What Kind of Reader Are You? (part 5)

In this installment, I would like to discuss adaptations. Specifically, books adapted into/for movies or television with a focus on more contemporary material. I could go on forever and ever on this subject with just Jane Austen's books alone so let's stick with books written after I was born.

How rare is the perfect (or even decent) adaptation? For me, it's close to a line I once heard somewhere, "It's like being struck by lightning while living in a house you won from Ed McMahon." Thank you Blanche :) So it's not entirely impossible but highly unlikely.

I am a stickler for accuracy. I am picky beyond rationality. I am, well, you get the picture.

Here's the deal: for those random books that I can recollect that I've read sometime in my thirty-odd years, I could care less but for books that I've read and reread and loved? Ha! Are they really expecting me to be able to enjoy it? Really? Can any other mortal individual replicate what's in my head? (To answer the question that's probably running through your mind: yes, I am a control freak. However, I'm not a borderline personality disorder with OCD tendencies so I can back off. I'll just tell the voices that now isn't a good time.)

For example, and I apologize to those readers who love the show I'm about to bring up and please know that I respect everybody's right to watch whatever the hell they want so please don't drop me from your following list, I can't watch True Blood.

I've seen the promos on HBO and heard about all the shocking stuff they do on that show and it almost hurts when I see what they've done with Sookie and company. To be fair, I haven't sat down and actually watched an episode and that reminds me of my grandma saying to me as a child, "How do you know you don't like it if you've never tried it?" Well, this is like me and brussels sprouts; just looking at those nasty little cabbage lookalikes made me know in my bones that I wasn't going to like them. (I was right.) Where did all the gratuitous sex come from? And look at the covers above. I find it hard to believe that these two series are even related.

It's not just what they've done with the plotlines but with some of the casting. I don't like Anna Paquin as Sookie. I didn't like her as Rogue in X-Men either for that matter. Bill doesn't look right and neither does Sam. Sorry! Even though Charlaine Harris has given the show her stamp of approval, and that is usually good enough for me, I am too much of a Sookie purist to accept Alan Ball's adaptation. Except for Joe Manganiello and Ryan Kwanten as Alcide and Jason, respectively. They're fine. Yeah they are :)

Now, one book-to-tv adaptation I did like was Bones. Emily Deschanel's Temperance Brennan  is absolutely nothing like Tempe from the Kathy Reichs's series. The locales are all different and with the exception of Tempe herself, none of the characters from the books made it to the  tv show but they both work well. Kathy Reichs has been an key player in the development of Bones and worked as a producer for a majority of episodes. Charlaine Harris is listed as a "writer" for all existing episodes of True Blood on imdb.com but it's really just for her novels as inspiration.

Other shows/movies I'm planning on staying away from are HBO's The Game of Thrones, based on the book with the same title from George R. R. Martin's series The Song of Ice and Fire. Based on the teaser trailer they've released, it appears that visually, the show is spot on so I may bend a bit and try it out.





Also on this list are any version ever done of Stephen King's The Talisman or any of his Gunslinger set, and the upcoming movie version of One for the Money by Janet Evanovich. I still get a chill up my spine when I think of Katherine Heigl as Stephanie Plum. Just. EW.

My husband is practically dancing with glee over the previews of AMC's The Walking Dead. Check out that link because I'm not putting those nasty pictures here. He's been collecting the trade paperbacks of Robert Kirkman's comic for a few years now and is such a big fan of his. The show starts in October and don't ask me if I'll be watching. Zombies are so not my thing.

BUT! There are some good ones out there, adaptations that more than acceptable. Bridget Jones's Diary, Mike Mignola's Hellboy and BPRD books, and Harry Potter are all fab. I think Daniel Radcliffe's face was in J. K. Rowling's head as she wrote and Renee Zellweger nailed Bridget, accent and all. Ron Perlman was born to play Hellboy, little ponytail and all.

To summarize, I generally don't like it when my favorite books are made into television programs or movies because they never compare to what I've already imagined. If I do happen to see a movie or show and then read the book then I'm okay but I seem to have this need to rip adaptations to shreds. Call it a gift :)

So, what kind of reader are you when it comes to seeing your favorite books made into tv or movies? Can you watch peacefully and accept the differences or do they make you want to rip your hair out? Share share share! Thanks for reading.

Review: Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris

A Fae War has left the supernatural community of Bon Temps, Louisiana, in chaos - and waitress Sookie Stackhouse mentally and physically drained. And still, the peace and quiet she so desperately craves is hard to come by...

Even with the blood of two vampires in her system, Sookie is having trouble healing from the terrible torture she endured at the hands of her great-grandfather's enemies during the brief but deadly Fae War. Worse are the emotional wounds - especially over the loss of her own personal fairy godmother and the near death of her first love.

Sookie is hurt and she's mad. Just about the only bright spot in her life - besides the fact that she is, after all, still alive - is the love she thinks she feels for vampire Eric Northman, who is under scrutiny by the new vampire king because of their relationship.

As the political implications of the shifters' coming-out are beginning to be felt, Sookie's connection to one particular Were draws her into the dangerous debate. And, unknown to her, though the doors to Faery have been closed, there are still some fae on the human side - and one of them is angry at Sookie. Very, very angry.

First, I would like to say that I didn't mean to read this book today. I wrote last night that I couldn't dump Magic Strikes for a Holly Black book and what do I do the first chance I get: read Dead in the Family as soon as I got it in my hands. I apologize to Ms. Black and to Ilona Andrews. I didn't mean to do it. The devil made me do it. No, the devil didn't really make me do it and I will be returning to Magic Strikes ASAP. OK.

I picked up DitF to read the inside flap of the dust jacket and before I knew it, I was on page ten. Then I figured, What the hell, and read the rest of it after dinner :) DitF is the tenth volume in the Sookie Stackhouse series and boy has her life become complicated since Dead Until Dark. I was surprised at how much Charlaine Harris crammed in this book and I had to really think about it because once I finished it, I had a thought that not much happened in this one. Certainly not like Dead and Gone. I was wrong and lots of things happen.

In much of DitF, Sookie goes Dark. Dark Sookie. That was a little disconcerting even though I liked Dark Sookie because I have always appreciated Sookie's character and how moral she is, or at least how she always tries to follow her moral compass to stay as close to the straight and narrow as possible. That's not to say she's a goody-goody but more like that she's just a good person that tries to do the right things for the right reasons. I love how she uses her grandma as her yardstick (the marks on that are getting blurry though). Here, she's finding that the effects of what happened in Dead and Gone are not just physical, like the flap says and I have a feeling that Sookie is heading for some kind of serious sea change, a radical shift in her associations. There's only so much that one person can take before they snap. I just keep wondering when she'll dump Eric for Sam. I keep hoping for that in each new book. You'd think I would have learned my lesson by now. Uh, nope. Harris certainly loves to keep Sookie's options open and there are appearances by Eric (duh), Bill, Sam, and even Alcide. Maybe she should just set everyone up like on Love Connection and pick one that way. 

I liked Dead in the Family but I love everything Charlaine Harris writes. I also love her blog. Check it out HERE. She's been busy lately and hasn't written for several weeks but usually has insightful remarks to make about whatever she's reading. Only another year to go before the next new Sookie book...

Our Most Anticipated Books for May

This is a new monthly post we'll be doing where we both will pick the books we each are most looking forward to getting this month. Since we're still working out the details of how we're going to be doing joint posts and whatnot so I'll be doing the posting for this one. Here's my pick...

The ultimate secret. The ultimate agent. The President's vampire.
Zach Barrows is an ambitious young White House staffer whose career takes an unexpected turn when he's partnered with Nathaniel Cade, a secret agent sworn to protect the president. But Cade is no ordinary civil servant. Bound by a special blood oath, Cade has spent more than 140 years in service to the president, battling nightmares before they can break into the daylight world of the American dream.
Immediately Zach and Cade receive their first joint assignment: one that uncovers a shadowy government conspiracy and a plot to attack the Unites States with a gruesome new biological weapon. Zach soon learns that the world is far stranger, and far more dangerous, than he ever imagined . . . and that his partner is the least of his problems.

There are a ton of awesome books coming out this month but this book caught my eye last fall and I have been lusting after it ever since. I'm a fan of Tom Clancy as well as Vince Flynn (I know, it's weird) so when I read Blood Oath's description I thought, "Clancy with vampires? Cool!"

Here are Jane's picks:

The #1 New York Times bestselling Sookie Stackhouse series - the basis for HBO's True Blood - continues!
After enduring torture and the loss of loved ones during the brief but deadly Faery War, Sookie Stackhouse is hurt and she's angry. Just about the only bright spot in her life is the love she thinks she feels for vampire Eric Northman. But he's under scrutiny by the new Vampire King because of their relationship. And as the political implications of the Shifters coming out are beginning to be felt, Sookie's connection to the Shreveport pack draws her into the debate. Worst of all, though the door to Faery has been closed, there are still some Fae on the human side-and one of them is angry at Sookie. Very, very angry...

The stunning third and final novel in Stieg Larsson’s internationally best-selling trilogy
Lisbeth Salander—the heart of Larsson’s two previous novels—lies in critical condition, a bullet wound to her head, in the intensive care unit of a Swedish city hospital. She’s fighting for her life in more ways than one: if and when she recovers, she’ll be taken back to Stockholm to stand trial for three murders. With the help of her friend, journalist Mikael Blomkvist, she will not only have to prove her innocence, but also identify and denounce those in authority who have allowed the vulnerable, like herself, to suffer abuse and violence. And, on her own, she will plot revenge—against the man who tried to kill her, and the corrupt government institutions that very nearly destroyed her life.
Once upon a time, she was a victim. Now Salander is fighting back.

Jane says:
I have TWO books that are coming out this month that I'm really excited about. The first one is Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris which is being release tomorrow...yeah! I've already pre-ordered it. The other one is The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson being released on May 25th. That one I plan on reading as an ebook.

Back to Jen:
There you go, folks. All three books mentioned here are on my TBR list with Sookie and Blood Oath also on pre-order. Lisbeth I'll get from the library. I can't wait to see what she does.