The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

If you haven't heard of The Hunger Games by now, well then you must be living in a cave because it's all the rave in the book-blogging world. But hey, I'm not too far out of the cave myself, because I think I was one of the last people to read it. In September it was my turn to host our book club which also meant I got to choose our next month's selection. So with my fingers crossed, I chose The Hunger Games based completely on all the amazing reviews I had seen from my fellow book bloggers. Then a couple weeks ago our book club met up again to discuss what everyone thought. I was nervous to see how all the ladies would respond, since most everyone had never heard of it before and also because it happened to be a YA novel. But as it turned out, not only did most everyone love it - BUT many of them had already gone on to read the sequel, Catching Fire!

Normally, this is not the type of book I would normally gravitate toward. But this awesome book blogging community has introduced me to a whole new world of honest reviews and recommendations, and without them I would never come across such amazing fiction! Thank you faithful book bloggers, I do appreciate all your reviews!

I'm almost finished with The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks (SSHHH! all you NS haters!) and I'm absolutely loving every page of it! And soon as I finish (probably tonight), I'll be diving in to book #2 Catching Fire! I'm pumped to see what happens next! If you haven't read The Hunger Games yet, seriously just do it - you will be glad you did! The best way I can describe what type of book it is - is Gladiators meet Survivor.

Up next for our book club - The Heretic's Daughter by Kathleen Kent. I've had this one on my radar for a while and am so excited it's our next pic! Which reminds me, I need to go to the library to pick up my copy on hold.

Description: Katniss is a 16-year-old girl living with her mother and younger sister in the poorest district of Panem, the remains of what used be the United States. Long ago the districts waged war on the Capitol and were defeated. As part of the surrender terms, each district agreed to send one boy and one girl to appear in an annual televised event called, "The Hunger Games." The terrain, rules, and level of audience participation may change but one thing is constant: kill or be killed. When Kat's sister is chosen by lottery, Kat steps up to go in her place.

Rating: ****

Recommend: Definitely, but it is a futuristic sci-fi type book with a twist of romance. And even though its YA, I would say it's best for ages 13+.