Category — Lit Flicks Challenge

Only two months left of Lit Flicks fun. Here’s the January Lit Flicks Challenge post:

DECEMBER WINNER

First things first. The winner of the December giveaway is . . . Rachelle @ My Book Challenges! I’ll be sending her a copy of Oliver Twist, by Charles Dickens. It is on her challenge list and was written by the same guy who wrote A Christmas Carol. (See, it relates to December’s theme.) Thank you to everyone who participated! (We had a total of 85 entries.) I really enjoyed reading everyone’s reviews and memes. Keep ‘em coming.

JANUARY MEME

For January, let’s talk about book/movie resolutions. Do you set reading/watching goals for yourself? Do you have any book/movie adaptations that you are particularly excited about this year?  How did you do on last year’s goals?

JANUARY GIVEAWAY

On February 1st, I’ll hold a drawing for a yet-to-be-determined book that has been adapted into movie. As always, your activity throughout the month of January will earn you entries. You’ll earn one entry for each of the following:

- Joining the challenge (post a link on the SIGN UP Mr. Linky to your list of selections for the challenge - you only have to do this one time)
- Joining the companion challenge hosted by my brother for movie lovers (again, you only have to do this one time)
- Completing the above meme for January (add a link on the REVIEWS & POSTS Mr. Linky to your post)
- Leaving a comment on this post
- Posting a review of a book adapted into a movie or a movie adapted from a book - one entry per review (add a link on the REVIEWS & POSTS Mr. Linky)

MY THOUGHTS

Before last year, I never set any reading goals for myself. Last year, about halfway through the year, I set a goal to read 75 books in 2008. I managed to read 85. This year, I’m setting a goal to read 100 books in 2009. We’ll see how it goes.

I’ve never set movie watching goals for myself, and I don’t think I’ll start now. I am, however, going to unofficially continue on with the Lit Flicks Challenge throughout the year and watch (and read the source material) for as many movie adaptations as I can this year.

What reading/movie material do you have planned for this year?

Here is an abstract of my literary doings in December.

Books Read

Matrimony, by Joshua Henkin - 12/4/2008
The Mighty Queens of Freeville, by Amy Dickinson - 12/9/2008
The Help, by Kathryn Stockett - 12/13/2008
Anne of Avonlea, by L.M. Montgomery - 12/19/2008
Anne of the Island, by L.M. Montgomery - 12/19/2008
The Tales of Beedle the Bard, by J.K. Rowling - 12/21/2008
Forever . . ., by Judy Blume - 12/24/2008
Cathy’s Ring, by Sean Stewart and Jordan Weisman - 12/31/2008

December Total = 8
Year-to-Date Total =85

One five-star book this month, The Help, which will be released in February.  It’s definitely one of my favorites for the year.

Book Club

Bleak House, by Charles Dickens - Meeting: December 4, 2008

We actually didn’t discuss Bleak House at our meeting.  Most people didn’t end up finishing it.  Instead, we focused on picking books for the first half of 2009.  We’ve never picked our books more than a month or two in advance, but we decided to try something new.  Click here to see our selections.

Our selection for January is Master, by Toni Sorenson.

Challenges

I haven’t finalized my 2009 challenge selections yet, so my list is pretty much unchanged from last month.

Lit Flicks Challenge - 6/5 books; 2/5 movies [ends 2/28/2009]
Book Awards II Challenge - 6/10 [ends 6/1/2009]
Really Old Classics Challenge - 0/2 [ends 7/31/2009]

The Pulitzer Project - 7/91 [perpetual]
The Printz Project - 1/8 (+2 Honor books) [perpetual]
The Newberry Project - 13/87 (+7 Honor books) [perpetual]

Miscellany

• The Lit Flicks Challenge has but two months left. However, you can still sign-up and win prizes every month! So far, Natasha @ Maw Books Blog won a copy of Atonement (September), Movie Viewing Girl won a copy of Jane Eyre (October), Meryl @ My Bit of Earth won a copy of The Constant Gardener (November) and December’s winner will be announced tomorrow.
• I gave away thirty books in December!!  (Twenty-eight in my Holiday Giveaway Extravaganza and one copy each of Matrimony and The Mighty Queens of Freeville.)
• I participated in this year’s Book Bloggers Christmas Swap.  See what I got and what I gave.
• I won three books this month!  I won Anthem from Rebecca @ Rebecca Reads, Independence Day from Chartroose @ Bloody Hell, It’s a Book Barrage!, and Snow from Matt @ A Guy’s Moleskine Notebook.
• And, as always, I participated in Booking Through Thursday.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by my blog this month!

Check out my other year-end summations: 2008 Challenge Summation, 2008 Summation, 2008 Top 10 List.

Ah, we’re halfway done, and what a time we’re having! Here’s the December Lit Flicks Challenge post:

NOVEMBER WINNER

First things first. The winner of the November giveaway is . . . Meryl @ My Bit of Earth! I’ll be sending her a copy of The Constant Gardener, by John le Carre. The movie adaptation won an Oscar, and it is on her challenge list. Thank you to everyone who participated! (We had a total of 94 entries.) I really enjoyed reading everyone’s reviews and memes. Keep ‘em coming.

DECEMBER MEME

For December, let’s take a look at holiday adaptations. Probably the most famous book made into dozens of movies is A Christmas Carol, but there are lots of other adaptations. Which are your favorites? What, if any, holiday books do you plan to read this year? What, if any, holiday films do you plan to watch this year?

DECEMBER GIVEAWAY

On January 1st, I’ll hold a drawing for a yet-to-be-determined book that has been adapted into movie - it may or may not be a holiday related. As always, your activity throughout the month of December will earn you entries. You’ll earn one entry for each of the following:

- Joining the challenge (post a link on the SIGN UP Mr. Linky to your list of selections for the challenge - you only have to do this one time)
- Joining the companion challenge hosted by my brother for movie lovers (again, you only have to do this one time)
- Completing the above meme for December (add a link on the REVIEWS & POSTS Mr. Linky to your post)
- Leaving a comment on this post listing your favorite holiday movie of all time (adapted or not)
- Posting a review of a book adapted into a movie or a movie adapted from a book - one entry per review (add a link on the REVIEWS & POSTS Mr. Linky)

MY THOUGHTS

One of my favorite Christmas comedies is Scrooged, which is, of course, based on A Christmas Carol. My favorite serious holiday movie, though, is A Charlie Brown Christmas, which is not adapted from a book.  Other favorite holiday adaptations include How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Miracle on 34th Street (a pseudo-adaptation).

In addition to the above movies, this holiday season I’ll probably watch Elf, If’s a Wonderful Life, and A Christmas Story.  As for books, I’m going to attempt to read A Christmas Carol, and I ALWAYS read The Polar Express on Christmas Eve.

What are your holiday favorites?

Here is an abstract of my literary doings in November.

Books Read

The Sighing of the Winter Trees, by Laura Grossman - 11/7/2008 (3/5)
The Art of Racing in the Rain, by Garth Stein - 11/9/2008 (5/5)
I, Lorelai, by Yeardley Smith - 11/11/2008 (4/5)
The Tale of Despereaux, by Kate DiCamillo - 11/16/2008 (4/5)
We Need To Talk About Kevin, by Lionel Shriver - 11/23/2008 (5/5)
Paper Towns, by John Green - 11/29/2008 (5/5)

November Total = 6
Year-to-Date Total =77

Despite my lackluster totals this month, I reached my goal of reading 75 books this year!! And with a month to spare. Three five-star books this month: The Art of Racing in the Rain, We Need To Talk About Kevin, and Paper Towns. I don’t even think I can pick among them. They’re each great in different ways.

Book Club

Bleak House, by Charles Dickens

We combine our November and December meetings into one meeting in the first week of December, so I’ll report next month.

Challenges

It looks like the Classics Challenge 2008 is not going to get done. I just haven’t been in the mood for classics lately. However, I’m way ahead of schedule on the Lit Flicks Challenge and the Book Awards II Challenge.

The Classics Challenge 2008 - 1/6 [ends 12/31/2008]
Lit Flicks Challenge - 6/5 books; 2/5 movies [ends 2/28/2009]
Book Awards II Challenge - 6/10 [ends 6/1/2009]
Really Old Classics Challenge - 0/2 [ends 7/31/2009]

The Pulitzer Project - 7/91 [perpetual]
The Printz Project - 1/8 (+2 Honor books) [perpetual]
The Newberry Project - 13/87 (+7 Honor books) [perpetual]

Miscellany

• The Lit Flicks Challenge is halfway done. You can still sign-up and win prizes every month! So far, Natasha @ Maw Books Blog won a copy of Atonement (September), Movie Viewing Girl won a copy of Jane Eyre (October), and November’s winner will be announced tomorrow.
• I gave away three books: Alyce @ At Home With Books won Guernica; booklogged @ A Reader’s Journal won Creepers; and Kathy @ Bermudaonion’s Weblog won Pictures from Italy.
• I announced my intention of participating in The Year of Readers.
• I hosted three blog tour stops this month: Grit for the Oyster, by Suzanne Woods Fisher, et al., The Sighing of the Winter Trees, by Laura Grossman, and Lighting the Dark Side, by William R. Potter.
• And, as always, I participated in Booking Through Thursday and Weekly Geeks.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by my blog this month!

The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup and a Spool of Thread, by Kate DiCamillo was the winner of the 2004 Newbery Award. It has been made into a movie that will be released on December 19, 2008.

So, Despereaux is a mouse. A very small mouse with large ears, who lives in a castle in a kingdom where soup and rats are outlawed. And he doesn’t like to do mouse things. He’d rather read fairy tales in the castle’s library than scout for crumbs. One day, he is entranced by music and finds himself in the presence of the king and Princess Pea. This one meeting sets in motion events that lead to a death sentence, encounters with rats, and the kidnapping of the princess.

I liked this book a lot. It’s short and conversational, with the narrator frequently addressing the Reader. There are adventures and morals and good examples. It’s a classic good vs. evil tale. (I’ll let you guess which wins.) And, for a kind of fairy tale, the characters are fairly well-rounded. The princess isn’t all good, and the rats aren’t all bad. The writing is simple, as is the plot. I would recommend this as a read-a-loud book for children or a quick read for adults. This is a great little book.

I read this book for the Lit Flicks Challenge, the Book Awards II Challenge, and the Newbery Project.

The Tale of Despereaux, by Kate DiCamillo

Other Reviews:
Book Escape
Fyrefly’s Book Blog
Naked Without Books
Maw Books Blog
Becky’s Book Reviews
1morechapter

Buy The Tale of Despereaux at Amazon.com.

Okay, here’s the somewhat tardy November Lit Flicks Challenge post:

OCTOBER WINNER

First things first. The winner of the October giveaway is . . . Movie Viewing Girl! I’ll be sending her a copy of Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte. It’s both scary and on her challenge list. Thank you to everyone who participated! (We had a total of 99 entries.) I really enjoyed reading everyone’s reviews. Keep ‘em coming.

NOVEMBER MEME

For November, let’s take a look at the Oscar-season movies that are based on books. Which of the adaptations that are being released are you most excited to see? Have you read any of the books upon which they are based? Which ones do you predict will receive awards?

Here’s a (probably incomplete) list of the adaptations coming out this holiday season:

• Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist
• City of Ember
• The Secret Life of Bees
• The Time Traveler’s Wife
• Quantum of Solace
• The Road
• Twilight
• Coraline
• The Tale of Despereaux
• The Day the Earth Stood Still
• Defiance
• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• Marley & Me
• Revolutionary Road

NOVEMBER GIVEAWAY

On December 1st, I’ll hold a drawing for a yet-to-be-determined book that has been adapted into an award-winning movie. As before, your activity throughout the month of November will earn you entries. You’ll earn one entry for each of the following:

- Joining the challenge (post a link on the SIGN UP Mr. Linky to your list of selections for the challenge - you only have to do this one time)
- Joining the companion challenge hosted by my brother for movie lovers (again, you only have to do this one time)
- Completing the above meme for November (add a link on the REVIEWS & POSTS Mr. Linky to your post)
- Leaving a comment on this post listing your favorite book that was adapted into an award-winning movie
- Posting a review of a book adapted into a movie or a movie adapted from a book - one entry per review (add a link on the REVIEWS & POSTS Mr. Linky)

MY THOUGHTS

Of the list above, I’ve read The City of Ember, The Secret Life of Bees, The Time Traveler’s Wife, Twilight, Coraline, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and Marley & Me. I intend to read The Road and The Tale of Despereaux for the challenge!

As for the movies, I’ve only seen City of Ember so far and thought it was just okay. I’m very excited to see the rest of the adaptations of the books I’ve read (and will read) though. I’m probably most excited about The Time Traveler’s Wife. As for awards, I think The Road is the movie most likely to sweep the Oscars.

Note: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is based on a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald. You can read it for free here. I’ll be posting my review of the story later this week.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Here is an abstract of my literary doings in October.

Books Read

The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman - 10/8/2008
The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood - 10/13/2008
An Abundance of Katherines, by John Green - 10/20/2008
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows - 10/21/2008
Midnight Sun, by Stephenie Meyer - 10/23/2008
Rue de la Pompe, by James Earle McCracken - 10/28/2008
The Thirteenth Tale, by Diane Setterfield - 10/29/2008
Coraline, by Neil Gaiman - 10/29/2008

October Total = 8
Year-to-Date Total =71

One five-star book this month: The Handmaid’s Tale. Lots of excellent four-star reads this month too: An Abundance of Katherines, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Midnight Sun, The Thirteenth Tale, and Coraline. My pick of the month has to be An Abundance of Katherines. I know it got four stars, not five, but this is the book I’ll be rereading the most. Love the John Green.

Book Club

Bleak House, by Charles Dickens - Meeting: 10/23/2008

No one finished this month’s selection, so we continued the discussion to our next meeting.

Challenges

Ah, the cyclical challenge update. I completed the R.I.P. Challenge this month - barely. I finished up The Thirteenth Tale and Coraline on the 29th in order to complete my four books. I joined the Really Old Classics Challenge and am looking forward to my selections. At the same time, I quit the Wind-Up Book Chronicles Challenge. It ends on November 15, 2008, and I haven’t read a single one of my four selections. Sigh. Finally, I couldn’t resist adding another perpetual challenge - the Printz Project.

R.I.P. III - 4/4 COMPLETE!
The Wind-Up Book Chronicles Challenge - 0/4 [ends 11/15/2008]
The Classics Challenge 2008 - 1/6 [ends 12/31/2008]
Lit Flicks Challenge - 5/5 books; 2/5 movies [ends 2/28/2009]
Book Awards II Challenge - 4/10 [ends 6/1/2009]
Really Old Classics Challenge - 0/2 [ends 7/31/2009]

The Pulitzer Project - 7/91 [perpetual]
The Printz Project - 1/8 (+2 Honor books) [perpetual]
The Newbery Project - 12/87 (+7 Honor books) [perpetual]

Miscellany

• The Lit Flicks Challenge is concluding its second month. You can still sign-up and win prizes every month!
• I reviewed two movies for the Lit Flicks Challenge: Rebecca and City of Ember.
• I won The Thirteenth Tale, by Diane Setterfield from Lisa @ Books Lists Life in celebration of her first Sunday Salon post. Thanks, Lisa!
• I won Sailing Alone Around the Room, by Billy Collins from unfinishedperson @ Just a (Reading) Fool in celebration of his 200th post. Thanks and congratulations, unfinishedperson!
• I created a new Blue Leaf: The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows. All of the Blue Leafs available for download can be found here.
• I participated (for 15 whole minutes) in the 24-hour Read-a-Thon, hosted by Dewey.
• I hosted one blog tour stop this month: Rue de la Pompe, by James Earle McCracken.
• I submitted an entry in this month’s Bookworm Carnival.
• And, as always, I participated in Booking Through Thursday and Weekly Geeks.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by my blog this month!

Coraline, by Neil Gaiman is my third visit to Gaiman’s world. I think it might have been my favorite trip. Should you need more of an invitation to read this book than the author’s name on the cover check out this blurb:

“This book tells a fascinating and disturbing story that frightened me nearly to death. Unless you want to find yourself hiding under your bed, with your thumb in your mouth, trembling with fear and making terrible noises, I suggest that you step very slowly away from this book and go find another source of amusement, such as investigating an unsolved crime or making a small animal out of yarn.” Lemony Snicket

Coraline -not Caroline - Jones and her parents have just moved into a new flat. The flat is really a large old house that has been divided. In the Joneses’ section, thirteen of the doors open; one does not. With a large black key, that door sometimes opens to bricks, sometimes to a long dark hallway. Coraline, bored with her life and rather ignored by her parents, ventures down that hallway and finds her other mother and other father waiting for her in a terrible other world. Escaping, she returns to the real flat to discover that her parents are missing. She knows that, even though she’s scared, she must go back through the door to save them.

As I mentioned above, this is my third Neil Gaiman book. I read Stardust in July, and The Graveyard Book at the beginning of the month. I can see now why many people compared The Graveyard Book to Coraline. But I have to say that I liked Coraline better. Coraline has a very tight plot. Though it is, in someways, a simpler story, I think the character development was better. I know Coraline better than I know Bod. I liked that Coraline had to face her fears and grow up a little. And it had all of the trappings of a good scary story: there were eccentric characters, disappearing parents, an “other mother” and terrifying scenes with a sentient hand. And by terrifying, I mean TERRIFYING. This is a tight little story that reminded me of Roald Dahl’s The Witches. I’ll definitely be revisiting this book with my future children - once they’re old enough.

I read this book for the R.I.P. Challenge and the Lit Flicks Challenge.

Coraline, by Neil Gaiman

Other Reviews:
Fizzy Thoughts
Blue Archipelago (graphic novel)
Book-a-Rama
Stephanie’s Written Word
Book Nut (& graphic novel)
Books I Done Read
Bold. Blue. Adventure.
Becky’s Book Reviews (& graphic novel)
Booknotes by Lisa
An Adventure in Reading
A Fondness for Reading

Buy Coraline at Amazon.com.

On Sunday, I watched the movie Rebecca for the Lit Flicks Challenge. I’m not a movie critic, so I’m mostly going to review the movie from the adaptation standpoint. Thus, *spoilers* appear below. For my review of the book, see here.

In general, this was a faithful adaptation of the book. It even starts out with the dream and famous first line: “Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.” However, the movie didn’t quite capture the magic of the book for me.

Though I’m not usually bothered by this, I was disappointed that the movie was in black and white. Right, 1940. But the images and colors in the book, particularly the drive up to Manderley and the blood-red flowers around the house, were an important part of the book for me. Also, the shots of Manderley were not very clear, as if they didn’t have an amazingly beautiful house to shoot. Anyway, the movie didn’t really work visually for me.

Also, I didn’t quite feel the horror of the thing. Based on the book and the fact that Alfred Hitchcock directed the movie, I was expecting a little more horror. Maybe they softened the plot up too much by having Rebecca’s death be “accidental.” Maybe it’s because I knew what was going to happen. I don’t know.

In spite of my other complaints, the acting was admittedly excellent. Both Olivier and Fontaine were perfect as Max de Winter and the second Mrs. de Winter. The best casting, though, in my opinion was Judith Anderson as Mrs. Danvers. She was so creepy!

In all, this was an enjoyable movie to watch. But here’s to hoping someone does a remake - in color!

Buy Rebecca at Amazon.com.

The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood was first published in 1985 and won the Canada’s Governor General’s Award for Fiction the same year. I read it for the Book Awards Challenge II and the Lit Flicks Challenge.

Ofglen is currently serving as a handmaid (think biblically) in the Commander’s household in the state of Gilead. The reader comes to understand that the United States has been taken over by a group of religious fundamentalists who have banned everything from lingerie to second marriages and who have installed a state where woman have few rights. Women are not allowed to read or write. They are told how to dress and when to go out. Those with viable ovaries are put into service as handmaids because the fertility rates are so low. These handmaids are renamed, are forced to wear all red with white blinders and veils, and serve only as wombs for the households they are assigned to. Ofglen used to have a husband and a child, but her family was torn apart by the new regime. Now she must make the best of this new world.

I can’t even do the plot summary justice. This book amazed me. Astounded me. Enthralled me. It’s so philosophical and layered and yet compelling and accessible. It’s written beautifully, instantly elevating Margaret Atwood to “possible favorite author” status. This book is about so much. It’s about treasuring the lives we live and the little pleasures of each day. It’s about not realizing that we’re happy until it’s taken away. It’s about taking things for granted and guilt. And, it’s about the human spirit, our adaptability:

“Ordinary, said Aunt Lydia, is what you are used to. This may not seem ordinary to you now, but after a time it will. It will become ordinary.”

The writing is amazing. I can’t describe it better than that. I can’t accurately capture it for you. It will have to speak for itself. One of my favorite passages is from the first night that Offred plays Scrabble with the Commander. Only a true lover of words could write this:

We play two games. Larynx, I spell. Valance. Quince. Zygote. I hold the glossy counters with their smooth edges, finger the letters. The feeling is voluptuous. This is freedom, an eyeblink of it. Limp, I spell. Gorge. What a luxury. The counters are like candies, made of peppermint, cool like that. Humbugs, those were called. I would like to put them into my mouth. They would taste also of lime. The letter C. Crisp, slightly acid on the tongue, delicious.

In sum, this is a rare gem of a book. A classic, both modern and timeless. It reads as if it were written yesterday - it’s that relevant. It reminded me to be grateful for the life I have and to be ever vigilant in protecting it. Reading this book changed the way I look at the world. I can’t really say any more than that. Just read it.

The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood

Other Reviews:
Rebecca Reads
Things Mean A Lot
Other Stories
Chainreading
Bold. Blue. Adventure.
A Guy’s Moleskine Notebook
It’s All About Books
Book-A-Rama

Buy The Handmaid’s Tale at Amazon.com.