National Book Day is August 9th, and more than ever we as a nation should celebrate this day. With fewer and fewer people reading books (myself included), we should all take time in the day to sit down and read a few pages from our favorite novel. In an ever-growing, technological-driven world, one day out of the year to just read a book would be an important thing. Why read a book when you have Twitter, the Associated Press, and CNN all at the push of a button? And although novels continue to be released, Hollywood buys many of them instantly and turns them into movies to watch. I myself, am guilty of not reading the Hunger Games series but I find myself watching all of the movies. Below are some of the biggest movies that were based off best-selling books. Jurassic Park, The Hunger Games and the Lord of the Rings Series are a few of tons of books that can be read on National Book Day.
- Jurassic Park (1993) is based off of Michael Crichton’s book of the same name. The first of the the film installments takes place on an island with a billionaire philanthropist and a team of genetic scientists. They find a mosquito that contains dinosaur DNA encased in tree sap, and they use it to create a park full of dinosaurs. A theme park with dinosaurs...what could possibly go wrong?
- Hunger Games (2011) is based off of the trilogy by Suzanne Collins. The first book in the installment, it centers around the young female protagonist Katniss Everdeen and her efforts to survive in a dystopian society ruled by the ruthless President Snow. Katniss and Peeta Mellark are chosen to fight to the death in an arena, an annual reminder of Snow’s disdain towards the old days of Panem.
- Lord of the Rings (2001) is the first in the film trilogy and is based off of the beloved novels by J.R.R. Tolkien. The story follows Frodo, a hobbit who has found himself in possession of a powerful ring used by the Dark Lord Sauron. Frodo, along with eight others, must destroy the ring in the fires of Mt. Doom to prevent another war between good and evil. Now that’s what I’m Tolkien about!
August 9th, 2015 is National Book Day so don’t forget to put it down in your calendars, because you may not regret it being able to pick up your favorite book once again, or expanding your horizons and starting a new one!
