Books vs Movies! Reading Awareness Month.

Why is it that many students have this READING=STUDYING=BORING equation in their heads? This month is National Reading Awareness Month so I'm challenging you to READ something! Anything! A classic, a sci-fi novel, a biography, a comic book, a book of poems, the newspaper in the doctors surgery! ANYTHING! If you don't know where to begin try exploring these!

Reading is a form of ESCAPE or a way to DISCOVER the world around you and certainly a way to let your IMAGINATION RUN WILD! When I was a kid, I read anything and everything I could lay my hands on. If you don't read you are missing out! How many times have you wished you knew what someone was thinking? Books are magic because when you start to read you are looking inside the author's/narrator's head!

Now I know that there are those of you who say "Well why should I read the book when I can watch the film?" The Guardian recently published a list of the best book-to-film-adaptations.  I'm sure you'll be able to add another ten favourites to this list but if you ask me books win hands down every time! Below are a few reasons why.

For Reading:

• You get inside the writer's/narrator's head. (Yes, I already said that!)
• You understand the characters' emotions because everything is explained in detail.
• You know what motivates the hero or the villain as there is background information and sub plot which movies often miss out on. (Read Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist and compare it with the American version of the movie and half the book is missing!)   
• You visualise the characters and places within (and beyond) your own experiences, you are not forced to 'see' a particular place or person but 'guided' by the author. (There was upset over The Hunger Games in relation to character changes in the movie adaptation.)

For Movies:

• There is no need to think, movies are passive entertainment. Perfect for couch potatoes!
• There is no need to use your imagination, everything is done for you. After all, dreaming is such a bore! 
• There are special effects and music to enrich the story. Like words have no power, right?
• It's quicker to watch a movie. (So what? No one is going to criticise you for wasting time if you are reading for hours!)

So what are you waiting for? Go read a book! Not convinced? How about some worst book-to-movie adaptations!