Meet You on Monday: Movie Adaptations

 

Hello, all! Welcome to Meet You on Monday! This is a very new semi-regular feature here: I’m going to be posting a fun question or subject (sometimes book related, sometimes not!) and of course, answer it myself here.  Feel free to answer it also, in the comments or grab the banner and do your own post! Through this feature, I hoping we all get to know each other better! :)

Here's a question for today:

Movie Adaptations: Love them or hate them?

So I'm not just talking about Book-to-Movie, I'm encompassing them all: Cartoon-to-Movie, TV Show-to-Movie, Play or Musical-to-Movie.  But I think as book lovers, movie adaptations are an especially touchy subject for us. Especially YA readers, because after Twilight and Hunger Games and Harry Potter, turning YA/kids books into movies seems to be THE THING TO DO in Hollywood. 

As for me...I don't love them or hate them; but I always go into them with a mixed bag of emotions, mostly excitement with nearly equal parts absolute dread.  And the closer the book is to my own heart, the more extensive the level of dread. Don't get me wrong, I would love to see some of my favorite stories brought to shining life on the big screen.  But as strong as that desire is, the worry is even stronger.  Will they do it justice? Will they change important plot lines? Will the chosen actors completely annihilate my own vision of my favorite characters? Will it just plain suck?

Here's some adaptations that I've loved:

• Now is Good (adapted from Before I Die by Jenny Downham)
• How to Train Your Dragon --- LOVE these movies :)
• Harry Potter
• Hunger Games
• Perks of Being a Wallflower
• Maleficent (I wouldn't say I loved it, but I liked it a lot and I like how they twisted the original story)

And some that I didn't:

•  Most of the Twilight movies---I actually really liked Breaking Dawn pt 2 :)
• Beautiful Creatures (far too many changes made and cheesy acting)

A few forthcoming that I'm really excited about:

• Mockingjay (They've done such a fantastic job of these so far)
• Fallen (Excited but also a bit worried)
•  Maze Runner
• Into the Woods (adapted from the musical,...can't WAIT) 
• The Giver

And lastly, here's a few adaptations that I'd love to see done (done well, that is)

 These would be stunning on-screen.  Though I think I would worry myself sick that it wouldn't be done justice. 

This book is so chock-full of cool steampunk imagery, I would love to see this world come to life. 

Sisters Red would make an awesome movie with all the fenris butt-kicking that goes on.

It would be a bit gruesome with the plague scenes, but awesome with ghostly photography.

With the coming of Into the Woods and Jersey Boys and Les Mis...I'd be happy to see the trend in Musical-to-Movie continue with a Wicked movie.  Then it can be a Movie-adapted-from-a-Musical-adapted-from-a-Book. :D

What do you like? Love adaptation movies or hate them? Fear them, maybe? Any coming out soon that your especially excited for? Any you've really loved that I need to check out?

Meet You on Monday!

 

Hello, all! Welcome to Meet You on Monday! This is a very new semi-regular feature here: I’m going to be posting a fun question or subject (sometimes book related, sometimes not!) and of course, answer it myself here.  Feel free to answer it also, in the comments or grab the banner and do your own post! Through this feature, I hoping we all get to know each other better! :)

So here's today's question:

Reading Timeline: What books did you read growing up?

At the thought of meeting one my favorite childhood authors (witness fangirling on this post), I’ve been nostalgically remembering the books that I grew up on. I thought it would be fun to share a timeline of what books I was reading at different ages, books that stuck with me and made me the avid reader I am today. :

So there’s my reading journey! At least a little glimpse at it---there have been so many other wonderful books that made me the reader I am today! I know I’m probably forgetting some really obvious ones! :D  Notice a glaring pull toward fantasy my whole life? I always did love  magic and ghosties and dragons. 

SO what about YOU?? What have you been reading throughout the years??

Meet You on Monday!

 

Hello, all!  So, we've been on vacation this past week, so I decided to take a vacation from the blog, too. Now I'm back and ready to Meet You on Monday! This is a very new semi-regular feature here: I’m going to be posting a fun question or subject (sometimes book related, sometimes not!) and of course, answer it myself here.  Feel free to answer it also, in the comments or grab the banner and do your own post! Through this feature, I hoping we all get to know each other better! :)

This week's question:

What's your preference: SERIES or STAND-ALONE? 

Confession:  I suck at trilogies.  I'm always excited to see a new fantastic-looking series announced, but in the back of my mind, I have to face the facts that unless I absolutely am jumping up and down in love with the first book, the chances of me actually finishing a three-book (or more) series is slim.  And sometimes not even then.  I've left trails of unfinished series in my wake that I actually loved: Unearthly, The Dark Divine, The Body Finder, The Ghost and the Goth, and soooo many more. I do hope to finish them someday! Some of my favorite successes at finishing 3 (or more) book series:

(Cinder is, of course, not done yet, but I would stick with that series if she wanted to put out ten of them!)
(Oh, and there are more, I promise.  These are just what comes to mind right now!LOL)

So I have to admit that when a book comes out as a stand-alone, it catches my attention even more.  Oh, the joy!  To know that I'm going to get the entire hopefully-fabulous story arc in one shot, that there will be no fear of the dreaded second-book slump, that Iwon't be left hanging off cliffs at the end in a devious ploy to tempt me back for the next book, and that a sweet and glorious finale is not two or three years away.  Unfortunately for me, my favorite genre is fantasy and paranormal, so we all know how often one of those comes along as a stand-alone. Rarely, at best.  Here's a few of my favorite stand-alones:

(Those last two are part of a "series" but each of the books are stand-alone.)

  BUT what I do LOVE LOVE LOVE is the growing trend toward DUOLOGIES.  

Yessssss. 

These, of course, have always been around, but it seems like we're starting to see them a bit more often, and that makes me ecstatic!  Perfect for readers like me, who fall in love with a story and it's characters, need just a bit more than one book to get our fill, but want to know it's not going to be drawn out for-freaking-ever! Anna Dressed in Blood is my favorite in this catagory---I adored those books.  Loved Masque of Red Death but haven't read the second (yet!). The other four, I'm just super excited that they are planned for a two-book series!

SO basically, here's my answer: I love them all, but I tend to fail at series with 3+ books. ;D

How about you? Prefer trilogies? Stand-alones? Duologies??  
Oh and hook me up! Any duologies or paranormal/fantasy stand-alones you're excited about?? Do tell!!

 

New Feature: Meet You on Monday :)

 

Hello, all!  So…new thing today! For a while now, I’ve wanted to do something a little more personal and a little more discussion-friendly.  I’ve also often thought how fun it is that we interview all the wonderful authors---wouldn’t it be fun to know more about each other, too! So I’m starting Meet You on Monday.  I’m going to be posting a fun question or subject (sometimes book related, sometimes not!) and of course, answer it myself here.  Feel free to answer in the comments or grab the banner and do your own post! If you do, be sure to link me in the comments so I can come “meet” you, too!

To kick it off, here’s a little about me in one of my favorite ways to interview the authors I have visiting Stories & Sweeties:

10 Random Facts About Me! :)

●I may love YA books, but I’m no teenager. Far from..we’ll just leave it at that. :)

●My dream is to someday have my own children’s bookstore and cupcake shop and call it…what else?...Stories & Sweeties.

●Happily married for years and years and forever. 3 kids, 2 dogs, 1 super fuzzy kitty.

● I love tea, especially when it’s with cream and scones at a fancy tea house.

●Before book blogging, I designed digital scrapbooking supplies. Most of the designs on my blog (the background, the cupcake button, etc) carries over from that hobby!
 
● I hate spiders.  HATE. THEM.  Can't even look at the books with the close-up photographs of them without shaking.

● I love purple.  Probably 80% of my wardrobe is purple in some way.  And I can't even tell you how many shades of purple nailpolish I own. 

●A year and a half ago, my husband told me not to watch Doctor Who because he didn’t think I’d like it. Wrong. I adored it. Even went as the Tardis last Halloween. It's snowballed into a general obsession with British television: Sherlock, Catherine Tate show, Top Gear, Downton...love it all. My son's teacher told us he often breaks into a pretty convincing British accent.  Oops :) 

● 5 years ago I was diagnosed with CML, a chronic form of leukemia.  And every day, I kick it's arse. ;)
  
● I am quite possibly the world's worst gardener.  But I never give up.  My hubby has taken to apologizing to plants when I put them in my store cart.

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SO that's all pretty random :D  What about you?  Have any random facts you'd like to share about YOU?