I realize this selection is a bit more low-brow than some of the others. I am okay with that if you are.

Like many of the so-called young adult books I've read over the course of the past few years, the Hunger Games trilogy is fast-paced and exciting. But what made these books have a bit more staying power after the last page-turny page was turned?

For me, it's the fact that the stories delve into the problems around our comfortable spectator approach to violence. Children are forced to kill in order to entertain the wealthy. And though the heroine is forced to kill to survive, she doesn't remain untouched by the violent acts she's had to commit. I feel like this book is a good starting point for discussion, and while it mirrors contemporary social problems (as do many dystopian novels) it doesn't treat them in a heavy-handed way (hellooooooo Handmaid's Tale).

And if the astonishing is going to be in the movie, it can't be that bad, right? Right?

Hat tip to Deanne Liu, who first recommended The Hunger Games to me.