Armchair BEA: Book to Movie Adaptations and a Giveaway!

Ok so something happened yesterday which had me posting three times in one day; unheard of in the history of my blog but it was necessary. Anyway today I am back to just the one post, focusing on the topic for Armchair BEA: book to movie adaptations!

Honestly I love to see adaptations of the books I love. Some of my favourite films are adaptations of books, but if I could give just one piece of advice on seeing adaptations of books you love it would be this:

Please please please DO NOT read the book just before going to see the movie. Just don't do it. You will be disappointed. Even if the movie is the best adaptation ever (and especially if it isn't). 

The only way that I was able to enjoy most of the Harry Potter films (sorry I'm going to switch between using film and movie, because that's what I do in life) was because I hadn't read any of them immediately before going to see them and so was only vaguely aware of what they'd missed out or added in (except in the sixth film because practically the whole thing was made up). Anyway, that's my tip.

Some books I've reviewed since I started blogging which have been turned into movies that weren't awful:

We Bought a Zoo by Benjamin Mee - So the film was set in the US and starred Matt Damon as opposed to being set on cold and rainy Dartmoor and starring this guy:

hair aside, I can see the resemblance actually...

but it was still pretty good I thought. 

The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien. I haven't actually seen these except the first one but I enjoyed that, and I do own The Desolation of Smaug but haven't geared myself up for the extended edition yet. 

Ghost World by Daniel Clowes. Actually I think I might like the film of this more than the graphic novel, although that's really good too. The cast of the film are just perfect. 

V for Vendetta by Alan Moore. The first book I ever reviewed on this blog and an amazingly amazing film. If you haven't seen this film yet you really should, it's so clever. 

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. This film was really great - what's not to love about a book and film set in a circus? Beautiful with a really touching storyline and Robert Pattison was unexpectedly good. 

And two I'm looking forward to: 

Wild by Cheryl Strayed - love love love the book and I also love Reese Witherspoon so I need this film!

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins. Not sure why I haven't seen this yet because The Hunger Games movie was so much better than I thought it would be, but they have the film in the library now so I have no excuse!

And as a little added extra you can win your choice of one title from this list! Just leave a way to contact you (twitter, email) in the comments and I'll pick on at random next week sometime. Happy Armchair BEA!

Armchair BEA: Character Chatter

The topics for Armchair BEA today are Character Chatter and Blogging Q&A. Honestly I wasn't sure what to write about for today as I gave up on a lot of the traditional book blogging stuff (regularly reading/requesting ARCs, writing reviews of even most of the stuff I read etc) but I didn't want to just skip it so I'm going to talk about character.

Yesterday I wrote a long involved post for Visual Expressions but today I've been at work all day and our car just cost almost as much to fix as it did to buy so it's going to be a quick one!

Here are some of my favourite characters. Let me know if any of yours are the same!

* Eleanor and Park from Eleanor and Park. I need to re-read this book but I remember both of them feeling so absolutely real to me when I read it, I just loved them. Separately, together, they are the greatest.

* Meg from Our Tragic Universe. I love how everything in her life is a little bit shit and she finds solace through sock knitting and actually just crafts in general. I feel like Meg and I could be friends.

* Vianne from Chocolat. Ignore the film for a minute, Johnny Depp aside I feel like Vianne would be an awesome friend to have. She entirely kicks ass and also she can make amazing chocolate. What's not to love?

ok but also, Johnny Depp...

* Mr Rochester from Jane Eyre. Forget about Jane, I want to know what's going on with the man who keeps his mad wife locked up in the attic! I've always loved Rochester and I'd love to know what's actually going on in his head.

* Anne (of Green Gables). I recently revisited Anne and discovered that I still love her just as much as I ever did. How could I not? She talks all the time and is absolutely distraught over the fact of her red hair, as was I as a child, and is incredibly over the top about everything, again, as was I. She and I are kindred spirits.

I know I've missed some out but I'm writing this Thursday night and I still have a post to write for Fairytale Fridays and I just don't have enough energy right now! Hoepfully someone else will post about the ones I've missed out!

Armchair BEA!

It is all going on during May this year! First there was the awesome Re-Readathon, then Bout of Books and nowwwwww Armchair BEA! I'm glad I'm all into the reading and blogging at the moment or I might be feeling overwhelmed by now.

For those who don't know, Armchair BEA is an annual blogging event which coincides with BEA (Book Expo America) in New York and is specifically designed for those of us who are unable to attend. Each day has a couple of fun topics for us to engage with and write about and it's a brilliant way to connect with other bloggers and discover fantastic new to you blogs! This is the agenda for 2015:

If you want to join the fun (and why wouldn't you?) you can sign up here. Also this year's theme is diversity which is just awesome for me and I'm so excited to work it into my posts! Are you taking part? What are you most looking forward to? 

Armchair BEA: Blogger Development

Today's topic for Armchair BEA is blogger development. When I started blogging, I had no purpose other than to keep track of my books somewhere so that when somebody asked me for a book recommendation, or what was my favourite book I'd read recently, I'd actually be able to answer them rather than just staring blankly. Also, although a lot of my family and friends are big readers, I got the feeling they were getting more than a little sick of me going on and on about my latest favourite author all the time. Thankfully people online don't seem to have the same issues!

I was one of those bloggers who started out without really realising that a wider book blogging community even existed, so when I first started I was ridiculously focused on the amount of followers I had and so excited about it. I think that although I started the blog for myself, I very quickly got caught up in trying to impress people and the blog could easily have become something that wasn't a true representation of myself at all. Thankfully I realised fairly early on that I don't enjoy writing reviews to a certain formula. I like to write my 'reviews' more like opinion pieces, because that's all they are. Also I'm not a formal person at all, so it seemed silly that my blog was starting to sound so prescribed. Now I try to post equal amounts of reviews, memes like Top Ten Tuesday and Showcase Sunday, and slightly more personal posts. Through the combined awesomeness of RAK and various readathons, I've come across blogs run by the bloggers I now consider to be good friends, and the more I participate in the community, the more I get out of it. I'm running my own reading challenge (dedicated to all things fairytale and folklore) for the second year and really enjoying it, and I'm attending my first ever book launch party in the next couple of weeks. 

I've also noticed in the past few months (since the blog turned two) that I've been getting more requests from publishers to review books rather than me harassing the life out of them for things I really want to read. This is really nice, but is in no way part of why I originally got into blogging, or why I love it so much, it's just an added extra :-) 

I had an email a while back from a blogger who was just starting out and wanted some advice. All I could tell her was to talk to people - not in a spammy way, but actually converse in your comments and people will usually be quick to welcome you in my experience. I feel that the more I blog, the more I learn, and I've lost count of the number of amazing books I've read on blogger recommendations in the past two and a half years. I hope I never stop developing as a blogger; it's definitely something I plan to do for a long while more!

Armchair BEA Day 1 - Introductions!

 



Today is the first day of Armchair BEA. Every year I am jealous as various bloggers head off to BEA and every year I wish I was American or that it was easier to get to America. This year I decided that at least I could sign up for Armchair BEA and participate slightly in the fun :-)

Here are my introduction questions. For those of you who already know a lot of this stuff, sorry, and for those who are new, hi!

1. Please tell us a little bit about yourself: Who are you? How long have you been blogging? Why did you get into blogging? 

I'm Bex, although I've recently realised that only my family and people on the internet call me that. Everybody else I know calls me Bekah or Rebekah. Anyway. I've been blogging about two and a half years and I got into blogging when my husband and I moved to another part of the country, away from all my family and friends and I thought it would be a good idea to have somewhere to keep track of my reading so that I would be better at giving people recommendations. I quickly realised how much I love having a place to voice my opinions and ramble about all the bookish things my long suffering family and friends really don't want to hear about!

2. Where in the world are you blogging from? Tell a random fact or something special about your current location. Feel free to share pictures. 

I'm blogging from the coast of Kent, UK and down the road is the house where Charles Dickens Aunt's house, where he used to spend his summers. I used to have a picture, but I have no idea where it's gone, sorry!


3.Have you previously participated in Armchair BEA? What brought you back for another year? If you have not previously participated, what drew you to the event? 

I've never participated before, but I love the idea of it because BEA itself always seems awesome and so much fun for bloggers who go.

4. What are you currently reading, or what is your favorite book you have read so far in 2013?

I'm currently reading a few things; A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg (which is great), The Second - Last Woman to Die by Maggie Joel, which is really interesting, and How To Make Money Using Etsy by Timothy Adam, which is also really interesting and useful.  

5. Tell us one non-book-related thing that everyone reading your blog may not know about you.

I learned piano for ten years and really want to take lessons again so I can get my Grade 8 certificate.

6. Name your favorite blog(s) and explain why they are your favorite(s). 

Oh, I feel like I do this so much that any regular readers will just be rolling their eyes going 'oh my god not this AGAIN!', but since you asked, I have three absolute favourites. Musings of a Bookshop Girl is written by lovely Ellie and reading it feels like sitting down at your kitchen table on a sunny afternoon when you've got nothing to do except either curl up with a great book or have a long chat with a friend you've not seen for ages over tea and a warm scone. Laura is in charge of Devouring Texts and she is hilarious. She has a lot of the same interests as me and reads a lot of the stuff I want to read and it's my go-to blog for cheering myself up. Finally Hanna my book twin at Booking in Heels. I'm pretty much guaranteed that everything she reviews will either be something I love, have on my TBR, or really want to read. If she says something is good and it's not already on my list it will immediately go on it, no further questions needed. All three of them are generally lovely people and I now class them all as good friends as well as keepers of awesome blogs, which is a definite bonus  :-)

Obviously I have a lot of other blogs I really enjoy, but I'll limit myself to those three for this post! My blog roll is down the right hand side, in case you're interested.

7.Which is your favorite post that you have written that you want everyone to read? 

My little rant about libraries and why they are essential to society and the survival of life in general is pretty much the only post I've ever written that I would really love everyone to read.

8.If you could eat dinner with any author or character, who would it be and why? 

Neil Gaiman, because he's just awesome. But in all honesty, I don't meet authors for a reason, which is that I mostly can hardly communicate with everyday strangers in social situations. If I were to meet an author I really loved I would probably end up in a corner in the foetal position, whimpering. An attractive image, I know.

9. What literary location would you most like to visit? Why? 

Haworth again, because last time we went we didn't go walking on the moors and I feel like I missed out. Also Bath because I want to go to the Jane Austen Centre which seems amazing, and the Lake District, because Swallows and Amazons.

10. What is your favorite part about the book blogging community? 

The people! And the recommendations, and the events, obviously.

11. Is there anything that you would like to see change in the coming years?

Not really. I know some people say it can be quite bitchy and stuff, but I honestly have no experience of that. From where I'm sitting it's all sunshine and roses :-)