Read 'Em Before You See 'Em: Books into Movies

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          Liam Neeson is becoming the go-to guy for thoughtful action heroes.  On September 19, he’ll be starring  in “A Walk Among the Tombstones,” playing Matthew Scudder, Lawrence Block’s recovering alcoholic PI.  In this case, Scudder is hired to find out who kidnapped and murdered the wife of a drug kingpin.

·         Patricia Highsmith is probably best known for her novel  The Talented Mr. Ripley which was made into the movie with Matt Damon.  Another of her novels is coming to the screen in “The Two Faces of January,” starring Kirsten Dunst and Viggo Mortensen, about a con man. It opens August 28.

·         A highly anticipated movie is “Gone Girl,” from the recent best-seller by Gillian Flynn.  The book caused much discussion in our Nevermore Book Club! Love it or hate it, it did have people talking. Ben Affleck stars in this film about a man whose wife disappears, and who may know more than he’s telling the police. The movie opens October 3.

·         Nicholas Sparks continues his string of books into movies with “The Best of Me.” Two high school sweethearts reunite after many years apart.  This is a Sparks book, so take lots of tissues to the October 17^th opening.

·         Cheryl Strayed’s memoir “Wild” became a book club favorite and now it’s a movie starring Reese Witherspoon.  After a number of problems including a divorce, Strayed decided to try and rediscover herself with an impulsive thousand mile hike on the Pacific Crest Trail. The movie is scheduled for December 5.

·         Fans have been waiting a year for the final installment of J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit:  The Battle of Five Armies.”  On December 17 the wait will be over at last.  Probably enough said about that, because if you don’t know the book or movies by now, this is probably just not your genre!

Having some big films open on Christmas Day seems to be something of a new tradition.  This year one such anticipated film is “Unbroken,” which tells the true story of a young man who became an Olympic runner and a Japanese POW.  Louis Zamperini’s story is an inspirational story of the human spirit.  The book Unbroken was written by Laura Hillenbrand who also wrote Seabiscuit. Angelina Jolie directed the movie.

      The film version of  Joe Hill's creepy novel  Horns has Daniel Radcliffe in the role of Ig Perrish, a young man who awakens after a wild night to find that he has grown horns. People also seem compelled to tell him dark secrets. The movie is slated to appear in theaters on the appropriate day of October 31. (Joe Hill is Stephen King's son, by the way.)

Finally, for those of us who don’t make it out to the theaters much, there’s some exciting TV news.  Hallmark Channel is rebranding itself as Hallmark Movies and Mysteries, and as part of that move they are filming Charlaine Harris’ Aurora Teagarden books.  “Roe” is a librarian with a taste for mysteries who becomes involved with crimes.   The books are:
1. Real Murders
2. A Bone to Pick
3. Three Bedrooms, One Corpse
4. The Julius House
5. Dead Over Heels
6. A Fool and His Honey
7. Last Scene Alive
8. Poppy Done to Death  

Harris is best known for Sookie Stackhouse/Southern Vampires/True Blood books, but there’s not a shapeshifter in sight in these mystery novels. 

  Also, this August will see the premiere of the  TV adaptation of Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series will do on Starz network.  Gabaldon's fantasy about Claire, a modern woman who finds herself back in eighteenth century Scotland and who falls in love with Highlander Jamie, has a very strong fan base. The books are:
1. Outlander
2. Dragonfly in Amber
3. Voyager
4. Drums of Autumn 
5. The Fiery Cross
6. A Breath of Snow and Ashes
 7. An Echo in the Bone
8.Written in My Own Heart's Blood 

If the series doesn't satisfy, at least there's the new installment in the saga, Written in My Own Heart's Blood.  This is a series best read in order. 

For information about the TV series, click here. 

What's Hot for May!

Here are the most requested books at the Bristol Public Library for the month of May, 2012!

15.  Guilty Wives by James Patterson and David Ellis continues Patterson’s run on our most requested author list.  This is a non-series book about a group of women who are given a luxury, nothing off limits vacation to do whatever they please.  It seems almost too good to be true—and of course it is.

14.  Wicked Business:  A Lizzy and Diesel Novel by Janet Evanovich is the sequel to Wicked Appetites. When a university professor is murdered, Lizzy and Diesel find themselves hot on the trail of the next magical stone, this one is supposedly infused with the power of lust.  Needless to say,  Diesel’s evil cousin Gerwulf Grimoire is also on the trail, but he may be tracking more than just the stone. This book will be published June 19.

13. Robert B. Parker’s Lullaby:  A Spenser Novel by Ace Adkins has earned a number of good reviews, which isn’t always the case when one author seeks to continue another’s work.  Adkins was praised not only for his characterizations but for keeping the rhythms of Parker’s writing. 

12. Gypped by Carol Higgins Clark has PI Regan Reilly is back in California where her husband is attending a conference.  Her plans to reconnect with friends and relax take a twist when one old friend suspects she’s being scammed and Regan finds herself in another investigation.

11. Fifty Shades Darker by E.L. James is the middle book of the now notorious “Fifty Shades” trilogy.  In case you’ve been avoiding the news lately, this series has been dubbed “mommy porn” by reporters in recognition of the erotic elements of the books and their appeal to women, mostly age 30 plus.

10. Defending Jacob by William Landay is one part legal thriller and one part family drama.  An assistant DA is shocked when his own teenage son is accused in the death of a classmate.  As he struggles to clear his son’s name, it becomes clear that there are family secrets involved—and a betrayal of trust that may rip the family apart.

9. Unwritten Laws  is the new Greg Iles thriller, but it’s now scheduled to be published in December 2012.

8. Fifty Shades Freed by E. L. James is the third in the “Fifty Shades” series.

7. Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed is the riveting and inspiring true story of a woman in crisis, due in no small part to a series of bad decisions on her part.  In an effort to straighten out her life, she embarked on a 2600 mile trek that crosses the Sierra Nevada and Cascade ranges.

6. The Last Boyfriend by Nora Roberts is the second in the “Inn BoonsBoro” trilogy which follows the life and loves of three brothers who set out to restore an old inn to its former glory.  Oh, and there’s a ghost!

5. Unnatural Acts by Stuart Woods is the latest Stone Barrington adventure which involves the wayward son of a hedge fund billionaire.

4. Stolen Prey by John Sandford has Lucas Davenport called in to investigate when an entire family is found brutally murdered.  This is the 22^nd book in the series, and Sandford shows no signs of flagging.

3. The Shoemaker’s Wife by Adriana Trigiani is based on her grandparents’ courtship and is set in both Italy and New York.  Our director just finished reading it and he says it has a rich backdrop that includes the world of opera when Enrico Caruso reigned supreme.

2.  Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L. James is the one that started all the fuss!

And the number one reserve book is:

Deadlocked: A Southern Vampire Mystery, the penultimate Sookie Stackhouse book, if Charlaine Harris sticks to her plans.  It appears that she intends to, as she is wrapping up some storylines in this one.