This is my 100th Post! :)

And as it is my 100th post I will post about one of my favorite things: Books!

I have embraced the Washington County Library system. I have immersed myself in reading since we moved. I read a book about a year ago called The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Even though it is classified as a "young adult" book, the story captivated me and I could not put it down. As I read the last page, four words caught my attention: End of Book One. I was soooo disappointed (and happy). Disappointed because I wanted to know how the story ended and I did not want to wait for another book. Happy because I like reading series since I tend to get attached to a storyline and characters longer than one book carries them (usually). The second book in the series, Catching Fire, came out just recently. I plan to wait until the library has it available to check out before reading it. Obviously a year has gone by, why can't I wait a few more weeks until it's ready?

Suzanne Collins is an author for children's television programs (has worked with Nickelodeon a lot). She wrote another series before she wrote The Hunger Games also in the young adult genre. The other series starts with Gregor, the Overlander and it was wonderful! I read the 5 book series in less than a week and a half (along with reading a couple of other books listed below). Suzanne Collins may be my new favorite author. I can't wait to see what comes from her next! P.S. Kara has been enjoying reading book one in the Gregor series too!

I joined a book club at church which has helped introduce me to some other women in the ward. I expected something a little hokey like reading LDS fiction or even LDS non-fiction (gasp! Me?!? read non-fiction?!? not for fun!). I was pleasantly surprised to find out that this group of women has some pretty sophisticated tastes.

The first month we read Anthem by Ayn Rand. It was a short story (about 100 pages) and quite captivating. It put me in mind of the book 1984 and the Handmaid's Tale, but had a little less character development. Last year I read a HUGE book by Ayn Rand called Atlas Shrugged which had over 1000 pages (the girls called it 'my dictionary'). The shorter story had some of the same themes (self reliance, non-communism, higher thought being above all) but both were very good. Atlas Shrugged was a little too preachy in some parts and even the page after page of preaching got repetitive between characters. I guess that's how you fill 1000 pages. Good messages and good to get someone thinking.

The second month we have been reading The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. I could not get into it (probably because it was written in 1900 and set in England). Once I forced my way in and stopped paying attention too much to the descriptive and flourished words, I was able to focus a little more on the story. This book had a great idea and would translate well into modern times if it was streamlined and re-written. Of course, nobody can touch a "classic" but it would make a good idea for a movie if one hasn't been made from it already. It was about a quite good looking young man and his friendship with a philosopher and a painter. Once his painter friend had captured the "perfect portrait" of Dorian, he realized his youth and good looks would someday be gone and all he would have left was the portrait to remind him of how old and ugly he was getting. He made a wish that the portrait would get old instead of him. And it did. Very interesting. Once I found out what the story was about, I got into it a little more. It was hard to focus when I wasn't sure in the first 30 pages of fluff what direction the story was going.

Okay, I'm sure I've bored everyone by now, but those are just a few of the books I've been into lately. I, of course, continue to check out and enjoy LDS fiction by Anita Stansfield, Rachel Ann Nunes, and others. But those books are fluffy all on their own and don't require much thought when reading.