The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

So I read this book for my school's book club. For the first few pages, it bored me, so I avoided reading it for a couple of days. Finally, yesterday I got into it, and oh my god, is it amazing.
The book centers around a girl named Katniss Everdeen, who lives in future North America. It's now called Panem, and is divided into twelve districts, named by number. Katniss lives in poor, coal-mining District 12, where starvation is all too common. She hunts for food with Gale, a boy who she teamed up with, and the two split their food to keep both families fed.
In the beginning of the book, an event called "The Reaping" is constantly referred to. It isn't explained until the characters gather in the district's main square for it. It's somewhat of a lottery, with each resident twelve to eighteen having their name put in, once for twelve-year-olds, and going up by one each year. Katniss, like many others, has her name put in more than required for her age, to get her family grain rations and other hard-to-come-by supplies. She allows her younger sister, Prim, who is newly twelve, to put her name in only the required one time. First, there is an opening speech by the mayor, and Effie Trinket, a representative from the Capitol, which is out in the Rocky Mountains. Two names are drawn: a girl's and a boy's. First drawn is the girl's name, which is Katniss's sister. Katniss is horrified, and immediately volunteers to take her sister's place. Next drawn is a boy in Katniss's grade, Peeta Mellark.
Katniss and Peeta are given time to say goodbye to their loved ones, and then board a train to the Capitol. They are going to be trained to fight to the death against tributes like them, from the other eleven districts.
The Hunger Games are the battle between the districts, as the Capitol's reminder that they are omnipotent. The war that turned North America into Panem left the nation divided into thirteen districts, but they rebelled. The government quelled the rebellion in districts 1-12, but destroyed 13, to show that they were all-powerful. The Hunger Games is their reminder of it.
In a way, it reminds me of the Uglies series, which is also set in a futuristic setting. If anyone's ever read Gathering Blue, the sort-of sequel to The Giver, the book starts out with a feel like it's a future reverted back to hunting and perhaps medieval times. However, in The Hunger Games, you soon see that while the character's setting is poor, they do have technology. When I visited the Wikipedia page, to see if there was any more detail about where the districts are in the US, I saw at the bottom See Also: and two of the titles listed made me think, oh, that's exactly what The Hunger Games is! A combination of Battle Royale and The Lottery. Fantastic read, and my friend's (I hope!) lending me the sequel tomorrow. I know there are at least three books planned, the third due out in late August. Unfortunately, the book's still in hardcover, but it's a worthwhile read, possibly something I'd read again.
Anyway, let me know if there's anything I should read next! I'm going to check out The Maze Runner, as a friend of mine was raving about how good it was. I should have the next mini book review up soon--it's nearly done, I just have to finish the review for The Golden Compass, my all-time favorite series.

My (not so) Mini Library--My Mini Book Reviews!

I have tons of books in my room. I took pictures of all the ones on my shelves. There are more downstairs, in my sister's room, and under my bed, so this is maybe just more than half. :- )

Behold--the shelf under my nightstand. We've got My Teacher is an Alien by Brue Coville, ttfn and ttyl, both by Lauren Myracle. Then there's Peeps by Scott Westerfeld, one of my favorite authors, and The Amber Spyglass, by Philip Pullman.
MTiaA is pretty much a kid's book. It's about exactly what it sounds like.
ttfn and ttyl are the first two books in a series of 3. They're hilarious, but Myracle is definitely not an author for younger children, and I don't think that guys would like her books. They're just girl books. The cool part about ttyl and ttfn (the order they go in in the series) is that they're written in IM format, which can be good if you're not a big reader.
Peeps is a great book. Seems every author these days has a vampire book. Whatever. Peeps was written before the fad, and the "vampires" aren't exactly vampires. They're infected by a parasite that causes this. It's great how much research Westerfeld put into this, and the book is a great read. It's about a guy named Cal trying to track down his ex-girlfriends. He's got every one except the girl he was closest to, Sarah. Why does he need to do this? He's a carrier of the parasite, not affected, but he can transmit it.
Anyway, next we have The Amber Spyglass. I'll go back to that, as it's the last book in its series. As for Judy Moody... those are also kid's books, so no need to summarize them.

Now, we go to the next picture! Yes, I have too many books!

Kay. Skipping Judy Moody, as well as Invasion of the Boy Snatchers (shallow book in a series that unfortunately I've read in its entirety).
Get Well Soon, by Julie Halpern is a book about a depressed girl whose parents make her go to a mental hospital. It's funny, and an interesting read.
How to Make Four Million Dollars by Next Thursday is a really stupid book. I got it because I had read its prequel, which was, in retrospect, also pretty stupid. It's a kid's book.
How to Ditch Your Fairy, by Justine Larbalestier is an interesting book. It's about a girl named Charlie who lives in a world where people have "fairies" that help them with things. Charlie has a "good parking spot" fairy, which she hates as she can't drive and people use her to get parking spots. So as the title suggests, she tries to get rid of her fairy. I like Larbalestier's other book better, but this is still good.
Guinness World Records 2004... all I can say is don't get the paperback of this. Get the hardcover.
The next two books are in the middle of a series, so I'll go back to them when I reach book 1.
Midnight For Charlie Bone by Jenny Nimmo is great. It's a little bit of a kid's book, but that doesn't mean I'm not anticipating the next in the series. It's about a boy named Charlie Bone (really?) who discovers that he's "endowed" with the ability to hear what people in photographs or paintings are thinking or saying as the picture is being taken or painted. It's like Harry PotterXHeroes. Charlie starts attending Bloor's Academy, a school for children either gifted in the arts or endowed. It's a great read.

Anyway, my friend wants to come over and make a movie, so more later!