A Song of Fire and Ice by George R. R. Martin

I'm not sure what made me start reading The Game of Thrones, but I have to confess that I am HOOKED. I finished the fourth book last week and have been checking the status of my library hold (4 of 16!) twice a day in anticipation of reading the next one.

I'm also not really sure why I like them. The rape, the foul language, the torture, the terrible deaths of great characters...at the end of the first book I was sure that I wasn't going to read the second one. But then I did. I couldn't stop myself. It was like a train wreck and I couldn't look away! By the end of the second book, I gave in. I was going to read all of them. They are captivating. Gritty, realistic, and totally captivating.

My favorite characters are Daenerys (of course) for her epic victories, Arya Stark for the unpredictability of her story and her quirky spirit, and Tyrion because he's such a good guy--loyal, caring, responsible, curious--but he's on the wrong side!

When I started reading, I was under the impression that the series was complete, and was surprised to find that there are three more planned books after the one I am impatiently waiting for from the library!

It takes me about a week to read each book, with about 3 days to a week wait time for my library hold to get through, so that's really all I've been reading for the past month and a half!