The Hunger Games

The stress that I had during the previous post has completely disappeared, and I feel silly now for even letting it get to me that much. Oh well. Life continues on.

I know you will be shocked to hear that I already have another book review for you. GASP! Well don't be too shocked because the book I read is a popular book right now which translates into "easy to read" in America. No book becomes wildly popular in our country if it is difficult to read, simply because most Americans are not at a high reading level. Now you will be equally shocked to hear that I actually liked the book. Double GASP! It is true that I like to read the more thought-provoking books. But what this book lacked in being thought-provoking, it made up for in entertainment. I literally could not put this book down at times, and that is saying something since I usually require frequent breaks while reading.

The book is called The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. It starts out when our heroin, Katniss, (yeah, I don't like the name either) is forced to fight to the death as a sort of teenage gladiator in the annual Hunger Games. She is forced because this book takes place in the future where America is controlled by a cruel capitol city that forces teenagers to complete in the Hunger Games. Except America is now called Panem, and there are only twelve districts instead of states. Katniss is from District 12, one if the poorest districts, where she has to fight everyday to get enough food to stay alive. When she is thrown into the Hunger Games, she uses her hunting skills to stay alive, and also to kill.

This book is great when you are reading about the Hunger Games, but not so great when it starts getting into the general unrest of the population at being controlled by the Capitol. So it works as an action book, but not as a political book. The writing is not profound enough for that. The Hunger Games is actually one of three books. I have just started the second book and it already seems to be more about uprisings than Hunger Games. We will see if it can live up to the intensity and excitement of the fist book. The first book kind of leaves you hanging, so be prepared to read the whole series if you start this book. The publishers obviously know what they are doing, because I could only find the second and third book in hardcover. Once you are hooked, they want you to spend more money to get a hardcover book. But I don't mind so much because it has been a while since a book has entertained me this much. I have to give it credit.