What else do you read??

I've read the whole trilogy. As you said, I liked the first book, but they did decrease in quality from there. I also found the characters cliched and predictable in many ways. There was a bit of controversy over the similarities in concept and plot between The Hunger Games and Battle Royale, which is a Japanese novel published a few years before. It has the same setup, and while it's more violent than The Hunger Games (the Japanese government considered banning it), it is very very similar. It's possible that it's a coincidence, but the sheer scale of the similarity is a bit difficult for me to ignore.

Oh! Didn't know that. I also had a problem with how twilight-y they seemed as the series went on. Especially the 2nd book. Katniss was acting a lot like Bella, thinking she was horrible, didn't deserve either guy, etc. Gale=Jacob in so many ways (even overly warm hugs!). And Peeta was too perfect and forgiving and adoring, like Edward. The plots seemed to randomly develop halfway through the books too, like Twilight. (The first book is an exception, since the Games were the plot since the beginning.)

Exactly! The whole love triangle involving one kind, sweet, boy and one rugged, exciting one vying for the perfect heroine is completely overdone. Katniss is a more interesting character than Bella in that she can actually think for herself, but her amazing-survival-skills-with-emotional-insecurity spiel is basically that of the typical "strong" YA heroine. It's a bit overdone. (Maerad is a brilliant subversion of that, imo - her emotional insecurity actually runs deeply in her and is adequately psychologically explained, rather than being the token "weakness" as it is for most YA heroines.)

The first book I really enjoyed, although even while reading it I was picking out a few things I didn't like so much about it, and then I just got more disappointed as the series progressed and the weaknesses of the plot and characters became more obvious. It's a good concept though, even if it is almost identical to Battle Royale, and they were easy to read too which was nice after all of my university reading. There are good parts!

I also found it a lot of fun to read, but I think it really doesn't deserve the amount of attention it's getting. I'll probably watch the film because a lot of my friends are fans, and I'm hoping to be pleasantly surprised. Maybe.

Today I'm reading Clarissa. If you haven't come across this tome go google it. I think I might kill myself with it if I don't set it on fire first. Just one more assignment for it though, then I'm freeeee!

Oh and hey ;) guess whos back!

Hello! Welcome back. :)

Googled it. Um...erk? Setting that as a text seems like a very sadistic joke. Is it worth studying despite the length?

Reading Orlando at present. Although there is also a stack of about twenty books I am technically reading.

Having googled that, I am slightly in awe of you but definitely not envious! This is why I don't want to do English at uni...

What's 'Orlando' like?

I've started reading the Iliad properly for the fist time, which I've been meaning to do for ages - it's great so far!

Oh, I love it! It's bleak and glittering and sarcastic and hopeful and so beautiful. It's also a more "conventional" novel than, say, To the Lighthouse, which isn't an advantage in itself but does make it very easy to read and enjoy. Its themes are really interesting, and in a way I wish I could study it in class.

Ah, I read The Hunger Games just after it was announced that there would be a movie based upon the book. I noticed the similarity between THG and Battle Royal, which irked me a little. I absolutely loved Battle Royale in some kind of sick, twisted way but I thought I'd give the rest a read through... However, I've lost interest some way through the second book. :/ I don't see myself bothering with the rest any time soon which is a shame as I got the second and thirs books together (part of a deal) and money isn't exactly growing out of my poor studebt ears. Oh well.

Hasn't Battle Royale been compared to the Lord of the Flies in turn? I haven't dead the book myself but I vaguely recall it being brought up a few times in comparison...

I went book shopping for the first time in ages and happened to pick up a few books I remember being recommended a number of years ago. The Assasin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb being one of them. It's reserved for reading after I've finished A Clash of Kings by George RR Martin, whuch caught my attention last year when I seemed to walk in on every "dubious" scene whilst my parents were watching the tv series. Needless to say that was pretty awkward...
I just finished A Game of Thrones last night and although it took me exactly 3 weeks to complete it, where as before it would have taken three days at most(which I blame on my uni course making me feel to guilty to pick up anything but a law textbook), I really enjoyed it. It was confusing at first but only at first. After you've gotten used to the characters though it gets a lot easier and a lot more intriguing.

I also read Feed by Mira Grant not too long ago. A zombie apocolypse written in an unconventional format. It was another book that I really enjoyed with a huge, huge twist neR the end(well, I never saw it coming!) and I can't wait until I manage to find the second book of the series Deadline. :)

In the whole horror category I was reading Meat by Joseph D'Lacy and The Unblemished by Conrad Williams.
Meat sort of seems like an ode to animal rights and vegitarianisn by taking the saying "you are what you eat" to a pretty literal level. This concept really intrigued me but here I am two, three-maybe even four- years later and I'm still failing to read more than a couple of pages before putting the book down to gather dust. :|
The same thing is happening with The Unblemished. I don't really enjoy the flow of the story so I may just give up trying to read these two, despite the potential they seemes to hold when I first bought them. :(

You guys should read Juliet Marillier's books like the Daughter of the Forest. A really long time ago I read Kate Constable's Singer of All Songs. They also remind me of the Pellinor series

Yeah! I think we had some lengthy posts before comparing the two stories, like

Spoiler:

long-lost brothers, mentor who turns into a lover, antagonist who is romantically involved with the protagonist (Samis and Arkan), etc.

The authors are also both from Australia!

Kate is a really cool person, as is Alison; I emailed Kate once, and she was super nice about it and seemed very funny and kind.

Becks - Yeah, Battle Royale does share a number of similarities with Lord of the Flies, in that they're both set on islands with murderous, underage protagonists, and I think Battle Royale probably was consciously inspired by Lord of the Flies. THG is closer to BR than BR is to LotfF, though, I'd say, because they both involve totalitarian governments using the respective competitions/games as a means of repression. I'm not one of those who thinks THG is a wholesale ripoff of BR, and I think it's possible that Suzanne Collins did write THG without having ever heard of BR, which is what she says, but they are uncannily similar.

Oh yeah, I also have the Game of Thrones books sitting beside my bed to read, but similarly to you I just haven't had time to read them quickly despite them being pretty exciting, easy reads that I should be able to whizz through. :/ At least they're standing by as a sort of treat for later.

Currently reading War and Peace. Um. Partially so I can say I've actually read the infamous monster, I guess, and partially because it's on my History recommended reading list for next year. About 200 pages in so far, and it's been surprisingly light, but apparently the latter half contains a lot of essays about the nature of history. :rolleyes: I'll see when I get there.

Hello everyone! I recently bought Battle Royale so I'm looking forward to reading it. I also have Game of Thrones lying around to read. The books that I have read recently are Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Artemis Fowl: The Last Guardian, and I'm currently reading House of Leaves.

House of Leaves?! How is it? I've heard so much about it but never read it. I know I really should.

Like Sirkana was a few posts above, I am properly reading the Iliad from beginning to end for the first time. I keep catching myself thinking "I wish there was a fandom," and then realizing how many famous books in history have actually been a sort of fanfic for the Iliad. :rolleyes: Anyway, it's gorgeous and wonderful. Really enjoying it. I'd love to compare notes with everyone else who's read it, especially as regards translations - I'm reading the Lattimore, because its literalness pleases me, but I know a lot of people find it stilted.