Which is Better? Vampire Academy

I remember when the trailers for this movie came out, and rolling my eyes at it. I wasn't going to pay to see that movie, and it looked dumb anyway! Was it satire? Were they trying to appeal to twilight fans who desperately needed a fix of vampires? How is this movie a thing?

Vampire Academy came and went, and I thought no more of it until it showed up on my Netflix a few weeks ago. I was home alone, after a long day of work, and decided to indulge myself.

And you know? It was really entertaining.  I was sort of surprised it wasn't a bigger hit since there were a few comic book movies that were just as good as this one that did relatively ok at the box office. I googled, as we all do, on our phones when we want to know more about what we are watching, and I realized that it was a book (though the more I googled, the more I remembered that it was a series that I also rolled my eyes at when it came out) and that it was part of a series.

Were they going to make a sequel? I had to know.

Well, unfortunately, it bombed at the box office. The movie was funny, satirical and made exclusively for the teenage girl. AKA, the kiss of death. It's hard enough to market a movie that is satirical (isolating audiences, etc.) but one that was made for the teenage population? The teenage girl population, a part of the female population that the market never takes into consideration anyway? I'm surprised it was made at all.

It was heartbreaking the gofundme that was created to try and make the sequel failed. I hope it becomes a cult classic, like other movies that bombed at the box office,  and a sequel is made in the future, but since the fandom of teenage girls are often pushed to the side in favor of male nerdom, I'm not holding my breath.

So, as for the comparison of the movie and the book? The movie was great and it doesn't take away from the book at all and vice versa. I can see why the changes were made. For example, it's much more dramatic to have the cuts appear on Lissa's arm rather than her hurt herself after she tries to heal an animal or a person.

I also liked how the movie shot from the hip, much like the book, in telling the audience the world in which the book is written in. Within the first 20 minutes, you understand Dhampirs, Moroi, Strigoi and Guardians. You miss the other backstory, like the complicated relationships between Dhampir women and Moroi men along Dimitri's backstory that changes Rose's perception of "blood whores" but there was no way that could be fit into the movie.

There is more excitement and action in the movie with more appearances of Strigoi in the beginning, which was missing in the book. It didn't necessarily take away from the book that it wasn't in there, but it shows the differences of art and the interpretation of the story through different mediums.

However... Richelle Mead... what were you thinking with the title? I think the title, "Vampire Academy" was also the kiss of death when it came to the movie. It's just an awful title, and anyone who didn't know the book (like myself), would immediately write off the movie as some head of corporate who has no idea how to market to youngsters and was desperately trying to recreate the Harry Potter and Twilight craze. It might not have been your choice, but whoever had final say in the series title needs to be chastised severely. It might have been more successful if the title was different.

Anyway, I strongly recommend to go watch the movie if you have a night where you're in the mood for something funny and silly. It's cute, it's all about girl power and female friendship and there are vampires. What's not to like? Grab a glass of wine, watch it, and then go buy the book for some added fun.

Which is Better? Girl with a Pearl Earring

Like the book, the beginning of the movie is cumbersome. At first I was really excited. The first scene shows Griet cutting vegetables and I thought they were going to shoot the firs scene right out of the beginning of the book. But then, she stops cutting vegetables, goes to her Dad, takes a tile that he made and then packs to leave her home. Her mother mentions something about staying away from the dirty Catholics, and then she's off to work as a maid for a richer family.

There is no explanation to why she had to go work for them unless you knew Dutch family structure and culture of the 1600s. The dad's blind, so there was no money coming in. Mom has to take care of Dad, so it's up to Griet to provide for her family.

You see Griet trying to get used to her new life but the viewer is waiting for the other foot to drop. The appearance of the master, Mr. Vermeer. ScarJo plays Griet as if she is already lusting after Vermeer, but they had not met yet. However, Colin Firth... did not disappoint.

And so... like the book, I didn't care about the characters until I actually did. It sort of snuck up me, how I suddenly was invested in the characters, waiting for the moment when Griet is actually painted.

The movie does a great job of building the tension between everyone in the household, not just between the master and Griet. I also loved how they showed the power deferential between Griet and Vermeer, and also between the wife and Vermeer.

I also loved how they showed Griet torn between the butcher's son and her love for the master as well. I also loved the different spin ScarJo put on Griet's situation. As if she knows that the Butcher's son is her only viable option, but she wants to fly close to the sun.

A noticeable difference between the book and the movie is the omission of characters. I felt like the other family members added to her backstory, and her drive to become a maid and work for her family. It also adds an element to why she begins a courtship with the butcher's son. He'll provide for her family, much more so than her wages as a maid.

I also thought it was very funny that the meeting with Griet and Vermeer didn't occur until 20 minutes into the movie. I felt like it didn't really have a beginning until they meet, and it should have been done immediately. It was the same deal with Cordelia, the devil daughter of Vermeer. However, they used her in the background in an interesting way for the rest of the movie. I thought that illustrated just how devious she was.

At first, I wasn't into the casting of the wife but she leaned into her role halfway through the movie and conveyed the petty but pretty wife written in the book. I wish they had done more with Tanneke and their complicated relationship. How they went from friends, to enemies, to acquaintances again.

The ending was off, with the giving of the pearl earrings. She is supposed to be several years older and she goes back to the master's house. The mistress gives her the pearls and Griet sells them but does nothing with the money. One of the points of the book that is drove home is her class and status, which is missed by the brief ending.

I think the movie, overall, is a great adaptation. Scarjo and Colin Firth are phenomenal as the main characters, and the other actors contribute a lot to the movie. I do feel like movies are limited on character development, and Pearl Earring definitely falls victim to that. Nevertheless, the movie is shot well and the sets were properly made, instead of CGI.

Which is Better? I feel like it's a draw. The book and the movie are great for different reasons. Read the book and watch the movie!

Do you have a different opinion? Respond below!

When to Make the Decision to Stop Reading a Book

So, my book stack is dutifully in my bedroom. I picked them out when I was moving and committed myself to reading them when I moved. After all, why spend money on books when I had many that I had not read yet? A major theme of this blog is to pick up books for a discounted price or for free. Certainly I should read the books in my house first.

I read a few historical fiction and fiction books this summer, which is a step away from the science fiction and fantasy that I go after. I enjoyed the fiction books I read, so why not take another chance? I was about to embark on a social studies position at my new school: I had a duty to be informed, even if it was to teach 6th graders.

The World is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman. My mother gave me this book lord knows how many years ago. She encouraged me to read it. "It's very good," she commented. "He makes great connections and says it in a way that makes sense." She also concluded that I would be interested in the topic, since I about to start college as a political science major. I just put it on my shelf, committing to myself that I would read it... eventually.

A few weeks ago, I finally did. I dusted off the hardback book, and began reading it.

I got to 50 pages before I put it down again.

I'm not going to write off Mr. Friedman. He's brilliant, drawing conclusions between our ever changing economy and the way we live, but the major problem with presenting theories about our economy, the way we live and technology, is that the technology used to draw those conclusions are defunct 10 years later. This book was written in 2005. It's now 2015, and many of the emerging business models are either common place or collapsed all together. With the housing bubble and the dot.com bust, the book is not necessarily ground breaking as it once was. It's almost like a history lesson.

I also realized a few things about my reading preferences. Reading nonfiction books before bedtime is probably not something I would do again. Whereas I tore through Little Altars Everywhere, I crawled through The World is Flat. Now, it's probably the way you're supposed to read it, but for someone that reads to relax, The World is Flat is not a relaxing book.

Sorry, Thomas Friedman. If I ever get my hands on your newest book, I'll give you another try.

I went back to my book stack. What should I try next? I had a few Virginia Woolf books. BAE adamantly concluded that I would like her, so I decided to try "A Room of One's Own." I remember Nicole Kidman playing her in a movie a few years ago (she donned the fake nose, so she must be a serious actress), so I thought I would give it a try.

I got to 15 pages before I put it down.

The introduction warns the reader that it's like an extended essay. Though I felt like she and I were talking and walking about the state of women, it felt like I was at a lecture. A lecture that I was not allowed to comment or question.

Like Friedman, I am not going to write Woolf off. The only author I would ever write off is Thomas Hardy with Tess D'Urbervilles (never again). I do have another book by her, which seems to be a fiction novel. I will give her another try later.

However, making the decision to stop reading 2 books consecutively when I normally stick to books the entire way through made me think of when we should stop reading books. In both of these cases, they didn't serve my purpose. I read to relax before bed. I read so I can escape and go to far off places and read about other people's lives. Both of these books did not do that.

Now sometimes I will finish a book just to give it a scathing review, but it wasn't like I hate either of these books. They were fine books written by brilliant people. I think at the end of the day, my taste in books skew to the light side.

I would like to turn the question over to you: When do you make the decision to stop reading a book? Why?

She-Hulk Volume 2: Disorderly Conduct

The second and final volume of She-Hulk. This final volume focuses on Jennifer Walters as an attorney running her own law firm rather than She-Hulk the superhero. Captain America comes into her firm looking for representation... and he's also 90 years old! They don't describe or explain how he got 90 years old, and it was only after BAE told me that I understood. I'm not sure if they should have wasted time explaining how he got so old, but maybe it was assumed that I would have read other comic books such as the Captain America ones?

Anyway, Steve Rogers wants Jennifer to represent him in a case where a dying man laid claim that Steve Rogers murdered his younger brother in the '40s. The lawsuit is in California, and Jen calls her friend Matt Murdock to lend her office space to work out of. However, Murdock, Daredevil, turns a cold shoulder to her, and soon she figures out why: Matt is representing the plaintiff.

There are cool flashbacks to little Steve Rogers and his friends, along with THE NAZIS and ROBOT NAZIS. Steve Rogers puts a lot of faith in his two superhero lawyer friends along with the law for the truth to come out. However, the comic does not reveal whether Rogers is found guilty or not.

The secret of the blue folder is also revealed, with an epic fight between Titania and She-Hulk. In the first volume, there was such a build up over the blue file, and in the second volume, it was solved quickly in the final two issues. I knew that the 2nd volume was the final one, and I think they rushed to finish the story. It's a shame.

Angie Huang continues to be mysterious and when Shulkie begs for her to stay at the end of the book, she does. Oh, and there is a nod to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D where Jennifer Walters are the Inhumans' lawyer.

The art is consistent and She-Hulk looks strong, beautiful and intelligent. There are a lot of other characters, such as Ant-Man, with the return of Hell Cat. I love She-Hulk and she is easily my favorite superhero of all time. I have Red She-Hulk... I don't know much about that story line, so hopefully I get my Shulkie fix!

Parables of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

Oh Octavia Butler, you're magnificent. This is another book from BAE, so there isn't a story to how I acquired it. Parables of the Sower is the first book Butler ever published. I thought I read somewhere that it was a book she began as a child and then finished it when she was order for publication. However, I cannot find the source now, so it's possible I made it all up.

The reason I mention that is that the story of Parable of the Sower is an adult version of those action stories you read as a kid, like Hatchet or My Side of the Mountain, where the teenager or adolescent is stranded and they have to survive on their own with only a survival backpack and their gumption. The main character go on a journey to get them out of the wilderness or they make a plan to survive in a new, wild place. I, myself, would often daydream about what it would be like to survive on my own.

SIDESTORY: I actually ran away once to try that. I think my mother and I got into a fight, and I packed my stuff and left. I made it out into the woods by my house (they actually filmed Tuck Everlasting, btw, so it's beautiful), but then I was afraid and hungry, so I went home. I got into a lot of trouble. I also think I stopped my day dreams of living out in the woods after that day.

Ok, back to the review. Parable of the Sower is an adult version of the adventure story littered with sex, drugs and though I wish I could say rock n' roll, violence. Butler is a mastermind at revealing a potential future that we're staring in the face of. Parable of the Sower is set in 2026, which might be a long way off when she wrote the book in 1993, but it's only 11 years down the line. I think that, more than anything, scared me the most. It also scares me because of how Butler writes the characters surrounding the main character. They are in denial about the catastrophic changes in their lives and they hope it will get better, or ignore the increasing amount of struggle outside of their quiet four walls.

The main character's name is Lauren. She is a the daughter of a preacher and she lives in a "gated" community with 10 or so other families. She has a step-mother and 3 younger brothers. The book is set up as a journal first person. Everything that happens, occurs after the fact when Lauren writes it down.

Her "gated" community was self-imposed by the families that live in the cul-de-sac. They put up the walls to keep the homeless, the druggies and the criminals from entering their homes. It's dangerous to go outside of the walls. It is incredibly hard to get a job, and her father, a professor at the university, goes outside of the wall a few times a week to teach. Many people are killed when they go outside.

Lauren, in the first half of the book, describes her daily life, and her complex relationships with her father, step-mother, brothers and the other members of the microsociety she lives with. The threat of the outside world is always a factor, and when a company goes into a similar city to provide jobs with room and board, many families are interested in taking it, no matter the risks and the cost of having a job.

This book is complex and it's so well written that it's hard to unpack the book while not giving much away. A gentle buzz in the background of the book that slowly makes it way front and center at the end of the book is Lauren's Earthseed. It's a new type of religion, though Lauren maintains that it is a way of life. Christianity, her father's religion, doesn't serve her needs and the changing needs of the world in which they live in. Christianity, she feels, does not give her a chance to survive in a violent world.

One final thing about the book worth mentioning (though the entire book is worth mentioning) is Lauren's hyperempathy. Caused by a drug called, I think, Pyro? Pyco? which contributes to much of the decay of American society, Lauren's mother was addicted to it, which gave Lauren something called, "hyperempathy." She feels other's pain or other's pleasure, to mixed results. It becomes evident to why she hides in as the book continues, but it makes for some interesting choices when it comes to people she meets and who she discloses his information too.

Ms. Butler is heads and shoulders above most other science fiction and fantasy I read now and days. Its a shame that she wasn't as famous (maybe she didn't want to be) or that none of her books were ever turned into movies (maybe she didn't want them to be). I'm currently reading Kindred in class, and most of the students are into the novel. Those that aren't into the book aren't much into anything, however. I can't wait to read Parable of the Talent, the second and final book in this series. Apparently she planned to write a 3rd novel, called Parables of the Trickster, but writer's block prevented her from finishing. Her writings are on display at Huntington Library (Indiana).

Princess of Mars by Edger Rice Burroughs

So I originally watched "John Carter of Mars" starring Tim Riggins first, which is the only way I knew to pick up the series at Barnes and Nobles. The first book is titled, "Princess of Mars" and it is the first installment of the series "John Carter of Mars" by E.R.B. Apparently this is part of the pulp fiction movement in the 1960s.

John Carter is a confederate soldier, who after the war, ventured to Arizona to mine for gold. His associate travels back to the town to get supplies, but when John watches him leave, he notices other "spots" in the distance where his partner is traveling too. At first he leaves it be, but his guts propels him to go after his associate. He finds his associate dead and himself surrounded by Apache Indians. He runs away, finds a cave and hides.

Something, like an invisible force, comes over him and he is transported to Mars, or as the Green and Red men of Mars call it, Barsoom. It is a dying planet (mysterious machines provides the atmosphere), and Green men and Red men are all at war with each other.

John discovers that he can jump higher and hit harder due to the gravity on Mars, or, I'm sorry, on Barsoom. The Green men find him in an incubator full of just hatched Green babies, and takes him back to the Tharks.

Carter quickly rises from a prisoner to a chieftain after he demonstrates his prowess to the horde of Green men. He kills a few Green men, and he earns "metal" and titles. However, things abruptly changes when the Tharks shoot down the ships of Helium, and they capture the Princess of Helium, Dejah Thoris.

John Carter falls into, what do my students call it? A thirst trap. Dejah is also thirsty for Mr. Carter.

Ah, after looking up "thirst trap" in urban dictionary, I don't think I used "thirst trap" correctly. Ah well. Let's just say they are both single and ready to mingle. More action, more running around, and finally, every one ends up with their happy ending... until Edger Rice Burroughs realized that he should write more "Of Mars" books and get more money.

The first book in the John Carter of Mars series isn't the worst thing I ever read. One can definitely tell it was written in the 1960s, because there is some racist shit in there (where, you know, as of now, it's just subliminal racism so that white people can't pick up on it). First of all, John Carter is a confederate soldier. I wouldn't be so alarmed by this fact except Burroughs also threw in there that he was a Virginia Gentleman and that when he went to visit his relatives, everyone adored him and the slaves worshipped him. 

Uh, what? He doesn't go that far to say that Carter owned slaves himself, but having slaves worship the guy as an example to show how awesome he is some racist shit.

THEN, when Carter is in the desert, Burroughs proceeds to characterized the Indians as "Braves" and to also revisit how violent they all were. When Carter escapes up the mountain into the cave, the Native Americans followed him. John Carter is held still on the ground by an invisible entity, and when the Natives venture into the cave, something scares them off.

Now, it could have been a huge scary monster and it would be natural for anyone to run away, but... Burroughs described it as some dumb brown person who wasn't brave enough to seek what was in the cave. Some more racist shit.

There is some sexist shit in that book too. There are two prominent women in the book: Sola and Dejah. Dejah is legit naked when John first meets her, except for the metal she is wearing covering her naughty bits. Sola, who grows up in a different way than the rest of the Tharks and is an outcast, is meek and loyal. Dejah and Sola need to be commanded for much of the book, and every time one of them makes a decision that is apart from John, John has to save them.

Finally, John Carter of Mars is the white motherfucking savior of both the Green and Red men of Barsoom. He teaches the Green men new fighting skills, how to tame animals (yes, really) and above all, about friendship (you read that right).

He ends the war between Red and Green men, and he gets the Princess in the end and becomes a Prince. He is highly regarded and in every scenario he is in, he figures a way out and saves the day.

I was bothered by the blatant racism, sexism and white male savior parts of the book. I did buy the entire series (don't worry, for a small price), so I will chug on to read the rest of the novels. I would invent a drinking game with how many racist things Burroughs wedges in there and how many times Carter bestows his superior whiteness over all others, but I'll be stinking drunk every night I read before going to bed.

Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident by Eoin Colfer

I missed the Artemis Fowl YA books when I was growing up, but my best friend Capella, loved them. My mother mostly brought me series books like The Babysitters Club, The Boxcar Kids and Goosebumps. I also read the Animorphs series too. Though now that I think about it, I guess Artemis Fowl is a bit older than those series.

Anyway, I didn't read them. However, when I was looking for a book to read several years ago, the first Artemis Fowl book was on sale in the Sony E-reader store (RIP). So I bought it and liked it. I didn't LOVE it, maybe it was because it's a bit younger than YA, but I liked it.

Like I do, I found a few Artemis Fowl books at the Baltimore Book Fair (seriously, they should pay me with all the advertising I do for that fair) after failing to find any Octavia Butler books. I had no idea if they were in sequence or not, (I mean, it's YA, I'm sure I could figure out) but luck would have it, Arctic Incident is the second book in the series.

The idea is that Artemis Fowl is a young evil genius with lots of money at his disposal. There is also a fairy universe that hates him. He has a bodyguard and his arch nemesis is a fairy named Holly Short who is a fairy cop. The first book is all about Artemis Fowl obtaining fairy gold. Holly Short and the entire Fairy universe (I really want to write underverse a la Riddick style) are trying to stop him. He ends up getting the fairy gold fair and square.

The scenario for the second book is that Artemis Fowl is looking for his father, who went missing in action. Artemis procures the help of Holly Short and company, and go on this search to find him. Oh, there is also a fairy villain, but I don't remember this name or who he works with. There is lots of technology and adventure. There is also the Russian Mob and Goblins.

By far, the most interesting character in the book is Fowl's manservant, Butler. A killing machine with a shady past that has an undying devotion towards his charge. He is unstoppable. In my mind, he changes from a tough bald headed hottie to a dark haired mysterious type. He puts Fowl in his place, which the kid clearly needs. Artemis Fowl is way to smart for his own good and desperately needs some boundaries. I mean, really, why hasn't his super rich school call CPS? How has his mother been able to keep custody of him?

Yes, that is what I took away from Artemis Fowl: where the heck are his parents?

So overall, it's a decent book for young adults ages 10-13. I have another book that I acquired from the book fair, but I don't think it's the next book in series (but who cares).