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If you find yourself at home and not in paradise, books are the perfect gateway to travel. Great books are often made into great movies so why not pick one up and travel to another world while you are at it. I have been part of one book club or another for over 20 years. It all began in Edmonton when I had a newborn and craved adult conversation. I love the friendships and life experiences which come with getting to know a group of women over the years (decades now… ) when you are an active member of a book club.
The beauty of a good book club is the variety of tastes and opinions of a good book. You often read books you would not necessarily think you would like. Pleasantly surprised by some books (The Poisonwood Bible, Green Grass Running Water and Love in the Time of Cholera) and disappointed by others (White Oleander, The Worst Person Ever, Hunger), we continue to find gems and I guess movie producers do too.
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No doubt about this, I am always leery of this. There are few books that seem to translate well into film. Though a picture is worth a thousand words, sometimes screenwriters have a way of believing that they can leave, thousands upon thousands of words out of a story and give you just one picture. That does not always work. The nuances the written word evokes is at times lost on the silver screen. However, there are a few which have made the leap well. A few good examples of great books made into great movies: Still Alice, The Help and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.
Then there are other times that the visual beauty of a landscape in Italy can be easier to visualize if you have a panoramic ‘room with a view’. I love reading and when a really good book adapts well on screen, there is no better marriage. Here are my top 12 books that made great movies. Some old some, some new but none can be missed.
Travel through Literature
12 Books that Made Great Movies
To Kill a Mockingbird
- To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee – This is a classic movie that should always remain the same. Filmed in black and white, the impact is everlasting. You know it is a great film when your children see the movie at school and they come home all excited ready to tell you all about this great book they are reading and the movie they saw.
The Great Gatsby
- The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald My favourite movie version is the classic with Robert Redford, not modern version with Leonardo DiCaprio. Set in the roaring 1920s in Long Island, New York and the glamourous New York City, the story revolves around a love triangle that goes bad. Symbols are rampant for in both the novel and the movie.
Room with a View
- Room with a View by E.M. Forster This love story winds its way from Italy to England. It all starts with a room that has no view and ends with a room with a view. What happens in between is the stuff of great books and great romance.
Where’d You Go, Bernadette
- Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple Architect-turned-recluse Bernadette hates people, she hates leaving the house, and more than anything, she hates the other parents at her 15-year-old daughter Bee’s school. When she disappears before a family trip to Antarctica, Bee becomes determined to find out where she has disappeared to and what really happened to her.
Call of the Wild
- Call of the Wild by Jack London This classic will be released in early 2020. Raised as a domesticated (and spoiled) house dog in California, Buck’s life changes when he’s captured and sold in Alaska. After a series of terrible masters, he finally meets John (Harrison Ford). Together, they follow the call of the wild.
Death on the Nile & Murder on the Orient Express
- Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie After the successful Murder on the Orient Express, Kenneth Branagh reprises his role as the iconic detective Hercule Poirot. Another great Agatha Christie whodunit, the story involves a love triangle, a murder and a cast of potential suspects all on a cruise down the Nile. Written in 1937, a murder mystery is always timeless.
Harry Potter Series
- Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling Who needs a location when you have all these amazing, magical places. You can never go wrong with a J.K. Rowling book. Be prepared to read the whole series.
The Night Circus
- The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern Two starcrossed magicians engage in a deadly game of cunning in The Night Circus. The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night.
Eat, Pray, Love
- Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert (one of my all-time favourite books and the movie has grown on me). We follow her from Italy to India and end up in Bali. This is a great book that takes you into the very personal spiritual journey of this prolific writer.
The Remains of the Day
- The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro The story of a butler and his undying loyalty to Lord Darlington is portrayed greatly by Anthony Hopkins in the 1993 adaptation of this Man Booker Prize-winning novel. Emma Thompson is the loyal housekeeper. Together, they reflect on events during a failed diplomatic conference between Germans, the Brits and a brashy American. A beautiful novel turned into a beautiful movie.
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
- Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt Set in the hot, steamy and very intriguing Savanah, Georgia, you will be turning every page to find out what really happens and why he killed a man.
The cast of eccentric personalities is what makes this book so amazing and the old southern dame that is Savanah is the haunting backdrop.
The Help
- The Help by Kathyrn Stockett – Set in 1960s Jackson, Mississippi you will be forever charmed by the south and also changed by this book. I hosted my book club in 2012 and put out a spread of peach cobbler, deviled eggs and mint juleps. This garnered Octavia Spencer an Academy Award.
The Help – Books that made great movies
You can read some of my short reviews on the blog and also on Goodreads.
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Great book choices—some of my favourites too!