1. What are you reading right now? Tell us about it!
As a middle school teacher, I consider it part of my job to read a LOT of YA books so I can make recommendations to my students, and my students know that I am a huge fan of science fiction and fantasy - "the weirder the better" is my reading motto. I'm currently reading the Lunar Chronicles series by Marissa Meyer - fun fairytale retellings set on a post-WW4 Earth whose citizens have colonized the moon, developed cyborg technology for accident victims, become reliant on androids for mundane tasks and menial labor, and fallen victim to a devastating plague. I have had a thing for fairytale retellings for years, and I really enjoyed the first two books, Cinder (a Cinderella retelling set in China) and Scarlet (Red Riding Hood set in France).
2. Divergent, Hunger Games, or Twilight. Which do you prefer and why? (If you’ve never read them which do you think you’d prefer?)
Out of the three series, I think I prefer the Hunger Games books - without their success, I don't think we'd have this current wave of YA dystopia (including Divergent) that I love. I actually enjoy what a flawed character Katniss is - it's kind of refreshing to have a main character who can be selfish, depressed, and occasionally bitchy and still drive a story's plot toward a satisfying resolution. I got the most emotional over the Divergent series - I did cry when I got to the ending of Allegiant. The Twilight books just didn't do it for me and I didn't finish the series - though I would totally get behind a spin-off about Alice and Jasper if Stephenie Meyer ever decided to write it!
3. TV Series Based on Books: they start out very close to the book to draw in the fans but then will start to separate themselves by changing things and adding characters. What are you thoughts on this?
When I think about TV series based on books that I've watched, two very different shows come to mind - Christy, which was one of my favorites as a kid, and The Walking Dead, which I've gotten sucked into now. I hadn't read Catherine Marshall's novel when Christy was on -- since it was way, way over my reading level at the time! -- but when I finally read it in college I was surprised by how many stories the television producers were able to spin off from the characters and setting of the book. I ended up buying the series on DVD to rewatch and love how they took some of the story's minor characters and really gave them their own lives while being true to Marshall's characterization. As far as The Walking Dead goes, I started watching that show before reading any of the graphic novels and I think it's good that the storylines have separated because it keeps both formats interesting.
4. You’ve just been recruited to help a movie studio bring your favorite book to the big screen. What’s the movie and who are you choosing to play the main characters?
My favorite books, Jane Eyre and The Time Traveler's Wife have already been made into movies - the first several times! My favorite book that isn't a film yet is probably Uglies by Scott Westerfeld, and I think with the premise of that book (everyone has plastic surgery at sixteen to become perfect-looking) it would be best to cast unknown actors so people aren't thinking "how am I supposed to believe this movie star is ugly?"
5. Going back to the above question, do you keep it word for word the same or do you use this chance to change little things you thought would make the book better?
It's been several years since I read the series, but I'm sure a lot would have to be cut for time - they are long books!
6. After you finish a physical copy of a book do you keep it for a reread, put it on a shelf to collect dust, donate it to Goodwill, or do you just not purchase physical copies of books?
It depends on the book - middle-grade books and YA that's not too racy goes to my classroom library, books I'll want to read again go on the shelf in my office (and don't collect dust for too long), and books I didn't enjoy enough to read twice or don't think will be a good fit for my students go to our local Paperback Exchange so that I can get some new-to-me books for free!
No comments:
Post a Comment