It recently came to my
attention that I hadn't actually read the third book in the Hunger
Games trilogy. Blame my daughters' school library, they didn't have
it in stock last year. Last night I decided to put that right. Of
course, I had to read the first two again. Do other people do that?
(Whenever a new Harry Potter book came out, I always had to read all
the previous books before I could enjoy it. I've read the first one
about eleventy million times, the last one only once). About five
minutes ago, I finished Mockingjay. Am I the only one who thinks
that, with one paragraph, Suzanne Collins came within a whisker of
being able to subtitle this book Animal Farm 2?
It was a pleasure to
spend the whole day reading. I don't get to do that very often. It
does explain why you don't get a proper post today, as it's almost
midnight and I want to catch up with some of your blogs before I go
to bed. To make up for it, I'm leaving you with something that I find
amusing. Enjoy :-)
This is video funny in a strange way.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter and I have been visiting our city library almost every weekend to get hold of the hunger game books. No luck. I like to read the books before I see the movies that come after them. May be we will have better luck this coming weekend.
I hope you managed to get hold of them - we had to wait weeks before my daughter got to the top of our library list!
DeleteI haven't read any of the Hunger Games books :/
ReplyDeleteJust not got round to it, or not your thing?
DeleteI'm really odd in that I almost never re-read a book. I wonder if that means something...?
ReplyDeleteIt probably means you have a better memory than me :-)
DeleteGood on you for finally finishing the trilogy. Yeah, the third book is pretty dystopian and focuses heavily on the government and all rather than the relationships. I ended up going out and buying the last two books in hardcover because my son finished the first one and HAD to keep reading. Luckily, they had them at K-Mart for $10 each new and I only randomly went there to see if they had them as I was nearby. Popular books are so hard to get from the library. I just ended up buying the Night Circus for (eek) $30 because our library already had 60 hold requests on ONE copy. Oh well, sometimes you just gotta splurge. Hopefully one day someone will buy one of my books because they just MUST read it. Just a little dream...
ReplyDeleteSheesh, 60 holds? You'd think they might splash out on another copy!
DeleteAnd one day, someone will.
I do the same things with books. And that video is hilarious!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad it's not just me :-)
DeleteI started the Lord of the Rings trilogy five times (always started on New Year's Day) before I made it all the way through. Finally did it, though!
ReplyDeleteThat video is hilarious! That's exactly how Mr. Martin would have written them . . .
Can I confess something? I've never actually read Lord of the Rings.
DeleteI'll get me coat ...
I wasn't hugely impressed by the last two Hunger Games books. They didn't do it for me.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you got to read all day!
The first one was very definitely the best, by a long way.
DeleteSarah - Thanks for the funny video! That was a much-needed laugh :-). And I'm like you about books; I really do like to read a series in order when I can. Not easy in the case of translated books; too often a series isn't translated in order. Grrrr
ReplyDeleteI know, why is that? You'd think logic would dictate ... oh, there's the flaw! :-)
DeleteWell, at least he can make fun of himself...
ReplyDeleteAye, he always comes across as such a nice bloke to me :-)
DeleteHi Sarah. I think it's pretty accepted that the first in the trilogy of Hunger Games was the only one worth reading. I'm going to try to hock off my Mockingjay to the book exchange. Maybe some other sucker will want to read it.
ReplyDeleteDenise
I'm so glad I got them from the library :-)
DeleteHi I also like reading all the books before if I have a book in a series, but sometimes I can't find all the others, but then read the book anyway. :-)
ReplyDeleteTrue, if it means having to wait to long, I usually give in :-)
DeleteReading all day - my idea of heaven! (Especially if I'm sitting in a cafe somewhere hot and different!)
ReplyDeleteYes, hot and different to you definitely doesn't mean Blackpool in the Summer does it? :-)
DeleteYeah, the last one was pretty crazy. But I still love the series as a whole. It's torture for me when I have to wait forever for a sequel. And that's been happening a lot lately. So I'm pretty tortured I guess...
ReplyDeleteIt's almost a relief that I can't buy books right now. Almost ...
DeleteI loved the video.
ReplyDeleteIt's fantastic to read all day. I wish I could do it more often, too.
I'd like to say we wouldn't enjoy it so much if we could do it as often as we wanted. But, I'd be lying :-)
DeleteSarah, that video made my day! My husband is a huge George R R Martin fan (there's a toppling pile of every book he ever wrote on his bedside table) and w both had a good laugh at that! Brilliant! Thanks for brightening up a dull February!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you both loved it, it really tickled me :-)
DeleteWhat a treat to get to spend the whole day reading. Sorry it was that book. I liked the first two (loved the first one even) but hated the third. I felt like there was no character arc. I will re-read the book right before in the series but not the whole series. Some books I just re-read because I liked them so much.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad I've read them all, if only because I'd always be wondering how it ended!
DeleteThat man is hilarious. Second, you haven't read the book! WTFREAK? It's ok, no judging. And actually, it was the least impressive of the three. But overall the trilogy is good. I'm so super excited for the movie though.
ReplyDeleteHeh, fixed now. All read :-)
DeleteI think Mockingjay was my least favorite of the three, probably because my worldview is so different from Suzanne Collins's (apparently) ... the close was so dismal and hopeless.
ReplyDeleteBut thanks for the laugh! I just recently heard about this author for the first time -- how he kills off characters right and left, so this really made me giggle. :)And how ironic that he looks like a teddy bear!
I know, I can't believe he's the same man who killed ... oh wait, no spoilers :-)
DeleteI don't really spend all that much time re-reading as there are so many books that I haven't read for the first time that I need to get to. It just seems like it would be a waste of time. Maybe that means I don't appreciate literature as much or that I fail to make a connection. I just kinda churn through books.
ReplyDeleteTbh, my re-reading books is much less an appreciation of literature, and much more the fact that my memory is getting progressively worse. My circuits are slowly frying.
DeleteIt's odd, I enjoyed the first book a lot while I read it, but somehow it hasn't captured my attention enough to read the next two. Maybe I'll fix that one day.
ReplyDeleteSarah Allen
(my creative writing blog)
You've definitely read the best of the trilogy in my opinion. By far.
DeleteThat video was hilarious, and yes, I always re-read the books first :)
ReplyDeleteI'm not the only one :-)
DeleteYou've read the first Harry Potter book about eleventy million times? Whew! I've been pouring over the HP series as research for my WIP, but it sounds like you've got me beat by a mile. I'll have to let you check my manuscript sometime for errors.
ReplyDeleteIf it wasn't for the fact that the main reason I have to re-read is because my memory is shot to pieces, I'd say great idea :-) How's that draft coming by the way?
DeleteI agree, Sarah. So much times passes between books that I've got to reread to remember all the details and be able to fully appreciate the sequel.
ReplyDeleteIndeed. I hate it when something comes up, and I know I know what it means but I've forgotten it.
DeleteI usual go back and reread the book ahead of it. In the hunger games instance tho - I would probably read both. I like Mockingjay, but it was better the second time I read it. The first time is disappointing, because of the lack of "arena" type of thing, but the second time around I could appreciate it more.
ReplyDeleteHmm... maybe I should give it another try someday.
DeleteThe way to fix that is to wait until all of them are out before you read a series. Sometimes, I do that. I rarely go back and re-read. Only if there's been a long gap in between (at least 5 years) and I need a refresher. There's no way I could ever have gone back and re-read HP every time a new one came back.
ReplyDeleteI know, it's sad I'm so anal like that :-)
DeleteSometimes I think about re-reading the books in a series; but I'm usually too impatient to read the sequel that I don't. LOL.
ReplyDeleteHeh, as Andrew above suggests - try and keep your hands off them until they're all out. Although that would have been a heck of a wait for Harry Potter :-)
DeleteFunny - I gave my son Game of Thrones for Christmas. The video is great.
ReplyDeleteI loved the series. One day I'll own all the books :-)
DeleteI've been thinking about going back and reading the series... but I keep putting it off... maybe it's best to just remember it as the wonderful story as I recall:)
ReplyDeleteYes, and that way you can enjoy the film too :-)
DeleteI really enjoyed the story and think that she did a great job with it.
ReplyDeleteI loved the first one, but the end of the last one really annoyed me for a number of reasons. Glad I read them all though.
DeleteI do re-read previous books in series I love too--e.g. THE BOXCAR CHILDREN, LITTLE HOUSE books, etc. Spending a whole day reading is about the best thing in the whole world.
ReplyDeleteP.S. Thank you for your comments on my blog the last couple of weeks. Much appreciated. :)
Liz, it's good to see you, and you're so very welcome.
DeleteYes, I always re-read Harry Potter when a new one came out. But I can honestly say, Harry Potter is the only series I've read as an adult. I much prefer stand-alone books - I have no idea why. (Lots of series as a kid though, Famous Five etc).
ReplyDeleteI think stand alones are becoming a bit of a rarity in printed form these days :-)
DeleteThe hunger games is quite a the thing right now. I picked up the first book last year and could get tinto it... I keep planning to pick it up again...
ReplyDeleteThe film has really brought the book back to popularity hasn't it? I'm glad I've read them all. I'm also glad I didn't buy them ...
DeleteIs that what Game of Thrones is like? He's kind of a scary dude!
ReplyDeleteI had to re-read Catching Fire before I read Mockingjay, 'cause I couldn't remember everything that happened. I thought the series was amazing (though pretty horrific).
Yup, I did that with my Harry Potter books too! Though I only read the previous one, not the entire series, each time. Did the same when each movie came out :-)
Yup, pretty much. No character is safe from the wrath of George :-)
DeleteAnd would it be terrible to admit I haven't seen the last three Harry Potter films?