Sights, Hunger & Elephants

I feel like I have been neglecting everything recently. I've been swamped in school, and spend the rest of my time glued to the computer either reading or looking for stories to read. It's an unhealthy addiction, really, since my eyes have started burning again. I should start wearing my glasses again, though, because they are 5 years old, I should get the prescription changed first.
I finished reading a flurry of online fiction, and I have read series upon series on PDF format. This of course, explains my need to shy away from the monitor's lights for a few days.
I mentioned the The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins back in March. I had initially read the two books in the trilogy via PDF. This week, the main bookstores at the mall got new books and I went in there, casually asking, if by any chance they happen to have any of The Hunger Games books. I saw that these books are in the top few in the young adult bestselling lists internationally, so I figured they must catch on in this little island in East-Jesus nowhere right? Well they apparently did. I got Catching Fire (bk2) the Thursday before last, and then I got The Hunger Games (bk1) last Friday. I'm excited to re-read the series during the day, in larger print, from non-illuminated media.
I finished Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen on Friday. I was reading it during the waiting periods in my experiments over the last 2 weeks. I will first of all, shamelessly admit to only reading the book because Rob Pattinson and Reese Witherspoon are going to be in the movie adaptation. For the most part, it is an interesting book. It is told from Jacob Jankowski's perspective, on the circumstances surrounding his joining the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth and his experiences with the working class, the performers and the head honchos in the circus. The story flips between young Jacob in the circus, and a much older Jacob in a nursing home in the present day. I prefer the lonely old man with the snarky comebacks to the agile young innocent learning about the cruelty in the world. I did like the author's descriptions of the various acts in the shows and menagerie as well as the living conditions and dress. It was easy to get a visual on the story. I especially liked that photographs from museums depicting various aspects of real circuses that tied in with parts of the story were included. I would give it 3.5/5.