John G.’s Summer Reads

There are two things I love to do to escape the brutal summer heat: read a good book in the comfort of my cool, darkened apartment and watch a good movie in a cool, darkened theater. I may even take a book to read during the pre-movie entertainment that hardly anyone pays any attention to. Many of my favorite books have gotten the big screen treatment and while some are hits and some are misses, I love to see how the movie studios adapt these stories to film. I’ll even cast the characters of the books I read in my head to get a better picture of the story. Here are a few of my favorite picks you should definitely read before you watch on screen.

1. I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore
John Smith is experiencing some typical teenage problems such as moving to a new town, struggling with bullies, and falling for a girl. However John, aka Number Four, also has to deal with protecting his secret alien identity, controlling his developing powers and hiding from another alien race intent on destroying the last nine of his kind. This is such a fun read, especially the scenes where John finally starts to get a hold of his powers. The book goes into much more detail about his home world and his people than the movie could. The two sequels are equally amazing.

2. The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan
The sequel to Percy Jackson’s first adventure The Lightning Thief picks up with Camp Half-Blood, the safe haven for demigods in training, under threat of invasion from the Titan Kronos’s army. In order to rejuvenate its borders Percy and his friends need to acquire the fabled Golden Fleece, but in order to do so they first must brave the dangers of, you guessed it, the Sea of Monsters. I love the adventure, humor and play on Greek mythology Riordan brings to this series. The movie may be out by the time this gets posted and I hope it can live up to the book better than the first one did.

3. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
Another movie sequel coming out this year is the second book in the mega popular Hunger Games trilogy. The stakes are much higher for Katniss after winning the Hunger Games on her terms and sparking a rebellion among the districts against the Capitol. This book is my favorite of the three for its thrilling plot twists and tense moments that had me on the edge of my seat. And while the first movie is great, it clearly suffers from not being able to get into Katniss’s head like the books do.

4. Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
This sci-fi classic is one of my favorite books of all time and will finally get its big screen debut this November. Ender Wiggin is a child genius like his siblings and many other children who are bred so that one day they may be chosen to be trained as soldiers to prevent a second invasion from a hostile alien race. Once in Battle School, Ender must endure training exercises that push his physical and mental limits, bitter rivals that want to hurt him and being away from the one person he loves all so he can become the saviour of humanity. There is excitement on every page of this book particularly in the Battle Room scenes that had me reading them multiple times. It will be interesting to see if they can recreate the awesomeness of this book in the movie but I for one can’t wait. And for a read just as amazing you should check out the parallel storyline Ender’s Shadow.

5. The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey
While production hasn’t started on the movie yet, I can definitely see great things for the future of this franchise. Sixteen year old Cassie has witnessed the destruction of her family and world as she knew it in wave after wave of different alien attacks. Now all alone in the wilderness with few supplies and a rifle she barely knows how to use, Cassie holds on to the hope that she can find her little brother, but with the aliens taking on the form of humans to hunt down the last of the world’s population there is no one she can trust. Part Ender’s Game, part Terminator with a dash of Katniss from the Hunger Games, this book is all astonishing. Only the first book in a trilogy, it is already my favorite read of the year.