Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Book To Movie Adaptations I Still Need To Watch

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Each week has a different theme & you can find all the details about how to join in HERE.

Today's topic is Ten Book To Movie Adaptations I Still Need To Watch and when I sat down to think about it I was surprised just how many movies I still need to get around to. Unfortunately in most cases I still need to read the books too which is why I've been putting them off LOL.

1. The Book Thief

I first read The Book Thief by Markus Zusak about seven years ago and I absolutely loved it, it's a incredibly emotional story and one I've actually been meaning to reread for a long time now. As soon as I first saw the trailer I wanted to watch the movie, in fact it was one I had planned to see at the cinema but for some reason I never quite got around to it.

2. The Fault in Our Stars

I'm ashamed to admit that I've never read a John Green book (and yes I do know that is a terrible thing for a book blogger to admit!) but I've heard amazing things about both The fault in Our Stars and Paper Towns. To be honest I put off watching both movies because I've not read the books but I know that they're the kind of thing I need to be in the right mood for so I'll keep holding off until the right moment.

3. How to Train Your Dragon

I've not read the books in this series either but I love dragons and having seen a few episodes of the cartoon with my friend's son I know I'm going to enjoy the movies.

4. Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 2

I'll always have a soft spot for the Twilight books, they may not be the best books ever written and looking back now there are a lot of things that disturb me about the relationship between Bella and Edward but the books got me reading again and for that I'll always be grateful. I don't love the movies but I've watched the other 3 so I feel like I need to see it through to the end!

5. The Host

I'm sure it won't be a surprise when I say that I haven't read The Host yet (even though it's been on my to read pile since 2010!) but I've heard great things about both the book and the movie so I really do need to get around to it.

6. Vampire Academy

I absolutely LOVE Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy series so I was really excited when I found out they were making a movie. Okay so I know the movie was a flop and I've not heard great things about it but it's still one I want to watch one day.

7. Warm Bodies

I had mixed feelings about Warm Bodies, I loved the main character and I enjoyed reading his story but the whole zombie / human romance aspect just made me cringe. I wasn't interested in the movie at first but my friend told me it was fantastic so I promised her I'd give it a try.

8. The Notebook

Another embarrassing fact about me - I have never read a Nicholas Sparks book! I can practically hear you all gasping in shock but it's true. I've heard great things about The Notebook though, both the book and the movie so again it's one I really feel like I should watch at some point.

9. Beautiful Creatures

This is another series I've been wanting to read for a long time but haven't quite got to yet. I refuse to watch the movie until I've read the first book though.

10 (& 11). The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

I absolutely loved the Chronicles of Narnia growing up, I reread all the books again and again and even have my Dad's copies from when he was at school tucked away in a box somewhere. So, I'm not quite sure why I never got around to watching the movies when they were released but I really must get to them one day.

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As a bonus I thought I'd include a couple of movies that haven't been released yet but that I'm REALLY excited about:

Victor Frankenstein - December 2015

Pride Prejudice & Zombies - February 2016

These both look AMAZING and I definitely need to try and watch them at the cinema :o)

So what do you think? If you've seen any of these I'd love to know what you thought of them (please keep it spoiler free though!). Did some of them make your list? What other movies would you recommend?

Upcoming Book to Movie Adaptations I can't wait to watch!

Since I've stumbled across quite a few movie trailers recently I thought it might be nice to share them here & find out which ones you're all looking forward to watching.

The Hobbit - December 2012

I have to say the one I'm most excited about is The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, I've read the book several times over the years (in fact I must re-read it soon before the film comes out!) and have always been a massive fan of this and the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I love the LotR films so I have very high hopes that The Hobbit will be just as good if not better and watching the following trailers has only increased my excitement!

Warm Bodies - February 2013

I have to admit I'm not so sure about Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion, the fact that there is a romance between a human girl and the zombie who ate her boyfriend made me feel more than a little squeamish when I read the book (you can read my review here). However in spite of not being keen on the romance I did find that there was something incredibly compelling about the book, it was very well written and really made you think about the things that are important and what it is that makes us human. From the trailer it looks like the film stays very true to the book (although you can never be 100% sure of that until you've see the whole thing) and I am very curious about it. I don't think I'll be booking advance tickets for as soon as this one comes out but if the reviews are good then I might just give it a chance.

Beautiful Creatures - February 2013

I already posted the trailer for Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl but I couldn't really post about films I'm excited about without mentioning it again. Now the Beautiful Creatures series is one I've been wanting to read for ages but for some reason have never got around to. It looks like I'm going to have to hurry up and read at least the first book though because I don't want to miss the movie! Don't forget I currently have a UK giveaway for all 4 books in the Beautiful Creatures series that you can enter here (giveaway closes on the 5th of December)

The Host - March 2013

The Host by Stephenie Meyer is another one of those books that I bought years ago but have never got around to reading. I'm not even sure why because I've heard really good things about it & I read the Twilight series multiple times before I started blogging (don't judge, I know the series isn't perfect and not everyone loves it but it got me back into reading again after a long break so it'll always have a special place in my heart!). Anyway, I think the film looks awesome so it's another book I need to hurry up and read!

The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones - August 2013

It may not be out until August but I'm already incredibly excited about City of Bones by Cassandra Clare, I love the books (read my review of City of Bones here) and think the film will be fantastic! I have a feeling that with so many fans of the series out there this is going to be one of the must see summer smash hits.



There really are some awesome book to movie adaptations coming out next year aren't there! Of course I'm also really looking forward to Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins, I couldn't find a trailer for that one yet though but I'll be sure to post it on the blog when I come across it. Are there any other films coming out that I've forgotten about? Which of these are you most excited about?

Review: Warm Bodies - Isaac Marion

"R" is a zombie.  He has no name, no memories and no pulse, but he has dreams.  He is a little different from  his fellow Dead.

Amongst the ruins of an abandoned city, R meets a girl.  Her name is Julie and she is the opposite of everything he knows - warm and bright and very much alive, she is a blast of colour in a dreary grey landscape.  For reasons he can't understand, R chooses to save Julie instead of eating her, and a tense yet strangely tender relationship begins.

This has never happened before.  It breaks the rules and defies logic, but R is no longer content with life in the grave.  He wants to breathe again, he wants to live, and Julie wants to help him.  But their grim, rotting world won't be changed without a fight...

Check out Isaac Marion's blog for more information

Review:
R is in pretty good shape for a zombie, he has grey skin and smells bad but still has all of his body parts so is a lot better off than many of his friends.  He has no memory of his life before he died, he doesn't know his name and doesn't even know how long he has been a zombie but he does know things used to be different.  He gets to experience snippets of life through his victims - when he ingests their brains he also gets to live through some of their memories - and he wants to be able to feel things again.  When he goes out to hunt with some of his fellow zombies he experiences memories of Julie after eating her boyfriend.  He becomes fascinated with her and decides he doesn't want to eat her so instead he protects her and takes her home with him.  With everything against them can R and Julie beat the odds and find a way for the living and the dead to live together?

I have to confess I didn't know much about Warm Bodies when I borrowed it from my friend Lyndsey.  I don't think I would have started reading it if I'd realised that it was a zombie romance and that fact did affect my enjoyment of the story.  I couldn't get over the fact that a human could fall for a proper brain eating zombie - particularly one that had killed her boyfriend.  The idea of kissing a rotting body quite frankly turned my stomach and was almost enough to make me stop reading.

Having said that there was something so compelling about Warm Bodies that I had to finish reading, I just needed to know what would happen to both R and Julie.  I never thought I'd be able to relate to R but he is a surprisingly likable character and one that grew on me despite the odds.  I think I would have preferred it if the romance had been removed and instead R and Julie had become friends but that is more down to personal taste than the way the story was written.  If you can look past that fact then I'm sure you'll find the book a really enjoyable read.

The story is witty and well written and makes you think about the value of life and things that you take for granted.  It is written from R's perspective which helps you to relate to his character but I think it would have benefited from seeing some things from Julie's point of view to help see her motivation and feelings towards R.  Isaac Marion has created a realistic dystopian world where there are very few remaining humans and the ones who are left are forced to live in fortified towns to protect them from the zombies.  The zombie attacks are written in great detail so I don't think this is a story for the squeamish but I thoroughly enjoyed the guts and gore.  Warm Bodies is definitely original and although not quite to my taste I'm sure it is a book that a lot of people will love.  If you're looking for something different to read then it would be well worth giving this one a try.

Source: Borrowed from Lyndsey at Heaven, Hell and Purgatory Book Reviews

Other Reviews:
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here.