Days 10-13 of 30 day book challenge

Okay, I'm going to cheat a little. But it's my challenge and my blog so I can do what I want! I behind a few days, so I'm just going to quickly go through the challenge for the rest of the week.

Day 10: Name five absolutely great film adaptations of books.

1. Angels and Demons: It definitely wasn't exactly like the book, but I think the movie actually did more for the plot than the book did.
2. The Harry Potter series: Again, not always exactly like the book, but that's okay. I still think they are very faithful to the overall meaning and plot of the series.
3. Pride and Prejudice: The newer version of this movie is fantastic! The older one with Colin Firth is good as well.

Okay, I'm having a hard time thinking today. I can't think of more for some reason and there are plenty out there. So instead, if you have one that you would put on your list, stick it in the comments!

Day 11: Name three absolutely awful film adaptations of books.

1. Ella Enchanted: As one of my favorite books of all time, I was very disappointed with how this book was portrayed on the big screen. Nothing like the book. It was a very sad day.
2. Twilight Saga: Okay, the books really weren't that fantastic to begin with, but the directing, the crappy acting, and cheesy screenwriting ruined it for me.
3. True Blood: Okay, it isn't a movie, but it is a TV show. Based off the Sookie Stackhouse novels, the TV show blows the entire series way out of proportion. More sex, more blood, more story lines. Too many story lines in fact.

Again, if you have something to add because there are plenty more out there, feel free to do so in the comments!

Day 12: Your favorite author(s).

You know, I have been asked this question a lot, and it is always really hard for me to answer. I don't really have a favorite author. I really enjoy Jane Austen novels. JK Rowling has the most successful book series of all time, and I love them. So I guess she could be on the list. British author Phillipa Gregory is one of my favorite historical writers. She has some great stuff on the Tudor period.

Day 13: Your favorite book from childhood.

I have already answered this many times over. Ella Enchanted, hands down is the winner. Although, Harry Potter is also from my childhood, so that one may have to win. But, the series extended into adulthood, so I think Ella Enchanted still wins this one.

Days 7-9 of 30 day book challenge

I wasn't keeping up with my challenge over the weekend. I was out of town, so here are all three days in one post.

 

Day 7: The worst book you’ve read in the last year.

I think I'm going to have to go with The History of Tom Jones by Henry Fielding. I was so bored with this book. First of all, it is separated into 18 separate books within the one book (yes, 18). I'm a little lazy, so I got this description off of Wikipedia.

Tom Jones is a foundling discovered on the property of a very kind, wealthy landowner, Squire Allworthy, in Somerset in England's West Country. Tom grows into a vigorous and lusty, yet honest and kind-hearted, youth. He develops affection for his neighbour's daughter, Sophia Western. On one hand, their love reflects the romantic comedy genre that was popular in 18th-century Britain. However, Tom's status as a bastard causes Sophia's father and Allworthy to oppose their love; this criticism of class friction in society acted as a biting social commentary.

It wasn't that funny, interesting, and Tom was way too good for an actual person. It is so long my professor actually let us skip parts of the novel that weren't relevant to the overall plot! Never again...

 

Day 8: Your favorite quotes from books (in no particular order and there are many more than just this small list).

• “It does not do well to dwell on dreams and forget to live.” –Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
• “Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” –Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
• “Why spiders? Why couldn’t it be ‘follow the butterflies?’” –Ron Weasley, Harry Potter and the Chamber of the Secrets
• "From the very beginning— from the first moment, I may almost say— of my acquaintance with you, your manners, impressing me with the fullest belief of your arrogance, your conceit, and your selfish disdain of the feelings of others, were such as to form the groundwork of disapprobation on which succeeding events have built so immovable a dislike; and I had not known you a month before I felt that you were the last man in the world whom I could ever be prevailed on to marry." –Elizabeth Bennet, Pride and Prejudice 
• Provided that nothing like useful knowledge could be gained from them, provided they were all story and no reflection, she had never any objection to books at all. –Catherine Morland, Northanger Abbey
• ABRAHAM: "Do you bite your thumb at us, sir?" SAMPSON: "I do bite my thumb, sir." ABRAHAM: "Do you bite your thumb at us, sir?" SAMPSON: [Aside to GREGORY] "Is the law of our side, if I say ay?" GREGORY: "No." SAMPSON: "No, sir, I do not bite my thumb at you, sir, but I bite my thumb, sir."  –Romeo and Juliet, Act I 

Day 9: Your favorite quotes about books.

• "A room without books is like a body without a soul." –Cicero
• "'Classic.' A book which people praise and don't read." –Mark Twain
• "Anyone who says they have only one life to live must not know how to read a book."
• Good as it is to inherit a library, it is better to collect one. –Augustine Birrell, Obiter Dicta, "Book Buying"
• Never judge a book by its movie. –J.W. Eagan
• Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body. –Richard Steele, Tatler, 1710

Day 6 of 3 day book challenge

Day 6: The best book you’ve read in the last year.

This really is a tough one. I've read a lot of books in the past year, but the majority were for classes, so I don't really like to count those unless they were really good. I think there are a few that come straight to my mind. These are the first two books that popped into my head when I thought about the books I have read for class.

Atonement by Ian McEwan
This is a really great story about passing judgement on something that you may not understand. It's a war story. A love story. And it is overall a fantastic read.

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
I really enjoyed this novel. I thought it was funny and not overly romantic, but just enough to make the story interesting. It was pretty easy to read, but to think it is comical, you probably should read an old Gothic romance story first.

Wit's End by Karen Joy Fowler
I haven't actually finished reading this novel, but I really like it so far. I wish I could tell you what it is about, but I don't quite understand it myself, yet. But it's good.

Harry Potter: the end of an era

Well, I waited in line for 8 hours yesterday. Yes, I said eight. Compared to some people in line, this was nothing! And what did I wait in line for? Harry freakin' Potter, of course!

As the last movie of the Harry Potter series ever, I knew I had to be there at midnight to see it. I remember seeing the first movie way back in 2001. I was eleven years old, the same age as the kids playing the golden trio. After reading the first book in 1999, I didn't actually pick up the second one until after I saw the first movie. From then on, I was hooked.

I don't really want to get too sappy because anyone who reads this will probably think I am absolutely barmy (yeah, I pulled out barmy). But I was excited and very sad that it had to end. When the seventh book came out, I told myself that I still had movies to see. It wasn't really over. Well, now it really is. And the question on a lot of people's minds is, what do I do now?

It's a little sad to think that we have to ask that question. I mean, we will move on with our lives and be done with it. But I still thought it. Harry Potter was my childhood. I looked forward to every single one of those books and every movie. The books were what started me on reading. If you think about it, maybe I would have never been an English major if it weren't for those books. If I didn't enjoy reading and writing so much, I would have never picked this major, and HP was was kick started by drive for reading.

Okay, enough of that. On to the movie. If you don't want to be spoiled as to any of the actual details, I would stop reading now. Maybe come back later to see what I thought about it.

I waited in line with my friend Liz who is an avid Potter junkie which means she is very critical of the movies. If you are anything like that, you may not enjoy parts of it. They do deviate from the book in quite a few places. The overall meaning is basically the same, they just go about it in a different way. I'm not quite as critical; I don't mind the movies going slightly of course because it makes for a good movie.

Where I do get annoyed is when they leave information out that probably would have been very useful to explain to people that hadn't read the books. Liz told me last night that she thinks they dumb it down too much. And to a certain extent I would agree, particularly when Ollivander says, "Voldemort is after you Harry." Well no kidding. But, there are other times, they don't dumb it down enough and just skim over parts that were kind of needed.

This movie is the shortest of all of them which ticked me off a little. First of all, it's the last one! Go big or go home! I would have gladly sat through a three hour movie of awesomeness, but apparently the director wasn't having that. Secondly, with all of the action, the short movie just flies by. I wish they had slowed it down at the beginning, laid the scene, given the trio a concrete plan like in the book.

But, having said that. There really were some fantastic parts to the movie. SPOILERS!

The scene in which the battle begins, and the teachers protect the school was fantastic. You really could feel the finality in it all. When Voldemort kills Snape, I seriously felt bad for the guy. Now that's acting! Alan Rickman, you are the man! The scene literally was perfect. And just following his death, Snape's memories of the past with Lily and James Potter...wow. This sequence was nothing short of fantastic. The way the director integrated the kids within the sequence and intertwining it with more recent memories was a great way to connect the characters.

The other big scene that brought the whole thing home was when Harry went to face Voldemort, knowing that he had to die. It didn't happen quite the same way in the book, but it looked amazing. The castle in ruins, families crying over the deaths of loved ones, and all the while Harry is walking into the Forbidden Forest. Along with this scene is the one in which Harry opens the snitch that Dumbledore gave him in the first part. Inside is the resurrection stone that brings back people from the dead momentarily. I was crying, sniffling, and making a fool of myself. I always admired the way Rowling has Harry willingly die at the end. There is not a word to describe the bravery in that act, but Danielle Radcliffe did a great job as he was facing the end.

The ending battle scene between Voldemort and Harry is way longer in the movie, but we don't get that nice scene in which Harry calls out Tom Riddle.

“You don’t learn from your mistakes, Riddle, do you?”

“You dare -”

 “Yes, I dare,” said Harry. “I know things you don’t know, Tom Riddle. I know lots of important things that you don’t. Want to hear some, before you make another big mistake?”

That was a little sad. In the book, the scene worked well, but it may have been too cheesy for the movie. What they did replace it with was ten minutes of Harry and Voldy going after it.

All in all, the end is the same. The wizarding world is saved, and I am left without any more movies or books. I'm giving it four out of five stars (maybe 4 1/2 after I see it again). You have to go into the movie understanding things will be different, and I think you will enjoy it more.

All is well.

Day 5 of 30 day book challenge

Day 5: If you were stranded on a desert island, what five books would you take with you?

So I might cheat a little. I would take the Harry Potter books. They are my favorite books that I could keep rereading...as proven by multiple rereadings over the years. I would take paperback copies because then I could take all seven, right?

I suppose if I had to narrow it down to five, I would take Ella Enchanted and the last four HP books. I love a lot of books, but there are some books that I could reread forever, and those are the books I like to reread.

Day 4 of 30 day book challenge

Day 4: Characters you hate.
This is a tough one. I don't really hate a lot of characters, unless they are just plain evil or stupid.

Voldemort from the Harry Potter series
He's evil. His name is evil. He looks evil. He is just pure evil. I don't like him.

Bellatrix/Snape from the Harry Potter series
Okay, Bellatrix is legitimately evil. And I can never get Helena Bonham Carter blowing up Hagrid's hut in the movie while squealing and jumping for joy. That is the epitome of Bellatrix Lastrange. Snape: I thought he was evil. I really did. I hated when he killed Dumbledore. I hated that he hated Harry. And I hate that Harry named his son after him, and I don't care that he really turned out to be on the right side. I still don't like him.

Mr. Rochester from Jane Eyre
This guy irks me. He is much older than Jane, has a crazy wife in the attic, obsessive, verbally abusive, and he is described as ugly. Why would anyone go for him? He has lots of money. Way to go, Jane.

Bella Swan from Twilight
This had to come up at some point. But let me state this, I enjoyed the Twilight Saga. But before the hate starts coming out, let me explain why. In a twisted sort of way, the story is kinda sweet (as long as you don't think of the age difference). Vampires have always been fascinating for people, and the new take on them makes people edgy (not to mention the fan girls that are crazy). I do admit, the writing sucks. The characters aren't all that great either, but it is every girl's fantasy to be given everything you ever wanted and to be loved forever, right? Anyway, Bella is stubborn, whiny, doesn't have her own life, and has no backbone. She probably should have stayed away from Edward, just sayin'.

Day 3 of 30 day book challenge

Day 3: Your favorite characters (and which books they’re from).


I don't really remember a lot of characters from books unless I really liked the book. I don't really have a lot of favorites, but here are a few from my favorite books.
 
Harry Potter trio from the Harry Potter Series
I'm cheating a little and using three characters: Harry, Ron, and Hermione. They all have something unique about them, and they compliment each other well. Love them all.
 
Jay Gatsby from The Great Gatsby
Jay is so quirky and completely weird that it is difficult not to like him. Sometimes you think he's the bad guy, then the good guy, and then you aren't really sure. It's awesome. :-)
 
Ella from Ella Enchanted
This is definitely the childish side of my reading habits making an appearance. I love this book and how strong the female lead is throughout. She finds her voice and strength throughout.
 
Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice
Lizzie is just so delightfully sarcastic, witty, and clueless at times that I have a hard time not liking her.

Day 2 of 30 day book challenge

Day 2: Your 5 least favorite books of all time.

This one is actually a little difficult. I have this nasty habit of picking up a book, reading the first few pages, and then putting it down if I don't like it. I will not read something that does not interest me, so it has to capture my attention quickly. This list will consist of books I had to read for class because I had no choice but to read them.

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
I had to read this three different times for classes in school. I never finished it. It's long, it's boring, and a lot of it was unnecessary. The story of survival is amazing, but it wasn't for me.

The History of Tom Jones by Henry Fielding
Really, really, really long. Boring book. Even my professor had us skip a few chapters because they were boring. Enough said.

Waiting for the Barbarians by J.M. Coetzee
This book I just had a hard time understanding. There was stuff in there that I didn't get, didn't want to be in there, and just plain weirdness. It's a political metaphor on war, maybe that's why I had no interest in it.

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Well written for sure, but I felt like nothing happened. Why do people feel the need to create ridiculously long novels that do not need to be long. Get to the point, Dickens. Okay, this one really wasn't all that long, but it felt like it was.

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
This book has some great points about immigration, the labor force, and the way we processed meat, but it doesn't mean I liked it. Again, long and boring when it didn't need to be.

If you take a look at this list, you will probably think I don't like classic books, but that isn't the case. I do happen to enjoy a lot of books that are considered classics. What I don't like is when people just read them because they are "classics." Just because they are considered by some random panel of judges to be in the lists of greatest books of all time does not mean they should be there. There are good qualities to all of these books, but to me, they didn't mean much. They obviously do to other people because the world continues to read them.

30 day book challenge - Day 1

Hello blog followers!

As my summer drifts by, I have come to realize that most of my time has been spent working. My summer has been slightly boring, albeit busy. Since I have been bored so much, I decided to do a thirty day challenge involving books! This one is going to be very difficult because reading is one of my all time favorite things, and picking and choosing between the books I have read is difficult. The list of the thirty days is below, but I will start out with numero uno: your 10 favorite books of all time.

This is not an easy one. I always say I don't have favorite books because I can't choose between them, but since I have to pick, here it goes (these are not in order)...

Harry Potter by JK Rowling
I have to go with the HP series. I grew up reading these books. I read the first one way back in 1999 when I was in fourth grade! The last movie comes out this week, and I'm feeling a little depressed about it. I love the characters, the plot, the magic, and basically everything to do with the world. Not the best written books on the planet, but very entertaining.

The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch
This book is simply fantastic. I laughed, I smiled, and I cried. It is a heart-warming book and truly inspiring.

Night by Elie Wiesel
Let me tell you, this book is phenomenal. Wiesel has an incredible story, and he shared it brilliantly with the world. I cried, but it was worth every tear.

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
I. Love. This. Book. It's a YA book, but when I read it when I was younger, I fell in love with it. I still read it from time to time when I need to go back to my childhood.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
I always think people judge me when I say this is one of my favorites. I think most people assume that I only like it because it's always picked as one of the greatest books of all time. I don't know if I would go that far, but it is excellently written. The characters are so vibrant and quirky it makes them realistic. Great book.

Angels and Demons by Dan Brown
The book that comes before The Da Vinci Code, and just because it comes after does not mean its second best. It is definitely the better of the two books. Mystery, scandal, and the Roman Catholic Church. Love it.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Another classic, but Jane Austen really is the queen of romance writing. I love the story, but I love the writing even more.

The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
This technically isn't a book, it's a play, but it is really good! The sense of humor throughout is fantastic, and it was a pleasure reading it.

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
When I was younger, I was into mystery novels. This is the only Christie book I have read, and I regret that. She is a brilliant writer, and I hope I get the time to read more.

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
I'm slightly embarrassed to admit this, but I had never heard of this Austen novel before I read it. I really enjoyed it. Austen's humor is in full force for this parody on gothic romance novels.

Well that was a little easier than I expected it to be. I definitely have a lot of books that I love to read, but I guess these would have to be on top. I'm sure there are more to be added to this list, but I could go on for a long time if I didn't have a limit.

Day 1: Your 10 favorite books of all time.
Day 2: Your 5 least favorite books of all time.
Day 3: Your favorite characters (and which books they’re from).
Day 4: Characters you hate.
Day 5: If you were stranded on a desert island, what five books would you take with you?
Day 6: The best book you’ve read in the last year.
Day 7: The worst book you’ve read in the last year.
Day 8: Your favorite quotes from books.
Day 9: Your favorite quotes about books.
Day 10: Name five absolutely great film adaptations of books.
Day 11: Name three absolutely awful film adaptations of books.
Day 12: Your favorite author(s).
Day 13: Your favorite book from childhood.
Day 14: A book you regret not having read sooner.
Day 15: A book you haven’t read, but is on your “will read” list.
Day 16: A book you haven’t read and have no intention of ever reading.
Day 17: A book you want to like, but can’t get into for whatever reason. Why can’t you get into it?
Day 18: A book you think is highly overrated.
Day 19: A book you think is woefully underrated.
Day 20: The environment you most enjoy reading in.
Day 21: The most disturbing book you’ve ever read.
Day 22: A book you once loved, but don’t anymore. What changed?
Day 23: A book you once hated, but now like. What changed?
Day 24: Your favorite series.
Day 25: The nerdiest book you’ve ever read.
Day 26: Your favorite type of non-fiction book.
Day 27: Your favorite genre.
Day 28: The first book you can remember reading on your own.
Day 29: An author you wish was more well-known.
Day 30: The book you’re reading right now.