The odds are definitely in your favor, Ms. Collins.

So Tuesday I stop by Wal-Mart on my way home to pick up a copy of The Hunger Games. I try to avoid getting books there, because even big places like Barnes and Noble's need all the help they can get these days. But the B&N closest to me isn't open before I have to be at work. So I hit Wally World, buy the book, and start reading it that night. Wednesday night I mention to my wife that it's pretty good, and that she may want to read it when I'm done.

Friday, I get to work, and not only is one tire on my car low, another is damn near flat. The tires are still under warranty, and my wife has the day off, so she grabs the car, and takes it to the tire place. While she waits, she finishes her Song of Ice and Fire book, and picks up Hunger Games, which I had left in the back seat.

She finished it that night. I haven't finished it yet, so we can't discuss it from beginning to end, but she said it was a lot better then she had expected. Both of us agreed that somehow we had each gotten the impression that the mood and style was going to be similar to Twilight. In a nutshell, it isn't.

Disclaimer: I have not read Twilight, but have seen one of the films when I took my daughter to see it. I also tried to read The Host, but couldn't slog through it. Miss Meyer has her strengths as a writer, but they don't hit any of my buttons.

I got the book to compare it to Battle Royale, because when I saw the trailer for the film (I had never heard of the book before) that's what it reminded me about. I'm not quite halfway through the book, and I can see a world of difference. Battle is about all the kids, though there is a clear hero and heroine. HG is about one girl. They're both set in the future, but BR is more current, while HG, though set seemingly farther ahead in time, feels more like a story set in Roman times. I'm also reading a bit of Biblical influence, comparing the districts to the tribes of Israel.

Right now, my opinion is that Hunger Games is well worth the time and money. Will I be buying the other books in the series? I won't have to. I'll just read the copies that my wife has already said she's going to get.

Still writing, and hoping write something this good.