1,000 Mile Walk on the Beach by Loreen Niewenhuis

Interesting read ~ a 50 year old mom walks around Lake Michigsn.  Loved the familiar places she mentions.  I could see the beach as she described it - on beautiful summer days, and on rough, windy weather days.  What she most clearly brought out -that frankly was surprising to me - was the many ways and places along the lakeshore that have been ruined by toxic waste.  From the foreign fish being brought into the fresh water & eating the natural fish to the dumping from paper mills and steel factories since the late 1800's; all of our "lack of care" has destroyed the original ecosystem.  Many areas along the shoreline cannot be used for recreation because of this.  So sad.

Hunger Games Series

After debating whether to read this series, I bit the bullet.   I was worried about the violence and "gore"; but surprisingly, that wasn't what was disturbing -- it was the government control over the various areas of the country.  I kept wondering if America could ever come to this. The heroine's struggle to understand herself, what she was capable of, and who she really loved was  interesting.  In the end, when she chose -- it was because she realized she needed someone who was different than she ~ someone who could see beauty and gentleness, not someone who could be angry and fight back like herself.  The Wars changed the participants -- the killing, the fear, the memories, the manipulations ~ just as other types of painful life events change us.