The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins

Always an avid reader, I have had this trilogy on reserve from the library for what seems like *forever!* Finally, the first two came in. And I put them aside, in favor of some of the books I was reading for review.

Knowing they are due back in short order and knowing it's extremely unlikely I'll be able to renew them, I had to fit them into my reading schedule. Well, calling it a schedule is a misnomer. It's more like this: if I'm not doing something else, I'm reading. Since I wasn't interested in having to wait through another 200 people to read the stories, I dug into them Monday night after I finished my latest review (ZombieStop Parade).

Wow. I read the first book pretty much in two nights. Yes, I have a full-time job (where I am not allowed to be reading for pleasure) and three young kids, not to mention a husband and some friends. In others words, I do already have a full life. I don't have a ton of free time. But these books were worth spending almost every waking minute on them.

I knew the basic premise ahead of time- it's about a girl who is forced to compete in the "Hunger Games," a "game" in which children from various vicinities are chosen to fight to the death. The goal is to be the last one standing and win the Games. It's like the ultimate Olympics. The rewards are great, but the risks are tremendous. It sounded grotesque and very much like "The Running Man," a movie grown from a book by Richard Bachman, aka Stephen King. In Bachman's book, it seemed an intriguing way to get rid of criminals. But to do this to children? Preposterous! But this trilogy... talk about difficult to put down! If I were reviewing this (which I'm not really doing), it would most certainly rate 5 stars.

It's so exciting to me to find books that are difficult to put down, books you wish could go on forever (or at least another 100 pages). In fact, as I'm writing this, I'm eyeing the second book, "Catching Fire," sitting next to me on the couch, and counting the minutes until I can get back to it. Have you read a book lately that was difficult to put down? Tell us all about it!

11/14/10
I've just read the final book in the series, "Mockingjay." Wow. I really enjoyed this final installment. I was sad to see some of the losses incurred, but I did like the ending, overall. I started this book on Saturday night, after a full day of soccer games and award banquets, and I spent considerable time this afternoon (Sunday) finishing it. This series is highly recommended. An amazing read!