Lights, Camera, Read!

It is impossible to live life without regrets.  Sometimes, you don't regret things until after the fact.  There are those things, however, that you do that you just know you are going to regret.  I put watching the movie before reading the book into that category.  I try not to let it happen, but sometimes it is inevitable.  Take "The Wizard of Oz", for example.  I think the first time I saw that was before I could even read.  It has been my favorite movie of all time ever since, and the original book is still on my endless "to-read" list.

Today, I created a book display housed quite intentionally right on top of our DVD stacks to help patrons avoid this same fate.  It reads, "Lights... Camera... Read!  If you liked the movie, you'll love the book."  Front and center are copies of some of my absolute favorite books turned movies: A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling, Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson, Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, and Matilda by Roald Dahl, just to name a few.  I not-so-secretly love it when I book I have read becomes a movie because I can see how the filmmakers' version compares with that of my imagination.  It is impossible to do this if you watch the movie before you read the book because your mind's eye automatically resorts to the images already provided by filmmakers.  If I can help one patron check out the book along with the movie, then my work here is done!