While many students at Exeter’s Sum- mer School are reading quite a bit for their academic classes, a handful of students reading for pleasure are enjoying a variety of different genres this summer.
These genres include (but are not limited to!) action, suspense, science fiction, comedy and thriller. Adult fiction in particular was a popular genre according to Amber Fernald, who works at the Exeter bookstore.
Some of the biggest hits at the book store were “Papertowns” and the “Fault in Our Stars,” both by John Green, and “Divergent,” by Veronica Roth.
However, there were some students whose choice of reading material did not correspond to the big hits in the library and
bookstore. Jackson Ikenberry, 15, for in- stance, has been enjoying the second novel of the saga “The Song of Ice and Fire, Game of Thrones.”
“I like the whole idea of people betray- ing each other, I think that’s very cool,” said Jackson. “People have different motives and there’s not one set main character, there are many different characters.”
Meanwhile, Kenneth Harlley expressed fondness for the book, “The Girl on the Train,” by Paula Hawkins He stated that he liked his book, “very much,” before going on to cite the unpredictability of the novel.
“You don’t expect what is going to hap- pen, basically,” said Kenneth.
“Be More Chill,” “It’s Kind of a Funny Story” and “All the Light There Was,” were some of the other books students have brought from home. “The Hunger Games”
trilogy and “The Song of Ice and Fire” saga were also very popular among students (at least six interviewed people claimed that they were reading books from either of these sagas), which suggests that TV shows and films have a very important influence on the people’s book choices nowadays, specially in the young audiences.
Although many are mostly interested in science fiction, action, romance, comedy, etc, it was very interesting when a group of Muslim students told how much they enjoyed reading the holy book of Islam, the Quran.
For some, reading for fun is a year round hobby that they always keep time for. For others, however, finding time to read for plea- sure is a challenge in light of school work, extra curricular activities, and other hobbies.
“Honestly, I don’t read much to begin with,” said Jackson. “I used to read a lot
when I was little, but now I don’t…I haven’t been reading as much as I would have liked because of video games, and school work, and skateboarding. [There is] not a whole lot of time for reading.”
On the other hand, Marilyn Miller, manager of the Exeter bookstore, suggested that more students have bought books this year than in previous years.
“I think that it’s been better this summer because the titles we’re offering fit better for the students,” said Miller.
A number of new books were ordered over the last few days and are expected to arrive throughout next week.
“We figure that students will want to read on the way home,” Miller said.