Childhood Book Tag

1. What were your favorite books read to you as a child? Why?

Both my parents read to me, but some books stand out a little more than others. Both my parents read me various Magic Treehouse books. I think I stopped right before the book Christmas in Camelot because I remember asking for a copy for Hannukah and being told that it would be better to get some other time. And then I never got around to reading it. My Dad also read me The Chronicles of Narnia series, as well as The Hobbit. My Mom  read me the first few chapters of Harry Potter and Sorcerer's Stone to get me interested and now that's one of my favorite series. 

2. Do you have any special memories or traditions associated with these books?

There was a period of time where I would get up to three bedtime stories. My babysitter would read me a bedtime story, then my Mom would come in a read me a story and then my Dad would come in and read me a story (or something along those lines, the exact line-up is a little fuzzy). I don't remember how aware each of them were that I was getting three bedtime stories, but I loved it.

With my Dad, when he read me Narnia and Hobbit every so often he'd give the book to me and make me read for a while.

Also with Harry Potter, the reason my Mom stopped reading them to me was because I got so into the books that I just started reading them on my own because I wanted to know what happened next. I didn't want to wait for the next night to find out. I also came into the series late (book four had just come out when I started reading them) so I had a lot of catching up to do.

3. What were your favorite books or series when you were old enough to read? Why?

I really loved The Frog Princess series by E.D. Baker. I think this was the start of my love for alternate takes on fairy tales. Similarly, I loved (and still love) The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede. I also really liked the book What is the Teacher's Toupee Doing in the Fishtank? by Jerry Piasecki. It was just a really funny book with pranks and heist like actions. I also loved the T*Witches book series. It was about twin witches who were separated at birth. The series starts with them meeting as teens and learning to use their powers. Also Harry Potter 1-5 came out while I was in elementary school, so those count too, right? Ohh! A Series of Unfortunate Events! That's a great series. It's just really funny in weird ways.

4. What was your favorite book character in these?

The Frog Princess - It's been so long since I read the original books (there's a prequel and sequel series now). I guess Emma. Grassina's also great. I think I like her in the latter books a little more. 

The Enchanted Forest Chronicles - Cimorene. Or Kazul. Maybe Trouble. Can I just love all of them?

What is the Teacher's Toupee Doing in the Fishtank? - Mr. Finelli. He was the teacher. This guy was awesome. "[Written on the blackboard]'I've left you all a package on each desk. Can you guess what it is?' [Frankie] 'A TV dinner?' [Blackboard] 'No Frankie, it isn't a TV dinner.'"

T*Witches - Alex. She was awesome.

Harry Potter - Confirming that no one's favorite character from Harry Potter is Harry Potter, Professor McGonagall is my favorite.

A Series of Unfortunate Events - I think the narrator/Lemony Snicket was my favorite honestly.

5. What was your favorite book in a childhood series?

Chamber of Secrets has always been up there for me. Prisoner of Azkaban is pretty high up as well. I guess Calling on Dragons is my favorite in the Enchanted Forest Chronicles, but that's only because of the cats. And Killer. All the others are tied for a very close second. The Ersatz Elevator was my favorite for A Series of Unfortunate Events.

6. Did you ever dress up like one from your favorite books?

I'm sure I dressed as Hermione at some point. And if not, I've worn Hogwarts uniform stuff to Wizard Rock concerts, so close enough.

7. Was there a movie adaptation of any of your childhood favorites? If so, did you like it?

Chronicles of Narnia - I only saw the first 2 movies they did but I remember being really impressed by how well they stuck to the book and made a good movie.

The Hobbit - I want the next two parts out now, so I can see them and love them, that's how much I loved the first part.

The Frog Princess - Apparently Disney's The Princess and the Frog was based off of The Frog Princess. I mean, it's mentioned in the credits. Honestly the only thing the two movies have in common is that the girl turns into a frog after kissing the prince, and a swamp is involved. There is literally nothing else the same. I like The Princess and the Frog as a movie, but as a movie adaptation ... I don't know how they can call it an adaptation, honestly. 

T*Witches - Disney made it into a Disney Channel Original movie. It...wasn't great. As a movie OR an adaptation.

Harry Potter - For the most part I've liked the Harry Potter movies. Though I will sometimes rant a little about the stuff that got left out.

8. Have you read any children's series as an adult/teen that you loved? If so, what were they?

I guess the Percy Jackson books count. As do the later Harry Potter books. I think I read Peter and the Starcatchers too, though I don't think I finished that series. Umm, I only this summer read the most recent books in the Princess and the Frog series, so those count too I guess.

Based on or Inspired by?

I don't always react well to movie adaptations (coughharrypottercough). However, I love what I'll call "alternate stories", things like modern day retellings, stories from minor characters points of view, things like that. Obviously, there are going to be differences, sometimes dramatic ones but I don't mind them as much in these cases.

I think the main difference is whether I go in expecting it to be dramatically different, or if I go in expecting it to be faithful.

For example, when I watch Once Upon a Time on TV, I expect the fairy tales to be different from what I know. In fact, I'd be disappointed if they didn't change the story. As long as there are familiar elements though, I'm happy. This is because (as I define it) Once Upon a Time is inspired by fairy tales. The Harry Potter movies on the other hand are based on the Harry Potter books and therefore should have a greater level of fidelity.

To be clear, I understand that when some thing is based on another work, changes will occur between mediums. These things I don't mind. As long as the information is given to the audience, the exact method may change.

 For example, if The Hunger Games had been completely faithful to the book (and on the most part it was actually), most of the movie would be voice over, as the book is narrated by Katniss. While voice overs can be done effectively, the movie would be less interesting if most of it was Katniss walking and explaining something. However, there was still vital information that needed to be told to the audience. As an example, in the book Katniss explains what tracker jackers are when she encounters them. In the movie, Ceasar Flickman and Claudius Templesmith who are acting as commentators for the viewers at home, explain them as part of the commentary. This is a change that makes sense within the context of the medium, but still keeps the story the same.

I also don't really have a problem with movies condensing events, or removing characters that don't have much to do with the story. Examples of this would be Bill and Fleur's wedding happening on Harry's birthday in the movie, even though it's not the same day in the book. In Hunger Games, the character of Madge is removed and the story is only slightly affected.

What annoys me in adapations that at based on, rather than inspired by, is when important subplots are removed, especially when the filmmakers add in sequences that make no difference to the story in their stead (I'm looking at you Harry/Hermione dance scene but no mention of Tonks being pregnant except for a mention of son in the next movie!).

By the way, I've been focusing on book/movie adaptations, but I know there are other adaptions. I remember seeing Little Shop of Horrors get turned into a musical. That was weird. Also, movies get video game adaptations, though I views those as inspired by, rather than based on.

I just wanted to touch on this, mainly to work through my own hypocrisy of complaining about changes in some adaptations, but loving things like Grimm, Once Upon a Time, Sherlock and others. Also, I hope this makes up for yesterday's lame post.

Favorite Quotes

Some of my favorite quotes and why.

"Imaging the future is a kind of nostalgia...You spend your whole life stuck in the labyrinth, thinking about how you'll escape it one day, and how awesome it will be, and imagining that future keeps you going, but you never do it. You just use the future to escape the present." -Alaska Young Looking for Alaska pg. 54

This quote always resonated with me because I do spend a lot of time thinking about the future and imagining the life I'll have and who I'll be and who I'll be with, but I don't always spend that much time working towards it. I always assume I'll have time for it later. That's why events are always sneaking up on me. I spend so much time looking forward to events and counting down to them that it always takes me by surprise a little bit when said event actually arrives/occurs. And then it's done and I can look back on it. Nostalgia and looking ahead fill so much of my daily life that I do sometimes have to just focus on what is happening.

"The way I see it, every life is a pile of good things and bad things. The good things don't always soften the bad things, but vice versa the bad things don't always spoil the good things and make them unimportant." -The Doctor Vincent and the Doctor


I love this quote so much. It's even under my face in my high school year book. I know that I can sometimes act like one bad thing has ruined my entire day, or like one good thing has made up for lots of unpleasant things and in that moment both can be true. But overall each adds to my life. Being sick one day won't suddenly mean that my whole life is terrible, and having everything go my way another day won't change the fact that I've experienced disappointments. But the sorrows give the good times perspective and the good times help to push through the bad. No one's life is just one thing.

Book Suggestions 2

More great books! Also I just finished rereading the second book on this list.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

I love this author and I love this book. The story is about a girl named Hazel who is living with cancer. She meets a boy named Augustus, who is a survivor of osteosarcoma, having lost a leg below the knee, at a support group for teens with cancer. I'm not going to lie. This book will make you cry. But it will also make you laugh. It will make you feel all the feels. Also, I want to be clear this is not a "cancer book". The book is well aware of the reputation of "cancer books" and takes a look at the realities and fictions held within. When you finish I recommend reading Looking for Alaska also by John Green. LFA was his first book, and it deals with many of the same themes as this book. It's something that, having read LFA, I didn't notice in this book (to be fair I hadn't read it in a while), but after reading TFiOS and then rereading LFA I noticed certain things that were similar, and also different takes on similar themes. Both books are beautifully written and deserve to be read.

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

This title makes this book seem like silly fluff, but seriously, there's way more to it than just romance. While this book is a little more "fun" than the above (let's face it any book not about kids with cancer does that) it's still just as meaningful. The premise is that the main character, Anna, is spending her senior year at a French boarding school because her parents think it'll be a good experience. While she's resistant at first, she makes friends, enemies and, yes, falls in love...with a boy who has a girlfriend. And who her best friend has a crush on as well. This book is so funny, and takes so many great twists and turns. There are great friendships, great loves and great Parisian times for all. Seriously just ignore the title, though. When you're done there's also a sequel/companion called (again ignore the title) Lola and the Boy Next Door.

Things Other People Are Obsessed With

I fully admit to being a tremendous fangirl about a lot of things. I love Harry Potter, Doctor Who, Wrock, Trock, youtube, Nerdfighteria, books, knitting and way more. I realize I go on about these things a lot. There are however, things I've noticed other people are obsessed with. Some obsessions I understand, and some I don't, but here are, some things that other people are obsessed with.

1. Twilight

People tend to be obsessed with this series in one of two ways. They are either obsessed with it because they love it and need to be a crazy fangirl, or they're obsessed with it because they hate and need to bring the TwiHards down. Now I've read the books and I enjoyed them while I read them, but I never really saw the point to picking a team. I know that there was a big debate in the Harry Potter community about whether Hermione should be with Ron or Harry. While there are many fan fictions that explore Harry/Hermione, once the books made it clear that wasn't happening no one really went around saying they were Team Harry. Then again, unlike Twilight, the focus of Harry Potter was on a great battle between good and evil, not about what boy to make out with.

Which brings me to the Twilight haters. I realize that it's mostly people like me who are Harry Potter fans doing a lot of this but really, this needs to stop. The only reason there's really any hatred is that Twilight began as Harry Potter was ending. The fantasy elements and heft of the book caused some people to proclaim it as the next Harry Potter. This is an unfair comparison that has led to much strife. All the people who complain about Twilight do so under the impression that Twilight is being treated as great literature. However, my view of it is that the Twilight books are good snow day books. They're fun to curl up with on a snowy day while you drink hot chocolate. They aren't books you write papers about.

Both groups need to calm down and learn to respect each other's opinions.

2. Chipotle

Yes, they have good burritos but this restaurant seems to inspire rapturous praise from almost everyone I know (at least, on a university campus). Maybe it's because I had a negative experience my first time there (pretty much all their meat except the pork is at least a little spicy which I did not know, and was not informed) but I don't have the same obsession. I have nothing against them, and I will eat there, it just seems like when people are trying to figure out where to go for dinner, it Chipotle is mentioned, that stands out as the clear favorite. It may be that Chipotle has the familiarity of a McDonalds or Taco Bell, but is higher quality enough that it doesn't get the same negative connotations. I'm sure that I will be eating there more frequently over the next few years than I have in the past (considering that I've eaten there twice, once in eighth grade and once last quarter, I need only dine there once within the next four years to up my rate) I don't know that I'll ever really "get" it.

3. Football

While I have recently come to understand the rules of football more fully than I ever have in the past, I still don't experience the same obsession that others seem to have. When I went to the homecoming game, or if my school is playing, I come closest to getting it. It's a point of pride for "your" team to win. I still have trouble with understanding professional football. I support my school's football team as a way to support my school. I chose my school and I love my school and I want us to do well. As for professional football, do I support a team just because I happen to live nearby? Do I support them because I grew up nearby? If the team moves to a new city do I still support them? What if all the best players leave for another team? I just don't get what determines what teams I'm supposed to root for. Frankly, I don't care if I do.

Book Suggestions

More laziness on my part.

So, I do a lot of reading. I was even president of my school's student book club. *waits patiently as people call her a nerd* As a result of this, I sometimes get asked for book recommendations. So here's a list of great books.

I am a huge fan of this author. One of the biggest things that appeals to me about his work is that unlike most adult fiction (as opposed to children or young adult fiction, not adult as in dirty. Get your mind out of the gutter!) it has beautiful illustrations, done by the author that help remind you that this story takes place in a special land. The premise of the novel is that Captain Bluebear is halfway through his 27 lives and has taken the time to write about his adventures throughout his life. These adventures range from being raised by minipirates to living in a tornado, to being champion of lies in Atlantis. The book is interspersed with encyclopedia entries that serve to explain the more strange and unfamiliar parts of this land to us, however the style in which it is done can make you forget that these are bits of pure exposition. Overall, this is a great book. I recommend it to everyone, of all ages.

This is one of the funniest books I've read in a long time. The premise is essentially "Lord of the Flies with beauty Queens". A plane carrying the contestants for the Miss Teen Dream pageant crashes on an island in the middle of no where. They're all alone... except for the secret military base run by The Corporation, the same company that owns the pageant (and everything else). There's a lot of satire in this book. My favorite parts are the little comments by The Corporation (or whoever) censoring things or trying to use product placement. The "commercials" that appear throughout the book are funny, mainly in how accurately they describe what commercials are like. This is primarily a YA book, but former teens can definitely also read it.

Knitting Update

A little while ago I lost my winter coat, and with it my hat and scarf, that I had knit. I've since gotten a new coat. While at first I was very disappointed to have lost my hat and scarf, especially considering the amount of work I put into them, I decided to take advantage of the situation.

First I knit myself a new hat.

The hat, as well as my left knee.

It's a Jayne hat. For those of you who don't watch Firefly, that probably means nothing. For those of you do watch Firefly, isn't it awesome? There are a lot of patterns online, I used one that I found on ravelry, though I don't remember which one.

My scarf is still a work in progress. I've long wanted to make myself a Harry Potter scarf and decided to finally go ahead and do it. I'm doing it with Ravenclaw colors. I'm not sure what I'll do if Pottermore (should the rest of us ever be allowed on) sorts me elsewhere, but I'll figure it out when I need to.

The scarf, as well as parts of my legs.

For those of you wondering, I decided to use blue and bronze, as those are the colors of Ravenclaw in the books, as opposed to blue and silver, which are the colors in the movies. I also decided to make a scarf in the style of the later movies because I like that pattern better. I'm using a technique called double knitting, which is why it is blue with bronze stripes on one side, but bronze with blue stripes on the other. And to anyone who says that it looks orange, not bronze, you try finding bronze yarn! That's what I thought.

I think I prefer the blue as the main color a little better, but both sides look nice. It'll be a while until I finish, although it's coming along nicely. I'll do another update when I finish the scarf.

First Day of Classes (Winter 2012 Edition)

As a student in a school that uses the quarter system, today was my first day of Winter Quarter. It did not start well, but then it got better.

I had a lot of trouble getting to sleep last night. Eventually though I awoke and discovered it was past 9 AM, the time when my alarm clock was supposed to go off. I was understandably concerned and asked my roommate if it had gone off. She informed me that it had not because I had forgotten to plug my iPod into it. Then I woke up for real and discovered that it was around 8:45 AM, my roommate was asleep and I had been dreaming. I went into the dozing state. After a little while I looked at my watch and discovered it was 9:05. My alarm really hadn't gone off. Then I remembered that I had changed my alarm from 9 to 9:15. I lay in bed, somewhat nervous, somewhat sleepy until my alarm went off at the correct time.

I then got up and went about my morning routine before heading to class. I got there just as the previous class was exiting, that is to say, 10 minutes early. Strangely, there were only about 6 of us in the room. Someone pulled out her phone and checked online. Apparently, the room had been changed. It was now 1 minute until class. Luckily, I got there on time and found a seat quickly.

This is where my day started to improve. I had not bought any textbooks yet, except for my chemistry book as it was also the book used last quarter in chemistry. I had looked online at some of my books and was prepared to buy them once the teacher confirmed that they were the right books. Sure enough my math teacher had a slide featuring the math book. He then went on to tell us that he didn't like it and that we really wouldn't need it, so there was no need to buy it.

My next class I went to I learned that I would need to buy it, and since this was the first year they were using a school specific version of the text, I would have to buy it new from the school bookstore. However, my teacher made it clear very quickly why he's a sought after professor so at least there's that.

Next class was chem where I already had the book. The teacher was also very good and made a flying spaghetti monster reference, so yay.

Finally I had my last class. The bookstore website had listed 1 book for the class. During his introductory lecture to us, my professor told us we'd need three books. Then he let us know that they were available for free online and that he would have links to the relevant material.

Basically I only had to buy one textbook (though I did have to buy it new). So far this year is off to a great start.

What I've Been Up To

So I got home on break a little while ago. Unfortunately, most of my friends from hoe have only just started getting home from break. As a result, I've needed to keep myself occupied. Occupation has come in the form of:

Reading
Watching Buffy on Hulu
Knitting
Watching Firefly on Hulu
More reading
Going to the Post Office for my Mom
More  knitting
Volunteering/Helping out at my Temple
Going to the Post Office for Mom again
Playing Bridge with my Dad and Grandparents
Being Sick with a 24 bug

That last one hit yesterday.  Luckily I seem to be all better. Which is good because now I can hang out with all my friends who are back from school. After all, their families will still be here after January 1, but I won't. I go back to school before most of my friends. Isn't being on a quarter system fun?

Project For Awesome 2011

Today at noon the Project for Awesome begins. Technically speaking you're supposed to make a YouTube video about your favorite charity, but I have no knowledge of how to do that so I'm writing a blog instead because it still raises awareness. Please go to YouTube and like and comment on videos with the tag P4A because this is a day to decrease World Suck and make the world a better place.  More information can be found at the project for awesome website or at fightworldsuck.org.

Okay, now that I'm done introducing the Project for Awesome I can talk about my charity of choice.

I want to raise awareness for the Harry Potter Alliance. This charity was created in 2005 by Andrew Slack, who serves as Executive director, and Paul DeGeorge from Harry and the Potters. They have since grown adding more members. There are currently 60 chapters of HPA around the world. Essentially this is a real life Dumbledore's Army. Yearly events include the Accio Books campaign, where they collect books and money to buy books for underfunded or underprovided libraries around the world to help increase literacy for children and young adults. Last year my temple youth group held a book drive and donated hundreds of books towards this cause.

Other campaigns have included "Wrock the Vote" where the HPA along with Wizard Rockers have helped people register to vote, as well as "Wrock for Equality" which has taken an active role in getting and keeping same sex marriage legal. In anticipation of the final Harry Potter movie a Deathly Hallows campaign was started wit ha new issue every month, dealing with topics of bullying, self esteem and the climate.

An ongoing campaign from this is the "Not in Harry's Name" campaign, which asked Warner Brothers to use fair trade chocolate in their Harry Potter chocolate items. This campaign started November 1 2010 and Warner Brothers still has not made the switch, insisting that their chocolate complies with the ethical guidelines they have, but has produced no proof of these claims.

The HPA is giving Warner Brothers until New Years Day to provide proof or make the switch. If you wish to get involved you can send a cease and desist letter, create a Muggle Howler and even buy fair trade chocolate frogs being made by the HPA.

This charity is a great reminder of the power of books and reading and what can be accomplished when a group of people really work together towards something great. You can donate on their website. Even if you don't wish to donate, you should still go and look around to learn more about this great organization.

The Weapon We Have is Love. Happy Project for Awesome and DFTBA!

Thursday was a Good Day

On Thursday:
1. I only had one class.
2. The dining hall had curly fries.
3. The package from my parents containing my old cell phone arrived.
4. When I got to the phone store the employee I'd spoken to before was there, so I didn't have to explain my problem and get him to suggest the same solution of mailing in my warranty phone to get a new one again. I could just get the issue formally filed and the address to send it to.
5. The guy at the UPS store laughed when I explained that my email was "Madhatter, like the Alice in Wonderland character."
6. I went to Barnes and Noble.
7. I got to help the store employee recommend books for a woman to get for her daughter and she actually listened to my advice and got them.
8. She specifically didn't want to get her daughter anything like the Twilight books, because she wanted her daughter to branch out into other types of books.
9. Barnes and Noble had stacks of books that were listed as "Must Reads, Buy 2 get 1 free." I approved of many of the books they had, particularly Looking for Alaska, Anna and the French Kiss, and Thirteen Reason's Why.
10. I resisted the urge to purchase the above three books, even though I love them and don't own copies of them because I didn't want to carry them in my suitcase when I travel home in about a week.
11. I did however buy a new Uncle John's Bathroom Reader.
12. Which I used both my parent's Barnes and Noble membership to get at a discount, then a gift card that I can still use for at least 2 more books, so I got it for free(ish).
13.The Salvation Army guy outside of the store wasn't just ringing a bell, he was dancing around to Christmas music.
14. When I called my mom to tell her the phone thing was resolved she told me to expect more mail within the next few days.
15. I got to have latkes and jelly doughnuts.
16. Two nice boys walked me back to my dorm since it was pretty late and dark.
17. When I got back to my dorm I found out that my mom's package had arrived.
18. It was full of candy and chocolate and other winter wonderfulness to help me get through finals next week.
19. It snowed a little. Not enough to gather, but still. I like snow.

If you're curious as to whether my good dayness continued on Friday, it didn't. I fell on the stairs on my way to my first class and different parts of my body keep hurting or being stiff intermittently.

I Should be Writing (but I'm not)

I publicly made it my goal to finish the current draft of my book. Yet here I am, with a few free hours and what have I done?

I wikipedia'd Chuck Palahniuk. I read a magazine. I started writing a blog post. 


It's not like I'm doing NaNoWriMo. I'm not trying to write 50,000 words. I just trying to finish a (very) short novel (probably more of a novella when I think about it) that I've been working on for a few years now. Most of it just requires me to type what is hand written. And yet, here I am, procrastinating. 


*sigh* I'll start working now. Except I'm probably just going to open a book, or go on hulu or find some other way to distract myself.

Goals

A lot of times when I give myself a goal, I set two deadlines. One is the absolute deadline, the other the dream deadline. For example, today is Tuesday. If I have an assignment due Monday at 2, my absolute deadline is Monday at 2. My dream deadline however would probably be Friday at 6. That is I want to try and finish it by then so I have the weekend free but know that if I don't well, I have time. I tend to finish things by the absolute deadline more than the dream deadline.

Sometimes goals don't have specific deadlines, but rather levels of completion. I gave myself the goal of not drinking any soda in October as a dream goal, but gave myself guidelines in which I was allowed to drink soda without it counting against me (this was mainly just that I was allowed to have ginger ale if I got sick). As it happens I did achieve my dream goal of no soda in October. I gave myself this goal because I noticed that I was drinking more soda than I normally did before since it was now readily available in the dining hall.

Now that October is over I decided I need a new goal. This one will be more traditional in terms of deadlines. I began writing a novel nearly three years ago. I finished the first draft after a year and a half, though interestingly enough the last third of it was written in the space of a week because I was able to give myself a scheduled writing time everyday. Once I finished my draft I stopped allocating time. Which is why it's now almost a year and a half later and I have only about 2/3 of the book edited into a second draft. And since the first draft is hand written it also means I only have the first 2/3 or the book saved somewhere besides a binder. So since November is National Novel Writing Month (or NaNoWriMo) I am taking this opportunity not to write another novel, but to finish the current draft of the one I've been writing for the past three years.

Here's the thing. I have classes. And homework. And a second round of midterms. So I've decided that while my dream goal is to finish my current draft by Novermber 30 at 11:59 PM whatever timezone I happen to be in, my absolute goal is December 31 at 11:59 PM whatever timezone I happen to be in, since my quarter ends December 10, and I have 3 weeks off from school with no homework or anything. Although to be fair I managed to do almost no work all summer even though I had pretty ample free time (I was also working at a day camp which is very tiring though, she said unconvincingly).

Considering that I just spent a good chunk of free time writing this longer than usual post, I think this will be an interesting month or two.

Read it First

So there's this new website called http://readit1st.com/ that's all about the idea that it's better to read the book before the movie version comes out. Now I support this idea, although I don't always follow it. There are plenty of times where, because the movie is coming out a lot of people check out the book from the library so they can read it first. Again, I support this. However, it means that I don't get to read the book first unless I go on a reserve list, which I think takes the fun out of it a little (Not that I won't use reserve lists, I just think it's less fun than scanning the shelves). That's why I like that the pledge is to read the book first when possible, not always (There's also an alternative pledge about just reading the book whenever).


I think this pledge to read the book at some point, though not necessarily first is what's most vital about this website. So many people don't read who should and some people miss out of watching great movies because they were waiting to read the book. Speaking as someone who's read the book before and after it's an interesting experience.

When I saw the Harry Potter movies I spent a lot of time criticizing what was done wrong (like here). It's hard to not look at what's missing when you see an adaptation of your favorite books. But at the same time, I've also had the experience of seeing the movie first and then reading the book. For someone like me who is quick to criticize a movie for being "wrong" (though I've gotten better at differentiating between good movie and good adaptation), sometimes it's more enjoyable to see the movie first. Since books tend to be more in depth rather than complaining about how much was left out, I can enjoy the movie and then afterwords learn how much more was under the surface. I'm not going to lie, sometimes I'll read a book and start getting mad that things were left out of the movie, but in general if I read the book second I'm more accepting of changes in the story.

I still try to read the book first when possible, but I don't want that to dictate my enjoyment of the movie.