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Rare Times I Preferred The Movie To The Book

Happy Friday Everyone :)


Who else is beyond excited for the weekend?

For some reason this week seemed to be even more stressful than normal, which is weird considering Neil and I actually had gotten away for a couple of days this week. Oh well, maybe that's why the remaining days seemed additionally stressful-cause I was catching up on everything that piled up at work while we were gone.


For today's post I want to do something a little bit different than normal, and something I've never done on my blog before today.


Everyone knows that the book is generally better than the movie. In fact I'm quite fond of the awesome quote that says "never judge a book by its movie." And every booknerd knows the agony of excitedly heading to the theater to see the adaptation based off of your favorite book, only to leave disappointed with the scenes, characters, and other good stuff that got left out.

One particular instance of this for me was when I first saw New Moon in the theater. One of my favorite scenes of that book was when Jacob can tell that Bella doesn't like music without her ever having said anything about it to him. That one scene represented just how well they knew each other, and how close their friendship had become. So imagine my horror when in the movie, Bella tells Jacob she doesn't like music, and he can't understand how anyone doesn't like music.

Let's be honest here-most of the time the movies just aren't as good as the book. Now that being said, I love many many many movie adaptations, and I consider a good deal of them among my favorites like the Twilight movies, The Hunger Games, Pride and Prejudice, Once Upon A Prince.....and the list could go on and on, they're just usually not quite as good as their book was.

However, there are those rare occasions where I actually, gasp, prefer the movie to the book, and today I thought it would be fun to share with all of you guys which movies I think are actually better than their books.


The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger:




I read this one a few years back, and I remember thinking it was just okay. I found Andy's character to be really lackluster, and I really didn't enjoy the writing style that much. I rated it three out of five stars, and I didn't know if I'd even be interested in ever seeing the movie. However, one night it happened to be on TV, and my sister and I ended up turning it on, and I ended up being quite surprised with just how much I enjoyed it. Anne Hathway really brought a fierceness to Andy's character that just wasn't present in the book, and nothing could beat Meryl Streep's portrayal of Miranda Priestly. I don't foresee myself rereading this book in the future, but I'd quite happily rewatch the movie. 


Skipping Christmas by John Grisham:



Some of you might be unfamiliar with the title of this one, but it was adapted into the 2004 holiday classic, Christmas With the Kranks starring Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis. I actually really enjoyed this book, and the way that Mr. Grinch himself, Luther Krank, gets a rude awakening when he tries to skip over the beloved holiday season. However, the movie definitely takes the cake on this one thanks largely in part to the hilarious portrayal of Luther and Nora Krank by the talented team of Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis. I would definitely reread this book, but I've lost cost of how many times I've already re-watched this movie as it's a holiday must watch in our household.


The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot:



I still remember back in 2001 when my mom took me to see this new Disney movie in the theater starring Anne Hathaway, and one of my all time favorites, Julie Andrews. I fell completely head over heels with this movie, and I remember playing the soundtrack non stop for weeks afterwards, and both the movie and the soundtrack remain a favorite of mine to this day, I even loved the sequel! So imagine my excitement when I discovered that not only was this based off of a beloved book, but that it was based off an entire series. Off to the library I went, and I was ready to immerse myself in the world of Mia, Lilly, Michael, Queen Clarisse, and of course, Genovia itself. I ended up reading about five of the books before I finally came to the conclusion that I really couldn't stand this series. Mia's character rubbed me the wrong way right from the start, and I couldn't stand how snarky and cynical she is throughout most of the stories. As well, the books were a lot more crass than I was expecting, and I really didn't care for Meg Cabot's writing style in this series-a fact that's extremely strange considering I've loved many other books and series written by her. I could literally re-watch the Princess Diaries over and over again, but I have yet to finish reading the book series, and I honestly have no future plans to ever do so. 


Forever My Girl by Heidi McLaughlin:



Anyone who read my Wednesday post here won't be surprised to see this one on my list. I completely adored the movie, and I saw it before I read the book. I loved the fact that this new adult story focused on a second chance romance, didn't include any cheating scenarios, and was a pretty beautiful romance movie that highlighted the importance of forgiveness and second chances. However, the book of the same name was completely different, and Josie has been with a man for six years when Liam walks back into her life. As well, all of the qualities I loved in the main characters in the movie were absent in the book, and I thought Liam was controlling and cocky, and Josie had a giant chip on her should, and was prone to using people to get what she wanted. I can foresee this movie being a favorite for me in years to come, but I have no urge to reread the book or to continue on with reading the rest of the series unfortunately. 


Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison:



I'm going to outright admit that I really enjoyed The Confessions of Georgia Nicholson series. Serious literature they were not, but they were downright hilarious, and always good for anytime you needed a good laugh. However, the movie took the win for me with this one because of the way they were able to capture Georgia's trademark selfish tendencies, and hilarious antics and hi-jinks while still having a more serious story line tied into it, and a pretty awesome teen romance.


Austenland by Shannon Hale:



I thought the Austenland novel was okay, and I'm glad I read it, but I ended up being quite surprised with just how much I enjoyed the movie adaptation. In the book, Jane is mostly obsessed with Colin Firth's portrayal of Mr. Darcy rather than with Jane Austen herself. In the movie, I enjoyed the way that Jane is more an Austen fangirl who's got a well known obsession with Mr. Darcy in general. As well, I loved Keri Russell and JJ Field in the movie adaptation, and I only wish their relationship had had a little more screen time. I definitely recommend this movie to any other Jane Austen fans out there.


And my last pick....

Geek Charming by Robin Palmer:



I read this one quite a few years ago now, and I thought it was mainly just okay. I really didn't care for the more juvenile way it's written, the characters, or the ending. However, when I happened to stumble upon the Disney Channel adaptation of this, I quite enjoyed it. It kind of reminded me of a modernized take on the 80's cult classic, Can't Buy Me Love. I'd definitely recommend this adorable, quirky movie.

And those are my picks for movies I enjoyed more than their books. I had so much fun doing this post today, and I hope to be able to do more of these in the future. If any of you have ever enjoyed a movie more than it's book, I'd love to hear which one!

Thanks so much for reading guys! I hope you all have a great weekend, and I'll see you all again on Monday :)

This is not a sponsored post. All thoughts and opinions are my own. The photos do not belong to me, and all rights to the respective owners. 














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