Wednesday, January 21, 2009

I read it at the movies

Have you noticed how many movies recently had their beginnings in books? Of course it's a grand tradition going back to Gone with the Wind and possibly before, but it seems that this movie season, Twilight started it, and now...wow!

Doubt. I haven't seen this yet but it looks impressive. Doubt is a play, not a very long one, and it'll be interesting for me to see how this short play morphs into a full-length movie.

The Tale of Despereaux. Let's clear one thing up right away: I'm not a fan of mice. Ick. Creepy little nasty things. But there's something really appealing about the mouse in this story, and both the book and the movie have quickly become well-liked, even by mouse-haters like me.

Marley and Me. This book was a huge hit, and so's the movie. But I think Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson would make any movie a hit, don't you?

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. This one I really want to see. Ever since I read The Great Gatsby in high school, I've been a fan of F. Scott Fitzgerald, and I'm curious to see how Brad Pitt interprets the role of the man who lives his life backwards.

The Secret Life of Bees.
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.
Even The Day the Earth Stood Still started off as a short story!

So what movie have you read?

Janet
*who needs to choose a movie!*



3 comments:

Carm said...

One of my all-time favorite books turned movie is "Pride and Prejudice" (I prefer the 1996 version with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle, but I enjoyed the more recent Keira Knightly version too)

Other books turned movies I watched in 2008-2009--

Yes Man by Danny Wallace
Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding
The Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella
My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
Atonement by Ian McEwan
Feast of Love by Charles Baxter
Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby
No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy
Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler
The Other Boleyn Girl by Phillipa Gregory

sandi said...

There is also a new one coming out titled "Inkheart." The book is part of a three-book series by Cornelia Funke. I have only read "Inkheart" and truly enjoyed it. The books are categorized as juvenile fiction and are low fantasy, at times very dark. I found them to be somewhat like the old Bugs Bunny comics in that some of the humor and innuendo would go right by a child. The other two in the series are "Inkspell" and "Inkdeath."

Chester Fritz Library does not own this title but Grand Forks Public has it in three formats - regular, large print and audio.

Sandi L. Bates MLIS
Chester Fritz Library Reference Librarian

Popular Librarians said...

Great list, Carm! Thanks! Your list reminded me that last year's "Sex and the City" is based on Candace Bushnell's book. I loved that movie.

Sandi, I meant to put "Inkheart" on there and forgot. I'll try to get a copy for the library. Thanks for the reminder.

Janet