My current obsession

If you haven't heard of The Hunger Games, don't worry. I hadn't either until just recently, even though the first book in the series was published in 2008. If you enjoy reading and have some spare time on your hands, I strongly suggest you pick up a copy. Actually, who am I kidding? Even if you don't currently have any free time, find time to read it anyway. I promise you'll like it. After a little encouragement from a friend (thanks Aim!), I decided to read the series during my Thanksgiving break.

For Christmas, Michael gave me an Amazon gift card, which I used to purchase the Kindle edition of the book. It was super cheap at only $4.69. I figured that even if I didn't like it, I was only out five bucks anyway. Needless to say, I read it in only a day and then couldn't wait to start the second one.

A quick overview: Written by Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games takes place in a place called Panem, which is where North America once existed. The book never says exactly how many years in the future it's set, but I'm guessing hundreds to thousands of years from our current time. In this post-apocalyptic world, a central city named the Capitol is the ruling entity of all of Panem's citizens. The book is narrated by Katniss Everdeen, a 16-year-old girl who lives in District 12. Panem is divided into different districts, which are sort of like states. Every year, as a form of punishment for previous rebellions, the Capitol chooses one boy and one girl from each district to fight to the death in a televised battle. Only one person can survive the games.

The plot may not seem interesting to some of you, but there's something about the way Collins wrote this series that came across as poignant and refreshing. I'll admit I'm not a huge science fiction fan, but the narrative style of the book (combined with the fact that a woman wrote it) became extremely appealing to me. Every part of the book seemed like it could be real. Collins should be applauded for her vivid, catchy writing style. The second book, Catching Fire, was just as good as the first. As soon as I finished it, I had to buy the next one. The last book, Mockingjay, was incredible as well. I read all three books in four days, and I'm thinking about re-reading them again before the movie comes out. The best part, I bought all three books on my Kindle for less than $20. If you don't already have a tablet reader, I suggest you get one of those as well.

Here's the trailer for the movie, which is due to come out on March 23.

Doesn't it look so good? I can't wait to see it, although I just hope that the movie does the trilogy justice. There's nothing worse than a movie that massacres the book. Jennifer Lawrence plays Katniss, and from the trailer, it looks like she's a pretty good fit. Liam Hemsworth, who plays Gale (Katniss' best friend), doesn't seem too bad himself (if you know what I mean).

Something else to note: While I'm not a huge fan of Taylor Swift's music lately (all of her songs just sound the same), she released a new track for the movie called "Safe & Sound." I like this song, though I can't tell if it's because I know it's for the movie or just because it sounds different than Swift's other music. Take a listen and let me know what you think.