The University of Arizona, in partnership with several community groups, will present the 2023 Big Read program in Tucson. At least 1, 000 free copies of the books will be given out.

Big Read Tucson will center around two books: “Postcolonial Love Poem”, a poetry collection by Natalie Diaz, and the children’s book “We Are Water Protectors”, written by Carole Lindstrom and illustrated by Michaela Goade.

“We decided to center Big Read Tucson around water because of the importance of water to our region,” said Sandra Soto, director of Big Read Tucson. “A primary reason that we selected Diaz’s book is because so many of the poems feature water, the scarcity(缺乏) of which Diaz feels in a spiritual and urgent way.”

“Postcolonial Love Poem”received a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 2021. “Natalie Diaz’s book provides an unusually rich opportunity to create locally meaningful, shared reading experiences,” said Soto. “Diaz’s poetic sensibility is largely shaped by her experiences growing up on the border of California, Arizona and Nevada. Her references and landscapes will be recognizable and important to Tucson readers.”

“We Are Water Protectors” won the 2021 Caldecott Medal and is available in both English and Spanish. “Like Diaz’s work, this book addresses the importance of water,” Soto said. “It is accessible to readers and educates young people about the necessity to protect water on behalf of animals, humans, plants and the earth.”

On Jan. 14, Big Read Tucson will kick off with an outdoor celebration, including readings, and book giveaways, at Mission Garden, a living agricultural museum at 946 W. Mission Lane.

The event will be followed by presentations of “Postcolonial Love Poem” and “We Are Water Protectors”and multiple book discussions at various yet-to-be determined locations, including high school classrooms and libraries.

“Over the three months, we will host many interactive events, all with the aim of generating firsthand experiences with the imaginative power of literature and the pleasure of collective discussion,” Soto said.

Nowadays, in the age of round-the-clock entertainment, it’s trickier to be bored. If the show you’re watching has lost its spark, you can select an instant intense alternative or amuse yourself by scrolling (滚动) through social media without even leaving the sofa. But that’s not necessarily a good thing. Feeling disengaged from the task in hand does have its benefits, according to researchers.

First and foremost, being bored motivates you to search out something less boring to do Feeling bored at work, for example, could inspire you to explore a change of career. Or if you decide there’s nothing worth watching on TV, you might choose to switch off and make your own entertainment by taking up a new hobby.

But what about those times when you have no choice but to stick to the boring situation? The good news is that the boredom you’re felling now could spark your creativity and help you come up with some of your best ideas, says a 2019 study. People who’d taken part in a boring bean-sorting task later performed better at coming up with creative ideas than another group who’d been given something more interesting to do first.

Without social media to get rid of those feelings of boredom, we may daydream. Letting your thoughts wander can be a useful way to “allow your mind to relax, reduce stress and solve problems”, writes Dr Sandi, a psychologist from UK. People who reported more frequent daydreaming scored higher on intellectual and creative ability and had more efficient brains.

Ultimately, if we take it for granted that there will always be something close at band to entertain us, we start to lose the ability to entertain others, think creatively and allow our minds to switch off and relax.

Today’s grandparents are joining their grandchildren on social media (社交媒体). People who are over 55 are joining Facebook in increasing numbers, which means that they will soon be the site’s second biggest user group—with 3. 5 million users aged 55－64 and 2. 9 million aged over 65.

Surprisingly, 44% of grandparents say they have “excellent” skills in using social media. Sheila, 67, of Swansea, Mass. would put herself in this group. “I joined Facebook to see what my grandchildren are doing, as my daughter posts videos and photos of them. I also show off my garden when it’s in bloom (开花) or how happy my husband and I are when we go for a picnic to my family members. Without social media, I don’t think we would have the same relationship,” says Sheila.

Teenagers are spending so much time on their phones at home that they ignore their friends in real life. However, the elderly may not do the same. For example, Sheila has got in touch with old friends from school whom she hasn’t heard from in the past forty years. “We use Facebook to discuss when and where to meet,” she says. “It’s changed my life completely.”

Teenagers might have their parents to thank for their smartphone and social media addiction as their parents were the early users of the smartphone. Peter, 38 and father of two teenagers, reports that he used to be on his phone or personal computer endlessly. He says, “How could I tell my kids to get off their phones if I was always in front of a screen myself?” So, in the evenings and at weekends, he takes his SIM card out of his smartphone and puts it into an old－style mobile phone that can only make calls and send text messages.