Books and Movies - a reason to be thankful

On Friday night at Fountain Stone Theater, several JCPL'ers (and their suffering spouses) were part of the group of adoring fans who attended the opening night of the Twilight movie.

Today the buzz at work is still "what did you think?" If you look anywhere on the web, you will find mixed reactions to the movie, and certainly you'll find them here, but the last time we have seen such a reaction to a book-turned-movie had to be each installment of the Harry Potter movies.

For those of us who read Stephanie Meyer's series -- and at current count it's over half the staff here at JCPL -- we STILL can't get enough.

There are a lot of good movies out right now, or coming soon, based on excellent books. Sue Monk Kidd's beloved The Secret Life of Bees is still in theaters. The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas opened in select communities earlier this month.

A movie that is sure to delight holiday viewers is Marley and Me, the tale of a family and their neurotic but lovable dog, which opens on Christmas Day.

For those movies, and many others, we at the library give thanks that they bring really good stories to viewers who might otherwise miss them. We also are thankful every time they introduce a non-reader to the magical world of reading, or inspire a so-so reader to go after a book to find more information about the characters they loved on screen.

For those parents, boyfriends, friends and fathers who watched Twilight this weekend and wondered what it was that captured the hearts and minds of so many fans, all I can offer is this: read the book and find out.