Since Suzanne Collins released The Hunger Games back in 2008, she’s become a household name, with the trilogy concluding in 2010 with Mockingjay. A mere two years following this grand finale, the wildly successful books were transformed into a blockbuster film series.
A whole decade later, Collins dove back into the dystopian universe with a prequel titled The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and just this year published another prequel, Sunrise on the Reaping. While Collins is a relatively private writer and doesn’t often share details of her personal life, Collins once revealed to Entertainment Weekly twelve cherished books in her life, including childhood favourites and those she frequently revisits.
Suzanne reminisced: “I’ve had a lifelong love of mythology, so I’d have to top the list with Myths and Enchantment Tales, by Margaret Evans Price, which belonged to my mom when she was a girl, and D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths.”
She highlighted several fiction works that have stuck with from her childhood: “Fiction standouts include A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L’Engle; The Phantom Tollbooth, by Norton Juster and Jules Feiffer; and Boris, by the Dutch writer Jaap ter Haar, which I still think is one of the best war stories written for kids. Unfortunately, it seems to be out of print in this country.”
Additionally, Collins opened up about other treasured reads that she’s returned to time and again, some of which may even hold some influence over her own celebrated work, reports The Mirror US.
Among the titles she holds in high regard are George Orwell’s seminal dystopian work 1984 and William Golding’s classic tale of survival and morality, Lord of the Flies.
The echoes of these masterpieces are evident in the dark and compelling universe of Panem that Collins crafted. She candidly confessed it was “embarrassing to admit” just how many times she has returned to these novels.
Alongside these, Suzanne also cherishes A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, Germinal, We Have Always Lived in the Castle and A Moveable Feast as some of her all-time favourite reads.