Question #92: So Hot Right Now

[Faye]

Sometimes a certain book seems to be everywhere you go or on the tip of everyone's tongue. What's hot where you are right now and is it worth the hype?

[Mekerei]

Definitely The Hunger Games. My daughter has a Facebook page dedicated to it. My friend's daughter is raving about it. When in Sydney last month my nephew said it was ok (high praise from him).

It seems that most of the YA I know LOVE LOVE it - I decided to give it a go - could not put it down - I read it in just over a day!!! (did not impress my mother who I was staying with in Sydney).

I made my mother angrier by downloading the next two books (Catching Fire and Mockingjay and then preceded to devour them (this reading gene was inherited from my mother).

I really enjoyed this series, I can understand why it's such a hit!

[Aubrey]

Mekerei wrote: "Definitely The Hunger Games. My daughter has a Facebook page dedicated to it. My friend's daughter is raving about it. When in Sydney last month my nephew said it was ok (high praise..."

Yes. This one. And eh. From the reviews and excerpts that I've read it seems very formulaic. Guaranteed to attract a large following, considering the elements it incorporates. In my opinion, not worth the hype.

[Donna]

Well, I'm #3 of 128 holds on Nora Roberts' next book at the GBPL, so I'd have to say she's pretty big around here. I've been #128; it sucks!
Quite a few people have been spotted in our waiting room with the Steve Jobs biography, but generally I don't see much of what others are reading since Borders closed. Oh, how I miss those Saturday night trolls through the new books section.

[Emily]

Aubrey wrote: "Yes. This one. And eh. From the reviews and excerpts that I've read it seems very formulaic. Guaranteed to attract a large following, considering the elements it incorporates. In my opinion, not worth the hype."

I've read the three Hunger Games books and I think they're quite good. I can't say I agree with your assessment. To each his own, I suppose, but I wouldn't consider them formulaic and "not worth the hype". Much better than a lot of the cheesy popular YA stuff that's out there right now. That's fine if you don't like it, of course. I'm not saying you can't. But I read it last year and it was definitely one of the more enjoyable books I read last year.

And as to the original question, I agree with this series still being some of the "hot" books out there right now, even though they've been out for a while. With the new movie coming out I think the books are now back in the spotlight. Other than that, I'm not sure what's popular in the general population right now. I don't get to the bookstore as much as I'd like and at work I'm surrounded by people who don't read (crazy people).

[Mekerei]

Kate wrote: ...at work I'm surrounded by people who don't read (crazy people)

Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one who's seen the light at work!

[Faye]

Blah! the hype is driving me bonkers. This book is pretty darn good, but all this marketing makes me want to slap people.

I read The Hunger Games in 2010 thanks to a recommendation from this group and I was late to the party at that point! The big box book store in Canada had a bunch of Hunger Games merchandise in the clearance centre on major markdown over a year ago.

Bah humbug :)

[Pollopicu]

Hunger games here too, although I haven't read it. Also, Beloved for some reason, which I purchased but wasn't too wild about.

[Faye]

A Game of Thrones seems to be the buzz on everyone's list in my world right now. I'd like to read them, I think, but I already started in on the tv show and I have a hard time reading after watching.

[Tim]

The Game of Thrones books are a better read than the series. I'm on the fifth after rereading the first four. They really hold up although I think the fifth is the weakest.

[[deleted user]]

50 Shades of Grey and NO NOT WORTH THE HYPE.

[Fanatique Francaise]

I feel so silly now.
I won the entire Hunger Games series (before it was mainstream) and found them a little too-oo (yes, 2 extra o's) fantastic (in the fantasy sense, obviously) for my taste, so I graciously donated them to my cousin brother.
Now that I ask him to lend them to me, he cannot, because someone or the other has already borrowed it from him!
Argh.

[Tim]

50 Shades of Grey has been suggested to me by two people now, and I will be reading it on my Kobo after I finish the e-book I'm currently on. I was going to give it a pass but one friend asked me to read it so I'll give it a go.

[Faye]

When I search "50 Shades of Grey" nothing comes up. Do you mean
Shades of Grey?

EDIT: Duh, you're talking about Fifty Shades of Grey, of course. And I was thinking "Really? Jasper Fforde is getting over-hyped? That's awesome!" Jasper Fforde, author of unrelated book Shades of Grey, combines the silly and the intellectual and offers well-written fantastical escapes for lovers of literature. But I never see his work getting hyped.

[[deleted user]]

The Secret of the Nagas is really hyped here in India..

[Janet]

Recently - in a group I participate in there has been a lot of discussion about The Snow Child I'm reading it now, and so far it has been a great read.

[Sofia]

You know, I thought The Hunger Gameswas a wonderful book. The writer's imagination is something that cannot be discounted. However, it did not blow my mind as it has for some people. Maybe the other two will do more for me and it may also be due to the fact that I am not really into post-apocolyptic type books. I can see why it peaks the interest of a younger audience, or people who enjoy dark fantasy type novels. But I did enjoy the read :)

[Sofia]

Janet wrote: "Recently - in a group I participate in there has been a lot of discussion about The Snow Child I'm reading it now, and so far it has been a great read."

I'm also reading the Snow Child - more than halfway done. It is definitely a very curious read, I'm enjoying it as well

[Michael]

fivesunflowers wrote: "You know, I thought The Hunger Gameswas a wonderful book. The writer's imagination is something that cannot be discounted. However, it did not blow my mind as it has for some people. Maybe the o..."

Could it be that the hype surrounding the book was so great that few, if any, books could live up to it? I read the first one a couple of years ago before it was too hyped and really enjoyed it.

I feel sort of jealous of those reading the series now since they don't have to wait a year between installments. It also gives enough distance so when I saw the movie, I wasn't going "Oh, that's different, that's different" etc. :)

[Sofia]

Michael wrote: "fivesunflowers wrote: "You know, I thought The Hunger Gameswas a wonderful book. The writer's imagination is something that cannot be discounted. However, it did not blow my mind as it has for so..."

I am thinking you are right. People told me how they couldn't stop thinking about this book and how it blew their mind, and it just didn't do that for me. I have read MANY other books that I couldn't get out of my head while I read them, and this was not one of those books for me. It was an amazing story and wonderfully told, no doubt

[Susan]

I'm so tied into my book groups I don't pick up on the hype, so I'm glad you asked this question. In my own world, I'm wild about Jo Nesbo's Harry Hole series and I follow Nordic Noir closely.

[Veronica]

I am in the middle of reading The Hunger Games. So far I like the book for its political and economic implications. The book has a lasting effect. However, The Harry Potter series (especially the last 2 books)had the most lasting impression on me.

Right now, I think the Game of Thrones series and the 50 Shades of Grey series is what's hot right now.

[Tim]

Susan wrote: "I'm so tied into my book groups I don't pick up on the hype, so I'm glad you asked this question. In my own world, I'm wild about Jo Nesbo's Harry Hole series and I follow Nordic Noir closely."

I had to look up Nordic Noir! I had no idea that was a "thing". Thanks for mentioning it.

[Janet]

Susan wrote: "I'm so tied into my book groups I don't pick up on the hype, so I'm glad you asked this question. In my own world, I'm wild about Jo Nesbo's Harry Hole series and I follow Nordic Noir closely."

Me too - that's one of my favorites for the past 2 years or so.

[[deleted user]]

Tim wrote: "50 Shades of Grey has been suggested to me by two people now, and I will be reading it on my Kobo after I finish the e-book I'm currently on. I was going to give it a pass but one friend asked me t..."

Whoa would TOTALLY like a man's point of view on the book, if you share when you're done. All the people I know that have been eating it up have been women.

[Tim]

Haha...deal. I will let you know when I have finished.

[Michael]

Tim wrote: "Haha...deal. I will let you know when I have finished."

Glad to see Tim is reading it. I will admit the sheer hype surrounding it makes me curious to give it a try so I can form my own opinion of the book. Thank heavens for e-readers that allow us to read such things without giving it away by the cover!

[Donna]

Faye wrote: "A Game of Thrones seems to be the buzz on everyone's list in my world right now. I'd like to read them, I think, but I already started in on the tv show and I have a hard time reading after watching."

I swore not to pick up another one until he finished the series. Seven YEARS between books! It forces you to reread the whole thing. Not that I didn't enjoy them the first time around, but they are really long books! Right now I've got the first season of "Game of Thrones" on dvd from the library, and have to say if I'd known it involved gratuitous shots of bare nekkid Jason Momoa, I might have upgraded my cable package.

Oh, and I totally get the Jasper Fforde confusion. Happened to me, too.

[Michael]

Donna wrote: "Faye wrote: "A Game of Thrones seems to be the buzz on everyone's list in my world right now. I'd like to read them, I think, but I already started in on the tv show and I have a hard time reading ..."

Well, there is a reason they coined the term sexposition for GoT. Lots of equal opportunity nekkidness.

I highly recommend the books. If you need to catch up between books, there are a number of useful wikis that you can adjust how much or little of the series you've read to control the amount of SPOILERS

[Donna]

It'll have to be a reread before "A Dance with Dragons". It's been over a decade since the first book, after all. And there's no hurry. There may be a working title for the next book, but I'm not falling for that. Plus I have my Anne McCaffrey memorial Dragonriders reread coming up, so lord only knows when it'll happen.

[Marissa]

A Game of Thrones Seems to be going around a lot here in my own little world as well. & knowing me, I'll probably get around to reading it right after all the hype is over haha

[Mekerei]

Read A Game of Thrones with the Sci Fi and Fantasy Book Club last month. Why hadn't I found this series earlier? Love the books and love the HBO series. About time we had decent Sci Fi and Fantasy for adults.

[Tim]

Just about finished the fifth book. I just hope he doesn't wait as long to write the next one :P

[Aubrey]

Tim wrote: "Just about finished the fifth book. I just hope he doesn't wait as long to write the next one :P"

Sometime before he kicks the bucket would definitely be nice. Although when that happened with Robert Jordan there was a definite improvement in writing with the new author, so...morbid, I know, but still.

[Donna]

Cold Tim, cold.

[Tim]

For those who were interested my review of Fifty Shades of Grey is up at http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

[Priscilla]

I'll start Game of thrones soon :)
The fault in our stars(John Green)is really talked about online, haven't read it though. Insurgent too...

[Faye]

audio version of Fifty Shades of Grey now available - see http://www.buzzfeed.com/brodiemanthe1...