News Item #1:

The Lovely Bones, which you all know is the first book I blogged about, had it’s cinematic wide release this last weekend. It’s currently, by IMDB’s reports, #3 at the box office. According to Rotten Tomatoes, it has thus far raked in over 17 million at the box office. So, monetarily, it’s doing pretty good. However, there are rumblings that this movie is not so good. In fact, it’s gotten a rotten (or moldy, however they say it) rating on Rotten Tomatoes at only 37%. I’m not discouraging anyone from going to this. In fact, I’m going tonight so I can review it for you tomorrow. Who knows? Maybe this is one of those movies where the critics are totally off base.

News Item #2

This isn’t really interesting news, but I’ve picked my two books after I finish MLIF. I’ll be doing The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd immediately after, and then after that I will be doing The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

News Item #3

The newest movie based on a comic book (which is still a book, btw) series, Kick-Ass, is in full press-releasing swing. I don’t know about you guys, but I’m pretty darn excited. This movie looks pretty awesome, despite it starring Nicholas Cage (I can’t forgive him for Ghost Rider…I just can’t). Here’s the preview, if you haven’t seen it.

Looks Kick-Ass, doesn’t it?

I will confess, I got one two paragraph long chapter into it and had to abandon ship when the likes of Titus Andronicus and Charles Darwin demanded my attention. Now I feel like all desire to read this short tome of pedophilia and torrent affairs has been drained from me. So, I’m going to read My Life in France, by Julia Child. Julia Child is best known for her cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking (which I hope to own one day), which she cowrote with Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle. She was portrayed recently in the film Julie & Julia by Merryl Streep, my role model. Instead of repeating myself and reading Julie & Julia, which is what the movie’s based off, I thought I would read My Life in France, which is quite a jump from my last book. Being a nonfiction memoir, Julia Child details her life in France, and how she rose to fame. I think it’s quite appropriate to do this book instead, considering Lolita ends with death and doom, and Lovely Bones was death and doom the whole way through. So, look forward within the next week (I promise I will this time) for a intro blog to My Life in France, by Julia Child with Alexander Prud’homme.

So, I’m planning on finishing this before Christmas. If I don’t make this deadline, you can beat me with your cyber boxing gloves. Look forward to chapter by chapter recaps! Until next time, read well my fellow bookies!

This November I’ve been drinking Gingerbread lattes from Starbucks. I know it’s been two months in a row of Starbucks drinks, but their fall and winter seasonal drinks are amazing! The Gingerbread latte is delicious, and great to drink while reading a good book!

QUESTION FOR THE COMMENTS: What should I read next? I’ve got some ideas, but would anybody like me to read a particular book?

Characterization: A-

Alice Sebold does a very good job of establishing solid back stories and personalities for every character she writes. And you follow the characters through several years. Susie’s sister Lindsey goes from age 12 to about 20-22. Sometimes, when characters age in books, they can fall through the cracks and end up cookie cutter stock characters. Alice Sebold manages to keep her characters from falling into stereotypes, and allows them to grow beyond the typical limits of the stock “mourning” characters.

Story: B+

Now, before you start flaying me, a B+ is a very good rating for story, at least by my standards. Story is one of the hardest aspects of writing to perfect, and this being Alice Sebold’s first novel, I’m very impressed. The concept is unique; it’s quite exhausting to read a murder mystery story rewritten again and again, as most of these books end up being. However, Alice Sebold doesn’t make this into a murder mystery. She reveals outright in the first chapter who kills Susie Salmon, our heroine. What this books turns into instead is a beautiful examination of the human condition, and how the death of someone can effect people differently. Some of the lives Alice Sebold follows include Susie’s killer, the boy who shared her first kiss, her sister, and most unexpectedly and profoundly the girl who no one paid much attention to, the school loner Ruth Connors, who Susie happened to brush by when travellling to heaven. These people all move on with their lives, but Susie’s death has changed them and shaped their future lives, even if it is only slightly. This is all observed by Susie herself, up in heaven. This omniscient perspective is refreshing, as Susie’s role is seldomly active, and mostly observing. It plays out for a very engaging and beautiful story. However, the subplot of Susie’s observations of her killer falls a little flat, and those who expect him to be caught by police and sentenced in court might be a little disappointed.

Language: A+

Alice Sebold posesses a wonderful gift of wordsmithery (is that a word?). She paints the pictures perfectly, while skipping the flowery frou frou stuff when it counts. Since it is all written from the perspective of Susie, Alice Sebold has to write from the perspective of a thirteen year old. Well, needless to say, she succeeds. Also, be ready for the last chapter. It is pure poetry.

Final Verdict: A

I would definitely recommend this book. However, this recommendation comes with a warning: this book starts out horribly dark and troubling, but ends uplifting and gorgeous. There are few happy moments, but many are bittersweet. This is not a fluffy read. You definitely need to invest yourself into it.

What is Kristie Drinking?

This month my favorite drink to have while I’m reading is none other than the spectacular Pumpkin Spiced Latte from Starbucks. My favorite time to drink from Starbucks is mid to late autumn and during the Holidays, when they have all their pepperminty and cinnamony drinks. I try not to drink them too often, because I am mad broke and those things are mad sugary. Too much’ll put you into a diabetic coma. So, tread softly, readers. Don’t get too hooked onto these wonderful drinks, or you’ll be broke and sick in no time.

Top 5:

1. The Princess Bride: Everyone looks at me a little strangely when I name this one. Or, I should said, everyone under the age of 17.  Here’s a little education, kiddies. The Princess Bride was released in the 1980′s. It was directed by Rob Reiner. It starred Cary Elwes and Robin Wright (this was before she was Wright-Penn), co-starring Mandi Pantinkin (Dead Like Me, anyone?) and Andre the Giant  (back when wrestling was cool, he was in the WWE). The plot is as follows: Buttercup (Wright) lives on a dairy farm back in the Renaissance era. Wesley (Elwes) is the stable boy to her family, and she realizes that she’s in love with him. He leaves shortly after they profess their love for each other so Wesley can make his fortune and be worthy to marry her. The rest is not really easy to say without spoiling the movie, but it’s full of adventure, romance and laughs. What makes it my favorite book to movie translation is the fact that it sticks so well to the book. It helps that the screenplay was written by the author of the book. William Goldman, known for many award-winning screenplays and novels, knows what to cut out and what not to. He knows his book is quite the tome, so he cuts out what is unecessary. I think what surprises a lot of people is that this movie was a book first. Not a lot of people know this.

2.  Misery: My second favorite book to movie translation is also written by William Goldman. This time, he just wrote the screenplay, not the book. Those who are familiar with this movie know it’s book is written by none other than Stephen King. This movie was nominated for several awards, and Kathy Bates won a Golden Globe and an Academy Award for her starring role. It’s plot is as follows: Writer of a popular harlequin romance series, which chronicles the life of a character named Misery Chastaine, Paul Sheldon (James Caan) is finished his latest novel in the series. He leaves his cabin where he does all his writing, to go back to New York to submit the manuscript to his publisher. On the way down the mountain, there’s a snowstorm and he drives off the road. He’s saved by Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates) and she has more than helping him heal from his injuries in mind. Again, this movie doesn’t stray too far from the book. It’s a brilliant adaptation, with lots of aspects that are the same as the book.

3. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone: Or Philosopher’s Stone, if you’re picky. JK Rowling’s award-winning series is almost finished being made into a movie series as well, with the last book to go as a two-part movie. I don’t much care for the other movies, comparing them to their literary counterparts, but this movie seems to have the best book to screen treatment. Not that it is particularly accurate, there’s a lot that get’s left out here, but the sense of the books are really captured in this movie. The wonder, the feeling that this could actually happen, is really captured in the movie. I can really appreciate the work of Chris Columbus, and it doesn’t hurt that the first book is one of my favorites in the series anyway.

4. Anne of Green Gables: This is really more well known around North America, but let me lay it down for you. Anne Shirley is an orphaned girl in Prince Edward Island during the late 19th/early 20th century. She gets adopted by Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert, elderly siblings. It’s basically a coming of age story, with a lot of heart. Now, there is the typical “staying true to book” thing going on but there’s also an element to the film that makes the book easier to understand. L.M. Montgomery wrote Anne of Green Gables in 1908, so there’s some concepts and language that’s been lost over a 100 years. Oh, if you’re going to check it out, make sure you’re watch the 1985 one, not the old one.

5. Girl, Interrupted: The final book on my top list is Girl, Interrupted. Girl, Interrupted is a examination of the human psyche, delving into what’s normal and what’s not, and what normal even is. It stars Winona Ryder and Angelina Jolie. Winona Ryder plays Susanna Kaysen, a borderline personality high school graduate who “plans to write” but instead ends up sleeping with a married man and trying to kill herself. She gets sent to a mental hospital, and writes a journal about her time there. The book that this movie is based off of is, unlike others on this list, non-fiction. If you look for it in the library, it’ll most likely be under self-help, or psychology. Susanna is a real person, who really did go to a mental institution. The memoir is a non-sequitor, plotless look at Susanna’s time in McLean Hospital. Her memoir jumps from the future to the past and back again, yet it all connects beautifully. The movie, however, has a linear timeline, with a specific plot. I appreciate the stark differences between the book and the movie, because there are aspects to the book that are quite disturbing that they exclude from the movie, and the movie already has an R rating. However, it is still a brilliant adaptation, with a great cast.

So, yes, there are a good handful of movies from books that are well done. However, as most would agree, there are a few that are…disappointing, to say the least. I’ve compiled a list of my least favorite book to movie translations.

1. Twilight: Okay, I am a Twilighter. I loved Twilight before it was cool. I will defend Twilight, because the book series is good, not because Robert Pattinson is hot, or Nikki Reed is a good actress. But, I will tell you straight out, I HATED the Twilight movie. They cut out way too much, and the character development was lost because of it. Some of the best characters were thrown to the wayside in favor of developing the romance between the characters that is way too forced in the movie. This movie was a particular disappointment because of the hype that surrounded it. I had little good to say about this movie, and still do. I’m praying that the sequel will be better.

2. Inkheart: Inkheart did the typical thing that a lot of book turned movies do. If it’s comes from a series, the screenwriter will rewrite the ending so it has a definite ending in case it makes no money. Well, Inkheart didn’t exactly bomb, but it didn’t do all that well. It wasn’t written particularly well, with a choppy plot that flows a lot better in the book. Unfortunately, the book is about five hundred pages, whereas the movie is a little more than an hour and a half long. This is also where the movie fumbled. They were catering too much to a very young audience, and kept the movie short to do so. Key plot points were missed, the storyline was moved around, and characters were added and subtracted. All around a valiant effort, but a failure.

3.  Watchmen: Every so often you’ll see me blog about a graphic novel. I still consider those books, because they often have as much substance as your average Hemingway novel. Now, there is one rule i tend to follow when it comes to watching movies based on books: I shouldn’t have to read the book to understand the movie. I probably will read the book anyway, if I think it would be better than the movie, or if I’m curious. Watchmen did not make me want to read the graphic novel. I was so turned off by how confusing the movie was, I ended up just giving up on it in general. Some of you may disagree with me, and that’s fine, but there is an entire character that was poorly explained, and my friends all told me that you need to read the graphic novel to understand him. I’m talking about Dr. Manhattan. There were so many things they “left to interpretation” I just found myself not caring.

4. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory: Oompa Loompa Doompadee Doo. I’ve got a question for you. What do you get when you take a children’s classic and you pair it with a penny budget? Crappadee Crap. Roald Dahl himself called this a piece of crap. He refused to watch the whole thing. What does that tell you? If you take too many liberties with a scant original work (Charlie and The Chocolate Factory is only a short children’s novel. But hey, if they could turn a 10 page book about Wild Things into an hour and a half visual masterpiece, why can’t these guys?), you get junkity junk (ok, I’ll stop doing the oompa loompa thing now). They changed the characters a lot (Willy Wonka never screamed at the kids in the book), and they put in random musical numbers (I hate Cheer Up, Charlie, for the record) that weren’t needed. They also changed the oompa loompas. They should have gone the Tim Burton route and actually used the Oompa Loompa songs from the book. I could go on for an hour about this movie, but I won’t.

5. Princess Diaries 1&2: Oh my goodness. Remember when the first movie came out? Everyone was so excited, it was going to be a great adaptation. But then, of course, they changed everything. Where it was set, what the princess looked like, the plot. In the book, her dad didn’t die. He just was rendered sterile from testicular cancer. Then, they live in San Francisco in the movie, but New York in the book. The Princess’ grandmother is grumpy and unkind in the book, but she’s Julie Fricking Andrews in the movie. Again, I could go on for an hour, but I won’t. And I can’t even bear to think about the second one.

So that, ladies and gentleman, is my blog for the time being. I will blog again, like I said, when I finish The Lovely Bones. I’ll announce then what book I’m blogging about next. Ciao!

I went to Chapters three weeks ago, and picked up a shockingly cheap (9.99, plus tax!) copy of The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. I had heard mumblings about this New York Times Bestseller a few years back when my mom read it. She didn’t have rave reviews, based on the disturbing content. That ebbed my curiosity, for the moment. When I wet to see Whip It with my boyfriend, one of the previews was for Peter Jackson’s adaptation of The Lovely Bones.

So, the curiosity was sparked again, and I went out and bought the book. I weighed my options between the three books I had lined up to read at some point in the near future for this blog: The Shack, Outlander, or The Lovely Bones? For no particular reason, I decided on The Lovely Bones. And, no lie, I was hooked from the first page. Alice Sebold, where have you been all my life? She has a gift for description, and does quite well getting into the head of a teenage girl (she used to be one, of course).  The storyline is compelling and suspenseful.

One mistake a lot of people are seeming to make is assuming this is a murder mystery. In all actuality, and I’m not spoiling anything here, the murderer is revealed within the first chapter. This novel is not meant to be a whodunnit. It is more a look at the effects that death has on everyone.

Since I haven’t been doing chapter-by-chapter recaps like I had planned, I’m going to do two blogs on this book. The second one will come when I’m finished, and I’ll decide whether or not I want to recommend it, and why. So, hopefully that will come within the next week. In the meantime, I might start another book. THEN I’ll do chapter-by-chapter. Ciao for now!