This Tuesday The Broke and the Bookish would like to talk about characters that they wish had their own book. There is often a side character with an interesting back story that I would like to learn more about. Here are just a few of them…
J.R.R.Tolkien
Top Ten Tuesday – Places Books Have Made Me Want to Visit
I’ve been a fan of the weekly Top Ten Tuesday feature over at The Broke and the Bookish ever since I started Bundle of Books and have been considering joining in for a while. I’ve been a bit too busy to blog a lot recently, so something like this will be a fun way to get back into the swing of things!
Today’s theme is: Places Books Have Made Me Want to Visit.
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The Fellowship of the Ring – J.R.R. Tolkien
Sitting down to read The Lord of the Rings feels like catching up with an old friend. I have read it several times since I first fell in love with Middle Earth as a teenager, and I love it just as much every time.
The characters, settings and plot are so familiar to me, but on each re-read, I discover new things, or appreciate things in a slightly different way. There’s so much going on in the series, and so much backstory, that’s it’s easy to miss things first, second or even third time round!
The opening chapters are comforting, especially for those that have read The Hobbit. We’re back in Hobbiton, and enjoying the excitement at Bag End as hobbits Bilbo and his heir Frodo prepare for a Long-Expected Party to celebrate their joint birthdays. Continue reading
My Top 5 Books from 2013
I was not the most consistent book blogger in 2013. I currently have a daunting ten books piled up ready to be written about, and some of them have been there since the spring! Hopefully I will manage to get on to them early in the New Year. My reading list, like my blog, has been a bit pathetic over the past year. I haven’t been racing through books like I usually would, apart from the odd couple. I’ve found comfort in old favourites such as The Hobbit, The Moonstone, The Little Friend and The Wolves of Willoughby Chase series, but not managed to pick up as many new books as I would have liked.
I’m afraid I can’t blame this lack of adventurous reading on being too busy at work or anything like that, but I have been busy. I’ve been busy having fun! In fact, for me, 2013 has been one of the best years for a long time! I’ve been on some great holidays, including a fantastic trip to Nepal in October, (Where I visited the amazing Pilgrims Book House in Kathmandu, and fought off tears in the airport when reading Sold by Patricia McCormick), and life has generally been quite good, with a job that I enjoy and living happily with my boyfriend in a lovely little flat in the centre of town.
Instead of doing ‘awards’ this year (like in 2011 and 2012), I thought I would simply share my Top 5 books from my reading list of 2013 (Some of which I haven’t reviewed yet – I’ll add the links as soon as I do!)
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The Hobbit – J.R.R. Tolkien
About fourteen years ago, my dad took me to see a stage production of The Hobbit. I enjoyed it so much that we went out the very next day to buy the book. I distinctly remember browsing through all of the different copies trying to decide which one to get. Eventually I went with the most expensive copy. The front cover and beautiful illustrations throughout the story were too special to say no to! I have never regretted my choice and my book is only a little battered, but still just as bright and bold as when I first read it.
That night, I delved into Middle Earth and never looked back! I have read The Hobbit a number of times since and loved it just as much every time. It’s been a few years since I’ve read Bilbo’s tale though, and recently, in a bit of a book slump, I suddenly felt an urge to pick it up again. Continue reading
Top 5 Book to Film Adaptations
There has been a big media frenzy this last couple of weeks with the last Harry Potter film being released, which I for one am excited about. I’m looking forward to the film, even though I can’t help but complain about all of them. The films can’t begin to live up to the book and they have turned Harry Potter into something else, a franchise, rather than books to spark the imagination of children all of the world. Children no longer have to conjure up their own personal ideas of the characters, they simply have to picture Daniel Radcliffe.
There have been some terrible film to book adaptations. And I don’t actually think Harry Potter is that bad compared to some of them. It must be extremely difficult to take a good book and turn it into a decent film. Even if you manage to cast the film with brilliant actors and have budget high enough to fill the sets with the perfect props and clothes, there is still so much to think about. So much of the dialogue must be cut down and many scenes scrapped. In fact I think it must be such a daunting task, I’m not sure why anyone would even attempt it!
Here are a few examples of films that I think have been adapted excellently.
Bundle of Books 