Books vs Movies

Quite recently, my husband watched me as I sighed in frustration after watching yet another bad movie, wasting 2 hours of my life. “I’m never watching another movie that wasn’t a book first,” I said. Because recently, most movies based on books have been quite good, even if not following the story of the book exactly. And most other films have been a complete disappointment. Of course, there are exceptions to both statements, but I’ve been finding myself liking films based on books, even if initially I didn’t know they were. And when I find out there’s a book somewhere that inspired the film, something inside my head clicks with big, lit-up letters “Ahhh”.

So I decided to list the book-movies that I enjoyed a lot, and get feedback from others on what they liked/disliked in the film industry recently, and why.

THE LUCKY ONE

Book: I’m not a fan of Nicholas Sparks. I have read just one of his books, and even though I liked it, I never bought another. Don’t ask me why because I don’t know. I just didn’t. Imagine my surprise when the only book of his I have ever read became a big screen movie-wonder. More on that later. The book was nice. That’s how I’d describe it. Maybe that’s the reason why I didn’t get another – it was simply nice. A good story (although nothing we’ve never read before); likeable characters; strong male lead who’s solely created to make women day-dream; enough love and action scenes to keep us turning the pages. Did I fall in love with this book? No. But it was nice. If it was a man I’d never call him again, though.

Movie: The film stole my heart in a way the book couldn’t. For some reason, besides the obvious, it was visualized better. And do I have to even point out that it was the movie that made Zac Efron officially legal to fancy?

Book vs Movie: Ignore what I’ve just said because what I’m going to say contradicts it entirely. I preferred the book. The story in it was much more complicated, much more captivating and engaging. What was left from it in the film was the title and the characters’ names. And Nicholas Sparks’ name. The movie was stripped down from everything that I liked about the book, and to avoid spoilers I’m not going to say what exactly, but I was kind of disappointed. Not by the film itself, like I said I loved it, but by the fact that it was a completely different story. With Zac Efron in it *sigh*.

Book 1 Movie 1

                                       TIME TRAVELER’S WIFE

 

Book: The book was amazing! It took me a while to get used to it in a sense that it skips between view points, future, past and present every few pages but once I got the hang of it, it drew me in. I loved it! It was emotional, it was romantic, it kept me awake so many nights and made me miss so many bus stops…

Movie: For some reason I didn’t like the film. It wasn’t the story so much (they kept nearly every bit), it wasn’t the actors (I love Rachel McAdams and Eric Bana a lot), it wasn’t the visualization… I don’t know what went wrong but it couldn’t connect with me the way the book did.

Book vs Movie: Definitely the book. Reading it, you truly transport to another time and place, just like the time-traveling character. With the movie you are stuck in your chair looking at your watch.

Book 1 Movie 0

HUNGER GAMES

Book: The whole series is so good, it makes me not want to be a writer anymore because I don’t feel I can ever produce something this good. I don’t remember the last time I was so engaged in a story. Katniss is an incredible character who can easily carry the weight of 3 books on her shoulders. Both of her supporting male characters are strong too, although for me Peeta has more charisma and charm than Gale. Suzanne Collins has truly created an amazing world in her books which I’m sure will stay in the heart of everybody who’s read it forever and in history as an all time young adult classic.

Movie: So far we’ve seen the first part of the trilogy but I think that’s enough to have an opinion on what’s to come. The film was awesome! It followed the book to the letter. I was so afraid the they’d change it, make it more wider-audience-friendly. But they didn’t and I think they made the right choice. Does this have anything to do with the fact that Suzanne Collins executive produced it? I don’t know. The only think that I felt a bit odd about was Peeta. For some reason he didn’t fit with what I’d imagined. I can’t put my finger on it, but the Peeta in my imagination was very different. Let’s hope he’ll evolve in the next installment. You’d say that the characters portrayed on the big screen usually don’t match the ones we’ve imagined while reading, but I’d say that Katniss was exactly as I imagined her. Big applause for the film makers.

Book vs Movie: Honestly, I couldn’t chose. And luckily I don’t have to! Now that we have both and they are fantastic, we can easily enjoy them both while waiting for the second film.

Book 1 Movie 1

TWILIGHT

Book: I read all 4 books right after the big craze started and after I’d seen the first film which took quite a bit away from me. I already had the characters shaped up for me, at least in appearance. I don’t know if I’d read the books before I’d seen the movie I’d have imagined Edward differently. Probably. But I do know that Robert Pattinson makes a great Edward. Nobody can stare lovingly in Bella’s eyes longer than he does; nobody can have that torn, pained expression on all the time and still look sexy; nobody can wear lipstick and still make girls scream his name. OK, settle down, I’m kidding. I think he does a good job as Edward. Having said that, Edward is not a very strong character. If you take Bella away from him, he wouldn’t be able to stand on his own two feet. He wouldn’t be able to carry the whole series himself. As for Bella, I find her quite annoying. That is not such a bad thing because at least she IS something. So many characters out there don’t have anything going for them – the reader forgets them the moment they close the book. I must admit, I found the books engaging but I still can’t pinpoint what is it exactly that makes them so popular…

Movie: I loved the first movie. It was beautifully shot with every detail in consideration. It was exactly as the book, which I think was the wise thing to do since if it wasn’t, there would have been teen riots and global chaos. The next movies weren’t so good. Let’s face it – they just weren’t! They were following the books to the letter, that’s true, but sometimes that’s not enough. I hated New Moon, tolerated Eclipse and managed to stay awake during Breaking Dawn Part 1 (which is quite an achievement – I’m known for falling asleep at the movies! And at the Formula 1 circuit. But that’s another story). Let’s hope that Breaking Dawn Part 2 will be a good film and finish the series with a full circle.

Book vs Movie: I’ll have to chose the books. Although I loved the first film, the rest of them were not good enough. The books have an atmosphere that wasn’t caught in the last 3 films. The first one caught it perfectly and I think the biggest mistake the producers made was fire Catherine Hardwicke who is a brilliant director and truly understood what the books were about and why so many people loved them.

Book 4 Movie 1

SHOPAHOLIC

Books: I love all the Shopaholic books! They are so funny and so sweet! I felt very uplifted after I’d read them and have always thought they would make a great movie. Becky is such a lovingly irritating character that I thought she’d be perfect for keeping the action going in a film. How wrong was I…

Movie: It turned out – very! How is this possible? How can you take a wonderful book, an amazing female lead, fully developed over several books, and turn it into such a disaster? I don’t even remember what was so horrible about that film, but I vividly remember cringing on more than one occasion. No wonder nobody ordered a sequel…

Book vs Movie: The books, hands down.

Book 6 Movie 0

TRUE BLOOD

Book: Or 12. I started reading the Sookie Stackhouse novels when  season 3 was on TV. Again, I was robbed of imagining what the characters would look like but when you’ve got Alexander Skarsgard and Stephen Moyer in your head all the time, who’s complaining? The books are very good – action packed to the brim. I managed to read all 11 in a week or so, I literally couldn’t put them down.

Movie: True Blood must be one of my all time favourite TV shows. I love everything about it. Even the fact that it doesn’t have anything to do with the books! And I mean nothing. I know a lot of Sookie Stackhouse books fans have been complaining about it, but the way I see it everybody wins. You can read the books and watch the show and still enjoy both without any spoilers! Should I remind you of Skarsgard and Moyer again? Naked? No? Thought so.

Book vs Movie: I can never choose. They are both good in their own right. Seriously, read the books if you like the show and the vice versa. They have very little in common but are equally good.

Book 1 Movie 1

To sum up, the books have definitely won according to the score. But, as much as I like reading and often prefer it to watching TV, I think our lives are enriched by having films as well as books even if they tell the same story, and sometimes because of it. So, which are your favourite books turned into movies?

True story?

 What is this fascination with true stories? “Inspired by a true story” is NOT a unique selling point anymore! Who cares if it’s real? Certainly not me.

I want to read interesting stories, I couldn’t care less if they actually happened or not. To be honest, I prefer if they didn’t actually happen. Haven’t we got enough reality in our lives already? Don’t you want to detach yourself from the real world for the length of a movie or a book? I know I do.

I don’t want “believable” characters. I want characters who do things no actual person would do, or at least not anybody I know. I want characters who love and hate passionately, much more than any of us “real” people can comprehend. I want characters who go on such adventures and survive such disasters that none of us can even imagine. I want characters who take me on a journey, on an emotional turmoil that no actual person can live through.

And I don’t care if facts are exaggerated or even completely made up. I don’t care if no such technology or weapon or world exists. I don’t care if CSI agents are made-up to the last detail of their pretty little faces or that they are wearing heels – it’s much more pleasant to watch than a swarm of people in white overalls, don’t you think? I don’t care if there’s no such thing as vampires in the “real” world or that the Japanese didn’t actually come up with a synthetic blood substitute.

You know when your uncle caught that medium-sized fish he’s so proud of? Remember when he started telling the story how the fish was a foot long, the sea was calm and he had two other mates in the boat with him? And do you remember how from mouth to mouth, from day to day, the story grew in front of your eyes until the fish became five feet, there were giant waves and your uncle was all alone in his little boat in the middle of the storm? Which story do you like more?

Can you imagine a world without imagination? Because that’s what you are asking for if you want to read and watch “true stories”. We have so much mundane truth in our lives, why bring it in our books and films as well? Why not think of something bigger, scarier, more romantic, more unbelievable, more colourful?

There is enough of that already, some would argue. We want to experience something believable, something real! And I’m not saying that you shouldn’t, everybody is free to read, watch and listen to whatever they like, I just don’t understand it. I cannot comprehend the desire to be sucked in somebody else’s real life. Let alone the “true story” selling point.

When it’s a good story, who cares if it’s true?

What makes a good book?

I guess the answer to that question is very individual, and I can talk only about what makes a good book for me.

For me, a book is good if it makes me feel.

It doesn’t matter what – happiness, anger, frustration, fear. It makes me think about the characters while going on about my daily tasks; dwell on the story and possible outcomes while shopping in Tesco; cry when a love triangle gets impossibly tangled; choose reading over a movie with Ryan Gosling; throw the book against the wall when the ending is not what I wanted (although since I have a Kindle I refrain from that).

All of the four books of the “Star-crossed” series by Rachel Higginson are exactly that. I can’t even believe these books are not published by one of the big houses. The story is so attention grabbing from the very beginning that in the end of the day it left me emotionally drained. It has everything a good YA novel needs to be successful and entertaining – fast pace, love, feisty lead character, supernatural powers, lots of action and twist and turns, death, destruction, desperation, hope. I could never predict where the story was going because Ms Higginson has created a truly unpredictable heroine in Eden and also, she reveals the secrets of her amazing world little by little. I never knew what to expect on the next page because I just didn’t know the whole story yet. And that’s what kept me turning the pages with pleasure.

Sometimes the urge to throw my Kindle against the wall got so strong that I almost did it. Eden may be a wonderfully developed character but she’s also so stubborn and irritating in her self-doubt that I found myself shouting at an electronic device that couldn’t respond. I cried so many times I lost count. I laughed at the sarcastic remarks Eden loves so much and truly gloated with satisfaction when the baddies got what they deserved.

Now that’s what makes a good book.

Why I'm proud to be a YA writer

I never “chose” to be a YA writer. It just happened. I’ve always been fascinated with the paranormal, the extraordinary and the unbelievable. Ever since agent Mulder was chasing aliens and telling us not to trust anybody and keep looking for the truth because it’s out there. Nobody believed him but the viewers.

But my obsession with the inexplicable forces had probably started when I was a little girl with pink ribbons in my hair. Not that I remember anything vividly but my mom has a story she loves telling at dinner parties (or when she was meeting my boyfriends for the first time). Apparently, when I was about 5, people started asking me the eternal question: “What do you want to be when you grow up?” And I, very proudly, used to say: “A witch!” Their stunned faces made my mother cringe and she used to take me away and say: “Why do you want to be a witch? Stop saying that!” And I would reply: “But mom, it’s cool, they ride brooms and make spells and if somebody makes them angry, they turn them into a frog!”

Instead of being delighted with my answer and my happy face, one day my mom gave me the talk. “You can’t say that anymore, people get the wrong idea. Why can’t you be a princess or a ballerina like a normal person?” Don’t get me wrong, she wasn’t being nasty or unkind, she just didn’t want her child to be stared at with obvious horror. “OK,” I said, “can I be a chimney sweep?” “What? Why do you want to be that?” she asked. “Because, they bring luck to people who touch them.” My mom smiled and deep down she knew I’ll never be content with being a princess or a ballerina. But still, she didn’t want to feel like she wanted the earth to open up and swallow her whole when I said something inappropriate. So, we settled on a ballerina for strangers or people we didn’t know that well, and a chimney sweep for friends and family. The whole witch thing was forgotten.

At least by her. The more I grew up, the more interested I became in every book, film or even magazine article that portrayed an imaginary creature – a werewolf, a vampire, a witch, an elf, a fairy – you name it. Unfortunately, when I was growing up, there was almost no such thing as books for teens let alone YA fiction. I read everything I could get my hands on in that department, and a lot of adult books a well – Agatha Christie, Mark Twain, Dickens, and later on Stephen King, John Grisham, David Baldacci… But still, something was missing. I needed a book that really interested me, that provoked my imagination and transcribed my own teenage girl emotions.

So I started writing. I used to write short stories all the time. Back then I didn’t have the patience or the skill to complete a whole novel, but it gave me an outlet to write what I wanted to read. I’m way beyond my teenage years now but I still enjoy the YA books – reading and writing them. I feel so blessed to be able to be a part of something so huge – not just in popularity but huge in a sense that teenagers today have such a big choice of books that correspond their emotions, their state of mind and the things that interest them. I’m so glad that young people read and more importantly, enjoy reading. They swap books, share opinions, fight for their favourite characters and have library cards. And that doesn’t make them uncool like it used to make us.

The book world is adapting to the ever changing technology – more and more people have Kindles, Nooks, iPads and tablets and they use them to read. That opens up a whole new world for them – they can read books, magazines, blogs and stories that they can’t find in the bookshop or newsagent. They have the choice to read what they like, not what is available right now.

And when I say “they” I mean “we”. You have no idea how excited that whole new magical world makes me – the one that is a short trip to the bookshop or a click of a button away. I’m so glad to have my own private door to it.

How my cover was created - step by step guide.

I decided to write a post about how my book cover came to life. As you can imagine, I'm very proud of the cover and love it to bits. It was hand-drawn by a very talented artist called Olga. She thought of the whole concept on her own but kept me in the loop with regular updates.
So this is the first picture she sent me for approval:

I didn't like the fact that the guy was sitting at the next table reading a newspaper - I don't know exactly why. Maybe because I had a similar scene in the book and the man reading the newspaper was not the main male character and I thought this may cause confusion. So she changed it:

That was more like it. This time I didn't like the huge letters on the window and she had misspelled Cafe (she's German so she was forgiven). In a few weeks, long Christmas break, illness and a broken computer later, she sent me another picture to look at and she had added colours:

That was the point when I could really imagine the finished product. I loved it.
Next, she sent me another picture, almost fully finished:

Olga had added all those details and I couldn't believe how talented she was. All that was left to add were the eyes at the top and the title:

I didn't feel the blue was right for the cover, I definitely preferred green, so that it corresponded with the eye colour. (Fun fact - the eyes are really Olga's - she cut them out of a photo of herself and made them green)
So, in the end, she made all letters green and I fell in love with the finished product - it was exactly what I wanted!

Taaa-daaaa!

The cover creation may seem like an easy, straightforward process but it wasn't. It was stretched along 3 months, with many ups and downs. But at the end of the day, what matters is that it turned out amazingly well. And it feels very personal to me because it is my very first cover for my very first published novel, I was involved in it every step of the way and, let's face it, my cover artist has her eyes integrated as an irreplaceable part of my book. I wouldn't change a thing.

“The Scorpio Races” by Maggie Stiefvater

This book blew me away.

I’m not easily impressed and holding my attention is a very difficult job indeed. If the book I’m reading is not up to the task, I find my mind wondering off – “Did I unload the dishwasher this morning?” or “This dress I saw in Topshop today was really pretty, I must go back and buy it.” If by page 50 this wondering off hasn’t stopped, the book goes back to the library.

That’s why “perfect prose” novels filled with lengthy descriptions and one’s ramblings thoughts, sit on my bookshelves until it’s time for spring cleaning and they are off to the garage. Which is just one step away from the charity shop.

“The Scorpio Races” doesn’t have much happening in terms of action. The whole book is a buildup towards the actual Scorpio Race where the main characters’ faith is to be decided. And since it’s just a one part book and Ms. Stiefvater has said she’d never write a sequel, the race can go either way. Everybody could die. I didn’t know what was going to happen up until I read it. That was the main selling point for me. Reading towards the unknown. Hoping for a happy ending but not being sure if I’m going to get one. Devouring every single word in my quest to find a lead on a possible ending.

I’m not going to tell you how it ends because I don’t want to spoil it for you. But even if it’s not how you’d have imagined it should end, rest assured that the time you have invested in reading this book would not have been in vain. It’s touching on a subject I’ve never before read about – the great water horses or capaill uisce as they are originally called. Giant, deadly, carnivorous horses with square pupils, which live in the ocean and come out to the shore to search for prey.

The mood throughout the novel is very bleak – poor people, bad weather, dark ocean with monsters in it, people competing in a life or dead race to help themselves to a better future. The whole time I associated the book with the color black. Not only for the reasons stated above (“The Hunger Games” had poor people, wars, death and desperation throughout the series and I never associated them with black), but also because I felt that black was peeking out of everywhere – the ocean, the stillness of the night, the storms, the autumn weather, Puck’s desperate actions to keep her elder brother from leaving, even Sean’s blue-black jacket. And yet, I wouldn’t say that this is a sad book. It’s full of hope.

I could write a lot more about “The Scorpio Races”. I could tell you that it’s a must read. That it’s one of those rare books you’ll never forget. That I will certainly come back to it and read it with immense pleasure even though I know how it ends. But I won’t.

I’m just going to tell you that it blew me away. And that if you give it a chance, it will do the same for you.

"Humanless" cover is ready to be revealed!

The cover for my YA novel "Humanless" is done and ready! It's been a long wait but it was totally worth it! The very talented artist Olga Zaharevici made the beautiful picture from scratch - she read the book, gave the idea for the cover scene and then hand-drew it. I love it - it's very old-school, so to speak. Hope everybody else loves it too.
I know you are not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but in this case - please do. Here it is:

"Silence" by Becca Fitzpatrick

Just finished the last of the "Hush Hush" trilogy last night. "Silence" was amazing!
I read "Hush Hush" in a day which may not be so speedy for some people but I simply don't have the time the sit around and read all day. But this book grabbed me and I just couldn't leave it. Which meant stirring dinner on the stove with a book in hand, reading in front of my son's nursery after I left him and reading while walking to the supermarket (my eyes left the book just to cross the road once). 
I immediately fell for Patch. No other YA book character had grabbed me from the first moment he appeared. Not Edward, Jace, Damon, not even my all time favorite Eric Northman. Ms Fitzpatrick had managed to convey his presence from the first scene. And I believed every word.
When I finished the book I was so disappointed. Not because I hated the ending or even because I had to wait for almost a year before the next one came out. I was disappointed because it finished. Reading the last few chapters I had that funny feeling when you want to know what happens but at the same time you savor every single word because you know it will end soon and you so don't want it to. Very few books make me feel this way.
"Crescendo" is the second in the series and for me it was a bit disappointing. Maybe I had waited a long time or maybe I was expecting something better than the first one. I liked it but still couldn't shake the feeling it was a step back from "Hush Hush".
And then "Silence" came out. I fell in love with every single page. It absolutely resonated the warm feeling I had inside when I read "Hush Hush". Nora and Patch's chemistry almost gave me a paper cut. Several times. The action was non stop, there wasn't a single moment when I felt a bit bored or distracted. 
I admire Becca Fitzpatrick for managing to create such a lovely trilogy with such memorable characters. The whole atmosphere of the book is so intense that even though I started another one today ("Last Breath" by Rachel Caine), I still feel Patch lurking behind the corner and expect to find him or Nora at the end of that long, dark alley.