It's Friday! (2/9)

[ufcasey]

What have you read this week? What are you currently reading?

QOTW:
What are some of your favorite book to movie adaptions? Worst?

[rainbowchip]

I finished They Both Die In The End. I think this book would make for great book club discussions.
I also read We're Going to Need More Wine. It was interesting to hear her stories. Some of them were more interesting than others.

I'm waiting for my hold for On Tyranny to come in so I will either read some of ABOSAA or start Little Women.

QOTW: I typically hate all film adaptations. Lol. I was so angry with the first twilight movie.

I did enjoy The Hunger Games.

[litskispeciality]

I started 50 Shades Darker because I'm a glutton for punishment.

QOTW: I usually tear them apart because they make so many changes. "The Help" was pretty good, even though they changed the whole plot of how the story idea came to be. "Water for Elephants" the movie was better than the book IMO. "Me Before You" and "The Hunger Games" were well done, more accurate to the books.

[pinotgrig]

I finished The Nightingale this week and gave it 4 stars. I’m still slogging through A Beautiful Mind. It’s good and interesting but very, very detailed. I also just started Homegoing.

QOTW - I’m a stick in the mud and don’t like many movies. I usually fall asleep, lol.

ETA - I totally forgot I finished Good Mourning, about a young, socialite-ish woman in NYC who started working at a posh funeral home. It was an interesting behind the scenes look at the industry.

[krystee]

I finished Between the Tides by Patti Callahan Henry, and it was good (3.5*). I was about to start Sisterland by Curtis Sittenfeld, but when I went to add it on Goodreads, it turns out I've already read and rated it! I have only the very vaguest memory of the premise of the book and could not tell you a thing about it. How does that happen?!

I thought The Martian did a fantastic job of bringing the book to life. It caught his dry sense of humor perfectly, it had almost every one of the scenes in the book, and only the ending was tweaked a tiny bit, but still with the same general reault.

[litskispeciality]

Feb 9, 2018 11:47:34 GMT -5 krystee said:

I finished Between the Tides by Patti Callahan Henry, and it was good (3.5*). I was about to start Sisterland by Curtis Sittenfeld, but when I went to add it on Goodreads, it turns out I've already read and rated it! I have only the very vaguest memory of the premise of the book and could not tell you a thing about it. How does that happen?!

I thought The Martian did a fantastic job of bringing the book to life. It caught his dry sense of humor perfectly, it had almost every one of the scenes in the book, and only the ending was tweaked a tiny bit, but still with the same general reault.

Yes this was a great one. I'm not a huge Matt Damon fan, but I think we was well cast in that movie. Good book too, I'm not a huge sci-fi fan, but that one made you feel like it was based on a true story.

[ally]

I have three books going (which is highly unusual for me) and am slowly reading them: 
History Decoded - I am picking and choosing, but they are light and interesting
This is the Story of a Happy Marriage - audiobook - I have to work to find times when I want/remember to listen, but I like the book
Murder with Peacocks - not too far in, but it is light enough to fit with the time I have available lately

QOTW:  I really disliked the first two Harry Potter movies, I learned to stop rereading the books before watching them by movie #3.  It is an old book/movie, but I loved Nicholas Spark's book Message in a Bottle, I remember (almost 20 years later!) hating the movie and thinking they could not possibly have read the same book I did.  That has stuck as my bench mark for a successful adaptation - feeling that the book had been read by the people making the movie.

[rootbeerfloat]

I finished Born a Crime and The Raven Boys this week.

I agree that The Martian was good. And though it's TV, I think the Outlander series is a good adaptation, maybe because it shortens the books, which tend to be too long.

[mpc]

I finished A Man Called Ove (5*) and loved it.

Currently reading Ready Player One (for IRL book club) and Shadow of Night (2nd in a trilogy I started a year or two ago). One is a hardback and one is on the kindle, which is why I'm switching back and forth depending on where I am when I'm reading.

ETA oh I forgot about the movie question. I thought Hidden Figures was an excellent movie. I read the book after I saw the movie, but I do think I liked the movie more.

[ufcasey]

Read:
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid - fiction; 4.5 stars; this book is excellent and I don't want to spoil any of it so just know that I really recommend reading it. Also, going into it blind like I did is definitely a good choice.
Seek by Mia Sheridan - romance; 3 stars; I'm being generous with that rating. Usually I love this author but this book was definitely not up to her usual standards.
All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque - classic; 5 stars; I've read lots of war story books before but this one really focuses on what's it actually like to be a young soldier in a war. Compelling and heartbreaking. Definitely worth reading.

Total so far for the year: 15

Currently Reading:
The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks - fiction/suspense; I see where this is going from a mile away, but still liking it anyways so far
Red Sister by Mark Lawrence - fantasy; very good though it reads a little too YA-ish at times because the main character is just a child

QOTW:
I love Shawshank Redemption even though I haven't read the book yet (whoops). I also think the Hunger Games trilogy was really good along with Harry Potter (later movies much better than the early ones). I saw Wonder recently and that made me cry (in a good way). I too enjoyed the Martian and thought that Hidden Figures the movie was better than the book. Worst was A Prayer for Owen Meany - absolutely terrible movie.

[sassypants]

Still plowing through From the Forest. It's mostly Nonfiction, and a bit dry at times, but it's generally pretty interesting.

QOTW: Most books are better than the movies but the movie version of Practical Magic is much more appealing to me. Sally Owens is a mean bitch in the book. Same with The Notebook. I thought the book was too shallow and the movie fleshed out the characters better.

[bex]

Currently reading My Absolute Darling by Gabriel Tallent. It's excellent, but a bit more disturbing than I was expecting (include some fairly graphic abuse scenes) so its one of those thats taken longer than it feels like it should, because I can read 30 pages fairly quickly, but I dont really want to read more than that at a clip, if that makes sense. 

This week I finished Nothing to Envy by Barbara Denmick about North Korea. It's old by now (I think it came out in 2009 or 2010) but was still a fascinating read.  I've wondered what its like to live there as an ordinary citizen and the book is just haunting. 

Also finished Silver Key by Kaitlyn Davis in the Dance of Dragons series. I find it meh but I have the series on my kindle so I'm going through one book at a time. 

[aurora]

I'm listening to Night Film and reading The New Jim Crow. The latter is obviously a difficult subject. I have to keep reminding myself that it was published 8 years ago, and a lot of the major topics are things I've seen discussed on CEP over the years. I'm guessing it was pretty revolutionary when it first came out, and still would be for a large portion of the population, most of whom won't read it.


QOTW: I basically tend to hate movies if I watch them before reading the book. They're never quite right!

I really liked the original Jurassic Park, which I saw before reading the book.

Over the years I've come to appreciate the Lord of the Rings movies for the ways in which the story does faithfully follow the books. There are a few changes I'm still annoyed by (Faramir...hello?), but others that I can appreciate (more visible roles for strong women, esp. bringing in more of Arwen's story).

[travella]

I am reading Radium Girls. I'm about 100 pages in and it's merely ok at this point.

[minzy]

I read three this week:
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng - 5 stars. The details really made it believable. I was the same age the characters were in the late 90s, and I’ve spent a bit of time near some of the locations in the book. Nodding along to so many of the little tidbits made it that much more enjoyable.
The Actor’s Life by Jenna Fischer - 4 stars. It’s basically a guide on how to become an actor, something I have no interest in, but I liked the book anyway and am considering it a memoir for a reading challenge I’m doing.
Level Up - Gene Luen Yang - 3.5 stars. I never read comic books, but this was for the reading challenge. It was better than I expected.
I’m currently reading Fire and Fury by Michael Wolff. It’s got a picture of Donald Trump on the front so satisfies the “cover you hate” category.

I agree with others about The Martian being pretty close to the book and that Hidden Figures was better as a movie. I don’t feel like I’ve seen that many movies the last several years to have much of an opinion on anything else.

[bex]

Oh I loved the Martian movie except for Jessica Chastain lol. I dont love her in general and I felt her character was supposed to be older, and then factor in the whole "I'm going to save him!" and I was just like.....this is dumb. lol.

Memoirs of a Geisha is one of my favorite books and one of my favorite movies. Very well done adaptation in my opinion. John Williams' music captures the book so well.

[spedrunner]

This week I read:

On Chesil Beach - 4 stars. I really enjoyed this quick, vulnerable read! A young couple gets married, consummates their marriage on their wedding night (or tries to) and both of their views about the night......so vulnerable and so young

Hiking Through: Finding Peace and Freedom on the AT. 3 stars. It was ok, I feel like it was similar to Bill Brysons a walk in the woods and other books I have read about hiking the AT

CURRENTLY READING:

Stillhouse Lake (my mom stole it from me so I am now waiting for her to finish it so I can get back into it!)
Pachinko. THis is good, but long and a bit dry for my liking. I keep putting it down and meaning to get back to it
The Dark Side of the Light Chasers (This is excellent!)
Just picked up 50 Shades Freed Will be starting that soon!

[fernweh]

Currently reading The Night Circus

[monkeyfeet]

I finished Everything Everything this week which ironically is going to be made into a movie, but rarely do I watch movies. I did see and enjoy The Martian with my book club!
Currently reading Into The Water and it’s my third psychological thriller in almost as many books so I’m looking forward to picking up a different genre soon!

[mrspez07]

I’m reading The Alice Network. Very good, intense. I was surprised earlier this week when I was only 1/2 way through, the characters and their stories had developed quite a bit I thought I was closer to the end. I want to read it quickly but haven’t had a ton of time, which may make it better by reading in small chunks.

[Nonny]

I'm still working on Moral Combat: How Sex Divided American Christians and Fractured American Politics, and I got my dates wrong on when it's due, so I'm going to have late fees. Whomp whomp whomp.  I would be reading it right now, except my MIL is here, and let's just say I'm a super liberal atheist and she's a super conservative Christian, and we don't see eye to eye on things like sex and religion and politics, and I've put the book away because I'm not interesting in her seeing it and the endless barrage of questions about its content.  

QOTW:
Hands down The Shawshank Redemption is the best book to movie adaptation in the history of ever.  The movie is actually better than the book because the ending is far superior in every way.  

I'm also a huge fan of the 5th Harry Potter book to movie, because they significantly toned down Harry's teen/Voldey angst, and he was much more bearable person. 

My personal worst has to be Battlefield Earth. The book was actually a pretty solid piece of sci-fi, even if L. Ron Hubbard was a crazy mofo.  But that movie was like the first 150 and last 10 pages of a 1000 page book, so of course it was going to be a giant piece of shit.  

[Nonny]

Feb 9, 2018 13:55:21 GMT -5 ufcasey said:

QOTW:
I love Shawshank Redemption even though I haven't read the book yet (whoops). 

It's only a novella, less than 200 pages I think, so you could knock it out pretty quickly.  Whoever wrote the screenplay took a non-linear story with a so-so ending, made it linear and less confusing, and gave it the much better ending. 

Although with the book you do get Red's backstory, which is a nice piece of information to have that you don't get in the movie. It's not critical to the plot though.

[Nonny]

Feb 9, 2018 15:53:04 GMT -5 aurora said:

I'm listening to Night Film 

If you are listening to Night Film, you are missing out on the supplemental content!  You don't actually need the extra content, but it's part of what make the book unique (even if it's a bit gimmicky).

marishapessl.com/night-film-app 

The Mysterious World of Bartho Lore was my favorite.

[abs]

I'm on a Kristan Higgins kick and am flying through some of her books. I am sure there is better quality literature out there but these have been enjoyable quick reads. I finished If Only You Knew earlier this week and am halfway through On Second Thought now.

QOTW: The Shawshank Redemption is amazing. I also really liked Terms of Endearment and The Evening Star. DH would like to nominate The Godfather. I can't think of a bad adaption off the top of my head but I know they are out there and I have seen them!

[rainbowchip]

mpc ufcasey I also thought the Hidden Figures movie was better than the book.

[rainbowchip]

Feb 9, 2018 22:04:19 GMT -5 monkeyfeet said:

I finished Everything Everything this week which ironically is going to be made into a movie, but rarely do I watch movies. I did see and enjoy The Martian with my book club!
Currently reading Into The Water and it’s my third psychological thriller in almost as many books so I’m looking forward to picking up a different genre soon!

It's already out. I watched it on HBO a couple weeks ago. It was pretty good.

[aurora]

Feb 10, 2018 1:44:15 GMT -5 Nonny said:

Feb 9, 2018 15:53:04 GMT -5 aurora said:

I'm listening to Night Film 

If you are listening to Night Film, you are missing out on the supplemental content!  You don't actually need the extra content, but it's part of what make the book unique (even if it's a bit gimmicky).

marishapessl.com/night-film-app 

The Mysterious World of Bartho Lore was my favorite.

Thanks! Now that you mention it I remember my library asking if I wanted to download additional content but I hadn't bothered. These are good.

[rootbeerfloat]

Feb 10, 2018 8:30:42 GMT -5 abs said:

I'm on a Kristan Higgins kick and am flying through some of her books. I am sure there is better quality literature out there but these have been enjoyable quick reads. I finished If Only You Knew earlier this week and am halfway through On Second Thought now.

I've read almost all her books (not the most recent yet), and they aren't award-winning by any means, but I enjoy them. Of course, I can never remember which is which by the titles... only the couple's names lol.

[tacokick]

Finished Standard Deviation by Katherine Heiny and liked it a lot! Quirky without being a downer or having a surprise ending.

Maybe Bridget Jones’ Diary? I don’t love books written in diary format but the movie was cute. The worst? Dark Places with Charlize Theron.

[tacokick]

Feb 10, 2018 9:44:58 GMT -5 aurora said:

Feb 10, 2018 1:44:15 GMT -5 Nonny said:

If you are listening to Night Film, you are missing out on the supplemental content!  You don't actually need the extra content, but it's part of what make the book unique (even if it's a bit gimmicky).

marishapessl.com/night-film-app 

The Mysterious World of Bartho Lore was my favorite.

Thanks! Now that you mention it I remember my library asking if I wanted to download additional content but I hadn't bothered. These are good.

I really hated this book! The idea was cute but the really bizarre casual racism ruined any chance of enjoyment. I remember liking her first book so I don’t know what happened. I found this blog post that outlines some of it yourekilling.us/?p=1931