This week on the Amazing Read we challenge you to read a book that has been (or will be) turned into a movie!  For bonus points (not that we're keeping track) you could also watch the movie.  I always like to compare the two and see what they decided to change and which one I like better.  Spoiler alert: the book is (almost) always better.  I watched Warm Bodies, a zombie rom-com, over the weekend and I'm looking forward to reading the book this week.  We’d love to hear what you’re reading, so consider sharing with us through your Summer Reading Program log, by commenting on this post, or on Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest.

In addition to the suggestions below, be sure to check out our Pinterest board: "Before They Were Movies."  Are we missing any of your favorites?

This week on the Amazing Read challenge we have the chance to read about a place we want to visit.  You could, for example, pick up a travel guide for a place you plan to visit, grab a cookbook featuring regional dishes, read a fiction or non-fiction title with an interesting setting, or follow your favorite blogger who lives in a cool place (I’m partial to an interior design blogger who lives in London).   For me I like to learn as much about the journey as the destination, so below I’ve listed a few titles for readers of all ages that feature interesting settings but which also focus on journeys.  This week I’ll be reading

• Childrens
• Fiction

Ah, summer! The kids are out of school, the mosquitoes are out in force, and before you know it, you’ll be out of ideas for things to do that don’t involve long hours sitting on car seats you could fry bacon on, getting sand in your bathing suit, and/or adding more negative numbers to your bank statement.

Harris County Public Library’s Summer Reading Fun is your answer.

This year’s theme is Have Book – Will Travel, and HCPL wants to encourage everyone—from infants to seniors--to explore the worlds that reading open up. Starting Monday, June 3, register online at www.hcpl.net and join your friends and neighbors in traveling the world through the pages of a book.

In observance of the 6th Annual LightsOutHouston initiative, Harris County Commissioners Court has authorized Facilities and Property Management to lead a countywide effort, in conjunction with the City of Houston, the Greater Houston Partnership and Central Houston Inc. to turn off all non-essential lights at the end of the day.

Turning out unnecessary lights when you leave a room is one of the easiest ways you can help the environment, conserve valuable resources and save money. Remember--unlike humans and other living things, furniture does not need light to survive. Your sofa, ottoman and coffee table, as well as your work station and file cabinets are not afraid of the dark.

Harris County Public Library encourages you to make turning off unnecessary lights a year-round habit. If a light is not needed for safety or some other necessity, turn it off!

Writers in the Schools (WITS), is a local nonprofit organization that sends professional poets, fiction writers and playwrights into over 350 area schools to help children, K - 12,  discover the "pleasure and power of reading and writing." Each year in April, WITS celebrates National Poetry Month by sharing the poems of some of its many talented students through its A Poem A Day project.

 We at Harris County Public Library are excited to once again participate in this year’s event. Starting this Monday, April 1 and running through the month, fans of HCPL’s Facebook page will get to read these amazing poems.

Don’t miss a single one. ‘Like’ us on Facebook now (and as an added bonus you’ll get library news, information on upcoming library events, new title announcements, and other fun and interesting stuff with a bookish bent.