More book-to-film adaptations

It can be quite conflicting to see a film adaptation of one of your favourite books. Some are spot-on – everything you imagined while reading the book is brought to life, with perfect visuals and casting. Other times it can be hard for a director to adapt a book into a movie without eliminating some parts, which can make you feel like you’re missing out on certain aspects that you may have been looking forward to!

Here are some recent and upcoming films based on books. Which ones are you keen to see?

The Woman in Black – This unsettling 1983 horror novel by Susan Hill has been adapted into a film starring Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe.

What to Expect When You’re Expecting – Sharing its name with a non-fiction parenting book originally released in 1984, the film was released in May and follows five couples on their way to having children. Non-fiction books aren’t often adapted into romantic comedies, but this also happened with the 2009 film He’s Just Not That Into You - originally a dating advice book.

The Lucky One – Nicholas Sparks has been responsible for writing many heart-wrenching novels that later became films - think A Walk to Remember, The Notebook and Dear John. The Lucky One is based on the book of the same name.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower – The timeless coming-of-age novel is finally hitting the big screen, and it’s directed by the novel’s author, Stephen Chbosky.

Check out our previous blog posts on book-to-film adaptations to find out more.

Some films to look forward to

It’s an exciting year for film adaptations of books. Here are some that library staff are eagerly awaiting.

Next month will bring the first of the Hunger Games films, from the thrilling book trilogy by Suzanne Collins. Collins also wrote the screenplay, and the actors are signed onto a four-film contract so it looks like the third film might be in two parts.

Stephen has been waiting for the Avengers film, due for release in May. “After almost 5 years of build-up, Marvel’s team-up spectacular is almost upon us. Directed by Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and with a stellar cast, I have very high expectations of this one!” Check out the graphic novel series on our catalogue.

Another comic book-based film to look forward to is The Dark Knight Rises, which is due out in July. This film takes inspiration from the Batman graphic novel series. And it features Anne Hathaway as Catwoman!

The Hobbit Part I is due for release in December. This two-part film adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien’s 1937 novel has an impressive cast and is sure to delight fans of the Lord of the Rings series.

What book would you like to see made into a film?

It’s the week for love

"Must Love Dogs"

Have you ever had beloved family or friends arrange a blind date for you?
Ever wondered about online dating?  Some of you may have your own amusing tales about the search for love.

Must Love Dogs is an entertaining romantic comedy about Sarah Nolan,
a newly divorced women, rediscovering romance with help from her enthusiastic, often misguided, well-meaning family.
(Check out the trailer!)

Starring Diane Lane, John Cusak and Elizabeth Perkins,  Must Love Dogs is adapted from the novel by Claire Cook.

Author Dick King-Smith dies aged 88

From the Adelaide Now website:

Dick King-Smith, the British author of the popular children’s books which spawned the hit film Babe, has died at the age of 88.

The prolific writer, whose 1983 book The Sheep-Pig was made into the 1995 film Babe, died in his sleep on Tuesday at his home near Bath in southwest England, said a spokeswoman for his publisher, Random House.

He is believed to have been in poor health in recent years.

King-Smith described his creations as “farmyard fantasies” for children and many of his more than 100 books featured animals, drawing on the two decades he spent as a farmer after fighting in World War II.

Search our catalogue for his books.

Spotlight on: Steig Larsson

Stieg Larsson has been writing since the 1970′s, well-known in his homeland of Sweden as a science fiction writer for fanzines, even becoming chairman of the Scandinavian Science Fiction Society.

Stieg was born Karl Stig-Erland Larsson, changing the spelling of his name to not be confused with another Swedish writer of the same name. He lived a varied and influential life, serving as a left-wing activist, writing regularly for political journals, was also a photographer and spent time training female guerillas! He documented and exposed racist right-wing groups for which he received many death threats.

He became well know as a crime writer following his death at age 50, when his three manuscripts, which became known as the Millennium Trilogy, were published in 2005 - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, 2006 - The Girl who Played with Fire, and 2010 – The Girl who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest. All three have been or are currently being made into films.

Recent films you might not know were based on books

Have you seen and enjoyed any of these movies from the past two years? Check out the books that inspired them…

The Blind Side – based on the book The Blind Side: evolution of a game by Michael Lewis

Diary of a Wimpy Kid – based on the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books by Jeff Kinney

Shutter Island – based on the book of the same title by Dennis Lehane

Legend of the Guardians: the Owls of Ga’hoole – based on the Guardians of Ga’hoole books by Kathryn Lasky

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – based on the book of the same title by Stieg Larsson (Part 1 of the Millennium Trilogy)

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World – based on the Scott Pilgrim graphic novels by Bryan Lee O’Malley

Dear John – based on the book of the same title by Nicholas Sparks

Eat, Pray, Love – based on the book Eat Pray Love: one woman’s search for everything across Italy, India and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert

Click the links to place a hold on any of these great titles.

Banned books

The American Library Association‘s Banned Books Week is held in the last week of September each year. 
Their aim is to “highlight the benefits of free and open access to information while drawing attention to the harms of censorship by spotlighting actual or attempted bannings of books across the United States.”
The ALA website gives lists of the most commonly challenged books, arranged by year.

Here’s the list for 2009. If you want to know the reasons for the complaints made about these titles, visit the website.

1. ttyl; ttfn; l8r, g8r (series) by Lauren Myracle

2. And Tango Makes Three by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson

3. The Perks of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

4. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

5. Twilight; New Moon; Eclipse; Breaking Dawn (series) by Stephenie Meyer

6. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

7. My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult

8. The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things by Carolyn Mackler

9. The Color Purple by Alice Walker

10. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier

What do you think about the list?

The book’s always better… or is it?

Have you noticed how many popular novels are being made into films this year? Angels and Demons, based on Dan Brown’s popular Robert Langdon series started the year off with a blockbuster film from a bestseller book.  Oddly enough the book is set prior to the events is The Da Vinci Code, but the film is made as a sequel. 

If thrillers weren’t your thing, ever popular Jodi Picoult had her first novel to film treatment with My Sister’s Keeper just a few months back.  Shortly after, Sophie Kinsella’s Confessions of a Shopaholic also came to the screen starring Australia’s Isla Fisher. This film was a reasonable box office success, but panned by the critics. Audrey Niffennegger’s The Time Traveler’s Wife has just been released starring another Aussie, Eric Bana, and whilst we are on the Aussie theme, Maurice Sendak’s timeless children’s classic, Where the Wild Things Are which was filmed in and around Melbourne will be released next month. Most of this feature was actually filmed in 2005 but has been in what they call ‘development hell’ until this year.

If Graphic Novels are your thing, the very popular Will Eisner series The Spirit was released as a film this year, but has unfortunately been tagged one of worst films of 2009.

But wait there’s more!

Dickens’ classic, A Christmas Carol has had a CGI re-imagining, released just in time for Christmas and to rave reviews. But possibly the most highly anticipated book-to-film event this year is the Twilight sequel, New Moon which was released today across Australia!

There’s plenty I’ve missed, tell us what others you have enjoyed this year or are looking forward to being released in 2010?

Which do you think was better, the book or the film? If you haven’t yet read the book, come to the library, grab a copy and make up your own mind which was better.

Who do you think you are?

Seen the show… now read the magazine! The Library subscribes to the WDYTYA magazine and September’s edition is now here. This edition looks at Devon ancestors, WWII ancestors and Kate Humble.
If you prefer to watch the TV program and enjoyed the first Australian series, you’ll be pleased to know that the second series of WDYTYA is due to start on Sunday, September 27th. It will feature Ron Barassi, Sigrid Thornton, Ben Mendelsohn, Maggie Beer, Christine Anu and John Butler.

The Library has the following DVDs of  Who do you think you are? available for loan:
UK Series 1
UK Series 2
UK Series 3
UK Series 4
Australian Series 1

We also subscribe to Australian Family Tree Connections magazine and Family History Monthly.
Your one stop shop to finding out who you are!