> Class took a bi-weekly trip to the library with freedom to choose a book and write a few lines about what the book was about.

One of my first class field trips was to the local public library when I was in kindergarten. I was the one who convinced my parents to get library cards. They were immigrants so they were skeptical of anything being free, but after that, we went there almost once or more a week when I was a kid. Lots of great memories hanging out in the public library.

My system is fairly close to yours. I have a lot of 5 stars. Some people think that's weird but if I got lost in your story and thought about it when I wasn't reading it, you get a 5 spot from me.

It's not by being terrorists or by using bomb threats, come on. The rhetoric and hysteria in here is ridiculous...

I rank books with a 1 star when they have a trope that goes way out of left field and was not mentioned in the blurb. It could also be a book that just made me so mad and upset at the same time. I did this recently for a Jewel Ann book (If This Is Love).

Sure. It's a long list. Note that I have included the notes that were offered for why a book or story is included.

• The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger
• The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three
• The Stand (This novel is important as one of the characters from this features heavily in the series)
• Eyes of the Dragon (The same character from The Stand crosses over into this novel as well.)
• The Talisman (Although it is not extremely important, this book introduces a lot of concepts that appear in the The Dark Tower. The sequel to this book is very important (that comes later in the list).)
• The Dark Tower III: The Wastelands
• The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass (You will see very quickly why it's important that you read this book right after finishing The Waste Lands)
• Salem's Lot (A character from 'Salem's lot appears later in the storyline, and this is a good place to stop and read.)
• Night Shift (Specifically "Night Surf" and "One for the Road". Although not directly important for the tower (why I marked it bonus), they tie into other books that are related.)
• The Mist (Although not extremely important, this novella provides some context for things that occur later in the series. Plus it's a short read, so worth adding in here)
• Insomnia (A very important novel to The Dark Tower series. Multiple characters appear in other books, Roland is mentioned, and concepts appear in the series)
• Everything's Eventual (Specifically the short story "Everything's Eventual". The story introduces a character that will appear later in the series)
• Little Sisters of Eluria (This novella is basically a prequel to the series. Some people think it should go first, but it follows a flashback that occurs in the 4th book. I think it's better to wait on this one until you have more context for the character)
• The Dark Tower IV 1/2: The Wind Through the Keyhole (This book is a Dark Tower novel, but it was published after the last book. Fits in between books 4 and 5. Some people think you should wait until after finishing the series, others feel it belongs between. You can choose whichever you want)
• The Dark Tower V: The Wolves of Calla
• The Dark Tower VI: The Song of Susannah
• Hearts in Atlantis (All of the stories from this book tie together. One of the characters from this collection is important in the last book. Also, similar concepts from the series appear.)
• Black House (This is the sequel to The Talisman. Very important to the series. )
• The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower
• Desperation (Some argue that this book should be read in the middle of this reading list, but I think it can wait until after the series. Has to concepts that are in the final three books. Definitely read this one before The Regulators.)
• The Regulators (This is the "sister" novel to Desperation. Great combination.)
• Ur (This one is only available as an e-book. Deals with the idea of the multiverse. A very good novel to link in.)
• Gwendy's Button Box (Hasn't been confirmed that there's a connection, but there's definitely a heavy implication that there is.)
• Gwendy's Magic Feather (Although King didn't technically write this one, it is the second book in the Gwendy series.)
• Gwendy's Final Task (Definitely has more of a tie into the Dark Tower series than the previous novels. )
• Fairy Tale (This book hasn't been released yet, but from the description, it will likely have heavy ties to the tower.)
• It (At this point in the list, the following novels don't contain explicit ties to the tower, but have concepts that are similar or related. The idea of a character from this book does appear in the series. )
• Revival
• Rose Madder (Mild connections to book three of the series.)
• Bag of Bones (Connections are kind of there, plus a brief appearance of a character from Insomnia.)
• The Tommyknockers (Vague concepts)
• Needful Things
• The Outsider
• From a Buick 8 (King has said it's related, so that means it's related.)

People who use violence or threats of violence to further their agenda are terrorists, and I think almost everyone would agree, including the people who support the removal of these books.

You have to remember that it was common in her district for people to literally just die from starvation in the street. She herself was bordering on starvation before Peeta tossed her that bread. When you're starving (or fighting for survival and your family's survival... dependent on a good hunt or forage) there's not a lot of time or energy people can (never mind want) to put into thinking about life outside survival. It's one of the reasons the Capitol is so effective in all their propaganda.

And her relationship dynamics are simplified... because she's a sheltered 16 year old. It's incredibly realistic for the character, her age, and setting imo.

Wow that’s interesting thanks. This person can be the exception though, I’d want them to have a “special” list of approved books haha

What kind of lunatic restricts kids to reading at their grade level? I’d not only support but actively encourage reading above one’s own grade level. Not giving kids anything challenging or stimulating to read is how they end up not wanting to read at all.

It would have made zero sense though for us to have those details. The books are written in first-person- limited. This means we only know what Katniss knows. Because the Capitol wants to limit interaction between districts (to prevent another uprising), the government mandated education and curriculum is going to be a) major propaganda and b) limited to essentially just their own district. Any outside info that the masses get about other districts is directly related to the Games (also major propaganda!).

It's one of the limitations of first-person-limited stories, but imo one of the reasons I find it most immersive. Had we known all this extra extraneous info, it would have detracted from the story and characters to me bc it wouldn't have made sense in universe for Katniss to have known all this details.

I tried googling it and it looks like they stopped doing that last year. I could be wrong though

This is what I like. The info we have is appropriate too. It's not like Katniss has information on all of the inner workings of the Snow government, for example. Or even something as simple as when she's talking to Rue and learns that they go hungry there a lot despite being major food producers. Katniss is still in school (which is government run and very very narrowly curated to what the Capitol wants from District 12). We only know what Katniss inherently knows or sees and what only makes sense for her to know and see. It's one major benefit from first person limited writing, but I often find it more immersive when done well and imo HG does it very well. Even BOSAS does it well and it's such a beautiful juxtaposition from how Katniss sees the world and why she makes her choices and he makes his. Katniss' thoughts are often quite selfless overall whereas Snow, while it seems like the world is against him, he only concerns himself with him. Not even the rest of his family for the most part. He dismissed Tigress' sacrifices for him. Didn't really actually care about his injured classmate. Felt Lucy-Gray was his to possess... that she owed him... honestly, I love BOSAS so much because of how horrible Snow is in it and how much you can see into his justifications for his choices. Katniss was very "for the good of all". Snow is very "ends justify the means". And it's amazing to see how he justifies his sociopathic tendencies throughout- and how he's rewarded for it. I really really want there to be a sequel. I want to see what happens when Mags is chosen and wins. She's the oldest Victor by far in CF. I want to know why Snow left her alive without any "unfortunate accidents". (Never mind how much I desperately want to know how and why Tigress becomes his enemy given what she sacrifices for Snow throughout!)

Here

Many people instinctively talk shit about things that are popular. Why? I can think of a few possible reasons, but I don’t know for certain. It’s just the way it is. The Hunger Games is brilliant and that rubs some people the wrong way.

I rate my experience with the book rather than the book itself (since I don’t believe there is an objective / meaningful rating I can give). I try to mostly reads books that result in 4 or 5 star reviews

I rate fiction works based on a variety of elements.

Probably in order of: 1) strong or fascinating plotline, 2) fantastic storytelling, 3) powerful & very memorable main characters or themes, 4) how much I enjoyed the book and 5) pacing.

YES! I'm glad I'm not the only one! I recently have been reading a lot more and realized I am a bit of a slow reader. I timed myself while reading a book recently then looked up the word count at the end. Google says 200-300 WPM is average and I was at 206 for that book (but I think knowing I was timing myself made me try to read slightly faster so I'm probably just under 200). I do have the internal voice which might be what's slowing me down. I was talking to some friends though and they said between the important or action packed parts of books, they almost skim through. They don't read every detail, which bugged me. I read every word and every detail of the book.

I have been trying to decide if I want to try to train myself to read faster to be able to read more books but I think it is better to read it at my own pace and enjoy what I'm reading. Other comments talked about subvocalization, I'm interested to learn about that though.

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having to re-read something slowly to check for comprehension has been an issue for me sometimes. I get impatient with it because I need to read large volumes of materials quickly and don't retain information as quickly when I hear it compared to visual processing. I literally see the page (or email or ebook) in my head when I want to recall something.

I didn't mind the bad guys being loosely-sketched cartoon villains because the story was told completely from Katniss' point of view, so that's all they would be to her. She has brief encounters with Snow, Coin, and a few others, but a lot of what we're told is speculation on her part and of course she's going to assume the worse in a way that might be over the top. I don't think the books are super amazing, but they're a solid read for the genre.

Do you live in the US? If you do, you should be able to use interlibrary loan, which should be able to get you any book you want. Getting a reciprocal card from another, larger library should also be an option. Goodwill/Salvation Army and other thrift stores have TONS of children’s books- usually pretty cheap!

They're comparing the hatred of black people and culture to the hatred of gay people and culture. I'd say it's an apt comparison, even if it doesn't line up 100%.

I've noticed when reading text in a language I'm uncertain about, I tend to subvocalize instead of speed read, but I've learned to turn it off when pressed.

I've just started my dark tower series with a suggestion to start with the stand. Over half way now, but I'd love to see the list you're tackling if you don't mind!

I mostly rate on how much I enjoyed the book. To me it is clear that every rating on Goodreads is influenced by the reader's individual taste. That's why I always read more than one review.

I'd say my rating system is similar to yours. 1 star would be - I finished it but I regret it. I'd actively discourage someone from buying it.