Books to read that are hitting the big screen...*

So what are some of the books you have read that were better than the movie...? Harry Potter and the... (name any of the books) springs to mind. Lord of the Rings... The Hobbit... The list goes on. You can put the visuals up there but there is simply no way one person's imagination or even a big team's imaginings can completely encapsulate the creation of the minds of the readers. At least IMHO. It's the rare movie that is better than the book. In fact, I have long said that the only movies that are better are the books that were not very well written and the screen writers improved on it (I thought Cold Mountain was in this category).    

So, for for the coming months some books that are hitting the big screen that I thought you might enjoy reading before you see them on film (if you haven't already): 

Divergent is coming to the big screen. Haven't read it yet? Neither have I but there's still time since it's scheduled to open March, 2014. Compared to Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games trilogy, Wikipedia says "It is set within a dystopian version of Chicago. The novel has been compared to similar young adult books such as The Hunger Games because of its theme and target audience. Roth has said that the idea for the series was born while she was studying in college." 





And coming soon? Ender's Game
 Slated for release on November 1. Those of you who go to theaters a lot (I don't) have probably already seen the trailer but here it is for those of you who want to see it who don't make it to the movies much:

City of Bones is being released this week... too late to read it before opening night but you could read it before it gets to dollar theaters (if you're poor, like me)


The Fault in Our Stars is the story of Hazel Lancaster and Augustus Waters, two Indianapolis teenagers who meet at a Cancer Kid Support Group.** No release date at this point but IMDb says that Shailene Woodley will play Hazel and Ansel Elgort will play Augustus.



James Dashner's Maze Runner is coming to theaters starring Dylan O'Brien. This is another I haven't read but there should be plenty of time since it's not out until February. Dashner is quoted on Wikipedia that in 2005 in November he was going to bed when he had an idea about, "a bunch of teenagers living inside an unsolvable Maze full of hideous creatures, in the future, in a dark, dystopian world. It would be an experiment, to study their minds. Terrible things would be done to them. Awful things. Completely hopeless. Until the victims turn everything on its head." Begun in December 2005, it was completed in March 2006.

The Wolf on Wall Street by John Belfort looks to be a great party for Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, and Matthew McConaughey. The book sounds like it might be worth reading...

There are more but I think I"ll leave it at that for today!


*source Buzzfeed article by Arielle Calderon
**John Green's website

It's the hottest thing!

I know I've expressed a lot of... let's say reserve towards technology and the "latest thing". But I think this is really going to be BIG and I wanted to reveal it here! The only problem is that the video won't imbed so you'll have to go to the link. But trust me it will be totally worth it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wbu8AHyLHJE

You can also go to this tumblr site to see it. It's about the 8th post down (so far) http://jasonwalston.tumblr.com/
The other videos are probably worth watching too! Have a great weekend!

Adustment: No more Google+ comments

After giving it some thought and just in general realizing that it could cause some folks some difficulty in commenting who didn't use google+, I have removed google+ comments. I still plan on using Google+ as a way to get more followers and obviously some followers, even old friends, will be able to comment there since they are also Google+ friends but it won't effect how anybody comments here.
Kthxby!

To Plus or not to plus and...

I've noticed that some in the blogging world are adding apps to their site so that people can follow via Bloglovin', Feedly, or Linky Followers. I have decided I'm using the Google+ for followers and I hope to catch up to all those I was already following and adding new followers while I'm add it (although I have to admit Google+ is slow to catch on. Some who are members do not yet have the Googleshare options or Google +1 so it's not easy to see what's going on on their blog but it will all work out in the wash I suppose.) Anyway, I just thought I'd give a heads up to new people I follow and who come by here that I've decided the Google+ may make the best option because it is easy to connect to people and their blog in the easiest way for me- especially because I am not a Facebooker. 

Tomorrow is a pretty big day in history-- I'd bore you with all the fun details but I found a couple that I thought were interesting- Like here's a little literary history: 

On this day in 1040 King Duncan I is killed in battle against his first cousin and rival Macbeth. The latter succeeds him as King of Scotland. (and yes, that would be Macbeth of Shakespeare fame)

The Wizard of Oz premiered at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Los Angeles, California in 1939.

"We're off to see the Wizard... the wonderful wizard of Oz...."

AND in 1969..

Woodstock opens. 

 

Fun facts about Woodstock...

Jimi Hendrix was the last act to perform at the festival

There were ten million yards of blue jeans and striped T-shirt material at Woodstock.

Bob Dylan was one of the original inspirations for the festival, and his backing group, The Band, played to the massive audience, the great man never made it, as one of his children was hospitalised over that weekend. 

Two people died at Woodstock - one man from a heroin overdose and a teenager in a sleeping bag who was killed when a tractor ran over him. The driver was never traced.

So that's about it for me... still working away on my editing, taking pictures (yes the pictures above are mine from a walk in a nearby park- forgot to sign them) trying to get through a weirdly mild summer and a sore shoulder that won't heal. 

How is your summer going?

So,

An update and a little writerly background...

History! I use this History.com for my schedules at work but I also like learning stuff just... for future reference, because I am a geek, because I missed out on a lot earlier in life,  just BECAUSE.
So, for your entertainment: This week in history: 
Missouri enters the Union as the 24th state--and the first located entirely west of the Mississippi River on August 10, 1821.
In 1959 on August 7 a US satellite is launched that would later photograph earth for the first time.

A little modern literary history: On August 6, 1996, “A Game of Thrones,” epic fantasy novel by George R.R. Martin, was released.On the same day 51 years earlier (1945) the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. That's a sad memorial and requires AT LEAST a moment of silence.

Silence

Today is French writer Guy de Maupassant's birthday. He was  one of France's best short-story writers (according to History.com- don't blame me if you don't agree or think in fact that you are one of France's best short-story writers) and was born near Dieppe, France.

wildflower in the mountains.

And for those of you who love a conspiracy and maybe a mystery: Today is also the anniversary of Marilyn Monroe's death. She was found dead in her home on August 5, 1962- 51 years ago. This is what History.com has to say about the incident: 

In recent decades, there have been a number of conspiracy theories about her death, most of which contend that she was murdered by John and/or Robert Kennedy, with whom she allegedly had love affairs. These theories claim that the Kennedys killed her (or had her killed) because they feared she would make public their love affairs and other government secrets she was gathering. On August 4, 1962, Robert Kennedy, then attorney general in his older brother's cabinet, was in fact in Los Angeles. Two decades after the fact, Monroe's housekeeper, Eunice Murray, announced for the first time that the attorney general had visited Marilyn on the night of her death and quarreled with her, but the reliability of these and other statements made by Murray are questionable.

Four decades after her death, Marilyn Monroe remains a major cultural icon. The unknown details of her final performance only add to her mystique.

Personally the Marilyn Monroe anniversary may have stimulated a little story telling idea for me. She had an interesting life even without the stardom. I might just have to think about this... 

And as a nice touch to begin August and update on my writing project:

drive home after work (entrance ramp I25)

I finally finished 'Death and Politics'! Yup, the long awaited finale has finally come. I stumbled on it actually. I knew how I wanted things to wrap up but I didn't know what I wanted the final words to be and then it just came to me. The day it ended wound up being a little... underwhelming. But I am glad to be done and now I am going back to polish things up. I have put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into it and I don't really plan on just sticking it into a drawer so I'm still working away on it but it's a different work- and I like editing and polishing. So there you go! Yay!