Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't by James C. Collins

Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't by James C. Collins
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I wasn't planning on reading Good to Great this month, but I had reserved it from the library, and well, when opportunity knocks...

I read and reviewed Good to Great back in 2011, and gave it a glowing 5 stars, but my enthusiasm has probably waned a little since then. I still think it is a great book, but I've been exposed to a lot of other great books, and this is very foundational. Not as actionable. And although Collins addresses the concern of only having 11 companies to study, I still have trouble with it. With such a small data set, it is hard not to see outside influences and circumstances that might have affected the outcomes he highlights.

So I still like the key concepts in this book. Who before what. The hedgehog concept. The three circles. The flywheel principle. I think what I would really like to see is a follow-up study of the next generation of companies who fit the same criteria, and another study 10 years after that, etc. Every 10 years or so a new batch of companies should come along and either validate or invalidate his findings. Or just build on them and add depth. Until then, this one has slipped to 4 stars for me, although I still highly recommend it.

Mockingjay (The Hunger Games #3) by Suzanne Collins

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Disappointed.

In the end it was the story of one person, Katniss. The revolution and the conflict were really just apart of her biography. Secondly, it was the love story of Katniss and Peeta. Unfortunately, it was neither of those that kept me reading, even thought those were the key topics in the end. The overall external conflict and the action are what made it good, and so when then finale turned out to be 30 pages of internal struggle for Katniss, this whole series was ruined for me. I feel like I was watching an exciting movie, and then right before then big finish, the projector broke, and 20 mins later after the theater staff have it fixed I get to see the ending, but I don't care anymore. The moment and excitement were lost.

Also, the love triangle thing got worse in this book. While I like the twist of Peeta being hijacked, the competition between Peeta and Gale was just a distraction, and in the end it didn't matter anyway. At least Collins could have killed one of them off.

So one more thing... I read the Gregor series before The Hunger Games trilogy was ever released, and despite this review, I am a fan of Suzanne Collins. I saw parallels between the characters in the two books that can only be indicative of her personal style and voice (for instance she has a thing for younger siblings that need protection from an older sibling, but who come of age throughout the series...) I like that. I like getting to know the person behind the words, if only just a little. It adds to the story, and teaches me about what it means to be a writer. While I can only give this 3 stars for what I consider a disappointing ending, which we probably would disagree on, thank you for an excellent ride, and I look forward to where ever you will take us next.

Catching Fire (The Hunger Games, #2) by Suzanne Collins

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really liked this book.  The revolution is happening, and Katniss's problems are growing. I'm not sure I like the love triangle part though. It smacks of an Edward vs. Jacob type conflict (yes, I read Twilight...) which I hated, and found distracting to what I considered the best parts of that series. I hope it doesn't get in the way here as well.

I'm also not sure about Katniss as a character.  She is supposed to be cold and evaluative of everything, but she strikes me as an attempt at a "logic-based" character by an emotional writer. That isn't a bad thing, but in the book she sounds logical and removed, but doesn't act that way. I'm not describing this well, since I think it was a subtle discrepancy to me. Did anyone else notice the same thing?

Of course, with this having a cliff-hanger ending I'm excited to read the next book. There is a lot of potential for awesomeness here.