Divergent by Veronica Roth

It doesn't happen very often, but every now and then a book comes along that has me counting down the minutes until my lunch break or bedtime or...I'm surprised to say - exercise.

With a family, a day job, and lofty writing goals every day, finding time to read for fun is difficult. So I usually reserve my lunch hour, a half-hour or so before bed, and the time I spend spinning the foot pedals on my elliptical as "reading time". Now I'll admit, I hate exercise. For me it's about as much fun as cleaning toilets or going to the dentist. So for a book to actually have me looking forward to those thirty sweaty minutes I absolutely abhor, well it better be a darn good book.

Divergent was exactly that. And here are 5 non-sweaty reasons why:

1. An intriguing premise. In Divergent, the city of Chicago has been divided into five factions, each representing a certain virtue: Abnegation (selflessness), Amity (peace), Candor (truth), Dauntless (bravery,) and Erudite (knowledge). 16-year-olds are given the opportunity to choose their faction - whether it means staying with their family in the faction they've grown up in or transferring to a new one. Our protagonist, Beatrice "Tris", chooses to leave her faction, Abnegation, to become a Dauntless.

2. A super kick-butt heroine. Beatrice "Tris" rocks. I love it when the girl saves the day. I love it even more when the girl saves both the guy and the day.

3. A love interest worth falling for. Four was everything a girl could ask for - mysterious, brooding, hot. Even better - he not only let the heroine be kick-butt and independent, he encouraged it.

4. Friends worth having. The other initiates transferring into Dauntless come complete with their own strengths and flaws. They make you like them, hate them, want to slap them, and sometimes even cry for them. They are a diverse group, and even more important, they are real.

5. Kick-butt parents. Lately most of the parents in the YA books I've been reading are dead or non existent. And while you won't find Tris' parents overtaking the pages in Divergent, they do show up in the nick of time willing and ready to do what any parent who loves their child will do.