very simple

I finished two more books before 2010 came to a close, and they were both part of the same series, so I’ll tackle them together.

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

The second and third books in the Hunger Games Trilogy, these books certainly lived up to their hype, although Catching Fire was a bit more engaging (only a bit!). Mockingjay seemed to take longer to get where it was going, and Katniss, the protagonist, spent much of that book essentially sitting on the sidelines – I understand why it was necessary for the story, and she had her own demons to wrestle with even away from the front lines, but the big, world-changing stuff essentially happened off-page until near the end.

But the end… really fantastic. I think my favorite part of all three of these books was that, despite being in the “young adult” category, Collins wasn’t afraid to show relationships as messy and complicated. It’s a nice change of pace from the “one true love that stands in the face of all challenges” that’s been presented to teenage girls in books like the twilight series and even Harry Potter.

My only regret is that there isn’t going to be a fourth novel. I suppose I’ll have to content myself with waiting for the inevitable movie (which I believe they’re already casting!).

Happy New Year everyone. My final reading tally for 2010 was 35 books. Not quite hitting the 50 book challenge target, but certainly more than I’ve ever read in a single year in my adulthood.

Tags: books