Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Book to Movie Challenge 2



I am joining the Book to Movie Challenge for the second year. This year long event is hosted by Katie at the Doing Dewey blog, and co-hosted by Sergio of Tipping My Fedora. If you are interested, HERE is the sign-up post with more information.

There are five levels:
Movie Fan - read 3 books and watch their movies
Movie Devotee - read 6 books and watch their movies
Movie Lover - read 9 books and watch their movies
Movie Aficionado - read 12 books and watch their movies
Movie Auteur - read 24 books and watch their movies
I am participating at the Movie Fan level, read 3 books and watch their movies. I hope to read 6 books and watch the associated movies, but I am not committing to that. Reading the books and reviewing them is (relatively) easy. For me, writing a post on a movie is much more work.

There are so many books that have been made into movies that I want to read, watch and review. The list would be very long. There is In the Heat of the Night by John Ball, Hopscotch by Brian Garfield, and the Hildegarde Withers series by Stuart Palmer. There are several James Bond movies and several books by Raymond Chandler that have been adapted (multiple times). Other possibilities are The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett and Hammett by Joe Gores.

I welcome any suggestions for book to movie possibilities.

10 comments:

Prashant C. Trikannad said...

Tracy, this sounds like a lot of fun. Agatha Christie, Erle Stanley Gardner, P.G. Wodehouse, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and some of the Classics (Daniel Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe" and Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice," for instance) could take you all the way through the fifth level. Good luck, Tracy.

Unknown said...

Happy New Year to you and your family Tracy! This sounds like a really fun challenge, but I think it must be really difficult to write a film review when you're used to writing about books. I wouldn't know where to start! Have you read/do you enjoy reading Patricia Highsmith? Both Strangers On A Train and The Talented Mr Ripley have been made into movies that are supposed to be great, although I haven't seen either of them.

TracyK said...

Prashant, thanks for the suggestions. I probably will do some Agatha Christie book to film reviews someday, although there is so much to pick from. Some of the others you suggested I had not even thought of. Jane Austen is a good idea too. I am going to have to start an official list.

TracyK said...

Happy new year to you too. I do have problems trying to review movies, I just don't know enough about the elements that make a good movie. I just try to keep it simple, and get help from my husband.

I am glad you mentioned Patricia Highsmith. I do have The Talented Mr Ripley (book) and would like to see the movie, so that is a good combo. Definitely would like to do Strangers on a Train too, but in that case I have the movie but not the book.

Anonymous said...

I am not a true 'lover' of mystery books but plan to read a few this year. G. Simenon, F. Vargas and P. Lemaitre are the wirters I have chosen. It will have to buckle down and get mtself out of my usual "comfort zone reads". In 2013 I read P. Highsmith and H. Tursten ( you liked her book,) and both were disappointmenting. A suggestion for a nail biting book - movie combination: Jo Nesbo The Headhunters. The movie was nominated for a British Oscar ( BAFTA) in 2011.

TracyK said...

ipsofactodotme, I too plan to read more Simenon and Vargas this year. Lemaitre I am not sure about, I thought his book (Alex) might be too tense for me. I had not thought of Jo Nesbo's book, The Headhunters as a book to movie, thanks for the suggestion. I will be interested to see what you think of Simenon.

col2910 said...

Sounds fun and good luck, but I'm already worried I have bitten off more than I can chew! I will sit this one out.

TracyK said...

Col, this one is more difficult because of finding both the book and the movie, and then actually putting some thought into the movie post and the book comparison. But I have a huge list I want to do, so we will see where I get with it.

DoingDewey said...

I'm always amazed at how many books are based on movies. I definitely have more book to movie adaptations I'd like to read and watch than I'll get too this year! Thanks for joining the challenge :)

TracyK said...

I know, Katie. I just remembered two more just a few minutes ago: books by Le Carre, and The Friends of Eddie Coyle. Actually, my husband found them for me. A wealth of ideas.