Well, I’ve escaped Dante’s Inferno. For now. I’ve done just enough to feel comfortable saying I have a “Second Draft” and I’m walking away. For at least four weeks.
Given my tendency to perfectionism, that’s really hard. I want to make the book perfect now. I want to keep working. But I know it’s better to let it breathe. Besides, I have some awesome people lined up to read it, and I know getting their feedback is going to make it way better. So I’m putting it away. I really am.
Now what to do with my time? I plan to go back and do some more work on my Mississippi novel. I feel like now that I’m in the writing groove, it will come much more easily.
But, I also want to do some structure and function research for this book. Which means, I want to read books and watch movies that I can learn from to help make my book better. This is where you come in. I’d love to get some recommendations from you for the following categories. (And honestly, even if you think it might be obvious, mention it, because, especially when it comes to movies and pop culture, I’m really clueless.)
1. Books or movies that are the first in a trilogy/series.
2. Books where the protagonist is entering a world he or she is not familiar with.
3. Dystopian books or movies.
4. Books or movies that have some action, but not a super-fast pace, and have proven to be at least somewhat popular. (Is this impossible?)
5. Books or movies where characters have special powers.
6. Books or movies where one person is fighting against a government/social order/etc
Thanks for your help! If your recommendation proves especially enlightening, I’ll put you in my acknowledgments once the book comes out 
Books that are the first of a series/trilogy: Fifty Shades of Grey, Bared to You, The Hunger Games, Fall of Giants. And that’s about all I can think of.
Ready Player One, by Ernest Cline. Dystopian, and the character ends up in unfamiliar worlds.
Of course, Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings.
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
Battle Royale. Both the book and the movie are excellent but they’re pretty dark and graphic.
Dystopian: Brave New World, 1984, and Fahrenheit 451 are the classics. A Handmaid’s Tale and Never Let Me Go were both good.
There were a lot written in the 70′s, many made into movies, like Running Man, Soylent Green, Silent Running, Blade Runner (book title – Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep),
For children, I think the first was The Giver. Hunger Games (a book trilogy) was a recent hit in YA lit.
Also, out of interest, what is your book about?
RE #2, both non-fiction – “What Remains” by Carole Radziwell and out in Jan., “The Feminist and the Cowboy” by Alisa Valdes Rodriguez
Books where the protagonist is thrown into a new environment: Water for Elephants or Life of Pi. If you have not read them I HIGHLY recommend both. I had goosebumps at the end of Water foe Elephants. All Fall Down by Megan Hart is also a pretty good read along those lines.
Dystopian novels: 1984, Brave New World, Animal Farm
Movies: V for Vendetta, GATTACA, Run Lola Run
A Wrinkle in Time (multi-part series, dystopian, child-hero who has special powers going up against a fascist other-wordly government, but surely you’ve read these!!)
Book series with action and conflict… Girl with a Dragon Tattoo
Books: Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series and Dirk Gentley’s Holistic Detective Agency/Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul. All by Douglas Adams. Other World. Hilarious. Science Fiction. Great reads.
Movie: Code 46 starring Tim Robbins and Samantha Morton. Dystopian. Futuristic. Fighting against government. Completely awesome.
I recommend Dorothy Dunnett’s “Niccolo Rising” the first in the House of Niccolo series, Diana Gabaldon’s “Outlander”, any of Maggie Anton’s Rashi’s Daughters and Dean Koontz ‘s “Odd Thomas”. All these books fit nearly all your criteria. Leslie Maloff
A few good ones I have read recently that fit in your criteria: Splendors and Glooms, Divergent (first in a trilogy), A Long, Long Sleep, Cleopatra’s Moon, The Night Circus, This Dark Endeavor (first in a trilogy). Also, if you have never read the blog The Book Smugglers, I am sure it would have some great ideas for you!