Tomorrow I have to return a book, Catching Fire, to the library that I'd forgotten I'd even put myself on the waitlist for and there is still a long line so it won't be renewable and it's just mean to keep a book you know someone else is waiting for.  (That was even a question/answer in the Sunday Times Magazine ethicist column.)  I only started reading it once my break had begun, which conicided with the last few days before its due date and if it were a better book I'd have already finished it.  Not that it is a bad book--it's the sequal to The Hunger Games, a book I read for my YA Lit class last fall--it's just not nearly as compelling.  90 pages to go and it has only now begun to get interesting.  The first 300 pages were a frustrating, repetative and plodding journey, however.  I found myself internally yelling, "Come on, already!  I get it; let's get this show on the road."  (Perhaps my readers feel the same when reading my prose... but I'm not being paid by a publishing company or charging others to read my possibly plodding text.)  I don't care who your target audience is, repeating information that has already been well-established can be an exasperating experience for the reader.  I GET IT!!!!  Despite thoroughly enjoying the first book of this trilogy (the final book is supposed to come out in August), I would never claim that Suzanne Collins is a great or even an original writer.  The Hunger Games had a good sense of pacing, character development and was an exciting dystopic novel for YAs easily enjoyed by older readers and mature younger kids.  (I haven't read the sci-fi books that have a similar plot, but I know that her book has been compared to several...)  But this second book... a little too much remember when and not enough what's going on NOW!  Still, like I said, it's now getting more interesting... 3/4 of the way through the book.   Le sigh.  Guess I'll be finishing that tonight when I'm done blah blah blahgging about how it's been a bit of a let down.

At least I can enjoy listening to Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs!  Marty Robbins just washes over a body in warm, dulcet tones, you know?  I've got to remember this when I'm feeling irritable, anxious, stressed, overwhelmed... spin a little "Big Iron" or "In the Valley" and all will be viewed in a less tense light.