While we have plenty of contemporary entertainment it is never too bad to go back to books. Yes, people nowadays prefer sticking their noses in the display of their smart phone or playing games on PCs and consoles. Other go outside and practice sports while all of us need to go to work for the better part of the day. We keep making excuses to why we do not read books but honestly all of us have enough time to turn a page or two. Fortunately there are plenty of books for every taste and we should take advantage of this. The digital era brought us the possibility to read books on our tablets and phones. Many people make the argument that nothing can substitute the real feel of a book – its cover and its pages. We are not going to get into this discussion because it is true that books are easily organised if you have them stored on your HDD. Not to mention that you save so much space this way. If you have 100 books in your home it might prove to be hard to transport them all when it is time to make a removal. Yes, you will perhaps have movers who will package and carry everything for you but that does not mean you have to make life harder for others as well. The subject of the discussion is not whether the traditional book will disappear because we know it never will. We will talk about the variety that is presented to us in terms of types of books and their purpose.
Novels are by far the most popular type of book out there.
Every article usually begins with more classic and obvious examples. Ours is not an exclusion to this and that is why we are taking a quick look at the regular novels that everyone should read. Of course we are talking about fiction. Plenty of authors have made a fortune thanks to their skills to fantasise and come up with compelling plots and stories. Some of them are:
- Stephen King
- Robert Ludlum
- George R. R. Martin
- Joanne K. Rowling
The genres vary but what they have in common is that they are completely made-up stories. This allows the author come up with something incredibly interesting and create a best seller. Most of these books do not stop with just one edition or tome. If something becomes popular the writer keeps thinking of new storylines in order to keep the reader hooked. There is nothing wrong with that as it has a positive effect on our imagination as well. Most of the popular books become adapted and turn into movies. We are not going to dabble in the age long question whether books or adapted screenplays are better. We are simply saying that reading a book and watching a movie are two totally different experiences.
Biographies are also a great read. They are usually not fictitious and tell the story of a real person. If it is written by the person himself then it is called an autobiography. Many times books are published about bands or groups of people. They can be about all sorts of celebrities – actors, athletes, politicians. Reading this type of books can be absolutely useful to anyone. But knowing what famous people went through in their lives and what decisions they made we can try to live a life similar to theirs and attempt to mimic at least part of their success. We also feel closer to them when they tell us their story. Football fans are keen on reading the books of their favourite coaches, groupies want to know all about their favourite singers and so on. When you get the information from the horse’s mouth it makes it extremely credible. Fans also want to know about juicy stuff that has happened in the life of a given celebrity. We want to know details regarding events in their life which have been covered or twisted. Biographies are an excellent way for famous people to come clean and admit things. We simply want to know that they are mortal just like us.
Roleplaying games existed long before the digital era kicked in
A genre which sort of died with the emergence of PC and console gaming is the roleplaying books. These are again fictitious stories but ones in which the reader has control of the story. Here is how it works. These are usually adventure fables about heroes, knights, kings etc. As the story progresses the book gives us a choice after a few paragraphs. For example: “Your hero has traveled long and finally stops in front of a cave. If you wish to enter, go to page 56. If you are going to look around go to page 75.” You constantly make choices and thus affect the outcome of the adventure. It used to be extremely entertaining for children in school but today they can simply log on to their computer and play a much more graphic adventure with a hero holding a weapon in hand.
Finally we are going to talk about diaries. Their popularity also took a hit because people simply do not have time to write in them and they are also not fond of keep memories in such a way anymore. However, these books can be extremely useful and perhaps most people should have them. Reading what we have written 3-4 years ago might just show us how much we have changed and allow us to remember something we have long forgotten. Since diaries got boring recently, some authors have come up with a little more special idea. There are these books which resemble a diary but instead tell you what to write on each page. They might ask you to not only describe your day but also tell them a few things about yourself. They are like interviews with yourself. Sometimes you might be asked to draw something or glue a ticket from your most recent cinema visit.