Just because it’s mid-August doesn’t mean summer is over. There is plenty of time to get into those summer reads you wish you had already started.
The Evesham Township Library has recommendations for adults and kids that will satisfy your time at the pool, the beach or relaxing at home in the air conditioning.
According to Sue Szymanik, branch manager of the Evesham Library, young adult books are the fastest growing genre.
“Good examples are ‘Twilight’ and the ‘Hunger Games’ series,” Szymanik said. “These are some of the examples of how young people are reading. Forget what you hear about children not reading anymore; they’re reading.”
According to Szymanik, some kids are so busy during the school year they don’t have much time for reading, so the children’s and young adult books are “flying off the shelves.”
“You follow the character and get to know their friends,” Szymanik said. “The quality of ‘Harry Potter’ and ‘Divergent’ and some of these others are terrific. People want to read them.”
The page-to-screen experience makes books more enticing for all ages, she said.
For the younger ones, there’s a series that came out called Percy Jackson, which has a new movie coming out, as well.
“It’s so wonderful for me when a fifth- or sixth-grade student wants to read books. It’s great to see a kid who would associate reading for pleasure and not because a teacher was going to make them read it,” Szymanik said.
Some of the books have waiting lists due to popularity, but if your name is added to the list, the wait isn’t long.
“The Hunger Games” and “A Fault in Our Stars” both have had a long waiting list due to both being a part of the Lenape Regional High School District’s One Book One School reading program.
“We’re beyond the point of seeing authors cranking out anything and expecting [kids] to read it. They want it to be a good book with good quality,” Szymanik said.
Adults need to take the time to relax and satiate their reading needs as well.
“The summertime is a good time to read. Everyone is so busy during the year,” Szymanik said.
“We hear from all the teachers they wanted to get through their list. They really cherish the books they’re reading.”
“Gone Girl,” which isn’t new, according to Szymanik, is one of those books that has popularity by word of mouth and “is a book that cannot be kept on the shelf.”
The other books people tend to gravitate to are the classics.
“We have classics in paperbacks and hardbacks. If a movie came out or somebody is holding a book club, it gains popularity again,” Szymanik said.
People remain interested in books by Jane Austen and Ernest Hemmingway.
“When the new ‘Great Gastby’ movie came out, it became one of those books that became popular again,” Szymanik said.
“People wanted to re-read the book. It was a great connection to the classics.”
There are plenty of people who read scholarly books, according to Szymanik.
“It’s not always romance and James Patterson,” she said.
Finance, politics and historical biography books are available for guests.
There’s a large digital collection of thousands of books for E-readers, as well.
“The idea they can load several books and take it with them is great,” Szymanik said.
“People are downloading them for free to their device and taking it with them. They don’t even have the bother of the wait. They just have to download it.”
The selection includes children’s books.
“The neat part is when the kids teach the grandparents how to use their Kindles,” Szymanik said.
Head over to the Evesham Township Library, located at 984 Tuckerton Road.
For more information on the library, visit www.bcls.lib.nj.us/libraries.
