I’m on chapter 10 of this bestseller that’s been making noise for quite some time now for being a tight-plotted, fast-paced YA (young adult) fantasy book (now a series, with the release of it’s sequel Catching Fire and a 3rd book under way).

Not out of unwillingness to finish this book, as I am guilty of several others I own, I haven’t pushed farther than the 10th chapter. My schedule so far is not keeping up with this book’s pace, because it sure is a very enjoyable read. There is a possibility that I will change my mind about this when I get to the end, but most of those who have read this one made book 2 a best seller and one of the best books of 2009.

Ok, about my post title. Here’s the deal, real fast, before I start looking for best eye cream for dark circles in preparation for the sleepless nights I’m planning to spend to finish reading:

Katniss is a 16-year-old girl living with her mother and younger sister in the poorest district of Panem, the remains of what used be the United States. Long ago the districts waged war on the Capitol and were defeated. As part of the surrender terms, each district agreed to send one boy and one girl to appear in an annual televised event called, “The Hunger Games.” The terrain, rules, and level of audience participation may change but one thing is constant: kill or be killed. When her sister is chosen by lottery, Katniss steps up to go in her place.

You read that right. They throw children into an “arena”, have them kill each other in however way they can, until there is only one surviving. ‘Survivor’ has nothing on this game/show. It sounds terrible, really, and that’s partly the reason why I’m apprehensive to read this book. But I’m assuming there’s a moral lesson to all of this. There’s got to be, right?

Here’s something I’m very excited about. One of my most favorite authors (for his epic and lyrical storytelling) will release this new book on August/September 2009.

Publisher’s description:

[514 pages. Published by Doubleday]

An unlikely group of Charlestonian teens forms a friendship in 1969, just as the certainties and verities of southern society are quaked by the social and political forces unleashed earlier in the decade. They come from all walks of life, from the privileged homes of the aristocracy, from an orphanage, from a broken home where an alcoholic mother and her twins live in fear of a murderous father, from the home of public high school’s first black football coach, and from the home of the same school’s principal. The group’s fulcrum, Leopold Bloom King, second son of an ex-nun Joyce scholar, who is also the school’s principal, and a science-teacher father, is just climbing out of childhood mental illness after having discovered his handsome, popular, athletic, scholarly older brother dead from suicide. Over the next two decades, these friends find success in journalism, the bar, law enforcement, music, and Hollywood. Echoing some themes from his earlier novels, Conroy fleshes out the almost impossibly dramatic details of each of the friends’ lives in this vast, intricate story, and he reveals truths about love, lust, classism, racism, religion, and what it means to be shaped by a particular place, be it Charleston, South Carolina [the nearby Outer Banks], or anywhere else in the U.S.

…I’d buy this book right away. It will look good on display and it would make me very happy.

The blurb:

The Complete X-Files is a declassified look at all nine seasons of the American Peabody and Emmy Award-winning science fiction television series created by Chris Carter. Delve into the mystery and myth of X-Files with in-depth looks at its entire television run, the first X-Files film, and the upcoming cinematic sequel. X-Files creator and producer Chris Carter takes us into the never-before-seen archives with explanations of unsolved plots, discussions of the FBI’s paranormal investigations, scene by scene breakdowns of popular episodes, and insider information on both the previous and upcoming X-Files films. Discover the mystery behind Mulder’s alien abduction, Scully’s secret objectives, the designs of the shadowy “Cancer Man,” and the full truth about the Mytharc episodes. Includes many bells and whistles, such as gatefolds, alien and monster charts, alien and monster cards, movie posters, a secret dossier, Mulder and Scully booklets , and more! The Complete X-Files will captivate fans and sciencefiction audiences, proving that nothing is what it seems and that “the truth is out there.”

Fans who have already purchased the book have been rather satisfied with what they’ve seen although it’s a little disheartening that not a few mentioned several typo errors and editorial deficiency. It only comes in hardcover and is available only in the States for now so my only option  is to make another online purchase. At almost $50, it’s a rather hefty purchase that may even push me to apply for payday loans, but  what’s a Phile to do? I want me some Mulder and Scully pictures and behind-the-scene trivias.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer alum Amber Benson has a new book, her first solo novel (it’s actually a 3-book series). She is the co-author of the Ghosts of Albion series, novels based on the BBC Cult animation created, written, and directed by Amber herself (written together with critically acclaimed fantasy writer Christopher Golden).

Reviews have been coming out and it sounds like something I’d totally check out. Ok, that’s also because I’m a total Buffy nut and I think Amber is uber cool, erudite, and talented and all that. I mean, just read her blog. 

Death’s Daughter is an urban fantasy about a sassy heroine who wants to live a normal life but woke up to realization that she is the Grim Reaper’s daughter and that she must save her family (and perhaps the world) by completing three nearly impossible tasks in the realm of the afterlife.

I wonder, if you find out that you are Death’s daughter, wouldn’t you want to take a paternity test just to be sure?  Sorry, that’s so lame [the suggestion, not the book].

Update: There’s an awesome video of Amber’s Writers on Writing panel (taken on February 8 at the New York Comic Con) up at Buffyfest where she talked about the different media of writing and how blogging is changing the world of publishing. It’s pretty neat.

I officially have four books that I really, really want to finish before November ends – Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell (Susanna Clarke), Possession (A.S. Byatt), The Hours (Michael Cunningham), and Kafka on the Shore (Haruki Murakami).

That’s just my most wanted list, but I still have a few more books in the shelf that I haven’t finished or even scanned. I got a little crazy over buying used books from Ebay, hence the pile. It’s just that there’s been too many distractions, not the least of which is keeping at least three blogs alive. But I’m getting back to reading. I need to remember how to focus my energy on doing something else away from my personal computer. Now if only I can find a discount furniture store to look for something like a comfortable sofa or anything that I can call my reading “space.”