Welcome to District 6! Come in! Come in! Rest your feet while I tell you a little bit about your host today.

District 6 hasn’t been discussed much in either The Hunger Games or Catching Fire, but we’re not without our fame! We were the district that had the tribute that went savage during one of the hunger games and started eating the hearts of other tributes he killed. I know that’s a little extreme, and I can’t say we were proud, but he didn’t end up winning because he was killed in an avalanche. Half of our district is relieved that he died, the other half is angry because we certainly could have used the gifts and food that Panem lavishes on the winner’s district! We all agree, though, that the avalanche was no doubt manufactured by the Gamemakers. Having a lunatic win The Hunger Games would have made a mockery of what they are.

*cough*

Admittedly, this cannibal is probably what we’re most famous for in The Hunger Games, but we’ve done our fair share of trying to keep Katniss and Peeta alive! Both of our morphlings gave their lives for Katniss and Peeta. I hope those two live up to what Haymitch said they would do, otherwise our morphling’s deaths will have been in vain.

I’m sure you’re wondering what we do here, since you know what some of the other districts specialize in. Unfortunately, it’s a secret and if I told you I’d have to kill you.

On to the topic at hand! If you think Katniss and Gale’s relationship is a secret, then you don’t understand the way word can spread here. I know, I know. Katniss and Peeta are shown together during the Games, but let me tell you why I love Gale, and why I think he’s better for Katniss:

1. Gale’s a survivor. Sure, I guess baking bread works if you have a roof over your head and a place to bake the bread, but with Gale you never have to worry about food, because he can hunt and gather.

2. Gale’s known Katniss for years and knows her better than just about anyone else, even if he didn’t fight in the Games with her.

3. Gale’s a scrapper. He hasn’t led the privileged life that Peeta has, which means he knows how to get by, and dare I say it? He has more character.

4. Gale can make Katniss smile and laugh when no one else can. Connections like that aren’t easily replaced or replicated. Men like Gale are few and far between.

5. Gale’s a man. He’s been taking care of his family for years, taking on the tessera and hunting and gathering in the woods.

And here’s who I’d cast for Gale (I know he’s a little old, but when has that ever stopped Hollywood?):

Ben Barnes. Aw yeah.

Gale has straight black hair, olive skin, and grey eyes. Obvs Benny needs a little work to make him Gale, but I don’t think he’s far off.

Team Gale!

Are you Team Gale or Team Peeta?

We in District 6 can’t wait to find out how this story ends. We are declaring August 24th a national holiday so that everyone can read Mockingjay. Will you be reading it with us?

And now for the giveaway!

I have 50 (FIFTY!) stickers to give away. *points up* Aren’t those cool? I’m so jealous of everyone who’ll win. I haven’t had a sticker in a long time, but I would LOVE this one! *dies*

All you have to do is fill out the form below with your name, mailing address, and email address by SATURDAY, AUGUST 21, 2010 at 11:59pm PT (the reason I’m getting your mailing address now is so that I don’t have to collect 50 addresses later. Once the winners are announced and a few weeks have gone by to ensure they’ve received their sticker, I will delete the form and all the entries.). I will announce the winners Sunday, August 22, 2010.

(On that Sunday, I will also be opening a contest that will be sponsored by me for a copy of Mockingjay. The contest will only run a few days so the winner can get Mockingjay as soon as possible. This contest will be open internationally.)

But back to this contest! This contest is only open to folks in the United States (sorry international folks!).

If you haven’t yet, please be sure to ‘like’ The Hunger Games on Facebook. (Shouldn’t Facebook have other options besides like? I would definitely click ‘obsesses over’ if that was an option.)

Also! The next stop on this totally rad tour is Monday, August 16 — District 7: Novel Novice.

Whew! You sure haven’t seen me much around, have you? I’m barely holding my head above water as I finish some things for the Book Blogger Convention.

I wanted to alert you to the fact that the FREAKING AWESOME Sarah Pekkanen, whose book, The Opposite of Me, I reviewed, is giving away a trip to New York to attend BEA and the Book Blogger Convention. Now you know why she’s freaking awesome! Even if you’ve already made your travel plans, you can still sign up to win!

Here’s what you’ll get if you win:

• Up to $350 of travel expense reimbursed – including gas, train tickets, flights, etc. (winner must arrange own travel and submit receipts)
• Two nights in a NYC hotel (I’ll book the room)
• $50 cash toward meals
• 1 pass to the book blogger reception on Thursday, May 27
• 1 pass to the book blogger convention on Friday, May 28
• I’ll also bring the winner with me to Atria Books on Thursday afternoon for a meet-and-greet and chat about hot new books for the upcoming year (bring a bookbag as you’ll collect an armful of new releases!)

Enter to win the trip to New York

The other thing I wanted to tell you about is that the organizers of the Book Blogger Convention will chat with the host of That’s How I Blog, Nicole from Linus’s Blanket, on

Wednesday, May 12th at 6:00pm PST.

Please join us! You can ask us questions, chat with us, and maybe even find out stuff we haven’t told anyone.

During the month of April, quite a few of us are reading or have read The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott by Kelly O’Connor McNees. This is a lovely imagined novel about Louisa May Alcott about where her inspiration for Jo and Laurie may have come from.

I’m giddy with excitement to have Kelly here in real time answering any questions you might have on Wednesday, April 14th at 6:00pm PT.  If you’ve read The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott, or are curious about it, please mark your calendars and join us as we discuss the book with Kelly! If you have questions for Kelly, please email them to me at trish@heyladydotcom. I’ll be gathering questions for the author in anticipation of her appearance next Wednesday!

Here is a synopsis of the book, followed by a few discussion questions:

In the summer of 1855, Walt Whitman’s controversial Leaves of Grass has just been released, and the notion of making a living as a writer is still a far-off dream for Louisa. She is twenty-two years old, vivacious, and bursting with a desire to be free of her family and societal constraints so she can do what she loves the most—write. The Alcott family, destitute, as usual, moves to a generous uncle’s empty house in Walpole, New Hampshire, for the summer. Here, a striking but pensive Louisa meets the fictional Joseph Singer. Louisa is initially unimpressed by Joseph’s charms. But just as Louisa begins to open her heart, she learns that Joseph may not be free to give his away. Their newfound love carries a steep price, and Louisa fears she may pay with the independence she has fought so hard to protect.

Readers! Let’s get the discussion started! These are just a few questions to get you thinking…you don’t have to answer them all. Please feel free to add your own questions, and respond to each other’s answers, too.

1. What was your overall view of the book?  Did you enjoy it?  Was it what you expected?

2. What kind of details did the author provide that you felt added to the historical authenticity of the book?

3. Before you read this book, is this even remotely similar to what you imagined Louisa May Alcott’s life as being?

4. How did you feel about Louisa’s father? How did you feel about Louisa’s mother?

5. Do you think Louisa’s father played any role in her not wanting to get married?

6. Did you agree with Louisa that it wouldn’t have been possible to have both love and freedom?

7. What do you think the author’s message was?

8. Was the ending what you imagined and/or what you hoped for?

9. Did reading The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott make you want to reread Little Women, or perhaps pick it up for the first time?

I can’t wait to hear your thoughts on The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott. Thanks for participating in the read along!  And don’t forget to join us on April 14th for our discussion with Kelly!

This recipe was born one day basically because I had a sweet tooth, I had vanilla ice cream, and I had Oreos. I’m rather picky about what items of food I mix, but Cookies ‘n Cream ice cream has always been a favorite of mine, so this seemed quite obvious once I’d done it.

Here’s what you’ll need to start:

Dreyer’s Vanilla Ice Cream (Dreyer’s is my favorite, and while I suppose you could use a different vanilla ice cream, I don’t understand why you would) and three frozen Oreos (when they’re frozen, I’ve found they produce a better grind than when they’re not frozen. Also, you get delicious chunks of frozen Oreo that didn’t crush up, and those are DELICIOUS in your ice cream.).

Scoop some ice cream into a bowl.

Place frozen Oreos in a blender. This little mini-blender is actually a baby food blender that I got for something like $20 at Burlington Coat Factory in their baby department. It chops up garlic, onions, oreos, and whatever else amazingly well. Also, it’s small so cleaning is no biggie.

Pulse until it you have some very, powder-like Oreo cookie, but also some chunks. Again, this works way better if the Oreos are frozen.

Pour the crushed cookies over your ice cream.

Don’t skimp. Pour ALL of the crushed cookies over your ice cream.

You could eat it now like this. It really is delicious, with the creamy texture of the ice cream against the grainy texture of the crushed Oreos. I prefer to mix the whole thing up, though.

Mix up the ice cream and crushed cookies, so you have homemade Cookies ‘n Cream ice cream. Doesn’t it look delicious?! I promise, it’s just as awesome as you’re thinking. If, perhaps, you’re thinking this looks gross, then GOOD! More homemade Cookies ‘n Cream ice cream for ME!

Earlier in 2009, I was thinking about my reading habits and how they’ve changed since I started blogging. Of course, I’ve been reading more, which is fantastic. But a downfall of blogging (and being on Twitter) is hearing about REALLY FANTASTIC BOOKS. I know. Terrible problem.

But seriously, that IS a problem. Because as a reader? I hear about a new book and I want to have read it YESTERDAY. It’s not just that the book goes on to that ever-expanding list of books I want to read. Rather, I either mooch the book, buy the book, or check the book out from the library IMMEDIATELY. And I read that book! And just as I finish that book, another book catches my attention and I’m immediately distracted by this new book, like a two-year-old distracted by something shiny.

Don’t get me wrong! I read some AWESOME books in 2009, many more than I read in 2008. It’s just…well…

What got me thinking about this back in 2009 was the fact that I’ve been wanting to read more Joyce Carol Oates for a LONG TIME. Like, since before I was blogging. And yet I’ve only read one book by Joyce Carol Oates since I’ve been blogging. I decided that reading like a two-year-old distracted by something shiny is not how I want to read. I want to read more deliberately.

What kind of books do I want to read in 2010? I want to read more literary fiction. That doesn’t mean that I don’t want to read YA. It just means that I want to read more of what I’m passionate about, and I’m passionate about literary fiction.

Sidebar: If I read more literary fiction this year, that means I’ll also read more crime fiction/mystery/thriller/suspense books, because those are my snacks in between hearty meals.

Does this mean I won’t do blog tours or accept review copies? Absolutely not! Reading deliberately isn’t about cutting back on anything, really. It’s just about being deliberate about what I *do* accept. In fact, I think I did well on accepting only books I was really interested in in 2009 (mostly literary fiction and a random YA), so I don’t necessarily need to cut back there. Reading deliberately is, well, just that: reading deliberately.

Since I’ve been planning this out, I have a couple of challenges that I’ll be unveiling. They’re not fantastic or amazing, they’re just challenges that will help *me* achieve my reading goals. If they happen to interest you, then I’d love for you to join in!

Here are some authors I plan on reading deliberately in 2010:

• Joyce Carol Oates
• Margaret Atwood
• Leo Tolstoy
• Barbara Kingsolver
• John Irving
• Ernest Hemingway
• Thomas Trofimuk

I haven’t laid out all the books I’ll read this year, as there should be room for spontaneity. But part of reading deliberately will include reading more of what I already own, and less of what I can acquire immediately. Another part of reading deliberately will include having more of a balance in books that challenge me and books that are pure entertainment.

Might this mean that I won’t read AS MANY books as I did in 2009? Or that I won’t reach my goal of reading 100 books in 2010? Perhaps. But I think my quality will make my quantity moot.

Many bloggers are taking up reading deliberately. The term was coined on Twitter after Jennifer from The Literate Housewife, Vassily from 1330v, Rebecca from The Book Lady’s Blog, and Michelle from Galleysmith were chatting on Twitter about this very topic. Here are some bloggers who are making 2010 The Year of Reading Deliberately:

The Book Lady’s Blog

The Literate Housewife

1330v

Galleysmith

Nomadreader

Books and Movies

Care’s Online Book Club

Shelf Love

Rebecca Reads

Linus’s Blanket

Medieval Bookworm

What are your reading goals for 2010? If you’re a non-blogger, what are your reading habits? How do you choose your next book? If you’re a blogger, does blogging help you with your reading goals or hinder you?