Hunger Games Countdown Kick-Off + Reaping (Giveaway)

I was a newly-proclaimed avid reader, standing in a brightly lit bookstore back in 2008, fresh off the Twilight bandwagon (just setting the stage a little). I was in need of a good book; something to keep my interest so I wouldn’t lose hold of the ever elusive reading bug, which I had finally caught. I knew only two things: I apparently liked sparkly vampires, and I especially liked love stories. I read cover after cover, but without knowing what I liked, I had no way of knowing which of the many books to spend my precious money on.

And that’s when she approached me. I’ll never forget the way she swooped in like some bookish angel, and stuck The Hunger Games in my hands. “Read this,” she said. “DO NOT judge it by the cover. Once you read the book you’ll understand the cover, but until then, just give it a chance. You’re going to love it.” I wasn’t so sure that a book about hunger could be the answer to my reading needs, but I decided to be patient. She must have seen the apprehension on my face. “It’s got a weird name,” she said. “But it all makes sense once you read it.”

She was friendly and cheerful, and so I opened up to this stranger and divulged my dirty secret: Twilight was the first book I had read in years, along with just a few others in the year or so afterward. I was a complete newbie when it came to books. We talked about books for a few minutes, before I gave in and asked what The Hunger Games was about. She gave me a basic summary of the plot, and added, “my sister recommended it to me, and I’ve been recommending it to anyone who will listen. It just came out, so we have to wait a year for the next one, but this book is worth it. I promise you will not regret it.” I bought two of her recommendations that day.

Later that night, I cracked the cover of The Hunger Games, and began reading about a girl with a horrible name. As I read on, I discovered a nation with a horrible tradition...and later discovered the girl who was on fire; the girl who would change it all.

And I did not regret it.

The time has come to...party!!

For the next 22 days, TRF's focus will be on a countdown to The Hunger Games movie! Most (but not all) of my posts will be Hunger Games related...and I have some pretty cool things in store, beginning with a Reaping Giveaway!

Okay, not that kind of Reaping. In this one, you'll WANT to enter your name in the bowl as many times as you can. At the end of the month, I'll draw one name from Rafflecopter the glass bowl, and that person will be announced the winner!

What can you win?

Official Mockingjay pin

World of The Hunger Games book by Kate Egan

Jabber Jay card game

How to enter:

• Enter once using Rafflecopter, below. (If you are reading this in a feed reader, you'll need to click through to the post to view the Rafflecopter entry form.)
• You can take out up to two tesserae and gain extra entries for tweeting about the reaping, and/or leaving a comment on this post.

OPEN INTERNATIONALLY

Ends 3/23/2012

a Rafflecopter giveaway