Wow! We now commence with our 3rd discussion in the Summer of Hunger Games by discussing Parts I and II of Catching Fire and anything previous to that—and boy do we have a lot to discuss! We will not be discussing Part III of Catching Fire…yet! Just like last time, the same rules apply. Remember, on the right hand side of this post you’ll see Book Talk’s own WORDS WE LIVE BY – so please, keep it friendly and fun. Comments with spoilers for Parts III of Catching Fire will not be approved, let’s keep it within the confines Parts I and II of Catching Fire and anything previous to that. Thanks!
Also, we have give-away number four! We’re giving away two MORE Mockingjay pins! As with the first round, to enter be sure to comment on this post with the phrase “I want a Book Clubs Mockingjay pin!” in the body of your comment. You must be over the age of 18 and a valid U.S. resident, click here for complete rules. You will have until tonight August 13th, 2010 at 9pm EST to enter. We will draw two (2) names at random tomorrow 1pm EST. Please only submit the phrase one time, and leave the rest of your comments for good ole’ fashioned book talk.
Click through to read some of our (very crazy) thoughts about where we are with Catching Fire!
Man alive! Finishing Hunger Games and jumping straight into Catching Fire is amazing! Last time I read Catching Fire I did not reread Hunger Games and getting a chance to read these back to back is blowing my mind! For the longest time I was convinced that Hunger Games was the better book. I even had a discussion with a friend just before we started Summer of Hunger Games and she was telling me that Catching Fire was better…she was right and I was wrong! Catching Fire has so much going on…the politics and the mind games between Katniss and President Snow, the Quarter Quell, and oh we can’t forget the love triangle!!!
Alright tributes…what do you think? Go!
Book Talk 
I want a Book Clubs Mockingjay pin!
I want a Book Clubs Mockingjay pin! AND I just wrote a blog about the Mocingjay, posted literally seconds before Scholastic twittered this, LOL.
Drat for typing too fast. *Mockingjay*
I want a Book Clubs Mockingjay pin!
Also, re: Catching Fire…I was a little disappointed in the second book. The first book had really good pacing, and was brand new and shiny in plot. The second book retreaded a lot of what the first book had already covered, and also rushed so that I didn’t feel that I was getting a good feel for the characters…even the ones we had already met. For instance, I didn’t feel like we knew much more about Gale than we did in the first book.
I DID really like all of the political machinations and the way things about the country were revealed slowly, and I’m hoping that what the second book set up will make the third book stunning. 🙂
I had similar thoughts the first time I read it but we don’t know much about Gale because the book is from Katniss’ perspective. I think that is what makes the whole Team Gale/Team Peeta thing interesting because we see Peeta a lot more than Gale because Peeta is with Katniss more.
I want a Book Clubs Mockingjay pin!
I want a Book Clubs Mockingjay pin!
I want a Book Clubs Mockingjay pin!
I want a book clubs Mockingjay pin!
really badly…
as for Catching Fire being a better book… I’m still not sold – the pacing of the first part really didn’t live up to the WOW of book one OR of the remainder of book two.
Having read (really) everything Collins has ever published (and having enjoyed it all… yes even the weird picture books for kids) I expect a LOT of her… perhaps from another author I’d be turning backflips… but from Collins – I want WOW all the time. Yes, that makes me evil 🙂 The political tension was set up so well in #1 that I don’t think we needed so much build-up in book 2…
I want a Book Club Mockingjay pin! I think that Catching Fire was the better book because of how it had more Gale. The first book contained more of the introduction of the characters. While the second had more of a knowing of what they have been through. Plus I think the second has more action and emotion. I just think the second is better.
I want a Book Clubs Mockingjay pin.
I want a Book Clubs Mockingjay pin. I entered the wrong e-mail last time.
I just can’t get enough of these books.
I want a Book Clubs Mockingjay pin!
I want a Book Clubs Mockingjay pin.
I want a Book Clubs Mockingjay Pin!!
I want a Book Clubs Mockingjay pin.
I want a Book Clubs Mockingjay pin!
I read Catching Fire in one day. No joke. I stayed up until 5 a.m. to finish it because I couldn’t put it down.
Great book!
Even though I have been a huge fan of The Hunger Games, this is my first read of Catching Fire. It’s been quite a while between books for me, too. That being said, it was not difficult at all to jump right back in to the story.
I think one of the best aspects of this trilogy is how believable the character of Katniss is – even the love triangle is believable! As of right now, I think I prefer Catching Fire to The Hunger Games.
I want a Book Clubs Mockingjay pin!
I want a Book Clubs Mockingjay pin!!!
Hunger Games took the time to set the scene and introduced the characters in a way so we, the readers, would care about what was happening to the families and how they were forced to live under the tyranny of the Capitol.
Plus, the important things to Katniss became important to me.
I learned the meaning behind the Mockingjay pin Madge gave to Katniss.
I “played” the Game with Katniss and I cried over Rue.
In Catching Fire, it was because of that it became meaningful and heart wrenching when the older man whistled the tune Katniss and Rue used to signal each other.
Everything I loved about Catching Fire was because of the wonderful setup by the author in Hunger Games.
I can’t wait to read the next installment, maybe then I can choose which book is my favorite.
“I want a Book Clubs Mockingjay pin!”
I did not mean to say that Hunger Games not any good. I loved the Hunger Games and I agree with lulilut, everything that is great about Catching Fire is set up by Hunger Games.
I just think that Catching Fire delves more into the psychology of some of the characters which is fascinating. Like finally seeing how Haymitch won his Hunger Games gives you more insight into Haymitch’s character, which you don’t get much of in Hunger Games.
I want a Book Clubs Mockingjay pin!
It’s more fun to read Catching Fire right after the Hunger Games. The second time I read Catching Fire was better than the first, but I still think Hunger Games is better. Hooray for Mockingjay!
I want a Book Clubs Mockingjay Pin! I Love Love Love The Hunger Games Series and can’t wait to read Mockingjay!!
I want a Book Clubs Mockingjay pin!
Catching Fire blew my mind. The beginning was a bit slow, though still interesting, but then it was like BAM chapter after chapter shiz just kept getting real. I was like WT* IS HAPPENING!?
I want a Book Clubs Mockingjay pin!
I want a Book Clubs Mockingjay pin!
I want a Book Clubs Mockingjay pin!
I want a Book Club’s Mockingjay pin!
Personally, I think Catching Fire is the better book. It does feel a little bit like a rehashing of the games when the Quarter Quell comes around but overall I prefer it because it mixes all the fantastic elements of the first one with the political intrigue between Katniss and President Snow and the developed Peeta/Katniss/Gale love triangle. To be honest, despite how much I love these books now, I had a hard time starting The Hunger Games. It took me until the Reaping to really get into it. Had it not been for my friends telling me what a fantastic book it was, I might not have gotten past the first chapter or two at all. Of course, they were right. ^_~
And I’m cutting it really close to spoiler territory here but it is in part 2, I checked….
I will be so upset if Cinna dies. I hope he doesn’t, but I fear he will.
I want a Book Clubs Mockingjay pin!
I want a Book Clubs Mockingjay pin!!
There is so much going on by the end of Catching Fire – I can’t wait for the wrap up. Part of me is glad it’s a trilogy so we’ll know the end, but part of me also really wants it to continue!
I want a Book Clubs Mockingjay pin!!!
I want a Book Clubs Mockingjay pin!
I agree with what most people say about liking Catching Fire better than The Hunger Games, but I felt like it was slow going during the first third. I was most disappointed that the book didn’t start with Katniss and Peeta at the train station. Arg! I wanted to see everyone’s initial reaction to them, and we never really got to find out what the town’s people’s reactions were during the games. I wanted to know what Peeta’s mom thought about hearing her son describing how his dad felt about Katniss’s mom. I wanted to know how everyone reacted when Katniss assumed Peeta was working with the Careers. Did people yell at their TV screens like I would have? And so on…
One of the things I found very interesting was the directions given by Haymitch during the training: Make friends/alliances. I agree with Katniss’ first reaction: What the heck! On the other hand, how does the capitol really expect these friends to kill one another? These victors are celebrities and all share the nightmarish experience of surviving the hunger games. The crowd loves them. Well, the Capitol crowd love them. Will they unite in the arena like they did on stage?
What do you think of Haymitch and Katniss’ pledge to keep Peeta alive? Do they owe that to him? Is that the smart choice?
P. S. I want a Book Clubs Mockingjay pin!
I want a Book Clubs Mockingjay pin!
I want a Book Clubs Mockingjay pin!
I want a Book Clubs Mockingjay pin!
Thanks for the contest!
I want a Book Clubs Mockingjay pin!
I read the two right on top of each other and I think I would have love, love, loved Catching Fire if there hadn’t been the review in the first couple chapters. I’m sure it would have been necessary had there been months between the books for me as it was for some. (But the end MORE than made up for the first couple chapters of review. What a BOOK.)
I want a Book Clubs Mockingjay pin PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!!!
To begin, I REALLY want a Mockingjay pin!
I agree with what some of the others have said. The pacing in this part is a bit slower…but perhaps it’s the calm before the storm so to speak.
I love the maneuvering of the politics!
I don’t think either book is better than the other. The first one was great in it’s own way, and Catching Fire is great in it’s own way. I think that they’re equal.
I want a Book Clubs Mockingjay pin!
I want a Books Club Mockingjay pin PRETTY PLEASE!!!! XD
I want a Book Clubs Mockingjay pin!
I want a Book Clubs Mockingjay pin!
I also felt at first that Hunger Games was better, however I can not wait to see how Mockingjay really fits into all of this and then I can decide on which is the best in the series!
I want a Book Clubs Mockingjay pin!
Can’t wait for the 3rd book to come out. I was raving about the 1st to my kids yesterday.
I can’t wait for the Mockingjay book to be released (it is too bad it is our first day back at school!!) I really liked the plot twists and turns in Catching Fire and can’t wait to see what happens to Katniss next!
I want a Book Clubs Mockingjay pin!
I want a Book Clubs Mockingjay pin!
I want a Book Clubs Mockingjay pin! Please!
I thought the second book took tremendous creativity to get us to buy into putting Katniss and Peeta back into the arena. I was surprised when Katniss didn’t suspect that the head of the games was up to something.
I liked Catching Fire more beacuse of the internal conflicts Katniss has to deal with. Does/could she “love”Peeta? Does she want to rebel? Who to protect? All very interesting.
I want a Book Clubs Mockingjay pin!
I want a book clubs mockingjay pin!
darn, i just read the rules more closely….grrrr…
“I want a Book Clubs Mockingjay pin!”
I really liked the second book. It kept me on my toes wondering how things could get much worse during the quarter quell.
I want a Book Clubs Mockingjay pin!
I really want a Book Clubs Mockingjay pin!
But as for Catching Fire, I enjoyed the book all the way through. I read it in one sitting because I couldn’t put it down, and I literally gasped out loud and shouted things at each character as I was reading. My family kept telling me to stop because they had no idea what I was doing 🙂
“I want a Book Clubs Mockingjay pin!”
Originally I thought The Hunger Games was way better. I liked the way Katniss survived, I liked Rue, I loved Katniss’s and Gale’s friendship. But today I reread it and changed my mind. Catching Fire is way more REBELLION than the Hunger Games. I love CF with all my heart.
One thing to talk about, though. With all the obvious hate surrounding President Snow and Katniss, why didn’t he just kill her in the Games? And the names, again; Seneca, Plutarch, Darius, Romulus, Purnia. Obviously Roman.
I would like a Book Clubs Mockingjay Pin.