Since I decided yesterday that this week is going to be a time where I focus on nurturing myself I have decided to do a simple series this week:

Monday – Yoga class, 60 mins

Tuesday – 3.5 mile Run & 2 mins in Sauna

Wednesday – Yoga class, 60 mins

Thursday – 3.5 mile Run & 2 mins in Sauna

Friday - Yoga class, 60 mins

In my mind, this schedule allows my body 3 days of stretching and opening up and then 2 days getting my heart going. And I love to run and practice yoga so it’s not like I’m pushing myself to do something I don’t want to during this week of nuturing.

The Hunger Games

Okay, first of all I need to admit that I was never planning on reading The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins.

I’d heard of them and knew they were supposed to be amazing but they just didn’t seem my type of book. Thankfully my manager gave me the first book to borrow and told me I had to read it and I was going to love it. I took the book home that night and let it sit on my desk for a few days. Then my curiosity forced me to open the first page. And seriously people, I was hooked by page 5.

The Hunger Games are amazing stories that are so tightly woven you’ll start to forget what is real and what is imaginary. Katniss, the main character has you from the very beginning as you feel her fear and pain on a deeper level than you’re used to. When she is running for her life you literally feel out of breath from trying to keep up with her. Better yet, the other characters are just as intense and real and pull you deep into a story of fear, survival, love, rebellion, family and betrayal.

I was blown away by Suzanne Collins ability to create such an intricate, complicated and heart-wrenching story while bringing characters to life in a world unbearable to imagine. Every book, every chapter, every page has you questioning character’s motives and you can never be prepared for what ends up happening at every turn. Throughout the last week I have been obsessed with the books: when I wasn’t reading them I was thinking about the characters, the situation, what was going to happen, what might come next…. I was completely absorbed in the books. The Hunger Games trilogy is simply outstanding and a must read for everyone.

Here is the first book with its description:

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister’s place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before—and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that will weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

Catching Fire and Mockingjay are the second and third.