Musing Mondays

Do you like movies made from books? Which ones do you think have been done well — kept mostly to the plot of the book, etc?

Once upon a time I would have said No! Give me the book any day. There have been some truely awful movies made from books: The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, My Sister's Keeper. But lately, I've had a good run of movies made from books. I was really impressed with the adaptation of "Water for Elephants" and "Snow Falling on Cedars" was an absolutely beautiful film (although without having read the book first I'm not sure I would have completely understood what was going on!"). And I'm now hanging out to see "The Help" after loving Kathryn Stockett's book, so all I can say is long may this good thing last!

Musing Mondays is hosted by Should Be Reading 

Ten Good Things on a Monday... double trouble

One of the (many) challenges I have signed up to is "A 2nds challenge" - to read either a second book in a series, or a second book by an author I've read before. I've opted for the latter, seeing as I've also signed up to the "1st in a series" challenge and lets just say, I haven't made much progress.


Both of these challenges are hosted by  A Few More Pages, and they've given me an idea for my Monday list this week. To take a look at my bookshelf to see what authors I have two or more books from. I have a feeling I'm about to realise that I will have no excuse not to meet this challenge!


1. Jodie Picoult
I've got quite a collection here: My Sisters Keeper (of course!), Handle With Care, 19 Minutes, The Tenth Circle, Songs of the Humpback Whale...


2. Lesley Pearse
I'm a huge Lesley Pearse fan, so much so that even if I've read one of her books, I'd still go out and buy it just to have on my bookshelf! Especially, Gypsy, Ellie, Trust Me and Never Look Back.


3. Linda Holeman
I hadn't realised I had multiple books by her on my shelf, until I read The Saffron Gate. I'm now going to try and get through The Linnet Bird as a book to add to this 2nds challenge.


4. Joanne Harris
I have a pile of hers sitting at the front of my shelf: Chocolate, Five Quarters of the Orange, Blackberry Wine, Coastliners.... and I haven't read a single one!


5. David Mitchell
Speaking of not having read a single book - I also have a David Mitchell collection: Cloud Atlas, Black Swan Green, Ghostwritten ... although these take quite some reading!


6. Alexander McCall Smith
This pile of books just keeps growing. It's a TBR pile all of its very own!


7. Nicky Pellegrino
I only had one of Nicky Pellegrino's books on my shelf, The Italian Wedding, then was very excited to see another one in the bookshop - which I duly bought of course. Only to get home and find I'd already read it. But what was that I was saying about buying a book just for the shelf?! I've since added another one to the collection, The Villa Girls, and can't wait to get stuck in!


8. Carolly Erickson
I first read a book by Carolly Erickson earlier this year, about the Secret Life of Josephine. Now I see her books everywhere, and better yet, they tend to come wit a bargain $2 sticker on them, so I'm fast adding to the collection: The Tsarina's Daughter, The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette, The Memoirs of Mary Queen of Scotts... now just to find the time to read them all!


9. Maeve Binchy
Maeve Binchy's books are a bit like a packet of ready made cake mix. You always have to have some in the cupboard - or in this case on the bookshelf - for those emergencies (or when you're feeling lazy!)


10. Jeffrey Archer
I've just started a collection of Jeffrey Archer novels. Husband is racing through them; I tend to get distracted by other books along the way, but so far on the shelf we have: First Among Equals, Sons of Fortune, The Fourth Estate, False Impression... although the one I'm really looking out for is Prison Diaries!

Ten Good Things on a Monday is a weekly meme hosted by Nina and Argh. 

Friday BookBloggerHop

BookBloggerHop is hosted by Jennifer at Crazy for Books!

How many books are currently in your To-Be-Read (TBR) Pile?

I think the question really needs to be, how many TBR piles do you have?! I have multiple piles dotted around the place, with at least 8-10 books in each, and they never seem to diminish!!! Then there's the pile of library books I try and get through but seem to take back unread! And if you count my bookshelf as a TBR pile, well Iet's just say, I've lost count - of books... and piles!

Book Beginnings...on a Friday

 

A little bit of fun on a Friday, this weekly meme is hosted by A Few More Pages. 
I'll share the first line (or two) of the book I'm currently reading (including the title and author) and let you know what my first impressions are - good or bad!

"Henry and I dug the hole seven feet deep. Any shallower and the corpse was liable to come rising up during the next big flood: Howdy boys! Remember me?"

Mudbound, by Hillary Jordan

Well, this isn't quite the beginning I was expecting. Mudbound, or so I thought, is the story of 30+ year-old Lauren, a girl from the city, who in the 1950s moves out to the Delta with her husband to the farm. It is Lauren's story, but each of the chapters is from a different character's point of view - Lauren, her husband, her maid, her brother-in-law... and it works. The beginning is from her brother-in-law. 

I'm loving this book and can't put it down, although we're off on the road today and I can't travel in the car and read. If a genie offered me three wishes that would definitely be one of them! To be able to read in the car without getting that queasy feeling!

Thursday outings

I haven't quite made it to the library this week, been out doing other things instead, such as...

Yes, a friendly looking black bear, but I wasn't prepared to find out just how friendly - or not - he was.

Theme Thursday

Theme Thursdays is a fun weekly event, hosted by Reading Between Pages, that will be open from one Thursday to the next. Anyone can participate in it. The rules are simple:

• A theme will be posted each week (on Thursday’s)
• Select a conversation/snippet/sentence from the current book you are reading
• Mention the author and the title of the book along with your post
• It is important that the theme is conveyed in the sentence (you don’t necessarily need to have the word)

This week's theme is "shapes"

Wow! This is a tough one, but I've found a snippet I think will fit today's theme:

"When I think of the farm, I think of mud. Lining my husband's fingernails and encrusting the children's knee and hair. Sucking at my feet like a greedy newborn on the breast. Marching in boot-shaped patches across the plank floors of the house."

p49, Mudbound, by Hillary Jordan

Teaser Tuesdays

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading

Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

--Grab your current read

--Open to a random page

--share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

Be sure NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

--Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers!

"Today I am queen and Louis is king. The old king is no more, God rest his soul."

p76, The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette, by Carolly Erickson

I've just finished my latest book, Letters from Home, by Kristina McMorris, and have yet to start the next one, so this is a teaser from one of the contenders for my next read!