As you might remember from last week's blog--I still highly recommend WHEN A SCOT LOVES A LADY--I read The Hunger Games; and last week, when the second and third books in the series came, I read those two. On Friday, I went to see the movie.

When I first heard about this book, I said, "I'm not reading it. It's barbaric." Who could possibly want to read about children killing each other for the entertainment of others? That's SICK. Of course, everyone who had actually read the books said they were really good, addictive. (So's cocaine. Still not a good idea, people.) I abstained.

Then the trailer of the movie came out and then I was like, "You know, I think I want to read this book." And I went and found the first book. As I explained, I read it in about two days, barely taking time to eat or bathe...or work, and if anyone asked me about anything: my health, where a memo was, the weather, I would talk about this book. It wasn't long before I too was in love with the boy with the bread. Katniss might have been torn between Peeta and Gale, but I wasn't. It was always the boy with the bread.

Katniss is the hero of this book definitely, but the book also contains lots of great secondary characters who are great to get to know. Cinna is a particular favorite of mine; I was never a fan of Haymitch, but I know he has his base. There's Prim and Finnick and Joanna and Rue and Boggs. And many more. The novels are gritty and hard; and it's an anti-war theme in every corner of its pages. War solves nothing, but only introduces more people who are also corrupted for their own gain.

My favorite part of the books is the author's 'easy' ability to drop "bombs" at the end of chapters. Excellent pacing, but it's more than that. It's jawdropping sorts of bombs where you think, "I didn't see that coming." The twists make sense; they're definitely the worst things that could happen--so they are the things that need to happen, but in the end, you wonder, how can any Happily Ever After ever come from this? Maybe that was the author's point--that war changes everything and everyone, and Happily Ever Afters are hard-won and fought for every day.

I know YA novels are not everyone's thing, but this is more than the typical YA "girl's" novel where she has to pick between two boys. It's less about a love triangle than a fight for survival. She is a hero in every sense of the word. I understand why these books would be included for reading lists to discuss in a classroom. They would promote lots of discussion.

I laughed when I finally got sucked into the book. This was Harry Potter all over again. I refused to read the books because I didn't want to read books about a kid--a BOY--and about magic. How stupid. And then I went on that awful date and agreed to the movie. Instantly I was enchanted and had to read the books, and once I read the books, I was lost completely. Hooked for life. Harry Potter was worth every bit of its hype; and so was this trilogy (for me.)

What book have you avoided reading because it was uber-hyped? Did you ever read it? Was it worth reading or were your fears right all along?