Book 22 - Catching Fire

My twenty-second book is Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins, the second book in the Hunger Games trilogy. I loved The Hunger Games...it had action, drama, suspense, and a love story all rolled into one book. I couldn't wait to read the second book (and I was very excited to find the entire trilogy in a hard-cover boxed set...the last one!). This book did not disappoint! It is heart pounding from beginning to end. It picks up right where The Hunger Games left off, after Katniss and Peeta have arrived home and are trying to deal with the aftermath of rebelling against the Capitol. The President pays her a visit, telling her that she must convince not just everyone in all of the districts, but also him that she and Peeta are in love. When that doesn't happen, he comes up with a twist on the Hunger Games (on account of this year being the Quarter Quell, the event that happens every 25 years that makes the Hunger Games even worse than they usually are). And the twist for this year's is one no one, including the reader, sees coming. The twists in this book are mindblowing: you honestly have no idea what might happen...and the ending is the most shocking event of all...

Book 18 - The Hunger Games

My eighteenth book was The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I had heard this book was really good (and really popular) so I figured I would give it a try. I wasn't too excited about reading it, though, when I started. But OMG, when I got into it, I couldn't put it down...it's exciting from beginning to end. Not really beginning, because it takes a few chapters to explain who she is and what the Hunger Games really are, but several chapters in, it really starts picking up. Katniss Everdeen is a tough girl from District 12 (the disctrict that produces coal). Her father died in a mine when she was little, so she has to get food for her entire family, which is made up of her mother and her 12 year old sister, Prim. Every year, in punishment for a rebellion by the districts many years ago, the Capitol (the ruling "district") has the Hunger Games. Two names are drawn from each district, a boy and a girl, two go fight in the Hunger Games. When Prim's name is drawn, Katniss volunteers to go in her place. The other "tribute" is a boy named Peeta, who Katniss had an encounter with when she was little. Once she enters the arena the Hunger Games are in, she must not only find food, water, and shelter, but she also must stay away from the 24 other tributes, including Peeta.