May the Odds Be Ever in Your Favor

November is a lovely month. We usually see the first snow of the year (which is truly magical...it's the 6 inches in mid-April that drives me to the brink of insanity). Thanksgiving is a favorite holiday of mine. Not only is there delicious food involved, but it's a wonderful opportunity to reflect and share memories with loved ones. November is also the month of big movie premieres. I am counting down to November 22. Why you may ask? Well, allow me to share.

A couple years ago, I bought The Hunger Games off a friend's recommendation. It was summer, and I lived in an apartment with an outdoor pool. One Saturday, I took my new book down to the pool with me, and thought I'd read a couple chapters while soaking up the sun. Many hours later, I practically had sunstroke, but by golly, I was not leaving that beach chair until I finished that book. The next morning, I was up at the crack of dawn (so 8 a.m. That's crack of dawn on a Sunday in my world!) and at Target the moment they opened the doors. I high-tailed it to the books aisle to buy the other two books in the trilogy. I spent the next few days doing little else but working and reading (for someone who enjoys sleep as much as I do, I can EASILY give it up if I'm hooked on a book...I just pity the poor people who have to deal with me when I'm sleep deprived. My apologies). 

Once I finished all the books, I wanted to talk about them. Badly. I told my girlfriends at work to read them...they scoffed and said they weren't interested. My German stubbornness kicked in and I wheedled and cajoled until they gave in. My friend Christine was the biggest holdout for the books, and I think she quite possibly loved them the most. If you have not read this series, I strongly suggest you at least give it a try. Warning: an obsessive reading side effect has occurred in most clinically tested trials.

While movies are rarely as good as the books, The Hunger Games movie was pretty darn awesome. Annnnnnnnnnd that brings me back to November 22. Part 2 (Catching Fire) comes to the big screen. I'm so excited (and I just can't hide it).