Sunday Salon... Let's go to the Movies (and those books they're made from)

Welcome to The Sunday Salon! It's the place where Book Bloggers from around the world share their bookish finds with one another in a virtual place called The Sunday Salon. Thank you to for Deb at ReaderBuzz keeping us all together on Sundays and hosting The Sunday Salon now! I also visited with Kim at The Caffeinated Reader, another Sunday gathering place for us bookish people called The Sunday Post!

It's been a fun reading and "watching" week! Every year around this time, when the Oscar nominations are released, I like to watch the Best Picture nominations. I usually like to read the book before I see the movie adaptation, but too many for me to do that this year, as I haven't read any of the nominees yet. And I also like to read the book first because of what gets changed in the movie, which sometimes really changes the "meaning" of the book. Have you read/seen any of the Best Picture nominees?

Some of my past books before movies are Jurassic Park (they changed the ending), The Reader ( they really changed the ending), Memoirs of a Geisha (book so much better) and All the Harry Potter Books (great books, great movie adaptations)...

Here are this years Oscar nominations for Best Pictures 2026 that are adapted from books...

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley... The story of the madman and his all too human monster! OMG, the movie by Guillermo del Toro is amazing. BUT, it is a bit different then I remember... the last Frankenstein movie. And gosh, I just realized I have never read the actual novel. So, which version is more accurate? AND, did you know that there are 2 versions of the original novel? Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein as kind of a challenge... part of the ghost story contest proposed by Lord Byron. Mary was 19 at the time in 1816 when she wrote Frankenstein, but in 1831 she edited the story to make it a better more polished story and removing some questionable parts. 

But Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein takes some liberties in the story, but I really loved it. Omg, cinematically it is beautiful. My only slight disappointment in the del Toro movie is the look of the monster. Frankenstein just doesn't give me the fright I wanted. But from all the Oscar Best Picture nominees, this is the one I would give the Oscar to. (and I saw all but Hamnet... that will be this weekend.)

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One Battle After Another, based on Vineland by Thomas Pynchon... On California's fog-hung North Coast, the enchanted redwood groves of Vineland County harbor a wild assortment of Sixties survivors and refugees from the "Nixonian Reaction," still struggling with the consequences of their past lives. Aging hippie freak Zoyd Wheeler is revving up for his annual act of televised insanity when news reaches him that his old nemesis, sinister Federal agent Brock Vond, has come storming into Vineland at the head of a heavily armed Justice Department strike force. Zoyd instantly disappears underground, but not before dispatching his teenage daughter Prairie on a dark odyssey into her secret, unspeakable past . . . That is the book. The movie changes the story to a modern dayish 2010 with a group of imaginary radicals (Pynchon's book is suppose to be based on real people) and the consequences of their past. Really good movie... Leonardo DiCaprio is very good, but I think Sean Penn steals the show. Sean Penn was amazing playing Colonel Steven J. Lockjaw. OMG, talk about a villain you just can't kill. His acting, the way he walked, he deserves the Oscar for best supporting actor, which he is up for. 

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Train Dreams by Denis Johnson... Suffused with the history and landscapes of the American West―its otherworldly flora and fauna, its rugged loggers and bridge builders―this extraordinary novella poignantly captures the disappearance of a distinctly American way of life.

It tells the story of Robert Grainer, a day laborer in the American West at the start of the twentieth century―an ordinary man in extraordinary times. Buffeted by the loss of his family, Grainer struggles to make sense of this strange new world. As his story unfolds, we witness both his shocking personal defeats and the radical changes that transform America in his lifetime.

The movie was a beautiful movie to watch, but it was a slow and quiet movie. And I actually started to fall asleep at one point.  Based on Denis Johnson's 128 page novella published in 2012, I've read that the movie changed the story from the epic stories of the "traveling" logger to more of a movie about the sadness of Robert Grainer losing his family. I still need to read this book. The funny thing about this book-- I bought this book in 2016, just before I moved from CT to SC. It got packed and is still packed lost in the boxes still in the storage shed. Talk about a TBR pile. lol. In any case, good movie, very sad, very slow. Book is suppose to be very good. I still want to read it! My library had a copy, but it is registered as LOST! So, I will be going thru the storage boxes for this book now.

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Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell... England, 1580: The Black Death creeps across the land, an ever-present threat, infecting the healthy, the sick, the old and the young alike. The end of days is near, but life always goes on.

A young Latin tutor—penniless and bullied by a violent father—falls in love with an extraordinary, eccentric young woman. Agnes is a wild creature who walks her family’s land with a falcon on her glove and is known throughout the countryside for her unusual gifts as a healer, understanding plants and potions better than she does people. Once she settles with her husband on Henley Street in Stratford-upon-Avon, she becomes a fiercely protective mother and a steadfast, centrifugal force in the life of her young husband, whose career on the London stage is just taking off when his beloved young son succumbs to sudden fever.

This book is on my TBR list! Movie is suppose to be wonderful, book is suppose to be very good too. I'll be watching this, this weekend! 

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Two other movies I watched up for the Best Picture Oscar, but not based on books... Sinners and Bugonia. Have you seen either of these movies? I don't want to ruin it for anyone who has not seen these movies, but talk about crazy!! 

Sinners... "Trying to leave their troubled lives behind, twin brothers return to their hometown to start again, only to discover that an even greater evil is waiting to welcome them back." OMG, I had no idea what I was going to be watching when I streamed Sinners. I expected a period piece about the Deep South and the origins of Blues music... OMG, that's all I can say. Half way thru the movie something happens and turns the "period piece" into a horror movie!.... I can't decide if I really liked it or thought it was too crazy. Up to the horror part, I thought it was really good. When crazy hit the screen, I was totally dumbfounded. Then reading up on the "meaning of the film', makes me appreciate it more for what it was suppose to "say". I love horror movies, and if I just consider as a horror movie, I think it was really good. Omg, I still am ambivalent about it after having watched over a week ago...

Now for Bugonia... "Two conspiracy-obsessed young men kidnap the high-powered CEO of a major company, convinced that she is an alien intent on destroying planet Earth." I knew what I was getting into, kinda... and then the ending just shocked me. I'm still not sure if it shocked me in a good way. It kind of ruined what I thought was a great movie... not because of the movie itself, but because of (all things) the costuming. Before the ending I thought the movie was amazing and that Jesse Plemons deserved an Oscar for Best Actor. He won a BAFTA for Best Actor, but did not get nominated for an Oscar. Too bad, he really deserves it for his performance! 

Weekly Wrap up...

Memoir Monday... A Seafaring tale for all you married couples. Read about it Here! 

First Lines Friday... House Hunting never was so... deadly! Follow this link to read the first lines of this book! 

Book Review!... On Wednesday, I reviewed Road Trip by Mary Kay Andrews! My first Mary Kay Andrews book and it won't be my last. Really loved this book! Here's my review.

ONE MORE THING... Kindle Deal of the Day... 

Today Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi is $1.99 on Kindle. Grab it here, while you can. I LOVED this book and did a short review back in 2018! Read the review, grab the ebook!

I hope you found some good bookish stuff here today! Have a great week and see you next week!

Happy Reading... Suzanne

First Lines Friday... It's All About the Sheep!

'He was healthy yesterday', said Maude. Her ears twitched nervously.

'That doesn't mean anything,' pointed out Sir Ritchfield, the oldest ram in the flock. 'He didn't die of an illness. Spades are not an illness.'

The shephard was lying in the green Irish grass beside the hay barn, not far from the path through the fields. He didn't move. A single crow had settled on his woolly Norwegian sweater and was studying his internal arrangements with professional interest. Beside the crow sat a very happy rabbit. Rather farther off, close to the edge of the cliff, the sheep were holding a meeting.

Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann

A beloved shepherd is found dead by his flock... and the flock decide to solve the murder. Why would a group of sheep decide to solve the murder? Maybe because the shepherd was known to read murder mysteries to them at night...

We probably would never have heard of this book, except for the fact that it's going to be a major motion picture starring Hugh Jackman and Emma Thompson. The book was originally published in Germany in 2005, and in the US by a small independent publisher, Allison and Busby, in 2025. The sneak peek of the movie I saw, yes the trailer, made me laugh out loud! 

The movie looks fun (it makes me think this it's along the same lines of Babe). And after reading a small bit of the book, I decided I need to read the whole book! Let's see if the movie is as good as the book (or the book is good at all)! The movie is suppose to come to theaters this coming May. But don't you like reading the book before the movie? I do. So, are you going to take a chance like I am and read it first?

Would you like to see the trailer? Here's a link

The Sunday Salon and Snowbound with the Oscars

If the weather wasn't already crazy the past few weeks,  I would have said it was after a 70 degree day, a day of torrential rain that caused massive flooding, and then two days later a real winter snowfall in which I wish I had my Connecticut snow shovel!

It's been a great week to enjoy a good book. First on the front porch in the beautiful warm weather, and then the last half of the week inside and housebound. This is my second winter in South Carolina and I've had some great snow days! And today I've discovered a coveted Southern food called Snow cream! Have you ever heard of it or had it?? Here is the recipe...

8 cups snow, 1 cup milk, 1/3 cup sugar and teaspoon vanilla. Mix well and enjoy!!

Some of my snowbound reading has been Oscar related. I started reading I Heard You Paint Housed by Charles Brandt, which my husband already had on his Kindle. The Irishman is based on this book. I'm always interested in the books that movies are based on if there is one. I like to read the book first if at all possible. First, to read the story as the author has written it, and secondly because I like to imagine my own characters in my head and not necessarily the actors that play the parts. 

Here are a few of the Oscar 2020 contenders that started as books...

The movie is The Irishman, The book is: I Heard You Paint Houses by Charles Brandt...  "I heard you paint houses" are the first words Jimmy Hoffa ever spoke to Frank "the Irishman" Sheeran. To paint a house is to kill a man. The paint is the blood that splatters on the walls and floors. In the course of nearly five years of recorded interviews, Frank Sheeran confessed to Charles Brandt that he handled more than twenty-five hits for the mob, and for his friend Hoffa. Sheeran learned to kill in the U.S. Army, where he saw an astonishing 411 days of active combat duty in Italy during World War II. After returning home he became a hustler and hit man, working for legendary crime boss Russell Bufalino. Eventually Sheeran would rise to a position of such prominence that in a RICO suit the US government would name him as one of only two non-Italians in conspiracy with the Commission of La Cosa Nostra, alongside the likes of Anthony "Tony Pro" Provenzano and Anthony "Fat Tony" Salerno. When Bufalino ordered Sheeran to kill Hoffa, the Irishman did the deed, knowing that if he had refused he would have been killed himself. Charles Brandt's page-turner has become a true crime classic.

I thought the movie was really good, although a bit long. It is a Martin Scorsese movie, which automatically means LONG, but I wasn't falling asleep because of it either. Although I think 1917 will win the Oscar for the best film this year, I really think that the Irishman (and Parasite, which I absolutely loved and thought was the best film) didn't get much Oscar love for best film. I'm enjoying the book. It's well written. I would recommend it for people who enjoy true crime novels. Originally published by Steerforth in 2004.

The movie is JoJo Rabbit, the book is: Caging Skies by Chistine Leumens... An extraordinary, strikingly original novel that reveals a world of truth and lies both personal and political, Caging Skies is told through the eyes of Johannes Betzler, avid member of the Hitler Youth during World War II. Filled with admiration for the Führer and Nazi ideals, he is shocked to discover his parents are hiding a Jewish girl named Elsa behind a false wall in their home in Vienna. After he’s disfigured in a raid, Johannes focuses more and more on his connection with the girl behind the wall. His initial horror and revulsion turn to interest—and then obsession. After his parents disappear, Johannes is the only one aware of Elsa’s existence in the house, and he alone is responsible for her fate. Drawing strength from his daydreams about Hitler, Johannes plans for the end of the war and what it might mean for him and Elsa.

I had absolutely no interest in seeing the movie Jojo Rabbit until I read about the book it was based on. From the trailers of the movie, it looked like a farse on Hitler and the Hitler youth, which I really don't think is a very funny subject. BUT, when I read about the book and how it was about a couple hiding a Jewish girl, while living under the pretense of being "loyal" citizens, it brought a whole new perspective to the movie for me. This book is on my wish list. Published by Overlook Press, an imprint of Abrams in 2019.

The movie is Ford V. Ferrari, the book is: Go Like Hell by A.J. Baime... The epic story also told in the film FORD V. FERRARI: By the early 1960s, the Ford Motor Company, built to bring automobile transportation to the masses, was falling behind. Young Henry Ford II, who had taken the reins of his grandfather’s company with little business experience to speak of, knew he had to do something to shake things up. Baby boomers were taking to the road in droves, looking for speed not safety, style not comfort. Meanwhile, Enzo Ferrari, whose cars epitomized style, lorded it over the European racing scene. He crafted beautiful sports cars, "science fiction on wheels," but was also called "the Assassin" because so many drivers perished while racing them.

Go Like Hell tells the remarkable story of how Henry Ford II, with the help of a young visionary named Lee Iacocca and a former racing champion turned engineer, Carroll Shelby, concocted a scheme to reinvent the Ford company. They would enter the high-stakes world of European car racing, where an adventurous few threw safety and sanity to the wind. They would design, build, and race a car that could beat Ferrari at his own game at the most prestigious and brutal race in the world, something no American car had ever done.

When I was very young, my parents took me to see Le Mans in the movies. Actually they didn't take me to see it as much as taking me along so they could see it, since they didn't believe in leaving me with a baby sitter. I vaguely rememeber the excitement of the cars racing around the streets. But that excitement and this book is what the movie Ford v Ferrari is based on and sounds so interesting. On my wishlist. Published by Mariner in 2010.

No Oscar knods for this movie, but the movie is The Good Liar and the book is: The Good Liar by Nicholas Searle... When Roy meets a wealthy widow online, he can hardly believe his luck. Just like Patricia Highsmith’s Tom Ripley, Roy is a man who lives to deceive—and everything about Betty suggests she’s an easy mark. He’s confident that his scheme to swindle her will be a success. After all, he’s done this before. Sure enough, Betty soon lets Roy move into her beautiful home, seemingly blind to the web of lies he’s woven around her. But who is Roy, really? Spanning almost a century, this stunning and suspenseful feat of storytelling interweaves the present with the past. As the clock turns back and the years fall away, long-hidden secrets are forced into the light. Some things can never be forgotten. Or forgiven.

One of the movies I recently got to see was The Good Liar starring Helen Mirren and Ian McKellen. The trailer just piqued my interest and I had to see it. I can't believe it did not get one Oscar nomination! It was a really good movie! The cat and mouse game between Helen Mirren and Ian McKellen was just so well done, and both actors did a great job. And even though I was guessing through out the movie what the catch was, because there just had to be a little something else besides Ian McKellen fleecing Helen Mirren out of all her money, I could never have guessed the twist at the end. I definitely want to read the book, even though I think I would have enjoyed reading the twist ending more if I hadn't seen the movie. The Good Liar is on my wish list. Published by Harper originally in 2016.

Do You Like to Read the Book Before You See the Movie?

Also... 

The movie, It's a beautiful Day in the Neighborhood starring Tom Hanks is based on an Esquire Article... https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a27134/can-you-say-hero-esq1198/.

The Joker was based on the graphic novel, Batman: The Killing Joke written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Brian Bolland. I read this and really enjoyed it. The movie changed a few key things, but I still think the movie worked really well to show the human side of The Joker. Here is the link to my review of Batman: The Killing Joke.

Watching the Oscars tonight? I'm not really a TV kind of girl, but I do love movies and since I've seen quite a few of these Oscar nominees, I'm going to watch to see who wins and root my favorites on! 

Week in Review...

Memoir Monday highlighted a memoir written by our new United Stated poet Laureate, Joy Harjo called Crazy Brave. Written back in 2012, she shares her beginnings and how she blossomed into a poet. 

First Lines Friday highlighted a bit of time traveling fiction called Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore

Well that about does it for this week. The snow is melting now, but it's still good reading in front of the fire weather. That's what I'll be doing today. What are your plans? What good books are you reading now?! Share them right here so we can all read them!

Happy reading... Suzanne

The Sunday Salon and I've Read That Movie... 4 Great Books Coming to a Theatre Near You!

Welcome to The Sunday Salon and The Sunday Post, which is a weekly meme hosted by The Caffeinated Book Reviewer! It's that day of the week we all gather together virtually to talk about one of our favorite subjects... BOOKS! So, find a comfy chair and grab a cup of joe...

I've always loved books, but my interest in movies came later in life. And what I really find interesting are books that I enjoy that have been made into movies. I love seeing if the movie lives up to the book. I don't think I can say most do or don't, but there are things that I can say...

1. "Hey, they changed the ending!"
2. "That actor doesn't look like what I imagined the character to look like."
3. "I loved the way they brought it all to life!"

If there is a book that I've been meaning to read, but haven't gotten around to it and the movie of it is coming out, I do try to read it first. Why? Because I like to create the characters in my head, to read the full details of the story myself first. Sometimes, I don't have time to read the book first. An example of that is with the movie Me Before You by Jo Jo Moyes. I just watched that last night. I have had that book in my eReader for forever, but just never got around to it. The previews for the movie looked so good, I had to just go for it. Now that I've seen the movie, it kind of ruins the reading experience for me. Why? Because even though I knew more or less the ending of the story beforehand, I won't be able to discover it. To experience it "like the very first time" while turning the pages. It is still is on my TBR list though.

There are some movies coming out that I am so excited to see though! And here they are...

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins! OMG, I can't wait to see this! I really loved this book and the trailer looks great! 

"Rachel (Emily Blunt), who is devastated by her recent divorce, spends her daily commute fantasizing about the seemingly perfect couple (Haley Bennett, Luke Evans) who live in a house that her train passes every day, until one morning she sees something shocking happen there and becomes entangled in the mystery that unfolds."

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Me Before You by Jojo Moyes... Hubby and I just rented this the other night and WOW! I love romance novels, but I do not normally watch romantic comedies. The previews for this looked so wonderful. The book had been in my eReader for forever, and I was in the mood for a movie, and not a horror movie (movie genre of choice usually), and I thought I'd give this a try. It was wonderful! I would give it 5 stars and a box of tissues. I was blubbering so much by the end of the movie I couldn't see or breathe very well. I think the last time I cried that much was watching Terms of Endearment. Ugh. As I said above, the book is still on my TBR list. But the follow-up to Me Before You, is Me After You, published this past July. If you haven't read (or seen) Me Before You, I can't tell you anything about Me After You without revealing anything, so trust me.... RENT Me Before You!

"Young and quirky Louisa "Lou" Clark (Emilia Clarke) moves from one job to the next to help her family make ends meet. Her cheerful attitude is put to the test when she becomes a caregiver for Will Traynor (Sam Claflin), a wealthy young banker left paralyzed from an accident two years earlier. Will's cynical outlook starts to change when Louisa shows him that life is worth living. As their bond deepens, their lives and hearts change in ways neither one could have imagined."

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Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ranson Riggs! Wonderful YA book, which my Book Club read and loved, and the movie adaptation looks spot on!

"When his beloved grandfather leaves Jake clues to a mystery that spans different worlds and times, he finds a magical place known as Miss Peregrine's School for Peculiar Children. But the mystery and danger deepen as he gets to know the residents and learns about their special powers - and their terrifying enemies. Ultimately, Jake discovers that only his own special peculiarity can save his new friends."

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Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by J.K. Rowling! This movie is set to release in November and I am so excited about this one too! I love all the Harry Potter movies! Some are better than others, but I just find them magical! The world of Harry Potter is so well recreated on the screen. AND this movie adaptation, based on the book of the same name, looks to be very well done. Though the book itself is just a slim supplement to the Harry Potter world, the movie takes all the "Beasts" in the book and creates a story to go with them.

"A magizoologist (Eddie Redmayne) makes a brief stop in 1926 New York but is waylaid by a Muggle, a misplaced magical case and the escape of some fantastic beasts."

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Some other books to movies I've enjoyed...

• The Reader (although they changed the ending)
• Jurassic Park (although they changed the ending)
• The Time Travelers Wife
• The Perfect Storm
• Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
• Twilight
• The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo
• The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe
• The Fault in Our Stars
• True Grit (the new movie version- not the John Wayne movie)
• The DaVinci Code

Some Books I've enjoyed that were made into movies...

• Water for Elephants
• The Help
• Memoirs of a Geisha (I thought the book was so much better)
• Wild (The book was SO much better)
• The Martian (liked the movie, but thought the book was better)

Do You Like to Read the Book Before Seeing the Movie?

Weekly Wrap-up...

Monday, for Memoir Monday,  I reviewed In Good Company by Carol Burnett. 

Tuesday we found out (and I listed with links) The Man Booker Prize Shortlist.

Wednesday I announced the upcoming celebration of Banned Book Week! In two weeks it's Banned Books Week on Chick with Books and we are going to be celebrating our freedom to read highlighting some fantastic banned books! Plus a nice surprise at the end of the week to wrap it all up! 

That about does it for this week! Hope you found something to "watch" and read. Share the books that you loved as movies! AND, share what books you'd like to see as a movie?!

Happy reading... Suzanne

The Sunday Salon and The Oscar Goes to... "Which Book?"

Welcome to The Sunday Salon! It's that day of the week where we sit down virtually with all our reader friends and talk books! And this week not only is it books, it's also movies!

For months now the media has been all abuzz about movies. It's the big push before the coveted Oscars. You see your movie theater bringing back the Oscar nominees for another go in the box office and you read all sorts of stellar reviews. That is, if you're into the big screen. I've always enjoyed a good movie, but when a book that I dearly loved is slated for the big screen I feel dread. It never use to be that way, but time and time again, I've been disappointed.

It's not entirely the movie industries fault that a movie doesn't translate (or translate for me) on the screen as well as the book. The director has a certain vision, there are time constraints that may hinder the full development of the movie on the screen, and as readers, we create in our minds the setting, the people, the everything from the author's words on the page. But sometimes it does work...


I'd have to say, all the Harry Potter books were great as movies. I loved the books and equally loved each movie. They "got it". The characters fit, the sets were brilliant, and the stories weren't chopped to fit the screen. The Time Traveler's Wife I thought was well done. It was amazing how they got all that time traveling pretty much on the mark, with the characters and the settings. The Shining was another amazing movie from a great book. It was perfect. Brokeback Mountain was amazing! I loved that movie and the short story by Annie Proulx was equally wonderful. Although a bit controversial, 2 gay cowboys falling in love, the love story was given the time and space to develop perfectly on the screen and the cinematography was beautiful.

And then there were some movies that weren't quite right... I loved the book Jurassic Park, and I do really like the movie, BUT the ending of the movie is so different from the book I was in shock while I was watching. The Reader was a moving, heart wrenching read, and the movie was wonderful UNTIL the ending. Why did "they" think they needed to change it? I don't know, but the ending in the book was perfect as it was, the ending of the movie was not. Memoirs of a Geisha was an amazing book, the movie was visually beautiful, but could not match the written word.

This year I did read one book-to-movie, a book I absolutely loved and a movie I was so disappointed with... Wild. If you did not read the book, the movie could stand alone and be good. If you read the book, you'd be wondering where half the book was. I thought the book was heart wrenching, sad, compelling, and I felt such empathy towards Cheryl Strayed, but the movie left me a bit empty. Her life was mostly told in small vignettes that just didn't have the power of the pages and pages that were devoted to how Cheryl became the woman that she was. I was doing a play by play afterwards to enlighten my husband as to the background of some of what was going on so he could better understand the circumstances.... Now, this is just one girl's opinion. My feelings may reflect my love of the book and how the movie did not live up to my expectations (which were low).

Here are a few books I LOVED that have been made into movies (and I haven't seen yet)... The Help, The Book Thief, Water for Elephants, Bridget Jones Diary, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, The Kite Runner, and Snow Flower and the Secret Fan.

What books have you enjoyed that have been made into a movie? Are you excited to hear a book you loved is being turned into a movie? Have you read any of the books-to-movies up for an Oscar this year? I like to read the book before I venture out to see the movie, but maybe I shouldn't anymore!

Happy reading... Suzanne

The Sunday Salon... Books to Movies Part 2

Welcome to the Sunday Salon! It's the day of the week where we can get together and chatabout all the bookish things we did this past week! It finally turned into Spring in Connecticut! May 1st has given us blue skies and warm weather! I've been spending timeoutside fusing with the garden, getting ready for the hummingbirds. But there's some great things to do inside these days and great things to come! What am I talking about?! Why some of our favorite books coming to the big screen! Time to see how it all plays out on film! Do you read the book before seeing the movie? I always try to do that, because once I see it on the big screen I tend to not want to read the book. Let's talk about bookadaptations today!

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen... It's finally here! The movie we've all been waiting for! I am patiently waiting for a couple of my friends to finish the book so we can all enjoy a girls night out with Rosie the Elephant (ok, Robert Pattison isn't such a bad excuse to go either)! The scenery from the trailers looks just as I would have pictured it, and I have high hopes for the total package. It has gotten great reviews so far. A friend of mine did say that it's not an exact blue print of the movie, generally that is what happens, but she enjoyed it immensely! Have you seen Water for

Elephants yet?

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins... Readers have plenty of time to read this trilogy, or at least the first book that the movie is based on! The release date for this futuristic YA novel is March 23, 2012! Ok, I must be the only one who has not read this series yet and I WILL read it before seeing it on the big screen! Have you read the books yet? Are you looking forward to the movie?

A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan... This Pulitzer Prize winning book is being adapted for the little screen! HBO has optioned this book for a series. A Visit from the Goon Squad is a novel of interconnected stories and this series should be very interesting. "The sprawling bookcovers three decades in the lives of its characters, opening in the 1980’s San Francisco punk rock scene. Egan uses unorthodox writing methods to tell her story, with different characters and stories interwoven throughout the book." I've had this book on my wish list for a while, and I guess it's about time to crack the spine on this one. The book has gotten rave reviews ever since being released June of last year. Have you read this one? Seems to me this would make a great TV series in the right hands.

Other books to movies coming soon... The Help by Kathryn Stockett. This is scheduled to be released August 12th. I am a bit leary about seeing this one. The book was so wonderful, I just can't imagine the big screen adaptation meeting all my expectations. We'll have to wait and see. I felt the same way about the movie adaptation of The Time Travelers Wife and was pleasantly surprised to find that I really enjoyed it. Any thoughts

on this one? Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer (Part 1) will be coming our way November 18th, 2011. They are breaking this up into 2 parts, with part 2 coming ONE YEAR LATER! And if you really want to look ahead, in 2013 Pride Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahme-Smith will be coming your way onto the big screen! Natalie Portman is to play Elizabeth Bennett, and casting is going on now for the rest of the players. This may be fun. I do have the graphic novel in my TBR pile as we speak.

Weekly Recap... This weeks Memoir Monday highlighted Dreams in a Time of War by Ngugu waThiong'O. A coming-of-age story about the author growing up in Africa, it's such a nice departure from all the celebrity tell-all memoirs flooding the local bookstores. Ngugu wa Thion'O is a acclaimed writer of fiction, and has gotten such praise for the wonderful writing in his own story. Friday's First Lines highlighted The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente. I love the title and the YA fantasy sounds like a wonderful adventure tale sprinkles with plenty of sci-fi! AND GIVEAWAY UPDATE... There is still a few more days to enter to win Song of The Silk Road by Mingmei Yip! I loved this book and you can read all The Giveaway and The Book by clicking on the links!

How was your reading week?! Any good books you'd like to share? I'd love to hear about them! And what do you think about your favorite books being adapted to the big (and little) screen? Do you like seeing how your favorite book comes to life before your eyes?

Take care and Happy reading... Suzanne

The Sunday Salon... What Great Movies have You Read Lately?

Welcome to The Sunday Salon! Grab a cup of joe, relax and settle in for some great bookish talk! Today is a dreary day in the Nutmeg state, with rain and overcast skies, but it's the perfect time to curl up on the sofa with a good book. Feel like curling up with an award winner? There were quite a few winners last sunday... not literary awards, but cinematic ones. Of course what I'm referring to are the Academy Awards which always seem to include movies adapted from books. But do you care? Do you like to read the book before seeing a movie if it was adapted? Or are you motivated by seeing a great movie to open the pages of the book it came from? For me, I like toread the book before the movie. The excitement in reading is the discovery of what happens, and the enjoyment in seeing the movie afterwards is how it all translates to the big screen. Reading the book afterwards is like already knowing the punch line of a joke. There are always exceptions though. Someday I will read Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell and when I do it will be like visiting family back at the plantation, because I know the characters so well from the film. So, what films came from books this year? Let's take a look...

True Grit by Charles Portis... nominated this year for best picture, but ultimately lost out to The Kings Speech, this is the second time True Grit has been made into a film. This adaptation by the Coen brothers though is truer to the book, and both the new movie and the book are well worth your time. I reviewed True Grit at the end of December and I loved it! A Spunky 14-year-old heroine Matty Ross, the irascible Rooster Cogburn the no-nonsense Marshal who Matty hires to avenge her father's senseless death at the hands of Tom Chaney a drifter who Matty's father befriends, and the landscape of the American West make True Grit not only a fantastic read, but a classic western that can be appreciated by readers of all types of literature.

The King's Speech by Mark Logue and Peter Conradi... "Based on the recently discovered diaries of Lionel Logue, The King's Speech recounts an inspiring real-life tale of triumph over adversity, when an Australian taught a British king with a crippling speech defect how to speak to his subjects." The King's Speech, the film, had it's origins not really from the book, but from the desire of screenwriter David Seidler to find out how King George VI overcame his stammer, which Seidler also suffered from. Seidler found little information on Lionel Logue, but was able to contact Logue's son, who "agreed to discuss his father and make his father's notebooks available for research as long as the Queen Mother gave her permission. She asked him not to do so in her lifetime and Seidler halted the project." But eventually Seidler came back to the project through other channels and the result is the Oscar winning movie for best picture. The book, The King's Speech is written by the grandson of Lionel Logue, Mark Logue, and British journalist Peter Conradi. Logue became curious about his grandfather and began his research. Mark Logue says "It's an amazing, serendipitous accident that the fiction ended up looking a lot like the facts." So, even though the movie isn't exactly written from "the book", I would say that the movie was based on much of the same research that came to both writer and screen writer. And there has been lots of positive buzz about the book itself.

Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell... "Ree Dolly's father has skipped bail on charges that he ran a crystal meth lab, and the Dollys will lose their house if he doesn't show up for his next court date. With two young brothers depending on her, 16-year-old Ree knows she has to bring her father back, dead or alive. Living in the harsh poverty of the Ozarks, Ree learns quickly that asking questions of the rough Dolly clan can be a fatal mistake. But, as an unsettling revelation lurks, Ree discovers unforeseen depths in herself and in a family network that protects its own at any cost." The gritty realism of the film totally depressed me, but the book has gotten so much praise for it's great writing. Published in 2007, Winter's Bone is experiencing a reawakening from the production of the movie.

Between a Rock and a Hard Place by Aron Ralston... Before the movie, entitled 127 Hours, there was the true adventure story where "Aron Ralston, an experienced twenty-seven-year-old outdoorsman, was on a day’s solitary hike through a remote and narrow Utah canyon when he dislodged an eight-hundred- pound boulder that crushed his right hand and wrist against the canyon wall. Emerging from the searing pain, Aron found himself completely stuck. No one knew where he was; no one was coming to rescue him. With scant water and food, and a cheap pocketknife his only tool, he eliminated his options one by one. On the fifth night, wracked by delirium and uncontrollable shivers, Aron scratched his epitaph into the rock wall, certain he would not see daylight." The book was originally published in 2005 and was a incredible read! I chose it as one of my reading groups picks and it made for a fantastic group discussion. As for the movie, I haven't seen it, and based on part of the subject matter, of severing his arm to survive, I'm not sure I want to see it. But the story leading up to his resolve to survive was an amazing page turner.

What other books have you read that made great movies? How about Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell, To Have and Have Not by Ernest Hemingway,(the movie starred Lauren Bacall in her first film, which also starred Humphrey Bogart!), or how about The Shining by Stephen King? Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton was a great book! So was The Reader by Bernhard Schlink (I actually liked the books better than the movies with these two, but isn't that usually the case?) There are so many more books to movies, which ones are your favorites?!

Other books to consider reading before the motion picture comes out are Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen , due out in April (I can't rave about this book enough!), Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See, with a July release date ( One of my all time favorite books!), and The Help by Kathryn Stockett , coming in August (OK, is there anyone who hasn't read this yet?!). Have you read these books yet? Are you looking forward to seeing the movie?

Other bookish news not of the movie kind this week... Do you take out ebooks from the library? Well Harper Collins is changing their licensing agreements for distributions. They want only 26 people to be able to take out one of their ebooks from any library before the library has to pay for another license. What do you think? I love being able to check out ebooks from the library, but what is the difference between physical library books and ebooks? When the library buys a physical book for their library, it doesn't matter how many people check it out... Do you think that should hold true for ebook checkouts too? I do!

And Borders closings are in their second week in my little corner of the world. The Borders that is 5 minutes from my house looks like a cyclone hit with books strewn everywhere. Are you losing a Borders near you?

What bookish things did you do this past week? And what great books do you have waiting to be read? Share your books here! And share those books you enjoyed that were made into movies too!

Happy reading... Suzanne

The Sunday Salon... Books to Movies

Welcome to The Sunday Salon! Relax, pull up a chair and grab a cup of joe! It's the day of the week over 500 book bloggers and readers sit down to enjoy each other's company and chat about books!

Last week, while I was vacationing, I got a chance to see The Girl Who Played With Fire, which is the movie based on the book by the same name by Stieg Larsson. I usually like to read the book before I see a movie based on a book, but in this case I hadn't quite finished reading it,

and being an "art house" movie I knew it wasn't going to wait for me! The movie was great! (So was The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo!) And this time seeing the movie first has not diminished my enjoyment of the book at all. The book has plenty of material not included in the movie. (wish I could tell you, but then I would be spoiling it on both accounts!) I do recall reading The Firm by John Grisham after the fact and not enjoying reading it because it seemed as though I was reading word for word what was on the big screen. That convinced me that if I wanted to read a book that was coming out in the movies that I should read the book first. Sometimes knowing what happens in the book will leave you a bit surprised in the movie theater because things are changed, such as when I went to see Jurassic Park (Michael Crichton) and they had changed the ending. Reading the book and getting to know the characters and THEN seeing the movie adapted from the book should be a treat. The big screen is suppose to touch you differently than the written word, what do you think?

All this got me to thinking about upcoming Books to Movies! What should we be reading now so that we'll be ready for the buttered popcorn and Junior mints? (BTW, a friend gave me a copy of Life's Little Instruction Book by H. Jackson Brown, Jr. and one of the instructions was to add Junior Mints to your popcorn and I have done it ever since) Here are some books coming to a theater near you...

Little Bee by Chris Cleave... I loved this book when I read it last year! And I'm really looking forward to seeing the movie. The book should lend itself well to an adaptation. Here's what Publisher Weekly wrote... "A violent incident on a Nigerian beach has tragic echoes in posh London in Cleave's beautifully staged if haphazardly plotted second novel. British couple Andrew O'Rourke and his wife, Sarah, are on vacation when they come across two sisters, Little Bee and Nkiruka, on the run from the killers who have massacred everyone else in their village—and what happens there with this unlikely encounter, is the mystery that propels the novel. Two years later, Little Bee, in possession of Andrew's license, shows up at Sarah's house..."Filming should begin in early 2011, in the meantime, you should have time to read this ahead of time! Here's my Review! *P.S. This Book is Kindle Ready!

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro... Kazuo Ishiguro is a very popular Japanese author who has won quite a few awards for his writing, including the Booker Prize. Here's what Never Let Me Go is about... A thirty-one-year-old woman named Kathy narrates this haunting tale, drawing the reader gradually into her recollections of her life at Hailsham, the idyllic boarding school where she grew up. She and her best friends, Ruth and Tommy, were encouraged by their teachers to create works of art from an early age, to collect cherished objects, and to take good care of their health. There are no parents in their world, only a handful of teachers, some of whom seem to be deeply troubled by their position at the school. Kathy’s friend Ruth is bossy and manipulative, while Kathy herself is gentle and self-contained. Both are drawn to Tommy, a boy given to explosive fits of temper. What is revealed, as Kathy’s reminiscences accumulate, is a life of preparation for a special role in a world that has begun to exploit the medical possibilities of genetic technology. This Sci-Fi offering is slated to be released Sept. of this year. *P.S. This Book is Kindle Ready! (at the bargain price of $8.69!)

Guardians of Ga'Hoole: The Capture by Kathryn Lasky... This is something for the kids (of course us adults should enjoy it too!) It will be animated and 3D! Kathryn Lasky is well known for her childrens fantasy books. Her Guardians of Ga'Hoole series is 15 books so far, geared towards readers between the ages of 9 - 12, with Warner Bros. adapting the first book in the series, The Capture, for this movie. Here's what Booklist writes about The Capture, "Soren, a barn owl still weeks away from fledging, is knocked from his otherwise loving family's nest by his nasty older brother. He is swooped up from the forest floor by a pair of nefarious owls who hold him--along with many other owlets of diverse species--captive in a kind of owl social reformatory. Lasky portrays an owl world that has more in common with George Orwell than with Brian Jacques, offering readers big questions about human social psychology and politics along with real owl science. Broad themes related to the nature of personal choice, the need for fellowship based on love and trust, and sharing knowledge with one's peers are presented compellingly and with swift grafting to the animal adventure story. Developmentally linked celebrations (such as "First Fur" and "First Meat"), methods devised for brain-washing (including the regimental marching of sleepy owls by moonlight), and the diverse landscapes in which owls makes their homes come to life here as Soren rebels against his captors, makes a friend, and executes the first stage of his planned liberation and family reconciliation." This movie is scheduled for a September release. *P.S. This Book is Kindle Ready! (at the bargain price of $4.79!)

And speaking of books to movies, there's a great book called Adaptations by Stephanie Harrison that has 35 of the short stories that some older big screen movies were adapted from. You can read the short story that inspired Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window, or the stories that inspired Memento, 2001: A Space Odessey, Minority Report and All About Eve.

So, what movies have you seen that you enjoyed both as a book and a movie? Which do you prefer movie first or book first? OR does seeing a movie that was based on a book, make you want to read the book if it was really good? Share what you think right here!

And wrapping up the week in the Books to Movies department, are you watching STARZ this week? The movie adaptation of Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett started this week, and will be running the next 6 weeks on Friday nights on STARZ premium cable channel! If you're a fan of Pillars of the Earth, you will want to watch it. If you've missed the first episode, I'm sure they will be replaying it, because this is a big event, with lush sets and headline actors. First episode gets a thumbs up from me. Did you see it? What did you think?

Would you rather listen to instead of watch your favorite book? If you missed it, I have a giveaway still going on until August 14th for Private by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro! Click on the link to read the details! And next week, I'll have a review and giveaway for the audiobook of Backseat Saints by Joshlyn Jackson, and if you enjoy southern fiction, this girl from Alabama will charm you! And speaking of giveaways, there's still time to enter the giveaway for a bit of reading romance during the time of Waterloo with Eileen Dreyer's Barely A Lady. Giveaway ends July 27th, follow this link for the details.

Hope you found something that piqued your love of reading this week! Happy reading... Suzanne