myJaxonIf we don’t go crazy once in a while, we’ll all go crazy. - Hawkeye

Books as Movies | Literary Escapism

I just finished Twilight and with all the hype that the movie version is getting, I’m starting to get a little worried about the movie. The novel was really good, so good that I went out bought the second novel, that I’m afraid that the movie won’t be as good. I’m a fan of the Harry Potter books and not all of those movies have been good to date. The third one (Prisoner of Azahban) was horrendous in my opinion. They left out or changed so much that it seemed like I spent the movie trying to figure out what they left out then enjoying it. Don’t get me wrong, the characters were great, but they butchered the novel. Could this happen with Twilight?

I think the problem with making books into movies is that fans tend to get a specific….vision of the book in their head and the film industry can’t compete with it. There’s no way to take everyone’s idea of who looks like what and all of the events and still make it an entertaining movie. Or at least something that will make money. Plus, there is definitely a difference between reading a scene and watching it play out. You can never get as descriptive in a movie as one can in a book. Everything doesn’t always match up in my opinion. Again, it goes back to that idea that everyone imagines the book differently.

So what does everyone else think? Are there movie versions of books that are good or have they completely flopped? Why do you think it’s hard to translate a book into film?

Blood Noir Tour | Literary Escapism

Tonight I took a drive to Ann Arbor and saw Laurell K Hamilton. My husband, Ian and I all went down there and waited for three hours so she would sign my two books. You heard right, she is so popular, that they started handing out wrist bands at 9am this morning and they alternated colors instead of doing numbers. Ever 50 bands, they changed colors. When I got there at 5pm (she was due to start at 6pm), they were on their third set of colors and I heard there was a total of 5 colors given out. That means there were over 250 people who drove out in rainy weather (did I mention we were getting hit with rain all afternoon and evening), who took the time to wait in line, to see her. I have to say, I knew she was going to have a bit more of a crowd than Kim Harrison, but I definitely wasn’t expecting this kind of showing. I really shouldn’t be surprised, but I think Jesse was. After two hours of waiting aroudn with me (and Ian running around the store), they decided to use the portable DVD player for the first time and watched the Muppets out in the car.

Laurell was actually really open when it came to answering questions. She took questions for about 20 minutes before she started signing books, but about 2 hours in, she ended up having to ice her arm because it was starting to crap. Instead of waiting around with nothing to do, she took more questions and these were kind of interesting. I didn’t get there in time to catch the first Q&A session, but the second one was good. I ended up meeting someone there who was filming it and she said she would email me the video clips, do we’ll see if I can get them. I haven’t been able to find my camera cord, but once I do (and get the pics from my cousin), I’ll add them to the post.

Okay, now I’m just rambling and it’s time to go to bed. Ian was so tired that he went straight to bed without taking a bath. Needless to say, I had a blast at the Hamilton appearance and I would definitely do it again. I had her sign Blood Noir and Strange Candy, so now I’m excited to add those books to my library collection.

I had to post this. I’ve been a fan of Penny Arcade for awhile, but some of their gamer related strips always threw me, but I can so relate to today’s comic!!! I swear to god, this is how I bought her novels. I bought the first one while at Union Station in Washington DC waiting for a train and a week later when I was back to waiting for another train, I bought as many as I could get my hands on.

The other part that is amusing, it seems that while Tycho was podcasting about this post, LK Hamilton was listening to him and started blogging about the comic at the same time.

Escapist Newletter (Vol. 2 Issue 5) | Literary Escapism

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I love books. If you haven’t figured that out yet, then you obviously haven’t been over to Literary Escapism.

Whatever your tastes, I could probably give you a good recommendation. For instance, if you’re into the whole erotica paranormal genre, then you should probably check out Cheyenne McCray’s Magic series (Forbidden Magic). For the historical fiction people, Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series (Outlander) is completely breathtaking (I actually can’t wait to get my hands on these books so I go straight for the hardcovers). For those fantasy buffs out there, Maria Snyder’s Study series (Poison Study) is quickly becoming one of my all time favorites. Another good novel is Wicked by Gregory Maguire and his other twisted fairy tales (although I’m still getting to them, so take this with a grain of salt). I used to read a lot of romance, so I could tell you to pick up a Nora Roberts book, she’s good for a contemporary romance, but if you want a really good historical romance, then I would check our either Amanda Quick (Lake & March series - Slightly Shady) or Jane Feather (Matchmaking - The Bachelor List or Kiss - Widow’s Kiss). They both tend to lean away from the whole simpering female, yet strong character, roles and have more of an independent woman in the lead. If you’re looking for something quick and funny, then the Stephanie Plum series (One for the Dough) by Janet Evanovich is a good bet.

However, when it comes to urban fantasy or just straight paranormal, I have a huge list of authors that I’ve come to love. They don’t all gravitate around the same idea of what vampires, witches, fae, shapeshifters, etc. should be like, so each story has their own unique qualities. I’ll be honest, I’ve actually come across a lot that I like, but I don’t consider all of them to be “buy worthy”. Mainly because I am on a fixed income and I can’t buy them all. So I generally take the ones that I can’t live without before buying the ones I simply like. I the books I can’t live without are as follows…

Because the list is a little long, I’m only going to include the title to the first novel in each series, but I’ll show how many books there are. If there’s a plus sign after the number, that means there are more books planned or being released soon.

Vampires & Werewolves:

• Anita Blake by Laurell K Hamilton - Guilty Pleasures (18+)
• Black Dagger Brotherhood by JR Ward - Dark Lover (6+)
• Cassandra Palmer by Karen Chance - Touch the Dark (3+)
• Dark-Hunters by Sherrilyn Kenyon - Fantasy Lover (11+)
• Kitty Norville by Carrie Vaughn - Kitty and the Midnight Hour (4+)
• Mercedes Thompson by Patricia Briggs - Moon Called (4+)
• Night Huntress by Jeaniene Frost - Halfway to the Grave (2+)
• Otherworld by Kelley Armstrong - Bitten (8+)
• Psy-Changeling by Nalini Singh - Slave to Sensation (4+)
• Riley Jensen by Keri Arthur - Full Moon Rising (6+)
• Southern Vampire Mysteries by Charlaine Harris - Dead Until Dark (8+)
• Werecat by Rachel Vincent - Stray (2+)

Demons, Fae, & Magic

• Aisling Grey by Katie MacAlister - Fire Me Up (4)
• Kate Daniels by Ilona Andrews - Magic Bites (2+)
• Meredith Gentry by LK Hamilton - A Kiss of Shadows (6+)
• Morgan Kingsey by Jenna Black - The Devil Inside (1+)
• Nightwalkers by Jacquelyn Frank- Jacob (4+)
• Rachel Morgan by Kim Harrison - Dead Witch Walking (6+)
• Silver Dragons by Katie MacAlister - Playing with Fire (1+)