The past couple of weeks the movies that I have been watching on netflix.com have been coming from the books that I have recently reread/read or have read in the past from the list '1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die'.  I have been pleasantly surprised at how many have actually been made into films. 

M previous post was of the books I have recently read.  This list is from books that I have read in the past and actually still remember them.  Or read in the past few years.  Although there have been a few that have had no film adaptation made.

In my queue to watch are a couple of films about 'Huckleberry Fin' as I remember rereading that one last year --- and again I left the cartoon or animated films out.  Can't recall how many times I cofussed the story lines from Huckleberry Fin and Tom Sawyer!!!  After rereading the book I think I might have them figured out.  Believe it or not Tom Sawyer is not of the list!!!

'Perfume: The Story of a Murderer' One of the first books that I read when I started reading from '1001 books You Must read Before You Die' I remember thinking as I was reading this book, why is this one of the books I must read before I die? What is so special about this book? Cause I don't really like it all that much. Then remembered . . . . .

'For discerning bibliophiles and readers who enjoy unforgettable classic literature, it is a trove of reviews covering a century of memorable writing. Each work of literature featured here is a seminal work key to understanding and appreciating the written word.'

 Which to me means I may not like some of them all that much, but it helps me to follow and understand how writing evolved through the centuries to what we read now. Was pleasantly surprised that I, actually, found a film based on this book. Can't wait till it reaches the top of my queue.  and another film with Alan Rickman in it!!!  All of you who may not know who alan Rickman is -- think Harry Potter's Professor Snape -- hewas always one of my favorites for some reason, probably because I like the actor!!

'Catch 22' is another one from the list that I read when my youngest son was in high school as it was on their reading list. I have heard from lots of friends that they really liked this book, but again not one that I really liked all that much -- maybe the film will change my mind. By the Way this is one that was deleted by the third edition.

And another film in my film queue is 'Adam Bede'  downloaded this free from online a year or so ago and read it!!  Interesting book, watching the film will be an experience!

Well, that's my list of films to watch so far!!  The 7 dfferent ones for 'Jane Eyre' will take awhile as only one of them is on instant view!!  As I continue to read/reread books from the list I am sure that I will be adding more to my list!!

What I am Reading now - Update

Been a week or so since I've updated everyone on what I have been reading lately and yes, I have been reading.

Like I mentioned awhile back I got myself a new Kindle -- and I have downloaded quite a few of the classics that are on the '1001 books you have to read before you die list' -- when I was looking at the list I realized that there were quite a few books that I had read, but they were so long ago I couldn't remember really what the books were really about -- now do those books count?  I decided to reread a few of them!!

Started with "Alice in Wonderland' Was really surprised that a lot of what I thought happenend in this book really was in the second book 'Through the Looking Glass'. Guess I'll have to sit down and reread that one too very soon!!  I then went to netflix.com and watched all the actual movies they had that was based on the original book --- The latest one with Johnny Depp really doesn't count as it is really it's own story made up off the Alice in Wonderland character's!!  Plus I watched it a few weeks back at one of Trish's Girl get-togethers.  I did leave out the cartoon or animated movies though.

I then reread 'Jane Eyre' by Charlotte Bronte.  There are 7 different films through netflix.com of this book that I am slowly watching as they come in.  The first one was made in 1934 with the last in 1997.  It will be interesting to see the difference in the different era styles and the BBC makes versus the American makes. 

I then reread 'Sense and Sensibility' by Jane Austen.  The reason I chose to read this book next was that somehow I had one of the BBC made films sent to the top of my watchlist at netflix.com so instead of sending it back and requeueing it I decided toreread it and then watch the other two films listed.  Thus the reason why I have watched the films for this book and not 'Jane Eyre'.  There were three available films for this book, all BBC made.  The first two were not as good as the last one made in 1995.  I think the main reason I liked this one the best is that as I was rereading the books I kept imagining the characters as the actors who portrayed them from the 1995 film. Emma Thompson as Elenor, Kate Winslet as Mariann, Alan Rickman as Colonel Brandon and Hugh Grant as Edward Ferrars.

In the mean time in actual book form I have also finished reading 'The Tale of Genji' by Lady Murasaki.  This is one of the books added into the list since the first edition was published.  I did find that there was a film entitled 'Great Tales in Asian Art' that had this tale in it.  Yep, it is in my queue. I was surprised that this book was not that hard to read.  Lots of times when you read a translation from the original language books do not seem to read as smoothly.  Although I kind of felt left up in the air by the end of it.

Getting away from the list/book '1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die' I did read a book that a co-worker had loaned to me as she said it was a really good book.  After reading it, I too believe that it was a really good read!!  I tend to be interested in books about the women in the muslam world as my daughter spent a year over in Iraq in 2003.  The book that Diane loaned me was called 'The Dressmaker of Khair Khana'. 

The life Kamila Sidiqi had known changed overnight when the Taliban seized control of the city of Kabul. After receiving a teaching degree during the civil war—a rare achievement for any Afghan woman—Kamila was subsequently banned from school and confined to her home. When her father and brother were forced to flee the city, Kamila became the sole breadwinner for her five siblings. Armed only with grit and determination, she picked up a needle and thread and created a thriving business of her own.

Next book!!!

Finished reading 'Dangerous Liaisons' by Choderlos de Laclos.  Hmmm interesting ending, not what I had anticipated!!  Now to find some time to watch the movies I found on Netflix.com  Maybe tomorrow afternoon or Wednesday!!

I was pleasantly surprised to find how entertaining reading a series of letters could be.  I did find myself picturing  Vicomte de Valmont and the Marquise de Merteuil as John Malkovich and Glenn Close after I found out that's who play them in the 1988 movie by the same title.

Now onto the next book!! 

Decided to have a change of pace and started reading 'Dragon Bones' by Lisa See. 

National Public Radio named Dragon Bones as one of the top ten books of the summer for 2003.

Dragon Bones was also on the Los Angeles Times bestseller list.

When ancient myths clash with modern technology, the results can be murder.

In Lisa See’s first novel, Flower Net, she introduced one of her most popular and fascinating characters, Liu Hulan. Flower Net was a national bestseller, a New York Times Notable Book of 1997, a Los Angeles Times bestseller, an Edgar Award nominated novel and Amazon’s #1 thriller of the year.  (Guess this will have to be my next read) 

Now, in her latest novel DRAGON BONES (Random House 2003), Liu Hulan, an agent for China’s Ministry of Public Security, and her American husband, attorney David Stark, return to investigate murder and archaeological theft at the Three Gorges Dam, one of the most beautiful and unique places on earth. And also one of the most controversial. When completed, the Three Gorges Dam will be the most powerful dam ever built and the biggest project China has undertaken since the building of the Great Wall. Yet, the reservoir formed by the dam will inundate over 2,000 archaeological sites and displace over 2 million people.

The story of DRAGON BONES unfurls like an ancient Chinese landscape scroll. When the body of an American archaeologist is found floating in the Yangtze River, Hulan and Stark are sent to Site 518 for two very different reasons: Hulan to investigate the death, David to uncover who is stealing artifacts from the site. As Hulan searches for the murderer, a parallel search begins for a missing artifact that can prove to the world that the Chinese civilization dates back 5,000 years. Everyone -- from the Chinese government, to a religious cult, to an unscrupulous American art collector -- wants this relic and will kill to get it. At stake are who will have control of China and maintained stability between China and the United States.


Combining ancient myth and contemporary fears of religious fanaticism and terrorism, DRAGON BONES is a story of love, betrayal, greed, and murder.

********************

Oops!!  Looks like I blew it!!  Guess I should have looked at it a little closer and not just pull it off the shelf!!  This is the 3rd book in a series. . .   and I hate to read things out of order!!   And, believe it or not, I have the other 2 as well!!  Oh well!!!  Guess I'll make an exception this time as I have made good progress into the book already and it is not worth stopping to read the other two and then finish this one.

No Sunday Girly get-together today.

Looks like there is no Girly get-together later today as Trish is still on her way home from visiting family!!

Guess that leaves me more time to catch up on reading!!  LOL!

Started reading 'Dangerous Liaisons' by Choderlos de Laclos.  Yep another book on my list of '1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die'.  It is a collections of letters that make up the story.  "For the Marquise and Vicomte de Valmont seduction is a game. . .Depicting decadence and moral corruption in pre-revolutionary France, Dangerous Liaisons (1782) is one of the most scandalous and controversial novels in European literature."

So far it is easy to read.  I was a little worried that reading a collection of letters would be boring, but not so far!!

When looking for a picture for the book I found that a movie had been made of this book back in 1988 with John Malkovich, Glenn Close, Michelle Pfieffer and Uma Thurman, so I did a search on netflix.com and found that I can watch it on instant play!!  Hmmmm I will have to take some time to watch the movie after I finish reading the book!!  won't even have to place it on the top of my list!!

On another thought I might head to Hopland with a friend later in the afternoon, we'll see!!

Sunday get-together at Trish's update!

So sunday we did get together at Trish's and played a couple games of Skip-Bo while eating our potluck Haystacks.

Alycia found the cutest little cake - and I mean little -- that she just had to buy for no special reason other than it was just too cute.  It was of Sponge Bob Squarepants and just the right size for a little slice of cake for each of us!!

 

Picture of 'Encahnted' from the Web

We did watch 'The Socerer's Apprentice', which was a pretty good, looks like a set-up for a sequal though if you ask me. Although I was wrong about watching 'Ella Enchanted'.  It was just plain 'Enchanted' instead. Close but not quite the same, and it was my Netflix DVD. LOL!!  It was a cute Disney film though.

We, also, took an updated picture of our toes of all four of us!!  Next time we will have to take Trish with us!!  I noticed that her toes were unpainted!! 

While up there it started to hail - wasn't able to get a picture that clearly showed the hail, but we could feel it and hear it.  So glad that the weather cleared up enough when it was time for me to head back down the hill to home.

I was so tired when I got home that I went straight to bed -- thus why I'm blogging about it today instead of Sunday evening.