In Panem, what you know could help you survive. Patrons of the district and capital libraries are pragmatic in their reading choices.
District 12
Katniss Everdeen
It’s crucial for Katniss that she not only knows how to shoot with her bow, but also that she knows which plants offer sustenance and which plants are dangerous. Foraging helps her both in and out of The Hunger Games arena. She keeps her foraging guides at hand, and always checks out new offerings in this vein.
Recently she’s picked up From the Wild: an essential companion to identifying, cooking and enjoying common wild plants for health and healing and Eat Weeds: a guide to foraging to see what she can add to her own book of plantlore. She’s also learning about The Medicinal Garden.
Peeta Mallark
As the son of the baker, Peeta takes an interest in bread: it’s a peaceful pursuit, providing people with sustenance. Interested in all kinds of cooking, he’s glad to make use of the library’s selection of cookbooks, and particularly interested to keep up with different baking traditions around the world. Recently he’s been getting back to sourdough baking with Bring home the Bakery: sourdough recipes for high hydration breads, laminated pastries and Swedish buns. He’s also been learning about flatbreads, with Roti: 90 simple recipes for the Indian bread and its accompaniments. He knows that bread is life!
And as a developing artist, Peeta loves to learn more about painting: alongside looking at many books on technical aspects of painting and paint, he likes to consider the work of other artists. The book How Painting Happens offers him insight into the artistic process.
Haymitch Abernathy
Haymitch has a way of communicating through objects. Choosing the right gift and the right moment to send it is a skill that shouldn’t be underestimated. And sometimes it’s a matter of knowing what object might be needed at all.
He’s interested in works like The Story of Tools: a celebration of the beauty and craftmanship behind the tools of handmade trades that uncover the full meaning of objects. Do they cover the spile? It’s not just tools that are interesting: all objects, from a Mockingjay pin to a drone delivering a bowl of lamb stew tell a story, and so Neil MacGregor’s The History of the World in 100 Objects gives him plenty to think about.
Gale Hawthorne
Gale can’t deny that war changes a person. In taking stock of the events in Panem and their aftermath, he is seeking out the works of soldiers. Perhaps he will find wisdom in their experiences. For example, he has recently ordered in Warrior, Soldier, Brigand: Institutional Abuse within the Australian Defence Force to see if he can reckon with District 13’s tactics.
Prim Everdeen
Having been selected to train as a doctor, Prim applies herself to the medical field with great dedication: learning to heal people is one way to thank her sister for her act of self-sacrifice, volunteering on her behalf for the Hunger Games. Having committed to her study, Prim is interested in the history of medicine as well as its practice. The History of Medicine in twelve Objects is one window in the history of her profession.
Before she can help humans, she makes sure she is doing the very best for her cat Buttercup by consulting Longevity for Cats: a holistic, individualised approach to helping your feline friend live longer—and healthier.
Lucy Gray Baird
Lucy Gray knows her ability to perform a song is her greatest asset—well, that and her wits. Her knowledge of the songs of the Covey is always a comfort to her; her experiences give her material, perhaps, to write her own songs in the future. Looking for inspiration, she turns to one of the greats: Bob Dylan’s The Philosophy of Modern Song contains Dylan’s essays on some of the great popular songs that he holds dear. Lucy Gray wants to learn from it as she thinks through favourites from her own repertoire.
District 3
Beetee Latier and Wiress
As kids, Beetee and Wiress learned about electricity early. They think Electricity: Energy in Action is a good place for young learners to start.
While they are best known now for their skills with electricity, they love the non-electrified world too. Any clever contraption is sure to please them, and they love to get ideas for their own experiments and devices from seeing what other people are making.
Mechanical marvels are right up their alley, and so Lego TECHNIC non-electric models is a volume that is sure give them some ingenious ideas. (Once they add electricity back in the mix, these gadgets will really pack a punch!)
District 4
Finnick Odair
It’s hard for Finnick to imagine life without water: his love, Annie Crest, and the water are the two things that make life worth living. And in a world full of potential dangers, the oceans offer a vista of peaceful blue and a chance to swim.
He hopes that the ocean can recover from the wars and wants of Panem: he’s reading David Attenborough’s newest work Ocean: Earth’s last wilderness both to marvel at the splendour of the sometimes mysterious vastness, and also to learn how he can contribute to a healthier ocean.
Mags Flanagan
Mags says she can make you a fish hook out of anything. This is great, but when she visits some place new she also needs to know what she’s fishing for.
The Complete Fishing Bible is a great resource for checking on the types of fish she can expect to encounter.
The Capital
Coriolanus Snow
President Snow has valued quality roses since he was a boy: his grandmother’s rose garden was a saving grace in the hard years after the war. He enjoys tending to the roses himself even now, and consults Roses: Essential know-how and expert advice for gardening success to see if there are new lessons to be learned in the art of rose-growing.
While searching roses in the catalogue, he also noticed Sarah J. Maas’s A Court of Thorns and Roses. He’s not above being intrigued by a good 'romantasy' so he’s ordered that in for the presidential library too.
Effie Trinket
Manners matter to Effie Trinket. She tries not to be judgmental, but she does find it difficult to respond to coarseness of all kinds. Nonetheless she understands that etiquette can change over time, and she likes to check in on the current mores of society. Social graces can make her movement through Panem much easier and besides, she believes good manners are always in fashion.
She’s currently making her way through Mind Your Manners: an Insider’s Guide to Social Fluency.
Cinna
Cinna knows his craft and knows that the drama of fashion is important business. He is both a student and master of fashion history and holds Alexander McQueen in especially high esteem. As such, Lee Alexander McQueen: the illustrated world of a fashion visionary is a work he knows he’ll come back to again and again: it takes a visionary to know one.
Caesar Flickerman
Caesar Flickerman appreciates a showman and believes his own career longevity has been enhanced by his ability to both appreciate those who came before him and to respect those nipping at his ankles. The key is grace under pressure, and a winning smile. He’s impressed by Bert Newton’s long career and is enjoying Bert: the entertaining life of Australia’s Favourite TV star. He’s intrigued to see if Jackie Henderson is really going to tell all with Jackie O: The whole truth. He believes that you gotta leave ’em wanting at least a little bit more.
Plutarch Heavensbee
As the head gamemaker turned political messaging expert, Plutarch Heavensbee follows the game of chess with interest. He’s studied the game deeply and considers Fundamental Chess Endgames by Müller and Lamprecht to be essential reading.