Book Talk Tuesday: The Last Lecture

In 2007, Carnegie Mellon University Professor Randy Pausch began giving his final speech "Really Living Your Childhood Dreams." If his lecture was a tale meant to inspire, teach and give courage to his students, then his book "The Last Lecture" is a humerus heart-wrenching love letter to his relatives, wife and children. In his book, co-written by Jeffrey Zaslow, Randy Pausch takes time from living life while dying of terminal cancer to share insight on how he got to where he is, all of the dreams for where his children might one day go and heart-warming advice and antidotes to help them achieve their dreams long after he's gone.

It should come as no surprise to you that I cried. Of course I cried. Written in his own voice it was not hard to see why Randy Pausch was so loved in life. Knowing though, that in 2008 Mr. Pausch was too pass away, well that was just too much to take at times. Especially when I thought of all those loved ones he would be leaving behind.

What should come as a surprise to you is how often I laughed. Pausch is incredibly clever. I couldn't help but sincerely listen to his advice as he gave it a very frank non-sentimental manner. He wasn't trying to make me cry, gosh darn it he was trying to make his readers laugh, reflect and most of all live.

If you haven't read it already, I highly recommend you check out Randy Pausch and Jeffrey Zaslow's "The Last Lecture."No matter what your age, religious beliefs and personal aspirations are, this will surely give you something to think about.

See the below video for the original lecture that inspired the book:

Book Talk Tuesday

Book Talk Tuesday: The Hunger Games Trilogy

As I'm an avid reader, each Tuesday going forward I've decided to share a few of my most loved and most detested books with you guys. I invite you all to read them yourselves and be the judge. Let me know if you love them, hate them or think I'm off my rocker.

First up is "The Hunger Game Trilogy" consisting of "The Hunger Games," "Catching Fire," and "Mockingjay" written by Suzanne Collins. The trilogy falls into the genre of young adult science fiction adventure. Though, don't be fooled by the YA categorization, this book is a far leap from the books of my tween years. Filled with social satire involving our addiction to reality television, violence among children and a "lottery" system of pulling children from their homes and throwing them into the depths of any individuals picture of  hell which even Shirley Jackson could find appalling.

The main character Katniss lives in one of twelves districts that were once involved in a thirteen district uprising against "the Capitol," an elitist country where the rich go to flaunt themselves and remind the rest of the poorer districts what happens when you screw with leadership. Having blown district thirteen to smithereens and leaving the other twelves districts in poverty, the capital holds an annual "Hunger Games." Every boy and girl between the ages of 12 to 18 in the twelve poor districts must enter and then be randomly chosen in pairs to represent their district in a reality show themed fight to the death match much adored by those in the Capitol but mandatory nightmare viewing for those twelves nations whose children are dying before their eyes.

It's incredibly intense, I'm not going to lie. To be honest, when the husband first told me I should read it I turned him down flat on the basis of two things. 1)I don't read YA, I'm an adult and unless you're flashing Harry Potter before my eyes, I'm not interested. 2) Children forced to kill children? Are you kidding me?! What a sicko my husband was turning out to be.

Give it a chance though. Like reading true stories about the Holocaust or dark fictional novels like "The Road," at the heart of it, these books offer a lesson in humanity and the individual spirit's strength to survive. It's an incredible, awe-inspiring tale. One soon to be turned into a PG-13 rated movie by Lionsgate Entertainment. How they'll swing such a teen friendly rating without losing credibility to the book's fans, I have no idea. Though I'm dying to find out.

So what do you think folks, have I lost my bloody mind?