#6: Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins

Naturally, to complete number 6 of 30 (or 50, who knows anymore?), I moved on to the second book of the extremely popular teen trilogy:

I like that this book has sort of an activist and empowerment parallel. I also think that the character development definitely improves from book one. As in The Hunger Games, the writing style is much less than brilliant and nothing special. But I can't help but want to read more about this country and its citizens. However, I'm not getting enough details! Collins fails in an area where Rowling doesn't. When we read Harry Potter we know so much about their world-- the currency, the government, popular literature, etc etc. There's a lot we don't know about Panem. And that's where I think the trilogy is lacking.

I'm reaching an age (yikes!) in which popular teen series are far from the first novels I pick up. I think I will always be curious about those that have become a sensation of sorts, but I'm more interested in classic literature, realistic fiction, and even non-fiction. I grew up with Harry Potter (love) and I was in high school during Twilight, but it's clear how I would rank the three:

Harry Potter................... Hunger Games.................................................................................................................................... Twilight. (Yeah, not a fan of Twilight.)

Book #5: The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins

I finally gave in to the mainstream teen population and read The Hunger Games. If I had a dollar for every time someone said "YOU HAVE TO READ IT, OMGZ" I would be a rich lady!

It was good enough, but I think the hype built it up a little too much. Don't get me wrong, the story was compelling and I'll be reading the next books in the series, but it was no Harry Potter. :)

Here's to hoping I get the Kindle Fire I asked for for my birthday and I'll be able to get the next two soon!