Read This Book: THE HUNGER GAMES by Suzanne Collins

Welcome to Read This Book, the newsletter where I recommend a book you should add to your TBR, STAT! I stan variety in all things, and my book recommendations will be no exception. These must-read books will span genres and age groups. There will be new releases, oldie but goldies from the backlist, and the classics you may have missed in high school. Oh my! If you’re ready to diversify your books, then LEGGO!!

August 9th was National Book Lovers Day, the unofficial holiday to celebrate reading and literature while encouraging people to spend some quality time with a good book. For bibliophiles like you and me, everyday is Book Lovers Day! We devour books like there’s no tomorrow because our TBR is as long as a CVS receipt.

This year, I celebrated Book Lovers Day by spending the day nose deep in the book I’m currently reading, Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins, the sequel to today’s book recommendation, The Hunger Games. The nation of Panem lies in the ruins of a place once known as North America. The Capitol keeps the surrounding twelve districts in line with the annual Hunger Games where one boy and one girl from each district fight to the death on live TV. Not only are they entertainment for citizens of the Capitol, the Hunger Games also serve as punishment for past rebellion against the Capitol. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen knows it is a death sentence when she volunteers to take the place of her younger sister, Primrose, in the 74th Hunger Games.

When The Hunger Games published in 2008, I was in deep grad school mode. As a 3rd year PhD student, the only things I read were scientific journals and the back of my eyelids. My introduction to The Hunger Games was through the adaptation, which I absolutely hated! Two words: Shaky cam! However, I did enjoy the second movie. The more political overtones of that story increased my interest in the series, but The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 quickly quelled that excitement, and I never watched Mockingjay – Part 2. Despite my roller coaster experience with The Hunger Games adaptations, I finally decided to cross this international bestselling YA dystopia off my TBR because I know to never judge a book by its movie.

What is interesting to me about reading a book after watching its adaptation is I always imagine the characters as the actors who portrayed them in the film. The Hunger Games was no exception. I saw Lenny Kravitz in Cinna, I saw Woody Harrelson as Haymitch, I saw Elizabeth Banks in Effie. I even saw Jennifer Lawerence as Katniss. I was also plenty pissed when I remembered book fans being upset about Amandla Stenberg being Rue and Dayo Okeniyi being Thresh, when both characters are obviously Black in the book. I even caught on to them being Black when I read the main industry for their district was agriculture. *cough* Slavery *cough*

After being so disappointed with the film version of The Hunger Games, I was actually surprised with how much I enjoyed reading the novel. The writing isn’t amazing, but the story is engaging from beginning to end. While I will never turn my nose up at beautiful writing, all I really need in a book is a good story. The Hunger Games gave me a good story.

Despite the darkness surrounding a story about a bunch of kids ordered to kill each other, I didn’t feel that overwhelming darkness while reading the story. Of course there is violence, but it is limited and not overly graphic. Also, the story is told solely from the point of view of Katniss, so the reader only knows what Katniss knows or is told. All of this makes The Hunger Games feel more like a hero’s journey than the story of a bloody battle royale.

Until next time bookish friends,

Katisha

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