Mah Stories...

Hunger games series: Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay. Great story. Easy read. Action-packed. Unpredictable.
I would say more about it but there really is no frame of reference here. It's set in a different world as we now know it (the present time is "ancient times" in the books) everything about it is unique, and the storyline draws from nothing but the authors twisted yet brilliant mind. To be honest I expected to be a little underwhelmed due to all the hype around the series before I read it - plus it's young adult lit so I didn't know how bubblegum it was going to be. Not so. It's actually pretty dark but with enough triumphs to keep you hopeful and you don't want to kill yourself at the end. (I am looking at you Kite Runner.) I couldn't put it down and I loved Suzanne Collin's knock-you-off-your-feet-without-a-warning style. Downside - the protagonist is not always the most likeable, but then again she is a 17-year old brooding girl so it's true to form. Unlike Bella though, in the Twighlight Series, she is not a brat for free so you don't hate her like you do Bella. Because of her background you can at least empathize with her behavior and what she is going through. I would definitely recommend these books.

And then there is this Swedish mystery novel The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo(I was told by a good friend, who's literary taste I completely trust, that this was a must-read, only to find out later she hadn't actually read it.)

I mean, I make fun of my mom all the time for not liking books or movies that address issues that are sad, unpleasant or scary. Mama wants gleeful endings with lambs, flowers and singing all the way. I, however appreciate something that builds perspective, even if its painful or messy or tough - as long as its not gratuitous. The disclaimer here is that I don't like to watch Law and Order: SVU because it's a little grizzly for me sometimes, so that is where I am coming from.
But this book was almost too much for me. It's really good. Like can't-put-it-down good. But there things that go down that are pretty gruesome. It may take you a day to shake the violence, murders, attacks etc. that happen, or that they are investigating in the book - at least it did for me anyway. I am not sure if I will read the other two books in that series, and plus from what I can tell they are pretty much stand-alone anyway. On the flip-side they are coming out with a movie this winter, with Daniel Craig. The Swedes already made one but I would rather wait for an American one than do the whole caption thing during a butt-clencher as intense as I am sure this one will be. All in all, read at your own risk, but you won't be bored.