbol of something deeper. (One of the paradoxes of the book is that it condemns the action in the arena while also inviting us to enjoy it, sting by sting. Despite ourselves, we do.)

Katniss survives the first novel, and the second finds her back in the arena, where she will try, in her words, to "show them that I'm more than just a piece in their Games."
The Hunger Games and Catching Fire expose children to exactly the kind of violence we usually shield them from. But that just goes to show how much adults forget about what it's like to be a child. Kids are physical creatures, and they're not stupid. They know all about violence and power and raw emotions. What's really scary is when adults pretend that such things don't exist.

- Time Magazine

I was so excited to find out about a great new series, as they are my favorites (Harry Potter, the Hannibal Lector series, Chronicles of Narnia, Twilight, the Dexter series). I immediately put it on hold at the library and apparently everyone else had the same idea. I was number 120 on the hold list and there were only 40 copies of the book. I was sure it would take forever, but it only took a couple weeks. I just got it a couple days ago and am already halfway through. I am loving it. I love Katniss and Prim and Gale. The entire world of Panem is very creative and someplace I hope never to live in. I cannot wait to see what will happen to Katniss, so I better get to reading! Oh, and I really can't wait to read Catching Fire!


I am also in the middle of another book, which I found on the plane. It is so completely opposite from The Hunger Games. It is about Queen Elizabeth I. It's called I, Elizabeth by Rosalind Miles, a novel told from Elizabeth's perspective. I read The Other Boleyn Girl, by Philippa Gregory, last year and just love all the drama surrounding Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII, and Mary Boleyn. I, Elizabeth is basically a continuation of this story, but by a different author. It is a really great story of a girl born a princess, considered the daughter of a whore, and sent off to live outside the castle. She was hated by the public because of her mother, but when she could actually speak her own mind, then the public finally loved her. It's a great book. I enjoy reading books based on real life events and history and especially in different time periods. The language is so romantic even though the events of their lives are very hard.



I recommend both of these books. Happy Reading!!!

HAPPY FIRST ANNIVERSARY!

In honor of Tony and I celebrating our one year anniversary of marriage, I thought I would put together a photo montage of our 7 years as a couple!

We met in August 2002 in our photography class at the Community College of Denver. He said "I like your shoes" (pink suede pumas) and I told him "I like your watch" (a beautiful silver watch with 2 faces). We were obviously made for each other right from the very start.

We began dating officially on September 9 and have been inseparable ever since. We have been through wonderful times and very difficult times in the last 7 years, but it has only made us stronger. We have lived in 5 different locations, added 3 pets to our family (RIP Hampy), gotten tattoos and piercings together. We have lost loved ones and celebrated new additions. We bought our first house and a car last year. We have survived car break-ins and a burglary. We both have had every haircut and color possible between us. We love art, crappy comedies, good food, drinking, spending time together and with our animals. We both hate driving and our jobs. He puts up with my crazies and I put up with his fancy-pants cravings. We both love the Broncos, Rockies, and the Avs but especially attending games. We enjoy rain, fall, Halloween,

We have traveled to many places (but plan on tons more); Alaska, Seattle, Oklahoma, New York, South Dakota, Mt. Rushmore, Yellowstone and Grand Tetons, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Wyoming... and someday we will actually take a real live honeymoon.
































Obviously these are in reverse order. They begin with our first road trip together. Tony drove me to Oklahoma the day before Thanksgiving to surprise my mom. She was so excited and impressed that all her friends heard about my wonderful new boyfriend! And little did she know he would be her future son-in-law.

We have been through so much together and we have wonderful memories and tons and TONS of photos to prove it all!

I am so very very lucky to have my husband and my best friend all rolled into one. He is such a kind compassionate and caring person. I love you Tony and can't wait for many many many more years to come!!

Bacon Corn Chowder with Crab...

Oh you know you want it!!! I have been craving this recipe all year and now that fall is finally upon us... its soup time. I love making soup. Maybe because they are easy and delicious, but they are good for what ails you!

This one is particularly good. The corn and milk make is sweet. Bacon and crab make it salty and hearty. All the veggies make it very well rounded. I think I will have to finish off the soup with some beer bread or even Irish soda bread for dipping. YUMMY!!!


BACON CORN CHOWDER w/ CRAB from Rachel Ray
serves 5-6

Ingredients:
-8 ears of corn, kernels removed (reserve 4 of the cobs)
-1/2 cup celery leaves, chopped
-2 cups water
-1 cup chicken stock
-1 tablespoon EVOO - Extra Virgin Olive Oil
-1/2 pound (about 8 slices) bacon, coarsely chopped
-3 medium Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
-1 medium onion, chopped
-2 cloves garlic, grated
-3 stalks celery, chopped
-1 small red bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped (about 1/4 cup)
-2 small bay leaves
-4 sprigs fresh thyme
-1 quart milk
-1 teaspoon (or more) hot sauce, divided
-1 cup crab meat, picked clean (optional)
-2 tablespoons Old Bay seasoning (optional)
-3 scallions, sliced on the bias

Preparation:
Place a large pot over medium-high heat with the four reserved corn cobs, celery leaves, water and chicken stock. Bring liquid up to a bubble and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer and reduce broth until about 1 1/2 cups remain, about 10 minutes. Keep warm until use.

While broth is simmering, place a heavy-bottomed pot over medium-low heat with 1 turn of the pan of EVOO, about 1 tablespoon. Cook the bacon until crisp and brown, 4-5 minutes. Remove bacon from pot with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel-lined plate.

Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of the drippings from the pot and add the potato, onion, garlic, celery, red pepper, bay leaves, thyme sprigs and corn kernels to the pot. Sauté over medium-high heat until vegetables begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Add milk, hot sauce and corn broth and bring to a bubble. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer chowder until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.

If using crab, place into a small bowl and toss with Old Bay seasoning. Serve chowder garnished with crab, a pinch of scallions and some of the crispy bacon.


Give this recipe a try this weekend!! Bon appetit!!