Tuesday 12 April 2011

2-in-1: Blog Hop & Top Ten Tuesday

It's been a long time since I've participated in any blogging memes, and today I've decided to make up for it by doing two in one post.

The Book Blogger Hop

Book Blogger Hop

hosted by Jennifer at Crazy For Books.

Usually a weekend thing, last week's Book Blogger Hop has been held back until today, when we are asked:

"Outside of books, what is your guilty pleasure?"

I have to confess that just lately I've been watching Glee. (I hang my head in shame.) I saw the first two episodes when it was first shown on UK TV but didn't get into it at all, but then when series 2 came on I got hooked! I usually end up shouting at the screen (usually at Rachel) and making snarky comments, but I keep coming back for another episode.


Top Ten Tuesday:

This is the first week I've taken part in the Top Ten Tuesday hosted by the girls at The Broke and the Bookish although I've been reading other people's posts regularly. I love lists.


The Top Ten Books I'd like to see made into Movies:

1. Rilla of Ingleside by L. M. Montgomery. The last book in the Anne of Green Gables series, this is  about Anne's six grown-up children when the First World War strikes. After the wonderful TV adaptation of Green Gables by Kevin Sullivan, the book series and the films parted company so that the film version of Anne at the time of the First World War has nothing in common with the book. Rilla of Ingleside would work quite well as a stand-alone story, because the focus is on Anne's teenage daughter Rilla, rather than Anne herself.

2. The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters. I suspect it is only a matter of time with this one, as it is the only book by Waters not to have been adapted into a TV drama (The Night Watch will be on our screens later this year.) Done well, it would make a creepy and atmospheric historical horror film.

3. Bitten by Kelley Armstrong. As its title suggests, this is a werewolf story, the tale of the only female werewolf in the world, Elena Michaels, who just wants to live a normal life but who is drawn back to the "pack" and the former lover who betrayed her. I heard rumours of an adaptation a few years back, but nothing seemed to come of it.

4. Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman. This is a bit of a cheat, as the story was a TV drama before it became a novel, and not a bad one for a BBC low-budget programme, but with modern special effects and a bigger budget, it could be even more amazing. But a film is nothing without its cast and I don't think anyone could replace Patterson Joseph as the Marquis de Carabas.

5. Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett. Sky One made such a great job of Hogfather that I would love to see them make the "Watch" books into two-part dramas to the same standard. I put Guards! Guards! down here specifically, but I would expect it to be followed up by Men at Arms, Feet of Clay...

6. Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. Can you see a theme developing here? And the great thing is that this one is not wishful thinking, but being adapted for a four-part TV series. Neil talks about the project here.

7. The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde. The Thursday Next books are a literature nerd's treat, set in a parallel world where it is possible to hop in and out of books and - if you're not careful - change what happens within the pages. In The Eyre Affair, Literary Detective Thursday has to rescue Jane Eyre, who has been kidnapped by an evil mastermind. There could be some trouble with an adaptation, however, as there are some scenes that can work only with text, such as someone communicating through footnotes. Difficult.

8. Malory Towers by Enid Blyton. I don't think these books would work very well as a film series - too episodic and not eventful enough - but it could be a nice after-school series a la Tracy Beaker or the Blyton's Famous Five that was made into a CITV series when I was about ten.

9. Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver. This was the big young adult novel of last year, about a girl who is killed in a car accident, before waking up to find it being the morning of the same day. A cross between Groundhog Day, The Lovely Bones and Mean Girls, Before I Fall is a wonderful book that would look great on the silver screen and appeal to teenagers and adults alike.

10. What Katy Did by Susan Coolidge. Although old-fashioned, the Katy series is a girls' classic to be compared with Little Women and Anne of Green Gables, but I don't think that it's ever been adapted for the screen.

13 comments:

  1. I loved Famous Five! (And the later Adventure series, which were terrible adaptations but quite enjoyable in their own right.) Would definitely think Malory Towers could be a fun TV series. Great list!

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  2. New follower! Thanks for stopping by my blog today. I look forward to reading more of your posts =)

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  3. I can't wait to read Before I Fall! It seems like an amazing book! New follower(:
    Check out my blog at magicisinwords.blogspot.com
    p.s. nice name (;

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  4. Glee is popular in our house,too.

    I do like the music :)

    carol

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  5. I thought about putting The Eyre Affair on my list but I don't think it can really be adapted for the screen. There'd be so much you'd lose if you're not reading the text. That said, I'd love to be proven wrong!

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  6. Cool on Glee.

    Stopping by from the blog hop.

    I guess I am boring...my only other guilty pleasure is "playing" on the computer. :)

    Elizabeth

    http://silversolara.blogspot.com

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  7. oooh ~ i LOVED the what katy did books :) they would make unreal movies

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  8. I'm a new follower.
    I watch Glee too when I get the chance ;)

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  9. Great list - I am with you on Malory Towers!

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  10. The Little Stranger didn't make my list this time, but I think it would make a pretty decent creepfest should it ever get to the big screen.

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  11. There is nothing to feel guilty about watching anything!!! Have a good weekend.

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  12. WHAT KATY DID was adapted into a film a few years back. Megan Follows played Cousin Helen.

    WHAT KATY DID and WHAT KATY DID AT SCHOOL was a six-part British-produced series under the umbrella title of WHAT KATY DID. I'm not sure when it was made, but it showed up in the late 1970s on a PBS series called ONCE UPON A CLASSIC that featured British adaptations of childrens' stories, including THE SECRET GARDEN and REBECCA OF SUNNYBROOK FARM. Ed Bishop (from UFO) played Dr. Carr.

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  13. Wow, thanks Linda, I had no idea! I'll have to look out for this series.

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