🔥🏹 THE HUNGER GAMES BOOK 1: TOP 20 VOCABULARY CHALLENGE! 🌲🎯

For this month’s ‘Hunger Games’ readers! :

🔥🏹 THE HUNGER GAMES BOOK 1: TOP 20 ULTIMATE VOCABULARY🌲🎯

Apothecary (uh-PAH-thuh-kair-ee) 🌿💊 Definition: An old-fashioned term for a pharmacist or a shop where medicines are made and sold.

Insurmountable (in-sur-MOUN-tuh-bul) 🏔️🚫 Definition: Impossible to overcome or defeat.

Entrails (EN-traylz) 🥩🩸 Definition: The inner organs or guts of a person or animal.

Tenuous (TEN-yoo-us) 🧵🕸️ Definition: Very weak, uncertain, or flimsy.

Demeanor (dih-MEEN-er) 🎭👤 Definition: A person’s outward behavior, conduct, or manner.

Barbarism (BAR-buh-riz-um) ⚔️🦁 Definition: Cruel, uncivilized, or brutal behavior.

Arduous (AR-joo-us) 🧗‍♂️💦 Definition: Requiring a lot of hard work and physical effort; difficult.

Ruminate (ROO-muh-nayt) 🧠💭 Definition: To think deeply or ponder about something for a long time.

Patronizing (PAY-truh-ny-zing) 🙄👑 Definition: Talking down to someone in a condescending way that shows you think you are smarter or superior.

Precarious (pruh-KAIR-ee-us) 🪵⚠️ Definition: Unsafe, unstable, or dangerously likely to fall.

Eradicate (ih-RAD-ih-kayt) 💥💣 Definition: To completely destroy, eliminate, or wipe out.

Rendezvous (RAHN-day-voo) 🗺️📍 Definition: A planned meeting at an agreed time and place.

Copse (KOPS) 🌳🌲 Definition: A small thicket or small group of trees growing closely together.

Decadent (DEK-uh-dunt) 🍰💎 Definition: Overly luxurious, self-indulgent, or showing low moral standards.

Despondent (dih-SPAHN-dunt) 😭🌧️ Definition: Feeling deeply hopeless, sad, or discouraged.

Pariah (puh-RY-uh) 🚫👥 Definition: A social outcast; someone who is despised and avoided by everyone.

Dissipate (DIS-ih-payt) 💨🌫️ Definition: To slowly break up, scatter, or disappear.

Scrupulous (SKROO-pyuh-lus) 🔍✍️ Definition: Extremely careful, thorough, and attentive to doing things correctly and honestly.

Arbitrary (AR-bih-trair-ee) 🎲❓ Definition: Based on random choice or personal whim rather than logic or reason.

Insidious (in-SID-ee-us) 🐍🤫 Definition: Harmful or dangerous in a gradual, quiet, or secret way.

🎬🍿📚WUTHERING HEIGHTS (2026) (Prime Video, Apple TV, MAX)

🎬I finally watched ‘Wuthering Heights,’ the 2026 version this past weekend. I had been holding off until now because of its ratings. IMDB gave it a 6.1, Rotten Tomatoes 57%, etc. Those ratings are not great, they are mediocre…So, overall the film has been a disappointment for most viewers. But, given the situation, I have kind of mixed recommendations: IF you are a mega fan of the books and movies: watch the movie! It is a modern version with just enough twists and turns to keep it interesting. IF you know nothing about ‘Wuthering Heights’, my recommendation is also: Watch the movie. It is a dark tale of love, passion, revenge and inequality that is just unique enough that you will probably enjoy this modern spin on it. And, finally, if you are neither a new viewer or a mega fan, but you are kind of in the middle, maybe you can just skip it entirely and watch something better. 😉

📚The classic novel: Wuthering Heights is a famous novel by Emily Brontë, published in 1847 under the pen name Ellis Bell. It is a dark, passionate story set on the wild, windy moors of Yorkshire in northern England. The novel tells the story of the intense and destructive love between Heathcliff, a mysterious foundling, and Catherine Earnshaw, the daughter of his adoptive family. Their passionate connection is so powerful that it destroys the lives of everyone around them and continues to affect the next generation. The story is narrated by a visitor named Lockwood and told to him by the housekeeper, Nelly Dean. It is a tale of revenge, obsession, and the haunting power of love that does not die.

My ratings: 🎬Wuthering Heights the 2026 film: one thumb up out of two 👍. Wuthering Heights the 1847 novel, I give 5/5 stars. It is amazing!: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Wuthering Heights, the 1939 film I give two thumbs up: 👍👍

IMDB 6.1: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt32897959/

📚🍻BOOKS ‘n BEER: SHAKESPEARE’S ‘MACBETH’

For Books ‘n Beer, we did ‘Macbeth’ this week. It was good to do some Shakespeare. Just good. ‘Macbeth’ is one of Shakespeare’s shortest plays. That’s one of the reason’s we read it. 😉 I do not love Shakespeare and this is the first time I have reread Macbeth in over 30 years. But, it’s importance can’t be understated. There is no way around Shakespeare for an English teacher! 😅(Macbeth is NOT recommended for ESL reading.)

Summary: Macbeth was written around 1606. It tells the story of a brave Scottish general named Macbeth who meets three witches on a desolate heath. They prophesy that he will become King of Scotland. When his wife, Lady Macbeth, hears the news, she becomes consumed by ambition and convinces her husband to murder the current king, Duncan, in his sleep . Macbeth takes the throne, but he is immediately filled with guilt and paranoia, forcing him to commit more and more murders to protect his secret and his power . His reign becomes a brutal tyranny, and both he and Lady Macbeth eventually slip into madness as they try to wash the “blood” from their hands . The play ends with the rightful king being restored, and Macbeth’s unchecked ambition leading to his own tragic downfall .

📺WATCHING OUR 7th SIMPSONS EPISODE

A student and I watched our seventh Simpson’s episode together in two years: ‘Homer’s Enemy’, a classic from 1997! Watching the Simpsons is a creative and fun way to learn English AND classic American culture. I watched this episode live back then and I can’t believe it is now 29 years old!

In this famous episode, the Simpson family meets a new friend named John, who owns a cool antique shop. Homer really likes John at first, but then he finds out that John is gay. Suddenly, Homer feels very uncomfortable and starts to act strange around him. Homer becomes worried that John’s friendship with his son, Bart, will change Bart in a bad way, so Homer tries to make Bart do more “manly” activities, like hunting. During a hunting trip, the family meets a dangerous reindeer, and it is actually John who saves them and shows real courage. After this, Homer understands that his fears were silly and wrong, and he learns to accept John for who he is. This episode is well-known because it deals with a serious topic, tolerance, in a funny and thoughtful way.

Homer’s Phobia:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNpMmSF9fTU

📚STUDENT READING: ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST🪺🤯🪺

(Story English) A student is reading the classic novel, ‘One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest.’ Why? Well, he found it for 70% off at a book store so he figured it was his destiny to read it in English! Crazy? Maybe! 😜 Either way, he is in for an amazing read! And: the book and movie have one of my favorite evil characters EVER, Nurse Ratched. She is played by Academy award winner Louise Fletcher.

📚BOOK: Ken Kesey’s 1962 novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest tells the story of Randle McMurphy. He is a rebellious man who pretends to be insane to serve a short prison sentence in a mental hospital. Inside, he challenges Nurse Ratched, a strict and controlling woman who rules the ward with fear and strict rules. The story is told by Chief Bromden, a quiet Native American patient. He watches McMurphy bring energy and hope back to the beaten-down patients. Through their battle of wills, the book explores themes of freedom, individuality, and how society tries to control people who do not fit in. (I gave it 5/5 stars!)

🎥🍿MOVIE The 1975 film adaptation, directed by Miloš Forman and starring Jack Nicholson as McMurphy: It became a massive critical and commercial success that brought the story to an even wider global audience. It achieved rare cinematic history. It became only the second film ever to sweep all five major Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director (Forman), Best Actor (Nicholson), Best Actress (Louise Fletcher as Nurse Ratched), and Best Adapted Screenplay. With its brilliant performances and memorable soundtrack, the movie remains one of the most famous and celebrated films in American cinema. (One of my favorite movies EVER.)

WATCH CLOSELY. Watch the legendary Nurse Ratched:

Nurse Ratched: “Your hand is staining my window.”

Nurse Ratched: “If Mr. MacMurphy doesn’t want to take his medication orally, I am sure we can arrange so he can have it some OTHER way.”

📚🍻BOOKS ‘n BEER: ‘THE FALL’ by Camus

Our last discussion was, ‘The Fall’ by Nobel Prize winner Albert Camus. It is a crazy, fun and at times disturbing look into Camus mind. Some even say it is a kind of confession about his own life. 5/5 Stars. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Fall is a small (120 ish pages) philosophical novel published in 1956. It is told as a long, one-sided conversation. The narrator is a former successful lawyer from Paris named Jean-Baptiste Clamence, who now lives in Amsterdam. Over several days, he confesses his life story to an unnamed listener in a sailors’ bar. Through his confession, he explores his own hypocrisy, guilt, and human judgment. The novel is a deep, sometimes dark reflection on morality, innocence, and the difficulty of living an honest life in a world without easy answers.

🎥🍿THE HANDMAID’S TALE (Series and book)

(Story English) A student just finished seasons one and two of, ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’. I personally loved the book and give it 5/5 stars and season 1 as well. The series is rated 8.3/10 on IMDB and can be seen on Hulu, Prime video and Netflix where available.

📺 THE HANDMAID’S TALE – NO SPOILERS

Short Summary

Author: Margaret Atwood (novel, 1985)

Creator of TV Series: Bruce Miller

Director of First Episodes: Reed Morano

What Is It About?

The Handmaid’s Tale is set in a future world called Gilead. Gilead used to be the United States, but a religious group took control. They created a strict, cruel society.

In Gilead, women have no rights. They cannot read, write, or have their own money. Fertile women are forced to become Handmaids. Their only job is to have children for rich, powerful men and their wives.

The story follows a Handmaid named Offred. She tries to survive in this dangerous world while remembering her old life. The series explores themes of control, resistance, identity, and hope.