Baltimore County Public Library Summer Reading BCPL SRC discussion

Here are two cliches I know you have heard many times. Don't choose a book by its cover. And... The book was so much better than the movie.
Well I ignored both, swore to myself not to see the movie or read the books. I'm so tired of hearing about Reality TV it's so outlived its frivolous novelty & I just couldn't stand the idea of watching a movie about it or that kids would be marketed to read the books. Then to hear that kids would be killing each other to win the games. Oh, it just seemed horrible that anyone would entertain the idea. Ok, so get on with it...
One of the girls in my daughters Girl Scout troop really wanted to go to an event with the theme. I smiled cringing inside knowing that I would need to read the book so I could relate to their interests...So, life is hard in District 12; like nothing I've ever had to experience and yet the author was able to get me to feel their pain & sacrifice for themselves & others. I began to look at food differently. Merely the availability of food today is astonishing when you really think about how tightly controlled food is in the store to control the people. The parallel to today is very close. It's not that hard to get food in the US; grocery stores prepared & pre-packaged, fast food, sit down restaurants, room service, garden, hunting for yourself, I wonder what the stats are on people who are self sufficient vs need society in order to eat.
The relationships in the first book were so complicated and the choices made were weighted. Katiness' has so much responsibility on her shoulders it pales in comparison to the challenges many of us have to face today. I would hope that I could be that strong mentally & physically if put to the test.
This book should be a must read for everyone. It really will make you thankful for who & what you have in your life, and what you don't have to do to live. Think about priorities and cherishing the simple things in life.
So, I did see the Hunger Games movie after the book. Then I read/listened to the rest of the series during my commute. The movie can't put you into Katiness' brain to know what she is thinking but, I'm sure the movie makers did the best they could. I highly recommend reading the books first if you haven't already seen the movies. And if you already saw the movies read the books, you won't be disappointed. I haven't seen the Catching Fire yet, it's in my movie que. I'll probably see Mocking Jay someday too but I like my imagination of the end a lot & I don't want to ruin that so maybe by the time it's out on disc it will be more of a refresher.

If you've never read The Hunger Games, it's on Amazon for Kindle at $1.99 today. It's definitely worth a read!

I read the first chapter and part of the second before putting the book down. I had a hard time getting into the story because of the way Collins wrote. There just wasn't an emotional appeal to me because it feels like it's all been done before. I still have the trilogy on my bookshelf and may try to bring myself to make an attempt at it again. Maybe Collin's story suffered because I had just finished Battle Royale. The major storyline is similar and I found the writing to be more visceral and compelling in Battle Royale.