Read or Die

There is something entirely gut-wrenching about the ending of a good book. The way the story holds you in an intense grip while you feverishly turn page after page only to reach the very last one and then...and then nothing. It's over. There are loose ends all over the place, nothing is resolved and it leaves you with more questions than answers.

And you have to read the next book.

Or else you die.

It never ceases to amaze me how attached I become to characters in my books. I never completely relate to any one of them though - they are always different than me, some in small ways and some in large ones. I always try to figure out who I'd be though, but no one ever quite matches up with how I feel or think. I suppose I'll just have to write my own book someday - and maybe I will.

I just finished Catching Fire, the second book in the Hunger Games trilogy. I know I'm a little late to that party, but I don't tend to gravitate towards things when there is all sorts of hype about them. I like to let things die down a little bit before I make my move. Maybe this means that I only get leftovers at parties, but I'm not much for standing in a line for hours with loads of crazy addicts to fight over something I may not be sure I even want.

But now that I am here and fully engulfed in the world of Panem, I have to know what happens next. My fingers couldn't turn the pages fast enough, my eyes couldn't read the words at the pace my brain was yelling at me to read, read, read! I started skimming words, wondering how this was all going to end up and then it was over.

Here I am left with just my imagination as to what happens next. And you guys, I don't think I can wait for someone to return the book in the library this time. I may have to go and buy it just so my heart can heal a little bit from the wound that was left at that cliff hanger of an ending.

That Suzanne Collins knows how to spin a tale, I'll tell you what. I finished both books 1 and 2 in a mere two days each. I can't stop. If I didn't have to work I'd probably have been able to finish them in a matter of hours. I don't know how to say no to a good story, nor do I think someone should ever ask that of anyone. I love to get lost in a good book. To forget about reality, even if it's only for a short period of time.

There's just something magical that happens when you're not in your own world. It's always an adventure waiting to happen, a new situation with every turn of the page. I can't imagine life without books. What a boring place that would be.