10 Reasons Books are Better than Movies

It's no secret around this blog, I love reading. It seems like more and more books are being made into movies these days. So, I decided to do a weekly series for the month of August on books being made into movies.

Today, I am sharing 10 reasons why I think books are better than movies.

1. Books allow for more character development. I love the feeling of "getting to know" a character through the pages of a book. You just don't get that with a movie.

2. You can learn the characters' thoughts. This goes along with #1. By knowing the characters' thoughts, you get to know the characters better and often understand the story better.

3. More details of the story are shared through books. You can only fit so much into a 2 hour movie. Books can be pages upon pages. There's always so much more to a story when you read the book.

4. The possibilities in books are endless. Sure technology is getting pretty advanced, but the sky is truly the limit for authors writing books. There will always be limits to what people can do in movies.

5. As you're reading a book, you get to use your imagination to create the characters, setting, and how the actions play out. Once a movie comes out, it ruins your ability to fit the book to your liking because all you can think about is the movie's interpretation.

6. Reading stimulates your brain and helps you improve a vital skill.

7. Everything makes so much more sense in a book than a movie. There have been plenty of movies that wouldn't have made as much sense to me if I hadn't already read the book. Movies often leave out key details plus as #1 points out, you don't know the characters' thoughts.

8. You can get lost in a good book. I've gotten so lost in books that time has flown by, it's all I can think about, and it's all I want to talk about. That's never happened to me with a movie.

9. Books are cheaper than movies. While there are some ways to buy cheap movies, you can't beat free. Libraries are your friend. You can borrow books for FREE.

10. You can take books with you anywhere and they provide hours of entertainment. I know that with smart phones, you can technically take movies with you anywhere. However, it's so much easier to take a book out while you wait somewhere than to load up a movie and put in your headphones then put it all back up. Plus I feel like there are so many more choices of great books than great movies.


What do you think? Do you prefer books? Can you think of another reason? 

 

All Girls Allowed

I follow an adoption blog called Give 1 Save 1 Asia and the other day they shared a post about an organization called All Girls Allowed.

I began to do some research on this organization and the facts I read broke my heart. Of course, I knew about China's one child policy, but I didn't know it was to this extreme. Women are not seen as valuable. So not only are they only allowed to have one child, but they also want that child to be a boy.

Here are some of the shocking facts:
-The One-Child Policy went into effect in 1980. Since then, 37 million girls have disappeared and 336 million forced abortions have been performed. This is more than all the people killed in all the major past genocides of the past century combined.
-Chinese women must apply for a birth permit in order to start a pregnancy. 
-Suicide is the #1 cause of death of young women in China.
-It is estimated that by 2020 (that's ONLY 7 and a half years away), there will be 40 million more men than women in China. That's the same amount of men under 20 currently in the United States.
-If a family does choose to keep an illegal child, that child will not have the correct documentation papers. Without these paper, they can't go to school, get married, or even ride public transportation.

These facts and more can be found on the All Girls Allowed website.

Reading these facts reminded me of a book series I recently read called The Shadow Children. This series is about a place where it's illegal to have more than 2 children. Yet, there's a large number of people who are hiding their additional children illegally. These children's lives are not valued and the series is about them fighting for their freedom. In this society, every person has an ID card. If you don't have an ID card, you don't have any rights. There were a lot of similarities to this book and China's policies.

This organization is fighting against this.  They hope to expose the injustice of this policy, rescue girls and mothers in crisis, and celebrate the value of all people-including females.

I want to help by spreading the word. I encourage you to check out their website, like their Facebook page, and follow them on Twitter.

If you can do nothing else, would you at least be willing to share this post to help spread the word about this injustice that is taking place in our world today?

July Book Review

Happy Friday! This month I have a lot of books to review. I'm participating in a book challenge so I've been reading a lot. 

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Book Description: 

Charlie is a freshman. And while he's not the biggest geek in the school, he is by no means popular. Shy, introspective, intelligent beyond his years yet socially awkward, he is a wallflower, caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it. Charlie is attempting to navigate his way through uncharted territory: the world of first dates and mix tapes, family dramas and new friends; the world of sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, when all one requires is that perfect song on that perfect drive to feel infinite. But he can't stay on the sideline forever. Standing on the fringes of life offers a unique perspective. But there comes a time to see what it looks like from the dance floor. The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a deeply affecting coming-of-age story that will spirit you back to those wild and poignant roller-coaster days known as growing up.
                      book description and image via Goodreads 

My Review:
I'm honestly not sure what to think of this book. I liked how it was told from the main character's point of view through letters. It was a different way of telling a story because the reader doesn't get to actually experience the events, we simply have them recounted to us. On the other hand, the story confused me. I'm unsure of how Charlie could be so naive and unaware of things especially considering the fact that he has older siblings. The whole time I was convinced he had some sort of mental disorder. I'm also not a fan of books or movies that throw in every possible situation a person can go through- suicide, rape, abortion, molestation, drugs, alcohol, homosexuality-this book had it all! That always seems like overkill to me. Overall, though, it wasn't a bad book and I'm interested in seeing the movie.

I give it 3 out of 5 stars.

Seriously...I'm Kidding by Ellen DeGeneres

Book Description:
"Sometimes the greatest things are the most embarrassing." Ellen Degeneres' winning, upbeat candor

has made her show one of the most popular, resilient and honored daytime shows on the air. (To date, it has won no fewer than 31 Emmys.) Seriously... I'm Kidding, Degeneres' first book in eight years, brings us up to date about the life of a kindhearted woman who bowed out of American Idol because she didn't want to be mean. Lively; hilarious; often sweetly poignant.
                         book description and image via Goodreads

My Review:
This book wasn't what I expected. I expected it more to be like an autobiography with Ellen telling about her life with some jokes thrown in. After reading it, I'm not sure how it can be classified as an autobiography. It was like reading a stand up act. I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would. I think I'd rather just watch Ellen's show than read her book. The comedy just didn't translate as well to the page.

I give it 2.5 out of 5 stars.

Stop Asking Jesus into your Heart: How to Know For Sure You are Saved by J.D. Greear

                                                              Book Description:

“If there were a Guinness Book of World Records entry for ‘amount of times having prayed the sinner’s prayer,’ I’m pretty sure I’d be a top contender,” says pastor and author J. D. Greear. He struggled for many years to gain an assurance of salvation and eventually learned he was not alone. “Lack of assurance” is epidemic among evangelical Christians. In Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart, J. D. shows that faulty ways of present- ing the gospel are a leading source of the confusion. Our presentations may not be heretical, but they are sometimes misleading. The idea of “asking Jesus into your heart” or “giving your life to Jesus” often gives false assurance to those who are not saved—and keeps those who genuinely are saved from fully embracing that reality. Greear unpacks the doctrine of assurance, showing that salvation is a posture we take to the promise of God in Christ, a posture that begins at a certain point and is maintained for the rest of our lives. He also answers the tough questions about assurance: What exactly is faith? What is repentance? Why are there so many warnings that seem to imply we can lose our salvation? Such issues are handled with respect to the theological rigors they require, but Greear never loses his pastoral sensitivity or a communication technique that makes this message teachable to a wide audience from teens to adults.

book description and image via Goodreads

My Review:
My husband loved this book so I read it at his request. I'm not as big a fan of it as he is. There were parts of it I enjoyed. I like how he continually says that it's not necessary to have a "great conversion" story or even necessarily remember the exact moment you were saved. He states that the best "test" of salvation is where you currently stand with Christ. As someone who doesn't have a major transformation testimony, I often doubted my own salvation when I heard the testimonies of other people. To me, though, I kind of feel more confused after reading this book than I did before I read it.

I give it 3 out of 5 stars.

And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini

Book Description:
Khaled Hosseini, the #1 New York Times–bestselling author of The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns, has written a new novel about how we love, how we take care of one another, and how the choices we make resonate through generations. In this tale revolving around not just parents and

children but brothers and sisters, cousins and caretakers, Hosseini explores the many ways in which families nurture, wound, betray, honor, and sacrifice for one another; and how often we are surprised by the actions of those closest to us, at the times that matter most. Following its characters and the ramifications of their lives and choices and loves around the globe—from Kabul to Paris to San Francisco to the Greek island of Tinos—the story expands gradually outward, becoming more emotionally complex and powerful with each turning page.
                             book description and image via Goodreads

My Review:
This book was difficult to follow at times. The chapters are LONG and each chapter is about a different person. Yet, all the people are connected somehow. Overall, this story didn't really have a plot. I didn't like this one as much as Hosseini's previous two novels. Regardless, I always find his books intriguing because they're about a culture that I'm completely unfamiliar with. I feel like I learn new things and have a better understanding after reading one of his books.

I give it 3.5 out of 5 stars.

The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger

                                                    Book Description:
A delightfully dishy novel about the all-time most impossible boss in the history of impossible bosses.  Andrea Sachs, a small-town girl fresh out of college, lands the job “a million girls would die for.” Hired as the assistant to Miranda Priestly, the high-profile, fabulously successful editor of Runway magazine, Andrea finds herself in an office that shouts Prada! Armani! Versace! at every turn, a world populated by impossibly thin, heart-wrenchingly stylish women and beautiful men clad in fine-ribbed turtlenecks and tight leather pants that show off their lifelong dedication to the gym. With breathtaking ease, Miranda can turn each and every one of these hip sophisticates into a scared, whimpering child. THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA gives a rich and hilarious new meaning to complaints about “The Boss from Hell.”

book description and image via Goodreads

My Review:
I saw this movie before I read this book. So, I had an idea of what was going on, but it didn't stop me from enjoying it. Sometimes the demands placed on the main character seemed almost unbelievable. I guess that was the point. I don't really have a strong opinion on this book one way or another. I feel like it's one I'll read and forget. I didn't hate it but I didn't love it either.

I give it 3 out of 5 stars.

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Book Description:
In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to

the cultivation of a particular virtue--Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is--she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself. During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are--and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

book description and image via Goodreads

My Review:
I've found another book series to love and obsess over. I'm very drawn to dystopian novels for some reason. This one did not disappoint. This is the first book in a trilogy. The overall theme of it seems similar to The Hunger Games in some ways, but the concept is still very different. Basically, if you love The Hunger Games or another favorite of mine-The Gone series, you'll enjoy this book as well. As with most good series these days, this book is being made into a movie. I read this book in a day because I couldn't put it down and it was very easy to get lost in the story.

I give it 5 out of 5 stars.

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

                                                         Book Description:

One choice can transform you, or destroy you. Every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves, and herself, while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love.
                             book description and image via Goodreads


My Review:
I loved this one just as much as the first one. This one has a lot of action and is all leading up to a big secret being revealed. Of course, it's a cliffhanger ending which has me looking forward to the October release of the third book even more! One thing I love about this series is there is a love story element, but it doesn't interfere with the main plot as love stories often do.

I give it 5 out 5 stars.


Have you read any of these books? What are your thoughts?