After watching the recent trailer, I thought I'd give the books a chance. I figured that it would make for excellent light 15 min reading right before going to sleep. The first person, present tense, small child reading level almost made me give up in the first chapter, but gradually the story hooked me and either her writing improved or I stopped noticing.
Finished all 3 books in a week, lost A LOT of sleep and drank a shameful amount of coffee just to function during the day.
The movie was co-written by the author and from what I've seen in the trailer, I think what she's written in the book may work better on film. I think I even saw an IMDB posting of 2 and 3 listed as "in production". Also, it seems she most likely had a hand in casting as well. Josh Hutcherson said she was there for the auditions, including the cave scene to test for chemistry.
As for comparing to Twilight, I think the only thing these two series have in common is that there is a love triangle with people using teams for their suitor of choice (Team Peeta!). 3rd book excluded, Katniss is a strong female character who actively protects those she loves while Bella doesn't protect as much as need protection from her loved ones.