Ranked: The Hunger Games

Hey guys, welcome back!  As I was looking around the shelves in my room I realized that the vast majority of my books are part of a larger series.  While standalone novels are amazing, there's just something that I love about a good series.  Maybe it's being able to spend more time in that particular fictional world, maybe it's because I get to see the characters continue to grow and change, or maybe I just don't even realize what I love about them so much!  Whatever the case may be, I thought it might be fun to go through my favourite series and rank the books from favourite to least favourite!  So, the last Friday of every month will now be dedicated to 'Ranked' where you'll get to see what some of my favourites are!  The topic for our first week is The Hunger Games!

#3. Mockingjay
Sadly, the third installment of this series is my least favourite of the three.  I loved that we finally got to see full-scale rebellions against the Capital and, obviously, that the Capital got taken down.  Unfortunately, other parts of the book weren't quite as interesting to me.  While it makes sense to the story at the time, the fact that Katniss isn't involved in much fighting for the first part of the book does make it a bit slow.  It wasn't until her group started fighting their way through the Capital that I really started flipping those pages fast, desperate to find out how it would end.  And, hijacked Peeta just makes me sad (enough said!).


#2. The Hunger Games
Ah, the book that started it all!  As much as I love the original, this first installment doesn't get the number one spot.  I loved the idea of the book (as horrifying as it it) and loved the characters.  It was a great introduction to the series but, like many first installments of book series, was lacking the feeling of 'something bigger'.  While we get a glimpse of that at the end of the book, for most of it Katniss was just like any other contestant in the game.  And while her story was interesting, it became far more interesting as the series progressed.




#1. Catching Fire
Ever since I read it, this has been my favourite book in the series.  While I adored the first one (obviously!) it's in this second installment that Katniss's story becomes part of something larger.  We get to see the consequences of her actions and 'rebelling against the Capital' from the first book and we also get introduced to more instances of fighting against the capital (District 8 anyone?).  On top of that, we get introduced to a ton of new characters including my all-time favourite: Finnick.  I also think that the games themselves were more interesting; I loved the clock idea and that each hour there was something else that was waiting to get the tributes.  It was much more interesting to me than Katniss just running around a forest.


Do you agree / disagree?  Why?  Let me know in the comments below!

Series I Want to Re-Read This Summer

Summertime is a great time to re-read some old favourite books.  As I do every summer, I want to take the time to read some of my old favourties again.  Looking through my shelves, I noticed so many series that I want to read again.  So, the following are the series that I hope to finish re-reading by the end of the summer.

1. Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead - 0/6 Done

This is one of my favourite book series of all time and, unfortunately, I haven't had the chance to read it again in ages.  I'm really hoping to re-read this series this summer because I've seriously missed this world and these characters.


2. Bloodlines by Richelle Mead - 0/6 Done

As much as I love the original Vampire Academy series, I actually love this spin-off series even more!  It has a greater focus on Adrian and Eddie - two of my favourite characters from these two series.  And, I relate to Sydney more than I do Rose which makes me even more invested in her story.


3. Darkest Powers by Kelley Armstrong - 3/3 Done

I originally read this series around the same time I first started Vampire Academy and I've always loved it.  I love all the main characters of the series - particularly Derek and Chloe - and re-reading the series was just as fun as always!


4. Darkness Rising by Kelley Armstrong - 3/3 Done

As I spin-off of the Darkest Powers trilogy, I've always loved Darkness Rising as well.  Though I don't think it's as strong as the original trilogy, it's still a lot of fun to read.  And, it's great to have the characters from the original trilogy show up again and have their storyline wrapped up.


5. A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket - 2/13 Done

Such a fun children's series to re-read!  I remember reading this series when I was younger and absolutely loving it.  Unfortunately, I read them over a long period of time and would never quite remember what happened in the previous book.  And even now, I can't remember what happened throughout the books.  I'm really looking forward to re-reading the rest of them and experiencing the story again.  The only bad thing I have to say is that, for the first two books anyway, the writing is more childish than I remember or what I'd prefer to be reading.  That being said, it is to be expected from a children's series and it doesn't really negatively impact the reading experience.


6. Phantom Stallion by Terri Farley - 3/24 Done

Growing up, this was one of my favourite book series of all time.  The first few books in the series have been read so many times that they're almost falling apart in my hands as I read them.  I haven't read these books since the final one was published in 2006!  I've only re-read the first three so far, but I still love them after all this time.  Though definitely a series for kids, I can't help enjoying them as much as I did when I was younger.  I'm looking forward to reading through the rest of them soon!


7. Breathing by Rebecca Donovan - 0/3 Done

This is one of the most heartbreaking series that I can remember reading.  But, it is so beautiful as well.  I love these characters and have been wanting to re-read this series for some time now.


8. The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare - 0/6 Done

This is a series that I used to re-read all the time!  After the last book came out though, I don't think I've gone back to it.  I've seen a lot of other people re-reading this series recently and it's encouraged me to give it a go again as well.  I've really missed this world and the characters, so I'm definitely looking forward to it!


9. The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare - 0/3 Done

You can't read The Mortal Instruments without also re-reading this series as well!  I've only actually read this series once (maybe the first book twice) and I can't really remember what happens in it.  Definitely looking forward to re-reading this one because I know it's widely loved!


10. The Maze Runner by James Dashner - 0/3 Done

When I originally read this series, it quickly became one of my favourites.  I haven't read it in awhile though and I've really been missing it.  I also recently realized that there are a lot of negative views toward this series and kind of want to figure out if it's still as good as I remember it to be.


11. The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer - 0/4 Done

When I originally picked up this book series I really didn't know what to expect.  And, to be honest, I really didn't think I'd enjoy it.  I passed up the chance to buy Cinder for months before I finally decided to give it a shot.  Luckily I did, because this series is absolutely amazing!  But, I blew through it so fast the first time that I don't remember much of what happened.  And, I haven't had the chance to re-read it since.  Until now.  I'm definitely looking forward to reading it again!


How about all of you?  Are you looking forward to re-reading some old favourites this summer?  Let me know in the comments below!