The Hunger Games vs. Clan of the Cave Bear

There must be a reason I have my computer faced toward my bookshelves.
For inspiration? I think not. Just to gaze at them when I’m trying to form coherent sentences? Probably.

When I was younger, as I’ve written countless times, I read voraciously. I sifted and sorted through countless bookstore shelves in search of that one book to catch my eye. One book has become many and my shelves are now groaning with the weight of an army. The most recent books to grace my shelves, albeit borrowed ones, are The Hunger Games series. I’ve resisted this series for a long time. I have this crazy thinking – I don’t really like to read books that EVERYONE else is reading.

I like to think the book is all mine - that only I have discovered it and the world inside of it. Pretty weird, huh? It’s just that if everyone else is reading it, there is nothing left for me to discover. Well, I’ve been proven wrong. The Hunger Games has drawn me in. Its premise is like nothing I’ve ever read. I was afraid that it was written for kids, therefore would be too “kiddish” for me. Wrong, wrong, wrong. It’s seduced me with its simple, straight-forward writing style. I’m hooked.

I’ve read many book series. My favorite is The Clan of the Cave Bear series by Jean Auel. I’ll never forget when I bought and discovered Ayla and her prehistoric world. I couldn’t read them fast enough to satisfy. I recently bought the last book in the series, but have yet to start it. If I do, then it will be all over. No more Ayla and Jondalar!

Other favorites of mine include The First Americans series. This is also pre-historic fiction that came out about the same time as The Earth’s Children (Clan of the Cave Bear) series. I devoured these books also, and came to know the characters that lived on the wind-swept tundra of Siberia so well. They seem to get under your skin, and pretty soon you think you can erect an animal hide tent and fasten it to the permafrost soil. A fire will soon be blazing as you fall fast asleep under layers of soft antelope furs. I think I delved in this world too heartily – next thing you know I’ll be curing people with herbs.

Francine Rivers is also an author who no matter what the book is about, I will read. Her Mark of the Lion series is, excuse the phrase, kick butt. She used to write secular fiction then switched over to the Christian genre. These books are set back in Biblical times, and are filled with action and adventure. I’m very picky about what I will read. I don’t like “typical” books that follow the same lines over and over. These books will blow you away if you’ve never read them. I have a shelf devoted only to series, and these are smack dab in the middle of it.

My tastes have refined some over the years, and I love any book that transports me to a dark alley in Bulgaria. The Historian, by Elizabeth Kostova, did just this. It’s a dark book about a vampire – love, love, loved it. Speaking of vampires, yes, I did fall head over heels for the Twilight series. Come on, how can you not love a good vampiric love story? If you get rid of any preconceived notions about it, and dismiss the movie from your mind (which were good, yet campy) these are excellent reads.

I’m not narrow-minded in my quest for a good book. I will read from any genre that tickles my interest. I own 15 books by Anita Shreve – all thrift store finds – and she is more of a mainstream writer. Her books never fail to deliver. Pick some of her books up if you ever find them. Her books sit on my shelf of series, write beside The Twilight Saga. A couple shelves above that sits Harry Potter. I’m ashamed to admit I haven’t read these books yet. We watched all the movies when the kids were younger, but I never read the books. It’s yet another situation where everyone else was reading them, so I didn’t want to. Last summer, I found almost the entire series at a garage sale. I paid $3 for four books and now they are waiting to be read. I still need book one, five, and seven. If anyone has extra copies, you know where to find me.

So here I sit, typing this blog, and The Hunger Games is sitting right beside me. It’s a rainy day, the kids are in school, and I’m debating whether to turn this day into a reading one. I’ve discovered the computer has taken some of my reading time away, and I don’t like it. I think after I’ve typed my last word and sent it off to be edited, I will turn off the laptop and pick up this book that’s boring a hole in me. The other world awaits.