Reading books is my hobby. Books provide knowledge, information and entertainment. A lot of knowledge is stored in books written by master minded geniuses. Books are our best guides and honest friends.
Reading gives much pleasure. I can enjoy the company of great writers by reading their works. I can learn from them good and noble things of life. Good books are friends. They contain the wisdom of ages. They are an endless store of knowledge. We can learn much from them they give us food for the mind. Reading book is the best of all hobbies. It is not very expensive. We can borrow books from libraries
Reading is one of the most constructive hobbies a person can have. The difference between ignorance and knowledge is only a book away. Reading stimulates your mind. It makes you think. You can learn to do many other hobbies by reading. It will generate in you new ideas and a more sound of understanding of the world and those around you. All great men and women have had a love of reading and a passion for learning.
Reading can be a relaxing hobby as well. It is something you can just sit around in your house and do. You can go to the park and read. You can go up into the mountains or out in field to read alone if you would like. You can get completely lost in reading and forget where you are or what time it is, or how much time has passed while you have been reading. If you do not like reading, do it anyway, until you learn to love it. Read different types of books to see which genre of books are most interesting to you.
Reading can fit all personality types, whether you like fiction or non-fiction, action, adventure, drama, humor, whatever it may be, there are books that will fit your tastes. I try to read books as often as I can. I have a personal website now, where I created a book club and can make comments or reviews of the books I read. I think I enjoy every book that I read. Every single one has something to offer, something to learn from it.
Books can make you see the world differently; they can make you understand things more fully and wholly. They can change your paradigm. They will increase your vocabulary, your understanding of life and people, and with this understanding, you will gain more confidence in your social interactions. You will be able to argue your opinions more thoroughly and logically. You will understand the current issues to a greater extent. When you learn to understand others better, you can become more tolerant and respectful of differing opinions. Your opinions will become more logical and solidified; they may change and be molded as they are solidifying from your increase in knowledge.
I really enjoy books that - besides entertainment - give me food for thought. I also look for new books and new writers. I came across Veronica Roth's debut novel on an internet forum. A lot of young readers were fascinated by it and recommended it. Although Roth is a very young novelist (born in 1988) she has won quite a few awards -including Best Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction (2012).
The genre of the trilogy is dystopian fiction. Dystopian fiction novels describe horrible or degraded society that is generally headed to disaster.
The story is set in the future, in the Chicago area (where by the way the writer lived). I am going to put the events of the trilogy in chronological order because it is easier to follow the plot this way.
It all started when a government decided to use genetics to create a better mankind. Scientists were asked to modify people's genes to make them more hard working, ......... . At first it seemed to work. They thought they were on the right track. But after a couple of years everything went horribly wrong. People went mad (went postal) and started to attack and kill each other. The experiment turned out to be a disaster. To rectify its mistake, the government set up 'experiments', establishing isolated cities across the country in the hopes of raising enough genetically pure (Divergent) individuals to fix the 'genetic damage' left in the wake of the Purity War.
I believe this is something that makes you wonder where science leads us. Most people are convinced that sooner or later science will give us every answer. It will make our lives better, healthier and longer. It will eradicate hunger, poverty and illness. However, what people do not realize is that sometimes we have to pay a steep price for achievements. Nowadays, there are debates on GM (genetically modified) food. Some people argue that GM food will ease world hunger, it may be the answer to global warming as well because we will be able to produce crops that withstand cold weather, droughts, and floods.Others argue that GM food causes severe health problems and they might be able to change human DNA. Of course, average people get frustrated because they can't tell who's right and who's wrong. But books like the divergent trilogy make you think aboutthe problem - from the viewpoint of a future generation.
But back to the Divergent trilogy. The story revolves around Tris, a girl who was born generations after the genetical experiment and does not anything about it. The story is set within a dystopian version of Chicago. The city is divided into 5 groups (or as they call it:factions): Abnegation, meant for the selfless (they only wear grey clothes, they govern the city because they aren't hungry for money or power); Amity, meant for the peaceful (they only wear yellow and red clothes, they work in agriculture and they are 'drugged', which contributes to their happiness, they never participate in wars, always keep their neutrality); Candor, meant for the honest (they only wear black and white because they believe in bad and good); Dauntless, meant for the brave (they only wear black, they are full of tatoos and piercings, it is the youngest faction and their job is to protect the city); and Erudite, meant for the knowledgeable (always have to wear something blue, they are the scientists of the city, doctors, inventors of important medicines). When people turn 16 they have to take a test that tells them which faction suits them. Then, they are allowed to make a choice: they can either stay with their family or transfer to a different faction.
The protagonist, Tris (Beatrice Prior ) was born into an Abnegation family but she never felt comfortable in her faction because she wasn't selfless like the rest of her family. When she takes the test, she realizes that she belongs in three groups: Abnegation, Erudite, and Dauntless. People who have this kind of result are different from others, that's why they are called 'Divergent'. When Choosing Day comes, Tris decides to leave her family and start a new life in the brave Dauntless faction. However, she has another test to take. It's called initiation and she can become a full member of the Dauntless only if she is among the best. She has to learn to fight and face her own fears. Meanwhile she realizes that the intelligent Erudite' group is planning an attack on Abnigation. The group doesn't like the way Abnigation leads the city. Erudite want to use mind control on Dauntless and make them carry out the attack. During the attack quite a few people die (including Tris's parents) but in the end they are able to stop the mind control simulation and end the fight.
In the next book, Insurgent, the survivors go to Amity. But their enemies from Dauntless and Erudite find them and fights begin again.
