Good Morning! Laurel here from, well… many blogs. 🙂 While Sheila is away with her hubby enjoying some well-deserved playtime, I am going to chat with you about how I first connected with her…and also talk about a favorite topic of mine: books that have found a home on the Big Screen.
It was 2009, and my first blog, Creations by Laurel-Rain Snow (now Story Corner) had been around for a year, but I hadn’t done much with it. We connected on a site called Book Blogs, and when I first visited her blog, I discovered that I had to grab a cup of coffee so I could be in the groove for the Morning Meanderings.
I enjoyed the idea of bloggers connecting regularly around coffee and chatting, which was what Morning Meanderings was all about. I discovered Sheila’s love of Gilmore Girls, and have since become a binge-viewer of the entire series (on Netflix).
So grab some coffee, and let’s talk about books that have been made into movies.
Do you love seeing film adaptations of some of your favorite books? Some of my favorites in 2014 were If I Stay, The Fault in Our Stars, and Gone Girl. I had read all of these books before seeing the movies…and I am glad I did.
In the New Year, there are going to be several book-into-movie productions, and one of them will be John Green’s Paper Towns, coming in June 2015. I haven’t yet read it, but I have the e-book on Sparky. Here is Sheila’s review of Paper Towns.
Paper Towns by John Green
On t
he heels of The Fault in Our Stars’ success comes the next John Green adaptation of Paper Towns. The movie stars Cara Delevingne as Margo Roth Speigelman and Nat Wolf as Quentin Jacobsen in the story that brings two sort of friends together via a mystery. Filming has begun for the movie, which is slated to be released June 19, 2015.
Do you find that you enjoy the books more than the movies, or vice versa? I have had mixed reactions…but in the case of If I Stay, I loved the movie more because of the music. Yes, you can read about music, but actually hearing it comes through best in a film, IMO.
Gone Girl was another book that really translated well into film. The intensity between the characters was brought out successfully through the wonderful performances of Rosamund Pike and Ben Affleck. I was gripping the edge of my seat throughout, and then said “wow” several times as I left the theater.
What are you looking forward to in the New Year? What exciting books and movies are on your list?
Book Journey 
Morning, Laurel.
Very nice post.
I like books better than movies probably because I usually do not watch movies. 🙂
Have a great day!!
Good morning – like your photo. Well, I always hope that books will be translated well, but usually I like the book better. That being said, there have been a few movies that I thought were actually better than the books. A couple of them – How To Make An American Quilt and The Jane Austen Book Club. The books were much more spare and the movies really amplified the story. Interestingly, both of these told of groups of friends. Maybe I just like those books to be more wordy.
I agree with you on both of those movies being wonderful, Kay. I didn’t read How to Make an American Quilt, but The Jane Austen Book Club didn’t do it for me as much as the film did. Thanks for stopping by.
Good morning, Elizabeth, glad to see you here…I must admit that I am addicted to movies as much as I am to books…almost. LOL
I’m not a big movie goer but I think the last movie that was also a book was The War Horse by Michael Morpurgo a book set in WW1, I loved the book but found the battle scenes in the movie horrible- I had to close my eyes and I wish my ears! However they stayed fairly true to the book and it was a satisfying experience by itself.
Yes, sometimes movies can intensify scenes that we’d rather not see so vividly. Thanks for sharing, Kathryn.
I haven’t been to a movie lately (too long) but I do enjoy adaptations, and sometimes the movie turns me on to the book if I have not read it first. Great story by the way!
That has happened to me, too; I enjoyed Divergent on the Big Screen, so now I am curious about the book. Thanks for visiting, Greg.
Popping in from sea today. Our first day on the ship. Its a sea day today so we will be exploring. 🙂 I love movies and I especially love movies made from books. They will be showing Gone Girl on the ship at some point and our whole group is going to see it. 🙂
Oh, I can’t wait to see Gone Girl again…I think it’s coming to On Demand soon. Enjoy your sea journey.
Shelia you sound like you are enjoying it.
http://idahobluebird50.wordpress.com
I typically like the books better. I am excited about seeing the Paper Towns adaptation.
I think that I loved my old favorite books, the ones I read and enjoyed many years ago, more than the movies. Like Gone with the Wind (book) is much better than the movie, IMO. Little Women, too.
Perhaps the newer books that I enjoy more at the movies would not be my favorite books over time; just in the moment. Hmm, something to think about, Cynthia.
Lovely post!
Thanks for popping in, Patty!
The Fault in Our Stars and The Book Thief are my favorite book to movie adaptions. So good! 😀
I loved The Fault in Our Stars, both the book and the movie, Curious Daisies.
Very nice post, Laurel-Rain! So many movies are made from books! I recently saw Wild (Reese Witherspoon’s best performance to date, I think) which is a book that I haven’t read. I saw The Fault in Our Stars (did not read that one either) last year and found it very touching. I would really like to see Gone Girl.
I am curious about Wild, Suko…and loved The Fault in Our Stars, as well as Gone Girl. Hope you see it.
I just watched The Maze Runner and although I liked the movie, I found the book to be more suspenseful. The Hunger Games was another trilogy that I loved and I found the movies were very good. I cried throughout the whole movie of The Fault in our Stars but the book had be balling only at the end.
So many books are now being made into movies it’s hard to keep up!
I haven’t seen The Maze Runner, but I did see Hunger Games (the first movie). I loved The Fault in Our Stars.
I loved the book thief,thought the novel better than the flick. My daughter just remarked that Maze Runner was very different in the movie. Said her boyfriend was mad…I tried to turn him into audible books and this was his first “read”.
I want to see The Book Thief…haven’t read the book yet, either. Thanks for stopping by, Paige.
Hi Laurel-Rain! I didn’t know Paper Towns was going to be a movie. I loved the book. I tend to like the book more. I have yet to watch If I Stay and The Fault In Our Stars.
I am eager to read the book, and will do it before the movie comes out. Thanks for stopping by, Nise.
I’ll have to try to read Paper Towns. I liked The Fault In Our Stars but didn’t see the movie – such a tear-jerker of a book I didn’t want to go through it again with the film. Nice post today, Laurel!
Thanks, Mary…I loved the movie (The Fault in Our Stars) and I was definitely bawling. It would have been embarrassing, but several others were doing the same thing. LOL
Hey, Laurel! Great post 🙂 I’m enjoying getting to know everyone a bit better through these guest blogs 🙂
I used to look forward to the movies back when the first Harry Potter was released, but ever since they made “Phoenix,” I got very turned off. I’ve found that most times I’m disappointed in movie versions if the adaptations change the story in key ways that matter, or they do the Hollywood stuff like “sexing up” things that shouldn’t be, etc. One of my favorite adaptations was the Lord of the Rings trilogy (I think they’ve gone too far with The Hobbit) because they adapted the books so well.
Thanks, Donna Marie…I love this, as I am discovering new blogs, like yours. Glad you could stop by…I have seen the first three Harry Potter movies, and after that, not that interested…LOL.
For whatever reason, I never am able to get into a movie the same way I do a book. If it’s a book I love, I’m constantly comparing it to the book, looking for every single detail that doesn’t match what was in my head.
Ryan, I do the same thing! I can only enjoy a movie if I haven’t read the book ’cause I don’t know what I’m missing lol And I don’t know if I’ll ever watch the HP movies again ’cause I’m SO disturbed by how much they distorted my memory of the books I knew so well.
I don’t know why I don’t do that, Ryan (and Donna), but maybe it’s because I am so addicted to movies, too, that it’s hard not to love them. But yes, there are some movies that don’t quite make it for me, either.
Hi, Laurel –
I recognize your name from all your visits and lovely comments, especially on Saturday Snapshot posts – thanks!
I always enjoy seeing a good book made into a movie. I thought The Help movie turned out great, with outstanding performances by the whole ensemble cast. A lesser-known book/movie that I enjoyed was The Namesake – they did a good job of bringing it to life on screen. My husband and I recently saw The Life of Pi movie. We both loved the book, which was amazing in its own right, but the visuals in the movie were just stunning.
I am always behind on the latest movies because we don’t get to the theater very often, so I haven;t seen any of 2014’s biggest hits yet (except Divergent which we saw when it came out on DVD!), but the one I was most looking forward to – far more than Gone Girl – was Before I Go To Sleep. I loved the book and the movie trailers looked amazing. I was disappointed it seemed to be eclipsed by Gone Girl (which i didn’t like quite as much) and the movie had a short run in few local theaters – can;t wait to see it in our own Family room!
Great post!
Sue
Book By Book
Ah, Sue, you know, I enjoyed the movie “The Help,” but haven’t read the book (doubt I’ll get to it), and also haven’t read THE LIFE OF PI, but have the movie on my DVR, just waiting!
Thanks for stopping by, Sue, and I loved the movie The Help more than the book…probably because “hearing” the dialect worked better for me than reading it, for some reason. (Hey, Sheila, this might be the book for me to listen to in audio…LOL).
I was also disappointed that Before I Go to Sleep didn’t get as much attention as Gone Girl. I did love the book, and thought Nicole Kidman’s performance was great.
I didn’t know Paper Towns was being made into a movie! John Green is hot hot hot right now!
I didn’t, either, Stacy, until I Googled “books into movies” and it popped up, along with a few others.
I try to take the book and the movie each on their own merits–each medium has things it does better. That said, I did not expect the adaptation of GONE GIRL to work anywhere near as well as it did!
It was a nice surprise, wasn’t it, Florinda?
Hi, and glad to see you here too! Laurel is everywhere, lol 🙂 Seriously, if you don’t follow all of Laurel’s blogs you should– she is a proficient reader of wonderful titles.
I don’t go to the movies more than a couple of times a year due to having 3 or 4 people here that will go and it’s a big expense, plus they always want something from the snackbar, sigh… I do watch On Demand, Netflix, Hulu Plus etc, so I can catch movies when they are released there. I miss Blockbuster; we used to rent dvds almost every weekend.
Thanks for sharing your fave book to movies in 2014. My daughter pointed out that that is a new trend and this year will be no exception. There are several I am looking forward to checking out! Enjoy. And Sheila, it goes without saying that you are enjoying your vacation…who wouldn’t enjoy a trip Down Under, wow!
Thanks, Rita, I just decided to come revisit this post, and I’m glad I did. I don’t go to the movies as much as I once did…it used to be an every weekend thing. And since I usually don’t bring kids anymore, we get lunch beforehand and only something to drink in the theater. Even restaurant prices (and food) beat the concessions at the theater.
I actually love seeing movies on TV, DVD, etc., as I can pause them to get a snack!
I’m actually not a huge fan of books into film and I think this is the first time I’ve heard of someone who not only likes them but is a fan! I think it’s awesome that you pay so much attention to the differences and similarities and embrace them!