March in Review

This has been a very busy/productive month. I'll start with a review of my reading challenge. My goal was to read one book a month, but I am happy to say that I knocked three books off of my list within the first two weeks of March. I guess it is a good thing too, since the second two weeks left no time at all for reading! I'll start with my book reviews.

#1 - The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Wow, wow wow! Occasionally I will find a book that pulls me in so deep that when I put the book down (either for a break or after finishing it), I still feel really detached from reality. I call it a reading hangover, and for me it's the sign of a great book. This was definitely one of those books. I don't usually enjoy distopias, but I would definitely recommend this book to anyone and everyone. Fantastic!

#2 - Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

This is the second book in the Hunger Games Trilogy, and it's hard for me to say which I liked better, this one or the first. These books are uber-emotional and captivating. This one built off of the first one in a very dramatic way that, in some places, actually blew my mind. Let me tell you this, the next book I am about to review is NOT the third book in the trilogy, and I am going crazy wanting to read it. Alas, I have to wait until payday...

#3 - Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks

Nicholas Sparks became one of my favorite authors when I read Dear John. I have to say that Safe Haven is now one of my favorite works of his. It is in the top three for sure, along with The Lucky One and The Last Song. Like the first two books in the Hunger Games Trilogy, I could not put this book down. It also gave me a reading hangover. The story is captivating and the characters are very realistic. This is one book that I would read a second time from an author's point of view, to study craft. When Spark's switches to the husband's point of view, the change in style is so dramatic that the reader can't help feeling like part of the chaos that is part of this character's mind. There is also a twist at the end that I did not see coming. GREAT read! I'd recommend it to anyone who likes a bit of romance mixed with drama.

As you can see, March was a great month for books. Each of those is now considered a favorite of mine! I'm hoping that next month's book review will feature Mocking Jay, the last book in the Hunger Games Trilogy. In the meantime, my sister came up from Atlanta to go wedding dress shopping, and while she was here we got her bridal pictures taken. Amazing huh? She found a gorgeous dress, the sample was new and fit her perfectly (literally no alterations needed), and the store sold her the sample because a new one could not be ordered before August. Jan, the photographer that did my wedding (Shoootz Photography = Awesome) was able to get her bridals done a few days later. 

I WISH I could post pictures, but alas, since there is a chance that Alan could stumble across them on this blog, it is forbidden. He is a very traditional Southern boy, and very superstitious. Suffice it to say, she was gorgeous, but I'll have to wait on pictures until after the wedding...in August...