The Hunger Games Trilogy review

First things first... Under the cut there are spoilers. 

I am going to talk in detail about what happened in all three books. If you haven't read them then don't read anything past the next sentence.

I will say one thing about these books, they are fantastic.

Ebooks vs. Print books

I recently asked for some book recommendations on Twitter. A few came back with some books that looked amazing but on closer inspection they were only available in ebook format.

I understand why a lot of authors are choosing to self-pub and go down the digital route but traditionalists miss out. I don't own a Kindle or any sort of eReader. Until recently, I had no desire to own one. I love the feel of a book, I love looking at how much my bookmark has moved after a reading session and it's so easy to get lost away from the world of technology (although I do read sci-fi...).

The only reason I feel I should have a Kindle is so I can read books by these authors who don't have books in print. The amount of ebook-only books I am coming across that I want to read is growing. But part of me wonders why I should spend £100 on a device just to be able to read books by these authors who haven't given me the choice.

Yes I could read Kindle books on my computer or phone but it's not the same. I love books because they are books, a computer or phone will never live up to that. At least the Kindle screen is a bit easier on the eyes, but I know it wouldn't ever be as good as a book to read.

Self-pubbed authors, is there a reason why there aren't a print versions of your books available from CreateSpace/Lulu/similar?

I'd be interested to know what other readers feel. I know that if I got a Kindle it would only be used when there was a book to read that I couldn't get in print. I'm not flaming any authors who do only have digital copies of their books but it's very likely that I will not buy your book because it's not in a format I enjoy.

For the record I've played around with Kindles (and iPads) and neither have given me a reading experience I'd enjoyed. Feel free to tell me where I'm going wrong here.

Does reading make you a better writer?

On Friday night my boyfriend was out so I sat down for a serious writing session. I'd already written about 2,000 during the day, words I was fairly happy with but knew I could improve when I got down to editing them.

I took a break to eat, watch some TV and put the washing on. I then sat down and read some of House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski. It's a wonderfully atmospheric book and I was very on edge by the time I'd decided to stop reading and do a bit more writing.

The words that then flowed were so different and so much better than anything I'd written in a long time. I was writing a scary scene and managed to freak myself out enough that I didn't dare to move from the sofa, under a blanket, until 2am when my other half got home.

I'm pretty impressed that my writing made me jumpy (even in combination with a scary book).

Last year I rarely read anything and so far this year I've read loads. It's definitely made me a better writer, I'm seeing different ways to phrase things, delving deeper into language and structure.

Are you big readers? Do you find certain books help to improve the way in which you write?