Books and Authors

Finally I’ve caught up with The Games

The Hunger Games, that is. Yes, yes, it’s been a gazillion years since the first book of this ever so popular trilogy came out and the second and third have been out for quite some time. I just finished The Hunger Games yesterday. Carpet Head was finally able to dig up his copy from somewhere so I was able to get a hold of it. Not bad. Very Battle Royale. I liked it. I love that the main character is a strong woman. I could’ve done without the lovey dovey parts between the two leads though, but I guess it was essential to the story. If you’ve read the book, you know what I mean.

So, the movie’s coming out in March next year. I would watch it for Jennifer Lawrence, who’s playing the heroine. She’s gorgeous. I think at first fans weren’t sure if she could do the role justice, but I think she can make it work. I mean, hello, Winter’s Bone. That role got her Oscar and Golden Globe nominations and several other film awards. I haven’t seen it but I trust the film critics on this one.

Books to Movies: Battle Royale (Batoru Rowaiaru)

Battle Royale by Koushun Takami. Bloody good story. Since I already knew what it was about I already knew what to expect. Blood and gore, Japanese style.

For those who didn’t know, Battle Royale (Batoru Rowaiaru) is about a class of high school kids who find themselves in an island where they have to kill each other until only one of them survives. That storyline itself is pretty hard core. AND irresistible. When I got hold of the book, I was just itching to know how it all went down.

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Surprise book #2 for the Books to Movies Challenge and a jampacked weekend

Presenting my next book for the books to movies challenge… Battle Royale by Koushun Takami. Hells yeah. Okay, I know I made a friggin’ list, but I just gotta read this one next. I’ve heard of Battle Royale lots of times but I’ve never read the book or seen the movie, so when I saw this blood red beauty in the bookstore (I was looking for the books on my original list), I just grabbed it. Also, the fact that it was just less than 400 bucks made it real easy. Yeah, I’m kind of a cheapskate even with books – I always try to look for the cheaper edition. Anyway , this is friggin’ purrrfect for the challenge. I AM SO EXCITED. I did a little jig when I unwrappped it. Seriously.

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Books to Movies Challenge – The Children of Men/Children of Men

Aha finally this wretched post is finished. Haha. I have joined this challenge out of my own free will and I must do what I must. I’m being melodramatic, and I must warn you, this is a damn long post. With spoilers. (Do you still call it spoiler if it’s about a friggin’ old movie??)

So, anyway, I think I saw the movie on cable a few years back. When I decided to join the Books to Movies Challenge, I had just bought the book a couple of days before that at a sale for a hundred bucks. That made it book choice #1 for the challenge. Holy convenience, Batman!

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Books to Movies Challenge

Aha! I haven’t read anything in such a long time that I’ve decided to join a reading challenge! I read about it in a post by Jai and I followed the yellow brick road to the challenge host: Two Bibliomaniacs.

The challenge begins June 1st and ends Dec 31st. All you gotta do is read a book and watch the movie adaptation. You can choose any book. You can also choose to read 2, 4, 6, or 8 books. Sounds easy enough, right? I’m going to try to go for at least 2. Haha. If I can do more, that will be great. I just bought a book a few days ago and it was one that was already made into a movie. Guess I’m off to a good start, eh? :P

If you’re up for a book and movie challenge, go to this awesome place and read more about it.

In other news, it’s TGI-Friday and I’m blog guesting at A Taste of T today!

Enjoy the weekend, everyone! :)

Wuthering Heights

I’m currently reading Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. I’ve always wanted to read this not only because it’s a great classic, but also because it’s hailed as one of the most unique gothic novels of its time. I once bought one of those Reader’s Digest compilation of condensed books of gothic literature and I found it quite interesting. It’s so different from what we think as gothic these days. I guess it’s because things were so different back then. I’ve also been interested in the genre ever since I took a course on romantic literature in college. Romantic lit is really not we think it is. I mean, the one book we discussed in class was Bram Stoker’s Dracula. How’s that for romantic. Although, some may argue that it IS the original vampire-loves-mortal-waif romance.

Anyway, my desire to read Wuthering Heights was fueled more when I saw this deluxe edition by Penguin Books. Pretty! The cover is by artist Ruben Toledo.

I also saw a different edition which targeted the Bella-Edward fans. It says “Love Never Dies” and “Bella and Edward’s favorite book” on the cover. GREAT.

I didn’t buy any of these fancy editions though. I found a paperback version with a beautiful cover for only 175 bucks. Hah. Down with capitalism! LOL.

So, I’m reading this book now but I’m still on the first chapter. The old English is a challenge, but it’s beautiful.

World War Z

I’ve yet to buy the Last Watch (last book of the Night Watch series!) so I borrowed this one, World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, from my sister in the meantime. The book is a collection of interviews from survivors of the zombie war. It talks about the nature of people as individuals and as part of a collective. It touches on political and social issues, too. Very interesting and somewhat scary stuff.

What would you do if the world was overrun by the living dead? Would you have survived the war? If you want to know your odds, you can head on over to the book’s official site and find out. Apparently my chances of survival had I lived during the zombie war is 28%. Waah.