Hmm... I was really hesitant to do this, because I feared the hype and pinned it as just another 'Twilight', something to get the teen girls wild, but something utterly lacking in literary merit. However, I good buddy of mind convinced me otherwise, and his recommendations are very weighty, so I buckled, and started reading the Hunger Games trilogy. I finished book one in a single day, I finished book two today, I'm currently reading book three. These things are freaking awesome, Suzanne Collins weaves one HELL of a narrative, really keeps you coming back from more. I'm actually looking forward to the movie now.
Hm, I might just check those out. I am currently re-reading People of the Wolf. I love that book. Hell, the whole series! The Gears really go all out when making their stories as real and accurate as possible, while weaving in just the right amount of fantasy to make it just the tiniest bit otherworldly.
Read the Hunger Games... seriously, do it, it's good for you. I have joined the Borg, you'll all soon be assimilated anyway, might as well stop all the fuss and sign up for a bitchin' shoulder cannon.
Three... Really? But those books are big, aren't they? Anyway, reading the Temeraire books. They're well written and entertaining, if a bit corny or predictable at times, and thoroughly entertaining. And if you actually choose to think about them, they stir up some really interesting thoughts on slavery.
They are on the thick side yes, but when I enjoy a book I devour it, tearing through it like some sort of demon. I thoroughly enjoyed the Hunger Games, they provide not only a great deal of entertainment and an excellent, tightly written narrative, but also a rather profound, at times utterly brutal look into the true nature of warfare. I can see how the series garners such a startling mix of male and female fans. There is blood and physicality a plenty, but its interspersed and interwoven with an intense emotionality. They're a good read, and heady fare if you choose to think about the implications. Certainly NOT a rip of Battle Royale. I'm still mentally exhausted though, I've frankly got less of an urge to read and more of urge to write. I'll have to rekindle the flames with some lighter fare, perhaps a few more Discworld books.