The Age-Old Question: Book or Movie?

Movie adaptations of popular books have always been a Hollywood trend, and this holiday season is no exception. Here are a few titles of wildly popular books that you'll get to watch on the big screen:

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo is a classic story about love, justice, and salvation set in 19th century France. It follows Jean Valjean, an ex-convict who struggles to avoid recapture by the policeman Javert while taking care of the young Collette, the daughter of ill-fated prostitue Fantine.

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy follows the titular Anna, a beautiful woman trapped in an unhappy marriage to Aleksei, a man twenty years her senior. Anna's fateful decision to relentlessly pursue an affair with Count Vronksy results in tragedy and heartbreak for nearly everyone she knows.

Teenagers Fight Communism with Magic!

Okay, technically it's alchemy, not magic.  And technically, they're trying to prevent everyone from using nuclear weapons; they're just starting with the Communists.  And technically, it's the adults who are supposed to be preventing nuclear war, but they keep getting kidnapped.  So it's up to three teens with an ancient book of alchemy recipes to outwit the bad guys and save the day in The Apothecary by Maile Melov.  Which brings me back to: teenagers fight communism with magic - er, alchemy!  In 1950s Britain, of course. 

I knew I'd like this book the moment that Janie, the narrator and main character, confessed her desire to be more like Katharine Hepburn.  If you have not seen a movie with Katharine Hepburn in it, go do so.  Her award winning classics are The Philadelphia Story and The African Queen, but the films where she co-starred with Spencer Tracy, like Adam's Rib, are a lot of fun too.  My personal favorite of her movies is Bringing Up Baby - because escaped leopard!  Anyway, the point is, if a character in a book decides that Katharine Hepburn is their role model, then I approve.  And then I recommend the book and the witty Ms. Hepburn to you.

"If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun."  ~ Katharine Hepburn

Book Ninja