Teen Tuesdays - LINK to teenreads.com

To celebrate Teen Tuesday...

Here is a link to a site called www.teenreads.com that has a pretty good section devoted to teen books that have become movies.

Just click on the title of this post to link to their Books into Movies section.

Teen Tuesdays - Confessions of Georgia Nicolson By Louise Rennison - THE BOOKS

A couple of months ago, I was looking through some stacks of books I had bought a few years ago, and just never had time to read. I found the novels Confessions of Georgia Nicolson, and, Further Confessions of Georgia Nicolson by Louise Rennison. I had bought them some time ago, so I didn't really remember even picking them out. But, a book's a book, and I must have been interested in them at some point so I figured I'd give them a shot.

The first book actually contained two novels, Angus, Thongs and Full-frontal Snogging, and On the Bright Side, I'm Now the Girlfriend of a Sex God. The story is based on the diary of a teenage girl named Georgia Nicolson. She is quite the character. After struggling to read the first couple of chapters, due to not being used to the flow of a book being written in diary format, I found Georgia to be quite charming. I was hooked. This is the type of book that keeps you entertained, and I often found myself chuckling out loud at the craziness of being a teenaged girl.

I quickly finished the first two books, and moved on to the next. The next book also contained two novels, Knocked Out by my Nunga-Nungas, and Dancing in my Nuddy Pants. Judging by the titles, Rennison did not want her books read by adults in public. I  was under the impression that the series only contained four books, but I was definitely mistaken. Soon, it became a quest to find all of the titles at my local book store since the books are not yet offered on Kindle.

The other books in the series are titled as follows:

Away Laughing on a Fast Camel

Then He Ate My Boy Entrancers

Startled By His Furry Shorts

Love Is a Many Trousered Thing

Stop In The Name Of Pants

Are These My Basoomas I See Before Me?

The above are the North American Titles, or as Georgia would say "the Hamburger-A-Go-Go titles".

The books have to be read in order, as the story ends abruptly at the end of each book and continues into the next novel.

The basic plot line showcases how Georgia deals with the day to day life of being a teenager. She is a bit of a rebel, and has a terrific sense of humour that is under-appreciated. She lives in England, and her life revolves around her friends, her cat, and boys. She discovers the joys and let-downs of being in a relationship, and gets herself into situations that don't at all seem possible.

Once you get past the challenge of reading a book that is written in diary form, the books are delightfully full of surprises and make you want to continue reading to see what other kinds of trouble Georgia can get herself into. 

One nice thing that Rennison included in the novels is a glossary of terms at the end of each book. Georgia and her "ace gang" (friends) speak using a lot of British slang, and I admit to looking a couple of terms up in the back of the book that I did not know before. 

Overall, I can see how a teenage girl, or even an adult, would enjoy this series. Rennison's writing, while crude, is hilarious and deserves to be noticed. Reader be warned, if I were picking this book up for a child, I would probably make sure that they were in their upper teens, as I found these books to be a bit suggestive. But all in all, a light read, great for an adult looking to relive their teenage years. 

Teen Tuesdays

I have a guilty pleasure to confess to...

I really enjoy a good teen novel. I guess it's just the ease of reading it, escaping from the "real" "adult" world, and just the entertainment value alone.

So in honour of my guilty pleasure, I've come up with Teen Tuesdays! Once a month on a Tuesday I will try to pay homage to either a teen novel, or a children's book that has become a film. 

To celebrate this new topic, I'd love for you to comment about your favourite teen or kids book that has become a film, or that you think should become one.

Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane - THE MOVIE (2010 - Directed by Martin Scorsese)

Now, since I finished reading the novel Shutter Island this morning, the plot was still fresh in my mind when I watched the movie today. I have to say this is one of the best on screen adaptations of a novel that I have seen in a very long time.

The plot was accurate almost 100% with only a few missing pieces that, while I enjoyed them in the book, I did not find that I missed them when viewing the film.

One argument might be that by reading the book so recently, I may have damaged my viewing experience. I really do believe that I probably would have enjoyed the movie much more had I not read the book first. The element of surprise I experienced when I read the novel was pretty much eliminated. 

The artistic elements of the film really held up to the descriptions given in the novel. The dreams that Teddy had were filmed beautifully, and it was clear that Scorsese put a lot of heart into filming the story with the same feelings that the book inspired.

One thing that I did wonder while watching the film was if I would have understood everything had I not read the novel. Some aspects seemed a bit disjointed, and I found that I was connecting the puzzle in my own mind with things I had read in the book that were not part of the movie.

The end of the film seemed to conjure up the perception that Teddy was pretending he did not remember that he was Andrew Laeddis, while in the novel, I was left with the notion that Teddy had just relapsed back to knowing nothing about being Andrew Laeddis himself. I do not think that the addition of this detail compromised the film at all, and didn't mind the fact that the movie left added confusion for the viewer.

Sometimes it's very difficult to picture actors as the characters in a novel. At times they do not match with the images of the characters you've created in your mind while reading the book, however, I think Leonardo Dicaprio and Michelle Williams were excellent choices to play Teddy and Delores. They suited the roles well, and were very believable.

Overall, I think some things in the film were explained a little quickly for my liking, and if I hadn't read the book I think I might not have understood fully why they did certain things in the movie. However, I was definitely entertained, and thought it really did live up to the book. I would definitely recommend this film to anyone who wants a little bit of mystery in their lives.