the hunger games

Howdy! 

Today I took Part 1 of my Anatomy FINAL [Hallelujah!!!], and I have declared the rest of today a closed book/notes day! Now, let me tell you a little bit about the hold Anatomy has taken on my life this summer. 2 hours of Anatomy lecture 4 mornings each week. 8 hours of scheduled dissection lab per week. But, you see, this part is sneaky. They schedule you for 8 hours, but one week my lab group actually spent 22 hours in lab. I keep waiting for that to be comical to me, but it's still too soon ;) 

Dissection lab was such an incredible opportunity for me for SO many reasons. Obviously, I learned a hellofalot! Like, a lot a lot. I am incapable of learning anything else right now, so don't bother to try to get me to listen to anything you might need me to remember later, because I most likely won't even comprehend what you are saying. It is such a blessing that my PA Program [yeah, for you new readers, I started school to become a Physician Assistant in June] has such an incredible lab opportunity. I am so grateful for the body donors for choosing to let me become educated so well on the human body. Being thrown into an interesting/uncomfortable-at-first situation such as cadaver dissection with 3 strangers also forces pretty quick bonding. So, from this experience, I made 3 really wonderful friends. What better way to get to know someone than stick them in a lab together for hours upon hours?!?! But here is a picture of my lab group, affectionately known as "Team Dubs" because we're the W last names in our class :)

This picture cracks me up, it's our typical attitudes during lab. Clearly, I was irritated often enough to earn the reputation a the one with attitude. Haha :)

Anyway [you know how I like my tangents], my point in explaining the time commitment of Anatomy to you is that it has kind of taken over my life. I was reading Anatomy terms/study guides every night before bed, and often dreaming about it. I even would startle awake in the middle of the night by a single anatomical word that seemed to be screaming at me in my head. Sound asleep one second, then "GUBERNACULUM!" and I was awake.

I mean, as nice as body parts are, I got pretty tired of thinking about Anatomy even in my sleep. So I decided to do a bit of light leisure reading before bed. I was thinking I would read for maybe 15 minutes each night just to calm my brain a bit, and direct it to thinking about other things. So I picked up The Hunger Games, a book I bought months ago that has been sitting oh-so-patiently on my bookshelf. Well, turns out that book is not the kind you read calmly for 15 minutes before bed! It is a *page turner*!!! I'm talking on the same level as Angels and Demons or Harry Potter #6. Oh yeah. I ended up reading it in 4 days just so that I could focus on studying again haha. I adored it! And here is my book review for you:

The Hunger Games
by Suzanne Collins

 Sometime in the future [no, this book isn't strange sci-fi futuristic], North America is destroyed by natural disasters. The surviving people live in Panem, a nation divided into a Capitol and twelve districts. The Capitol maintains its power over the districts in every way possible, and namely they do so by controlling the food available to its people. One way the Capitol asserts its power is to mandate the annual Hunger Games, a brutal fight-to-the-death between 24 of the districts' children. 

One girl and one boy from each district are chosen by lottery to go fight in these nation-wide televised games. Out of the 24 contestants, only 1 can survive. Katniss Everdeen is the book's protagonist. A 16-year-old girl who comes from extreme poverty seems the most unlikely of champions. She, and a classmate named Peeta, are chosen to represent their district in the Hunger Games. The desolate arena in which they are dropped into to fight for their lives holds every form of danger imaginable - and beyond. 


This book reminds me a bit of a cross between The Giver and 1984. It is suspenseful, involves a love story, yet is a wonderfully easy read. Central themes include the fight for self-preservation - both instinctually and societally. I highly recommend this book if you are looking for a gripping read! Plus, The Hunger Games is coming out as a movie in March of 2012, and the cast looks phenomenal!You'd better read it before it comes to theaters!


The Hunger Games was my read #9 of 2011 [I think I might hit my goal of 12 books!], and it is actually the first of 3 in the series. I requested the sequels Catching Fire and Mockingjay from my school's interlibrary loan, and I can't wait to read them!!!


Anything exceptional you've read lately?
Cheers [to great lit!]