My Literary adventures

I can't imagine going through life without a love for literature.  I worry when I see sects of the younger generation with no idea what a great book can do for you.  Here are some great quotes about this subject.

"We read to know that we are not alone."
— C.S. Lewis

A great book should leave you with many experiences, and slightly exhausted at the end. You live several lives while reading."
— William Styron

"Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing."
— Harper Lee (To Kill a Mockingbird)

"Reading is the sole means by which we slip, involuntarily, often helplessly, into another's skin, another's voice, another's soul."
— Joyce Carol Oates

ahhh.  I just sighed.

So, I thought I would post a few of my recent reads and try and get some feedback about what you like to read.

One Day- David Nicholls
This book follows a couple on the same day over the span of their lives.  I LOVED the premise of this book, loved the way the author wrote it.  I felt empty while reading it, however. I didn't connect wth both main characters and had a hard time living through them..  I would reccomend this book to those who enjoy great style, but a grating, at times infuriating set of events.

The Hunger Games Trilogy-Suzanne Collins
If you have not read these books, go now and get them.  Don't wait for the movie. 

Twenty-four are forced to enter. Only the winner survives.
In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. Each year, the districts are forced by the Capitol to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the Hunger Games, a brutal and terrifying fight to the death – televised for all of Panem to see.
Survival is second nature for sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who struggles to feed her mother and younger sister by secretly hunting and gathering beyond the fences of District 12. When Katniss steps in to take the place of her sister in the Hunger Games, she knows it may be her death sentence. If she is to survive, she must weigh survival against humanity and life against love.(Synopsis written by The Scholastic Book Company)

The Help-Kathryn Stockett
I haven't seen the movie, but the book is gritty, honest, and captivating. 

http://www.kathrynstockett.com/stockett-synopsis.htm

Little Women (again)-Louisa May Alcott
If you don't know what this book is about, shame on ya. Go read it.

Room-Emma Donoghue
Told from the perspective of a five year old. 

You have lived your WHOLE life in a square room, and you know nothing of the outside world.  Your only companion is your mother.  You don't realize yet, that you are living a nightmare.  When the nightmare supposedly ends, has it really just begun? 

I couldn't put this one down, though it is difficult to read at times.  I reccomend it. :)

I read most of these before I realized there were movies about them (aside from The Help) and I would love to catch a few more books BEFORE they turn into a screenplay and before they are "trendy".

So, what book should I put on my "to read" list?  What's your favorite book?