Library Buzz: The Book was Better Anyway.

(Originally published in the Andover American 8/1/13. "Library Buzz" is written by Toria Hamilton.)

As a librarian, it is my solemn and sworn duty to convince you to read the book rather than watch the movie, right?

English teachers, avert your eyes.

I’m sorry, but I love movies. I know the actors’ names, the directors’ styles, and the composers’ recurring themes. If you don’t like movies, you can’t be my friend. So although I do make a point of reading the book before I see the movie, I’m the last person who’s going to tell you the book is the most important thing in the entire world.

As a matter of fact, the Andover Public Library is a great place to pick up movies. Library patrons can check out up to four DVDs at a time and keep them for a full week at no charge. Our large collection of movies and popular TV series includes Oscar winners like “Lincoln” and “Silver Linings Playbook,” and popular blockbusters like “Avengers” and “Django Unchained”.

Try comparing these films with the books they’re based on, all available at the library: “Stardust”, based on the book by Neil Gaiman; Ang Lee’s 2012 adaptation of Yann Martel’s “Life of Pi”; the Swedish film versions of Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy, starting with “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”; the family-friendly “Hugo”, based on the Caldecott winning “Invention of Hugo Cabret” by Brian Selznick; or the beautiful “Memoirs of a Geisha” based on Arthur Golden’s popular 1997 novel. Check back later this month for the new “Gatsby” based on Fitzgerald’s classic.

Don’t forget that some TV shows are also based on books, like “Game of Thrones” (from George R.R. Martin’s books) or “True Blood” (from “The Southern Vampire Mysteries” by Charlaine Harris). Check out either the books or the series’ DVDs from the library to decide which version you prefer.

Okay, tell all the English teachers they can come back now.

As much as I love movies, if there’s anything we learned from this summer’s “World War Z” starring Brad Pitt, it’s that sometimes the movie has nothing to do with the book. If you don’t want to miss out on a fantastic story, it’s best to read the book first. Come by the library so you can check out “Ender’s Game”, “City of Bones”, “Sea of Monsters”, “The Hobbit”, and “Catching Fire” before you see them in theaters later this year. I give each of these books two thumbs way up.