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Even though she is going to N.C. State to get a bachelors degree in science, Meredith Owens’s real love is reading novels.

Owens, who is a senior in environmental science, decided to minor in English as well in order to incorporate her love of reading into her studies. She can often be found reading between classes or in one her favorite bookstores in her spare time.

“Just because my career focus is in the sciences doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy reading for fun in my spare time.”

Throughout her years as a student, she has discovered that less and less people enjoy reading while her love for it has only grown. People often wonder why she reads so much, especially when her main focus in college is to get her degree in a field that has nothing to do with reading fiction for fun.

“I’ve always thought she should be an English major or an English teacher,” said her mother, Sharon Owens.

In high school, Meredith Owens excelled in all of her English classes. But she didn’t read as much as she started to when she got into college. Back then, she would spend her spare time watching television or a movie from her vast collection of DVDs. Then the trend of book to movie adaptations began, and she started to enjoy reading recreationally again around her senior year of high school.

“I really did not want to major in English, though,” Owens said. “I did not think there would be that big of a range of jobs in that field once I graduated, and I really didn’t want to teach. I just wanted to be more marketable. That’s why I chose an environmental science major over an English major. But at least I’m minoring English. That way I can have the best of both worlds.”

She hopes to one day become an environmental journalist or work in the field. As long as she leaves the world a better place than when she came into it.

But no matter where her career takes her, though, she will always try to find time to escape in a good book.

Beautiful Creatures Movie Review

Beautiful Creatures
Stars: Alice Englert, Alden Ehrenreich, Jeremy Irons, Viola Davis, Emma Thompson, Emmy Rossum, Thomas Mann.
Director: Richard LaGravenese
More Information: IMDB
Summary: Ethan longs to escape his small Southern town. He meets a mysterious new girl, Lena. Together, they uncover dark secrets about their respective families, their history and their town.

My Thoughts:
I am a huge fan of Margaret Stohl and Kami Garcia's Caster Chronicles series, and the book which this movie was based on, the first of this series, Beautiful Creatures, was probably my favorite. I'm a sucker for a good southern novel, let alone a good southern gothic novel.  So when I went to see the movie adaptation of this wonderful book, I had high expectations. Personally, I felt like I was not disappointed. The scenery, costumes, effects, and the casting were spot on. I particularly liked how they changed their eye color without any cheesy colored contacts. But my favorite part was how the actors took on their roles. Alden Ehrenreich was a flawless Ethan Wate and Alice Englert was amazing as Lena Duchannes.

My one gripe about the movie was the ending. It was altered from how it was in the book a bit, and I understand that these are two different forms of media and are thus interpreted differently, but it could have still been a little more true to the books. However, the ending did not ruin how they would interpret the next book. Some slight changes will need to be made, but it will not be so drastic as to change the whole plot of the movie. And that is another aspect that I really enjoyed about this movie. The feel from the book was in the movie. They both had the same story behind them and the same values represented. I would definitely recommend this movie and the book to everyone. They were both very entertaining and, I dare say, enchanting.