Summertime can be a good time to catch up on all of the recreational reading that students miss out on when they’re neck-deep in textbooks. So what are Weber State University students reading this summer?
Some Wildcats have boarded the Fifty Shades of Grey series wagon, which has sold around 20 million copies to date.
“I am reading Fifty Shades Darker, which is the second book in the Fifty Shades of Grey series,” said WSU junior Katie Durrant. “Mostly I started reading it to see what all the hype was about. It isn’t fantastic writing by any means, but I’m getting through the series pretty quickly. I still don’t get the hype, though.”
Others are picking up books that are considered literature classics.
“Right now I’m reading Catch-22,” said senior Jennifer Griffiths. “I wandered into Barnes & Noble earlier in the summer, and they had a whole table of classics to read during the summer. I was torn between Lord of the Flies and Catch-22, but Catch-22 won this time.”
According to GoodReads.com, young adult series seem to be catching the attention of readers this summer. Here are just a few authors who are making waves.
1. E.L. James: James is the author of the Fifty Shades of Grey series, which has taken (primarily female) readers by storm. The series follows the tale of Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey, who fall in lust. This series seems to be unavoidable, so those looking for more details about the plot probably don’t have to look too far.
2. John Green: Green is both a popular writer and vlogger with his brother Hank on YouTube. Two of his novels, The Fault in Our Stars and Looking for Alaska, have made the GoodReads.com top-10 list for books to read this summer. While these two books aren’t in a series, they are growing in popularity.
3. Veronica Roth: Roth’s Divergent trilogy is set in a dystopian future and follows the 16-year-old Beatrice Prior. The series has been likened to The Hunger Games series and began production of a film version in May 2012.
4. Suzanne Collins: Chances are this is not an unfamiliar name. Collins is the author of the popular Hunger Games series, which has sold more than 30 million copies and has been in the top 100 for 135 weeks. Earlier this year, the first installment of the movie series was released.
5. Stephen Chbosky: Chbosky is the author of The Perks of Being a Wallflower, which follows a young man named Charlie in letter form. It takes a new angle on the coming-of-age story type as the reader follows Charlie through high school. A film of the book will be released on Sept. 21, 2012, starring Emma Watson and Logan Lerman.
These are just a few authors who made it toward the top of the list. There are still a slew of familiar and new authors like Tolkien, the Bronte sisters, Austen, Plath and Heller, just to name a few.
