Better Late Than Hungry

June 22, 2010

I know I’m really late on reading this book, but I just finished The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.  Chalk it up to being an adult with a to-do list that exists only in my mind.  What a fantastic book; I was hooked after page 5.  I was starving for a great book after reading a very lifeless memoir by an equally dull author.  As I read The Hunger Games, I kept thinking Ms. Collins must be an observer of reality television, e.g. “Survivor” and a fan of George Orwell (author of 1984 for those of you who have not yet read the high school mandatory classics reading).

To briefly summarize, the story takes place in the far off future when the planet is divided into districts.  Each district draws the name of one boy and one girl between the ages of 12-18 to participate in the Hunger Games.  The Hunger Games is a televised program where the teens are placed in an arena where they must fight to the death to survive, there can only be one winner. 

The story is still with me days after I have finished it and I’m eagerly awaiting reading the sequel that is sitting on my bookshelf as I type.  I can’t yet figure out what made it such a great book.  Was it the subtle “girl power” Katniss possessed? Was it wondering how I would do in that situation; if I would have the skills to survive? I know the romance between Katniss and Peeta definitely kept my fingers turning the pages and wondering how Gale felt watching this transpire on television.

Every once in a while a book can satisfy my craving.  This book definitely did that; it has stayed with me for days after.  Check it out if you have not read it yet.   I recommended it to a skeptical friend who finished the book in a day and was clamoring for the sequel - Catching Fire.   

Crystal M.