I read this book for the read-a-thon, and I must say it was an excellent choice as it was quite a page turner. This book is taking the internet by storm, and while I did enjoy it, I didn’t quite love the book.
I’m not going to go through the plot as quite a few people have read it, or if they haven’t, there are plenty of sources to find that information. I will say that the plot was, in my view, the best part of the book. As I said above, it’s quite a page turner, but although I didn’t think the writing was bad per se, I didn’t feel it was up to par with The Giver by Lois Lowry or The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer. The romance angle in the book irritated me a bit. I understand to a degree why it was necessary to the plot, but I thought it could have been a little more well done. Another minor irritation was the naming of the characters in the book. I suppose it was done on purpose, but I felt it distracted me from the story every time I came upon a strange name. I’ve never really noticed it in books like Lord of the Rings, etc., but in this book the names just seemed a bit silly.
Even with all that said, I did like the book quite a bit and plan on reading the entire trilogy. I hate to be too negative when I actually enjoyed it, but since it’s received so many rave reviews, I just thought I’d explain why my rating was a little lower.
2008, 374 pp.
Disclosure: I purchased this book for my personal library.
I always enjoy the read-a-thon, and this one was no exception. I had a bit of a late start (really didn’t start reading until 10 am) and then crashed at 1am, so actually for the time I had available, I really did well. I had 15 hours that I participated, and I read just over 11. I do hope to hit the 15 hour mark in a future read-a-thon, though!
My strategy for any read-a-thon is really just to read as much as I can. I don’t do a lot of the mini-challenges just because I’d rather spend the time reading. I don’t visit other read-a-thoners very much during the read-a-thon, either, but I do enjoy going to everyone’s blogs the following day to see how they did and which books they read. It seems like quite a few people read the same books as I did, so it will be fun to compare notes.
Thank you organizers and cheerleaders for such a fun event!
Time spent reading: 672 total (11 hours 12 minutes)
Pages read: 772 pages total
1. Which hour was most daunting for you? The 19th hour. I fell asleep hoping to take a short nap, but my body demanded more. 2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? I would definitely recommend the two books I read, The Hunger Games and Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins 3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? Nope, it was great as usual. 4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon? Everything! 5. How many books did you read? Two 6. What were the names of the books you read? The Hunger Games and Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins 7. Which book did you enjoy most? Both 8. Which did you enjoy least? N/A 9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders? N/A 10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time? Very likely. I’ve participated in every read-a-thon since the very first!
What I’ve been reading: I’m now 2/3 of the way into Catching Fire and about ready to start Part III: The Enemy.
I’m pretty happy with my progress so far, especially since I had a late start. I’ll have to look back to check, but for most of the read-a-thons I think I have had about 10-12 hours of pure reading time, so I’m definitely on pace to at least meet that. I’m getting a little tired now, but who knows? Maybe I can beat my own personal record.
Time spent reading: 115 minutes/551 total (9 hours 11 minutes)
Pages read: 132 pages/647 total
What’s up next: Hopefully finishing up Catching Fire.
Books finished: 1 – The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Mid-Event Survey: 1. What are you reading right now? Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
2. How many books have you read so far? Just one, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon? I haven’t looked that far ahead yet. If I’m tired, I might go to the audiobooks of The Historian or The Good Thief
4. Did you have to make any special arrangements to free up your whole day? Nope, my family is used to it by now!
5. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those? Not many.
6. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far? That so many people participated this time!
7. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? No, everything’s peachy.
8. What would you do differently, as a Reader or a Cheerleader, if you were to do this again next year? After participating in every single read-a-thon so far, I pretty much know what works for me. I would try not to get a late start next year, though!
9. Are you getting tired yet? A little. I know I’ll be able to finish Catching Fire, but depending on how late it is and how tired I am after that, I may have to take a nap.
10. Do you have any tips for other Readers or Cheerleaders, something you think is working well for you that others may not have discovered? Well, YA works really well for read-a-thons, but I think a lot of people have already discovered that tip.
What I’ve been reading: I’m now 133 pages into Catching Fire and ready to start Part II: The Quell. District 12 has just been introduced to some new people and some new ways of doing things.
I am enjoying this series, and both books have been excellent choices for the read-a-thon, but I still think my favorite set of YA dystopian books are The Giver, Gathering Blue, and Messenger by Lois Lowry. I also really liked House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer. I’ll probably know more after I finish Catching Fire. If you have favorites other than the ones mentioned, I’d love to hear about them!
Time spent reading: 117 minutes/436 total (7 hours 16 minutes)
Pages read: 133 pages/505 total
What’s up next: Continuing on with Catching Fire.
Books finished: 1 – The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
"Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal." (John 6:27, ESV)
I read this book for the read-a-thon, and I must say it was an excellent choice as it was quite a page turner. This book is taking the internet by storm, and while I did enjoy it, I didn’t quite love the book.
I always enjoy the read-a-thon, and this one was no exception. I had a bit of a late start (really didn’t start reading until 10 am) and then crashed at 1am, so actually for the time I had available, I really did well. I had 15 hours that I participated, and I read just over 11. I do hope to hit the 15 hour mark in a future read-a-thon, though!
What I’ve been reading: Just finished Catching Fire. I’m getting soooooooo sleepy. I think I’ll take a short nap now…
What I’ve been reading: I’m now 2/3 of the way into Catching Fire and about ready to start Part III: The Enemy.
Mid-Event Survey:
