The Hunger Games Trilogy: A Reccomendation

                       

The Hunger Games takes place in an unidentified future time period after the destruction of North America, in a nation known as Panem. Panem consists of a rich Capitol and twelve surrounding, poorer districts. As punishment for a previous rebellion against the Capitol, every year one boy and one girl between the ages of 12 and 18 from each district are selected at random and forced to participate in the Hunger Games, a televised event where the participants, or "tributes", must fight to the death in a dangerous outdoor arena until only one remains. The story follows fatherless 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen, a girl from District 12 who volunteers for the 74th Games in place of her younger sister, Prim. Also participating from District 12 is Peeta Mellark, a boy whom Katniss knows from school and who once saved Katniss's life by giving her bread when her family was starving. 
(Synopsis from Wikipedia)

The first book details Katniss' journey through the Hunger Games - I read this book over the course of weekend (a busy weekend where I only had time to pick up the book to get a few pages in while waiting for water to boil or sitting in my car outside a friends house before leaving to tailgate).  I haven't yet read the second two books in the (supposedly) young-adult trilogy but the person who recommended them to me assures me that they are just as good.  The second looks at life after the Hunger Games and if I tell you too much about what happens in the third, I'd have to tell you too much about the second...so if you want to know, read them ;)

Lisa Recommends ~Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton

If you are a fan of Pirates of the Caribbean and Michael Crichton and gore and adventure then you must read this book! I have enjoyed all of the books I have read by Michael Crichton. Timeline makes my top 5 books of all time and Jurassic Park would make my top 20! The way it is different is it doesn't have the same science background. Most of his books have something to do with the way the humans are advancing themselves etc...

Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton
Synopsis: From one of the best-loved authors of all time comes an irresistible adventure of swashbuckling pirates in the New World, a classic story of treasure and betrayal.
The Caribbean, 1665. A remote colony of the English Crown, the island of Jamaica holds out against the vast supremacy of the Spanish empire. Port Royal, its capital, is a cutthroat town of taverns, grog shops, and bawdy houses.
In this steamy climate there's a living to be made, a living that can end swiftly by disease—or by dagger. For Captain Charles Hunter, gold in Spanish hands is gold for the taking, and the law of the land rests with those ruthless enough to make it.
Word in port is that the galleon El Trinidad, fresh from New Spain, is awaiting repairs in a nearby harbor. Heavily fortified, the impregnable harbor is guarded by the bloodthirsty Cazalla, a favorite commander of the Spanish king himself. With backing from a powerful ally, Hunter assembles a crew of ruffians to infiltrate the enemy outpost and commandeer El Trinidad, along with its fortune in Spanish gold. The raid is as perilous as the bloodiest tales of island legend, and Hunter will lose more than one man before he even sets foot on foreign shores, where dense jungle and the firepower of Spanish infantry stand between him and the treasure. . . .


The story is a short easy read as it was found after his death in 2008 so who knows how he would have changed it. Don't worry  it is a full story with action and adventure around every corner. What I like best is it doesn't romanticise pirates.

http://www.crichton-official.com/ go here to find out more about Michael Crichton!!