My Random Addictions: Books That Go to Movies Pt 2

Hello everyone!

As you all know, and can tell from my page, I LOVE books. I love it even more when a book goes to a good movie. Read my original post here. I wanted to write about a few recent book turned movies that came out in the last year as well as my thoughts on how the movie adaptions held up to the book, and a few to look forward to in 2016!

What's Already Been Released:
1) Me Before You

GAH. Is there a better one to start off with?! If you haven't read it, read my review of it and the GO GET IT LIKE TODAY. Then GO SEE THE MOVIE LIKE TOMORROW after you finish the book in one day because it's just that good. So good. There were pieces of the book left out in the movie, but not pieces that I thought were deal breakers for not being included. And Sam Clafflin? Dang boy dang.

2) The Choice

Another heart wrenched. The Nicholas Sparks book turned movie was one of my favs to read and the movie was pretty good as well. It does skip over a lot of the couples lives together before the big disaster happens, but the most important parts are there. It's out on RedBox now, so if you haven't seen it yet: it's worth the watch for a girls night. 

3) Paper Towns

F*** THIS BOOK AND MOVIE. Seriously. Number one: everything exciting is in the commercial. This is because everything exciting happened in the first quarter of the book, and same goes for the movie. Stupid stupid stupid anti-climactic ending. And not to mention the movie ending is not the same as the book exactly, but it's still just as stupid. Don't waste your time watching or reading this BS. Like why didn't they make Looking for Alaska into a movie yet?! Come on people.

4) The Scorch Trials


Okay so this was a hard book for me to get through, but was much better than the first Maze Runner book. The movie, however, was great! Basically took the bones of the book and changed a lot, including super important parts that I'm not sure how they will do the third movie, but I'm curious to see and this movie was very entertaining. Just not even the same as the book. Like at all. Okay maybe a little. You book worms who have seen and read this know my feels.

5) Insurgent/Allegiant

Both were great, much better than the first Divergent movie. Woodley still pisses me off with her acting but whatevs. DEFINITELY read this series. Allegiant was the best of them all and Part Two AKA Ascendant is set to release next year. Why they changed the name instead of doing part two of allegiant is beyond me and is dumb IMO but I'm hoping they keep true to the book!

6) Mockingjay

These two movies are gold. Pure gold. Parts one and two. Some scenes I thought could've been lengthened but overall the movies were honestly way more interesting than the actual Mockingjay book. That one was hard for me to get through because of all the battle stuff.

What To Look Forward To:
1) The Girl on the Train
YAAAS OCTOBER HURRY UP

2) Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Harry Potter continued?! Well  really its pre-Harry Potter, but ya know. Hopefully it doesn't suck, but casting looks good and so does the trailer!

3) Ascendant

AKA Allegiant Pt 2. Don't know why the name change but I'm pumped for this one.

4) The Light Between Oceans

Up next on my list to read! Comes out in September! Fall is just full of great book to movie releases!

There are many popular books that would make GREAT movies, and I wonder why they haven't been made or even started yet, but that's for another post. Which of these have you read and watched? Any different opinions? If you say you loved Paper Towns the books or movie you can just stop. 

Thanks for reading,

- Olivia :)

#BookWorm: I Was Here

Hello fellow readers!

My latest read was a book called I Was Here by Gayle Forman, the author of the well known book If I Stay. I loved the If I Stay and Where She Went books and so I wanted to give Forman's other book a try. I Was Here is about a girl named Cody who's best friend Meg just committed suicide. Cody did not see this coming, and goes on a mission to discover why she committed suicide. She finds breathtaking information along the way and discovers that Meg might have not been alone in this decision of her death. Cody also meets Ben, a wannabe rock star with striking good looks who was Megs last hookup before she died and has him help her uncover what exactly happened to her best friend.

This book was filled with a lot of emotions about suicide, so if you aren't comfortable with the topic don't read it. It explores different opinions about suicide through each character and can be kind of graphic at times. Not so much that it makes it disgusting to read, but makes you really think about what people really go through in their final moments of death when committing suicide. It also had a lot more curse words in it than I had expected, even though they did fit the subject and flowed well with the dialog. The characters were relate-able, I liked Cody's character and Ben grew on me. The book was somewhat predictable, you could kind of see what was coming mid way through, but it was still a decent read. It kept my interest and was easy to follow for the most part. The rating that I would give, probably a 7/10. Not as good as If I Stay or Where She Went, but not terrible either. If you are looking for a quick and easy read, pick this up from your library or book store and you will get just that.

I went to the library and browsed through the books, which is a great relaxer for me, and picked out a new stack of books to get through in the next month or so. There's quite a few that I can't wait to crack open including The Orphan Train. Anyways, so has anyone else read I Was Here? How do you think it compares to Forman's others? Sub-par like myself? Let me know what you love reading so I can add to my list!

Thanks for reading with me,
- Olivia :)

#BookWorm: The Good Girl

Hello fellow readers,

I recently read the novel The Good Girl by Mary Kubica. I had never heard of this book, or this author, before I saw this on a recommended list on Amazon for mystery/thriller books. I am glad I gave it a try! Comparable to Gone Girl or The Girl On the Train, The Good Girl is a mystery about a girl named Mia, daughter of a wealthy well-known judge in Chicago who was kidnapped for ransom, but things do not go as planned.  The book goes from past to present to try to figure out her case. It is told from the perspective of different characters: Colin: the kidnapper, Eve: Mia's mother, and Gabe: the investigator.

This book made it interesting by giving away some important facts right away. There were some predictable moments, but the whole thing was not predictable. The perspective of the kidnapper really made me like it more, as that is not always something you see, but I know I am always curious about what goes on in the "bad guy"'s head .It really was a good book. The plot kept me hook, easy to follow, except for the very end which I am still not clear on, but that's not a make or break for me. Rating? 8/10. Pretty good for a random find!

Have you heard of this book, or better yet have you read it? Share your thoughts, I'd love to hear! Next up I am starting a book called I Was Here by Gayle Forman the author of the world phenomenon If I Stay. I have added a few books to my list, and will get to updating the My List of Books section soon! This month will be super busy with work and family visiting, so I am looking forward to the free time I have!

Thanks for reading with me,
- Olivia :)

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things: Lake Lure

Hello everyone,

Last weekend we spent our anniversary in Lake Lure, NC. This is a place that a few different people we knew in Florida traveled to in the past, and many people who live in NC had surprisingly only heard the name. While researching places within a small driving distance to go for this years anniversary trip, I found Lake Lure on a list of places I'd like to go while we're here in NC and have the time. It's only a 3.5 hour drive from Durham to Lake Lure, making is super reasonable to travel to for a long weekend. We left Saturday morning and came back Monday afternoon. Here are our favorite things that we discovered in Lake Lure, NC:

1) Canopy Ridge Farm

This is a place where you can zip line as well as kayak the river. The kayaking was closed for dam repairs when we came, but ziplining was something neither one of us had done before. It was SO fun. The views were incredible! A 6 run course took about an hour and a half. To me it was a decently priced activity at $60 each given the equipment and time involved, and we've heard of more pricey places too. HIGHLY recommended!

2) La Strada

This is a cute Italian restaurant that is near the beach area of the lake. It was SO delicious. They had a lot of menu options, and allowed to go orders. We didn't actually eat there because it was our first night in, but we would have gone back had we stayed another night!

3) Chimney Rock State Park

This park is gorgeous, but holy cow what a workout! It is dog friendly (all of it) which we obviously love because we like taking Nike everywhere! The view from chimney rock itself was gorgeous, and the waterfall at hickory nut gorge was beautiful as well. If you like to hike or just get a good workout in, this is the place!

4) Lake Lure Tours

We took this boat tour on a Sunday evening and really enjoyed it. We sat all the way in the front so at times it was hard to hear the guide, but it was filled with a lot of interesting facts about the lake that we wouldn't have known as natives to the area without going. We tend to enjoy educational boat tours or guided tours like this, so if that's not your forte, then I wouldn't recommend it. For us it was a perfect fifty minute tour! 

So that is my list of favorites! We ate at Larkins on the Lake as well, but I was super happy with it. Nice view and all, but so so food and service. I do wish we could have had one more day to explore the area, but it was such a fun trip and the weather allowed us to do everything I had wanted to do while researching Lake Lure. So who has been here before? Any places you absolutely love that we need to hit sometime when we go back? Let me know! Also check out our video of our trip here: 

 https://youtu.be/fkcBWfp2Vxk

Thanks for keeping up,

-Olivia :)