The Hunger Games reading order

A plan for the whole series

5 volumes, 2,331 pages, about 45 hours. At 45 min a day that is about 8 weeks.

• From volume 2 on, the number of ratings falls most before volume 4, “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” (by 69%).
• Readers scored volume 3, “Mockingjay”, below its predecessor (7.7 after 8.2). If you slow down there, that is on the book, not on you. From volume 5 the form returns.
• The series is still running; the last volume came out in 2025. You will wait for the next one anyway, so no need to rush.

Stages

3 stages, with 2 short books from outside the series between them. You finish around January 1, 2027, 7 days later than in one go.

1. 1
   Stage 115 h20 daysby November 18, 2026

   • 1. The Hunger Games2008 · 399 pages · 7 h
   • 2. Catching Fire2009 · 400 pages · 7 h
2. Short breakThe Fire Next Time · James Baldwin · 120 pp. · score 8.82 h, by November 21, 2026. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
3. 2
   Stage 28 h10 daysby December 2, 2026

   • 3. Mockingjay2010 · 424 pages · 8 h
4. Short breakThe Emperor's Soul · Brandon Sanderson · 96 pp. · score 8.82 h, by December 5, 2026. A short book from another shelf, so you come back to the series hungry.
5. 3
   Stage 320 habout 4 weeksby January 1, 2027

   • 4. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes2020 · 544 pages · 10 h
   • 5. Sunrise on the Reaping2025 · 564 pages · 10 h
6. The end of the series

   January 1, 2027

We count 1.1 min per page, the pace of an average novel reader. Faster? Move the slider.

Does the series hold up

Shape of the series: a dip in the middle, then the form returns. Readers scored the middle volumes (7.8) below the opening (8.3); the ending (8.6) comes back up. If you slow down in the middle, there is still a reason to go on.

Best volume: Sunrise on the Reaping (8.6, 1,498 ratings). Weakest: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (7.6). From volume 2 on, the biggest drop in the number of ratings is between volume 3 and 4: 69%. The series is not finished; the last volume came out in 2025. The last volume (8.6) scores close to the series average or above it.