Hunger Games!

I had the honor tonight of hosting a book club meeting with a group of my friends. Because I hosted, I got to choose the book. The last time I hosted, I made the mistake of choosing The Power of One which turned out to be total DUD, in my opinion. The MOVIE was great. Book? Not so much. Anyway, I was SUPER excited about The Hunger Games and gave the group about 5 weeks to read it. Many of the people in our book club went on to read the 2nd in the trilogy and I actually finished the third this morning. I HIGHLY recommend these books. SUPER great, albiet pretty violent books. Reader beware.

My friend Kate (www.creationofasmile.blogspot.com) started the book club last Fall and we meet about every 5-8 weeks to discuss another book. Everyone takes turns hosting and it's something that I look forward to so much! Kate, who planned the first one, established it like this:

1. The host picks the book and the location. We can meet at the host's house OR she can choose a restaurant, coffee house, that sort of thing (we've always meet at someone's house, but we're always open to meeting somewhere else).
2. The host provides the beverages for the event. Soda, water (LOTS and LOTS of wine)
3. The host facilitates the discussion. We start out by going around in a circle and rate the book on a scale of 1-10 and then explain our rating. Then the host usually asks questions pertaining to the book, but it's really open to discussion. Other people ask questions, we're really casual.
4. Everyone else brings a small dish to pass. Chips, salsa, sushi, dips, fruit, cheese, crackers - it's ALL good.
5. The book club is open to our friends and friends of friends, so everyone is welcome to bring a guest. The more the merrier.
6. AND - you don't even have to read the book to come, although you'll have a better time with the discussion part if you do. :)

Tonight, I was joined by Kari, Robin, Kelly, Mari, Beth, Kate, Erin and Kristi and we had SUCH a good time! The book was really well liked by everyone. The average rating on a scale of 1-10 was a 9! Yay! We're all looking forward to the movie next year. :)

I also took this opportunity to make a cake for the event. I AM the Cake Mama afterall. Here's what I came up with:

The terrible humidity did NOT like the fondant/gum paste flames coming out the back of the cake. They stayed up long enough for me to get a quick picture and then they faded off. But here's my stab at the Mockingjay, made out of gum paste and a little fondant.

The cake was a red velvet with cream cheese filling. For those of you who have read the books, I'm sure you understand my reasoning behind the red velvet.

If you haven't already read the books, I highly recommend them. The first one is a VERY fast read that gets started pretty quickly. I hope you enjoy!!