Lit Flicks Challenge Wrap Up

Another challenge that is ending tomorrow is the Lit Flicks Challenge - The books I read are below - I also watched the movies - Holes and Ten Little Indians (And Then There Were None) and who hasn't seen the Harry Potter movies? I still want to get ahold of The Handmaid's Tale as I would like to see that as a movie! Am also eagerly awaiting The Lovely Bones and The Road!

The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold - move set for release Dec 2009
The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling
And Then There Were None - Agatha Christie
The Road - Cormac McCarthy (Movie release for 2009)
Holes - Louis Sachar

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold (Book Review)

Title: The Lovely Bones

Author: Alice Sebold

Genre: fiction

First sentence: My name is Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973.

This was the most original book that I have read in quite awhile. The narrator of the story, Susie, is the murder victim. We see her family, her friends, and even her murderer, Mr. Harvey, in the days and years after her death through her eyes.

She leads us down that road as her friends and her 'crush' Ray try to understand and come to terms with her murder. As her family disintegrates, she begins to see them as individuals - even as those around them on Earth only see them as shadows of Susie.

Her father is convinced he knows who committed the crime and one night he follows a light into a neighbor's cornfield, only to be clobbered with his own baseball bat by some innocent high school kids. This is the last straw for Susie's mother. Her mother's loneliness is only amplified with Susie's death and she seeks comfort away from her husband. This eventually leads her to the other side of the country where she tries to forget.

Grandma Lynn moves in with her dad, brother Buckley and sister Lyndsey to try to help them cope with Susie's loss and their abandonment by their mother. The police have pretty much told the family that they have no leads and they are closing the investigation so Lyndsey decides to go looking for evidence herself. She watches Mr. Harvey's house, and one afternoon when he leaves, she breaks in and actually finds some evidence. She barely gets out of the house in time, but Mr. Harvey has seen her so knows that he needs to leave.

Come and read this book and follow her family as they move from her murder and their isolation as they come together year's later and are finally able to say out loud 'Susie is not coming home again.'

This novel was wonderfully written and gives us a picture of one little girl's heaven, which, while not always joyous, is stable and safe. Susie's heaven allows her to mature and move on in much the same way that her family does.

The Road by Cormac McCarthy (Book Review)

Title: The Road

Author: Cormac McCarthy

Publisher: Knopf

Genre: Robinsonades/Fiction

First sentence: When he woke in the woods, in the dark and the cold of the night, he'd reach out to touch the child sleeping beside him.

I listened to this book on audio tape and fell in love with the narrator's voice, Tom Stechschulte. The book was so good, that about 1/2 way through, I checked out the written version from the library so I could enjoy it whenever I was able. Well, after a few pages, I missed the narrator so much that I returned the book and continued with the audio version. I could just hear him saying "It's okay, it's o-kay."

The Road tells the story of a father and son in a post-apocalyptic world. The bond between them is evident from the beginning. The hope that the father is able to instill in the son in this seemingly hopeless and dire environment is amazing.

Though place names are not mentioned, they are following a map, and it seems they are going through the mountains to the ocean - so I pictured heading west to the Pacific. Along the way they are able to stay one step ahead of the 'bad guys' and with the boy's insistence, help others whenever they are able. People are few and far between, and food and supplies are even scarcer.

With every step traveled, every tin of food found or lost, every imagined and unimagined danger, I was kept on the edge of my seat. Travel with the boy and his Papa on their search for any good that is left in the world as the continue to carry The Light.

I just discovered that this book has been made into a movie to be released this year! This will be a must see for me!

Other reviews:

Things Mean Alot

In Search of Giants

Reading Adventures

And Then There Were None - Agatha Christie

Believe it or not, this was the first Agatha Christie that I have ever read - and I have read alot of books. I cannot believe that it has taken me this long to actually sit down and read one of her books. My daughter was assigned this book in her 8th grade lit class and she asked me to read it with her - so I have her (and her teacher) to thank!

I loved this book - this is what a true "whodunit" should read like. Everytime that I thought I had it all figured out - nope - I would have to start from square one. It really wasn't until the final chapter that I found out who the killer was.

About the book: Ten people are invited to Indian Island for a week's vacation - all under somewhat vague circumstances - but they all agree to come. Somewhere in each of their pasts they have all been directly or indirectly responsible for the deaths of at least one person - and this is all brought to light the first evening. Shortly thereafter victim number one is poisoned. One by one the people are picked off - heightening the psychological tension of the remaining victims.

I was hooked after the first chapter. Somewhere in the past I had gotten the idea in my head that Agatha Christie's works would be hard to read/hard to understand. I am not sure where this idea came from. The book flowed very quickly and I had a hard time putting it down. I am definitely going to read more by her in the coming year!

This book also fits into the following book challenges: Unread Authors, Book to Movies, Lit Flicks, and Genre Challenge.

The Handmaid's Tale - by Margaret Atwood

This book was Cafe alibri's October read (yes, I am reading it a little late!) I wish that I could have read it when they did, because I think the discussion for this book would have been tremendous. It also fits in with the following reading challenges: Book to Movie Challenge, Lit Flicks Challenge, Unread Author's Challenge, and New Classics Challenge.







The book is set in the near future somewhere in the U.S., probably on the East Coast - it is now called the Republic of Gilead. It is the story of Offred (Of-fred), a woman whose sole purpose is to provide a baby for a Commander(Fred) and his wife(Serena Joy). She is only valuable as long as her eggs are still viable. Once a month she is required to have sex, under the watchful eye of Serena Joy, in the hopes of becoming pregnant. In this futuristic society, population is declining, and healthy babies are few and far between. The cruelty is that Offred (we never learn her real name) once had a husband, a child, a job - what we would consider a normal middle class life. Then seemingly over night, the government was wiped out and a new regime was begun.



My first thoughts when I began reading this book were "yeah, right" - but it made me start to think- slavery, Jews, Darfur, Afghanistan - how easily could this happen right here in the United States today?



This was a very disturbing, yet fascinating book. It jumped back and forth from what you would consider the narrator's present to her past as the story unfolded. This made me want to keep reading so I could learn how she had arrived at her present place. Warning though - if you like books that tie up all the loose ends and everyone lives happily ever after, this is not for you. I give this book 4 1/2 of 5 stars - only because I do like those happily ever afters!



I was not aware that this had been made into a movie until after I had begun the book. Now my quest is to get a hold of a copy of the movie!

Other reviews:
Things Mean a Lot

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

This is the 5th book in the Harry Potter series, and for me it has been the best (but longest to get through) so far. Harry starts his fifth year at Hogwarts after being attacked by dementors near his home, and finding out about a new Order of which his Godfather, Sirius, is a member. I started out reading this book, and changed to listening to it when I needed something for a long car trip. I even sucked my husband into the story. Somewhere about 2/3 of the way into the book, I caught the last half of the movie on cable - Wow - talk about not following the book at all! I believe that the book is MUCH better than the movie. The book was able to tie together the first 5 years at Hogwarts and sort of give us a direction in which to expect the last 2 books to take. The movie left me feeling very vague as to anything that had been happening. I definitely recommend this book and cannot wait to start the next one! 5/5

Lit Flicks Challenge

Signing up for yet another challenge- Rules are:
RULES
1. Challenge runs from September 1, 2008 to February 28, 2009.
2. Read 5 books/pieces of literature that have been made into movies.
3. Then watch at least 2 of the movie adaptations of the works you read.
4. Your list may change at any time and may include overlaps with other challenges.
6. Check in at http://thebluestockings.com/lit-flicks-challenge/ around the first of each month to find activities and giveaways for participants.
7. Link to your reviews and posts using Mr. Linky below.

LISTS OF QUALIFYING BOOKS *
Based on the Book - an extensive list of books made into movies
The Guardian’s 50 Best Film Adaptations
Amazon’s Top 50 Movie Adaptations
*Books do not have to be on the above lists to qualify

I have chosen my books -

The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold - move set for release Dec 2009
The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling
And Then There Were None - Agatha Christie
The Road - Cormac McCarthy (Movie release for 2009)
Holes - Louis Sachar
Kristi