wizard of Oz | Watching the Words

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by the Broke and the Bookish. Book bloggers create their own lists based on the chosen topics and post links to our lists. It’s a way of all sharing our thoughts and our love of books. And who doesn’t love lists??

So this week’s challenge was to list the best/worst movie adaptations from books. To be fair, I only considered those where I have read the book and have seen the movie. There are many, many that I could add to both the lists of good and bad, but most are just mediocre – not fantastic, but not awful enough to offend me! You will see that my list is pretty heavy on children’s movies – having kids these are the movies I have seen the most often and typically multiple times so they are the ones that stuck with me!

The Good

Harry Potter – I won’t try to pick the best of the movies – but they were all fantastic – some followed the books more closely than ever, but I never was disappointed after watching a Harry Potter movie.
The Wizard of Oz – The movie may arguably be better than the book (ruby slippers are far superior to silver ones!).
Gone with the Wind – A classic, beautiful costumes, wonderful cast, just a great movie if you have four hours to spare!
To Kill a Mockingbird – Another classic – both the book and the movie are fabulous.
Because of Winn Dixie – A wonderful family movie with a cast of great actors that closely mirrored the book.
Charlotte’s Web – Both the 1973 animated movie and the 2006 movie were both fantastic depictions of this great childhood favorite.

The Bad

Tale of Despereaux – I LOVED this book and I HATED this movie! It was the most awful depiction of a book that I have ever seen, even my kids could not sit through it. Don’t waste your time!
The Cat in the Hat – Great children’s book, horribly overdone ridiculous movie.

Some of Both…

How the Grinch Stole Christmas – The 1966 cartoon is still a favorite from my childhood and I eagerly watch it every Christmas, but I am not a fan of the 2000 movie – too annoying, overdone, and ridiculous.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – I loved the 1971 version, a childhood classic, and an amazing world full of candy! But the 2005 version? I’m sorry, but Johnny Depp was far too creepy – I would never let my kids go into a candy factory with his character!

So this week the challenge is to create a list of the books that you read when you need to read something light and fun. My list consists mostly of series and genres that I enjoy in between reading more serious fare, they are always a quick read, enjoyable, leaving me ready to tackle something else.

Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich – My husband always knows when I am reading one of these novels, since this is the one series, without a doubt, that always makes me laugh out loud.
Cozy Mysteries – I am a huge fan of mysteries of all types, series, standalones, fluffy mysteries, and more serious fare. In the cozy genre some of the authors I go to for a quick and fun read include Alexander McCall Smith, G.A. McKevett, Laura Childs, Kate Carlise, Sue Grafton, Carolyn Hart, Joan Hess, etc.
Not-So-Cozy Mysteries – There are some mystery series that I read that I definitely do not consider light & fun, but that provoke greater thought (Louise Penny, Reed Farrel Coleman, Donna Leon) and require greater commitment from me as a reader. There are however, a number of darker mystery series that I still consider light & fun reads from the pens of such authors as Lee Child, John Sandford, Jonathan Kellerman, etc.
Picture Books – OK, so if I really need something light and fun, I spend some time with my kids and some picture books. While there are picture books out there that address very serious and difficult issues, there are many more that are just plain fun (especially Dr. Seuss!). Let’s face it, even ecological disaster seems lighter when told in rhyme with great illustrations…
SOME YA series – I want to be careful here, because while there is plenty of light and fun reading in the young adult genre, there are also stark, dark, and difficult novels as well. But I have had fun breezing through a number of YA series including The Hunger Games, Immortal Devices, The Iron Fey, Artemis Fowl, Harry Potter, Pendragon, etc.
Beach Books – You know the books I’m talking about, those great covers showing beautiful beaches and picnic baskets – a chance to get lost in some seaside town where you know the ending is always going to be happy and true love will always prevail.
SOME Juvenile fiction – Like the YA category, this is another category where there is plenty to be found that is serious, but there is also a ton of fun stuff out there with great humor about growing up, families, relationships in school, and friendship. My Fun Stories to Share post has some of the recent favorites that I read with my kids.
Odd Thomas series by Dean Koontz – While this series can be dark and disturbing at times, I always love the quirkiness of Odd which lends levity to otherwise dire situations.
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott – A childhood favorite, one that I try to re-read every now and then, it is always comfortable and brings me back to my teenage days when I wished to be Jo.
The Wizard of Oz by Frank L. Baum – OK, the flying monkeys aren’t really all that bad in the book, and the witch doesn’t even appear until towards the end, but there’s actually greater violence in the book than there is in the movie! I just finished reading it out loud to my kids for the first time and the world of Oz is always good for escape. Oh, and by the way, the slippers were silver…