Courtesy of theamazingspiderman.com
After the tests, the packing and the traveling are done, where will we be this summer? For most of us, that will mean beaches and reunions and old friends becoming new again. But this summer also has a multitude of movies and books in store for the bored student free from classes. Here is a breakdown of the best movies to see and books to clutch.
Movies:
“The Amazing Spider-Man 2”: Today kicks off the cinematic season with the release of this sequel. Jamie Foxx will be joining Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone in this installment of the revived Spider-Man franchise. For those of us who have been waiting two years, this can be a present for escaping the more-lively-than-ever “dead” week. From “Transformers: Age of Extinction” to “Godzilla,” we have a surplus of action-packed movies waiting for us just outside the gates of campus.
“Maleficent”: Angelina Jolie stars in this much-anticipated movie, out May 30. The movie has been teased since early 2013 and has raised a lot of suspense for the sharp-cheekboned, smooth-voiced villain’s side of the story.
“The Fault in Our Stars”: June 6 will bring this melancholy romance to the big screen. The film is based on the New York Times bestselling and award-winning novel by John Green and is a story of a cancer-ridden teen who has secluded herself from almost anything a normal teenager would do. No spoilers, but anyone going to this should be warned: This is not a first-date movie. This is a seasoned-relationship, ready-to-see-you-at-your-worst movie. That being said, it’s also a must-see. The novel gained recognition as TIME Magazine’s No. 1 Fiction Book of the Year.
“How to Train Your Dragon 2”: This sequel is coming out June 13. After unexpected adoration of the original, Dreamworks has been promoting the movie for some time now.
“Captain America: The Winter Soldier”: The second installment of the franchise has been a big hit thus far and will continue to be until Chris Evans stops being, well … himself.
Books:
“Blind Descent: Surviving Alone and Blind on Mount Everest”: Released yesterday, this book chronicles the real-life story of Brian Dickinson, who went almost completely blind during his descent from the highest peak in the world. This is the perfect novel to start off a summer reading binge. It’s going to be just as terrifying as the title sounds.
“City of Heavenly Fire”: Another installment in “The Mortal Instruments” series is scheduled for release May 27. For the followers of Clary and the Shadowhunters, this is great news. After a huge response for the first novels in this series, Cassandra Clare is still adding to the No. 1 New York Times bestseller series.
“The Snow Queen”: Celebrated author Michael Cunningham will release his sixth novel on May 6. Cunningham is a winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award and the Pulitzer Prize. This tearjerker is sure to be a perfect replacement for Nicholas Sparks’ selfish lack of a new summer read.
“I’ll Be Right There”: Kyung-sook Shin, one of Korea’s most popular novelists, will be releasing her novel June 3. This intellectual mystery is perfect for a hammock, a chair, the edge of your seat, anywhere that you can sneak away to, really.
“Pushkin Hills”: The recent rerelease of this novel by Sergei Dovlatov has been likened to Christmas morning for the English-speaking world. It was originally published almost 30 years ago and became one of Russia’s most popular novels. Only now has the literary treat been translated and published in English. More than just a story, the work is a look into Russian prose and culture.
