My Favourites Blog - MY FAVOURITES

12 Books To Movies/Streamed RECENTLY

3/7/2024

As usual in the worlds of literature and film regularly converge in spectacular fashion.

The last year or so produced a wealth of book-to-screen adaptations that delight both avid readers and movie buffs alike. In this article we present twelve amazing adaptations that made their way from bookshelves to cinemas and streaming services.

BOOK. Liane Moriarty: Apples NEVER Fall

29/9/2023

Liane Moriarty is known for her masterful storytelling and complex characters, and her latest novel, The Apple Doesn't Fall, is no exception. This gripping mystery-drama follows the Delaney family, retired tennis school owners whose lives are turned upside down when Joy mysteriously disappears.

"Sister" by Rosmund Lupton

22/9/2012

Click on image for details & pricing

This novel explores the relationship between two English sisters in unusual circumstances. The elder, Beatrice, is more conservative and pursuing her career in New York when she receives a call telling her that Tess, her younger art-student sister, has gone missing.

The story is told from the perspective of Beatrice recounting to a police officer how she came to discover what happened to Tess. In the re-telling we learn of Beatrice's struggles with police reticence and explore not only the deep relationship between the sisters but also that with their mother, their disenfrachised father and the brother they lost as children.

It is beautifully written and combines the complex drama of relationships with a whodunit crime mystery and the ending ... it is both surprising and satisfying.

Highly recommended reading.

Stephen King's 11.22.63

21/7/2012

Stephen King's latest book 11/22/63 will be of major appeal to lovers of time travel fiction. Jake Epping discovers, via his friendly diner owner, a portal to 1958. The diner owner, shares with Jake his dieing wish - to change a watershed moment in history - the nearest to 1958 being the assassination of JFK in 1963. But there is danger ahead because "the past is obdurate," reluctant to change, and seems to pose obstacles to Jake's efforts. King paints a vivid and poignant picture of the late '50s/ early 60s as he bides time for 4 years as George Amberson and plans his attempt to change history.

11.22.63

11.22.63 from local supplier

11.22.63

11.22.63 from UK supplier - cheaper but longer delivery

Book & Soon to be Movie: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

5/5/2012

"Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" is the highly regarded book by Jonathan Safran Foer. It tells the story of a young boy two years after his father's death in 9/11 who on finding a key of his father's starts a city-wide mission to discover what it opens.
This incredible movie releases in cinemas soon starring Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullow, Max Von Syndow so if you want to read the book first you'll need to be quick. Click on the cover on the right for more information and pricing.
If you've already read it - comment on what you thought below. Will the movie be as good?

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Foods that Harm, Foods that Heal

28/1/2012

This is the ultimate reference guide when it comes to food and food-related health. It's not a cookbook although every cook would love it, it's not a diet book although there's diet advice to be had ... you could almost call an encyclopedia of food and health with a New Zealand & Australian perspective. My copy is one from the original print run by Readers Digest although it has been updated and reprinted since and I believe it's sold over 7 million copies worldwide.
It is presented as an A-Z and so you can look up the food or medical condition that you're interested in very easily. It's practical, accessible with illustrations and is packed full of information. Some examples include:The information is based on inIt's been compiled with contributions from more than 350 experts and many New Zealand & Australian organisations.

A list of drinks comparing their caffeine content
An article on how food and nutrition can affect cancer
A section on sleep and your diet
The benefits and drawbacks of hundreds of foods
Guidance on foods that may worsen or lessen the effects of lots of
conditions from arthritis and sinusitis to psoriasis
A discussion on sports nutrition.

Now I know there are many specialist books on each of these
topics (not to mention Wikipedia) but this is a good generalist reference book
to keep on hand and it's presented in such a way that you can just pick it up
from time to time and browse through it picking up something new each
time.

Foods That Harm, Foods That Heal

The best price I've found for the current version is on Fishpond - click on the book cover above for more information. It is also available on The Nile website - link to the website below.

Developing the Pleasure of Reading - through Movies

28/1/2012

Sometimes it can be hard to encourage kids young and old into reading. Once they've mastered the basic skills of reading, some lose the enthusiasm and either don't transition well into chapter books or teens give up on it all together. Reading as a habit is important for education, entertainment and relaxation and it seems a shame when people don't discover that for themselves.

One of my sons took to reading readily and devoured the Harry Potter series by age 8, but the other just decided that reading was "not his thing". Books made into movies are one of the best tools we have to help pre-teen and teenage children to develop the habit and joy of reading. And luckily many of the most popular movies are based on books and several are part of a series that can hook them into the joy of reading. In my case is was the Percy Jackson movie/book which launched my younger son into reading the whole series of six books plus anything else I could find on Greek Gods.

Below is a list of books that have been, or are about to be, made into movies that are suitable for kids and/or teenagers. For more examples of books that may encourage your own reading or that of even older children, vistit our Movies from Books page.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret: A Novel in Words and Pictures

The Hobbit (Essential Modern Classics)

Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief

My Sister's Keeper

Tomorrow When the War Began (The Tomorrow Series)

Twilight

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Beastly

Life of Pi

The Hunger Games (Hunger Games Trilogy)

Jane Eyre

The Other Boleyn Girl

Three Great Novels - The Bourne Trilogy:

Movies from Books: The Hunger Games

26/1/2012

One of My Favourite sections of the My Favourites website is the Movies from Books page. Some books are just so fantastic that the movie version cannot do full justice to it - in others the movie simply cannot contain all the glorious detail. The Movies from Books page has dozens of books that have been made into movies and with our best endeavours we will try to keep a supply of new books about to be made into movies. One example being the up-coming "Hunger Games".

Coming to theatres in March, "The Hunger Games" based on the trilogy by Suzanne Collins. The trilogy has as its heroine 16 year old Katniss Everdeen who must train to represent her District in The Hunger Games - a televised fight to the death. Set in the near future this series will be popular with teen-readers that enjoyed the "Tomorrow When the War Began" series as well as with a more mature audience.

Enjoy the series, or at least the first book, before the movie comes out.

Have you read any great books that you've heard are about to be made into a movie?

The Hunger Games (Hunger Games Trilogy)

The Hunger Games

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