In recent years, several young adult or teen novels have made the crossover (crossed the boundary; become popular in more than one category) from popularity with just teens to popularity with adults. Perhaps the most notable (worthy of attention) example is the Harry Potter books. Although written primarily (mainly) for children and teens, the books have become bestsellers among adults as well.  The same can be said (the same thing is true) of Twilight, a series written for adolescents or young adults.

Another adolescent series is about to join these popular teen favorites:  The Hunger Games trilogy (a set of three books telling a continuing story).  The Hunger Games books are written in the genre (category of books) of science fiction and is set (takes place) in the future, where present-day life on Earth has been destroyed, but a new population has emerged (come to life), ruled by a repressive (very controlling and strict) government.  The three books in the series feature (have as its main character) a teenage girl, who reluctantly (does not want to) participates in the annual (done each year) Hunger Games, a tournament where teenagers from every district or area fight to the death, with only one teenager left alive, who is crowned (officially given the title of) the champion or winner.  These Hunger Games  become much more than a just a competition; it is the catalyst (something that starts an important event) that begins a revolution (an attempt to remove the government).

The Hunger Games books have consistently (without change) been on the bestseller list in the U.S. for many weeks, and the series is about to do what the Harry Potter and Twilight series have done:  Make the leap (large jump) to the big screen (into the movies). The first Hunger Games movie is set (scheduled) to be released in March of 2012 in the U.S.  If you want to get a jump on (be ahead of) the movie, there’s still time to read the first book in the series before the movie release.  I just finished the trilogy and highly recommend it.  It is well-written and has the complexity (with many elements; complications) that would appeal to an adult.  They’re the type of books that are hard to put down once you’ve started reading them because the plot (storyline) and the characters (people in stories) are so compelling (interesting and easily keeps your attention).

So if you like good adventure stories, you might like The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. (The second book is called Catching Fire and the third book is called Mockingjay.)  If you like adventure movies, look for the movie in theaters early next year.  Hopefully, the movie will do the book justice (reflect the high quality of the books).

~ Lucy

Art Credit: “Hunger games” from Wikipedia

A spoiler alert is a warning that you are about to find out an important piece of information about a novel, movie, play, or TV program that you haven’t read or seen yet. To spoil something means to ruin it, so the idea behind the term “spoiler alert” is that getting information about how a story ends will decrease (lessen) your enjoyment of it.  But a new study by two California researchers indicates that just the opposite is true: Spoilers make you like a story even more.

In the study, people were given one of three different versions of a story that had a surprise ending, such as a mystery story by Agatha Christie or Raymond Chandler.  One group was told how the story ended before they had even begun reading it, one group was given spoilers in the middle of the story, and one group read the story without any spoilers.  By a small but significant amount, people who read the spoiler before reading the actual story enjoyed the story more than those who didn’t get a spoiler.  (Getting a spoiler in the middle of the story didn’t make any difference, however.)

There are many possible reasons for these results.  One is that people who know the plot (events) of the story can focus on the other parts of the drama – the characters (people) and their motivations, the style of the writing, etc.  Reading a story can be difficult, so knowing how it ends eliminates the burden (difficulty) of having to figure it out, giving you more energy and time to focus on a deeper understanding of the novel.

Does knowing how a story ends make the act of reading the story more or less enjoyable for you?

~Jeff

 Photo credit: Movie poster for Titantic (1997), Wikipedia Fair Use.

Summer officially begins today, a time when school is out (there are no classes) and people take vacations. For many, vacation means more time for relaxing reading, and the term summertime reading usually implies light (easy), enjoyable books.  (“Summertime” is also the name of a famous song we talked about a few years ago.) Summertime reading is the kind of reading you can take to the beach (sandy area next to a lake or ocean), one that perhaps does not need a great deal of concentration (focus; mental energy) to understand and enjoy.

Philosopher and author Peter Kreeft once said that there are four kinds of books in the world. The first kind are books that are clear (understandable; comprehensible) the first time you read them, and clear each time you read them again. We might call these “easy” books, although that doesn’t mean they are not good books. The second kind are books that are clear the first time you read them, but upon second reading (the second time you read them), you start to notice problems in the book – errors or poor writing – and the book becomes less clear.  The third kind of book is unclear on the first reading, unclear on the second reading, and unclear on the third reading!  These are simply bad books, where the author doesn’t do a very good job of explaining his or her ideas or telling the story.

Finally, there are books that are unclear upon first reading, but then become clearer on the second reading, and even clearer on the third.  In fact, this fourth kind of book gets clearer and clearer each time you read it, with more and more meaning found on each pass (each reading of the book).  Some people would say that this is the sort of book we call a “classic” (great book).

We can probably all think of books in each of these categories.  Our summertime reading may be any of these four types, but most of us probably would choose a book in the first category, or at least one we think is of the first kind of book and not the second or third.  (Unfortunately, you usually have to read the book first to determine if it is clear or not.)

What’s on your summertime reading list this year?  For me, it’s The Dummies Guide to Lawn Care.  This is a book for dummies (stupid people) like me who know nothing about how to take care of the grass in front of their houses.  I need to learn more so my lawn (the area of grass near a house or building) doesn’t die. I hope it’s easier to read the book than to mow (cut) the grass with my new lawn mower (see the drawing)!

~Jeff

Graphics credit: Reel mower from 1888 edition of Garden and Forest (and Jeff’s actual lawn mower); Wikipedia PD