Book vs. Movie – One Shot/Jack Reacher

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I am a Jack Reacher fan. I’ve just finished the 9th book in this long-running series and it happens to be the one on which they based the Jack Reacher movie.  I didn’t hate the movie like many did and I thought the book was good.  So how do the 2007 book and the 2012 movie compare?  Let’s take a look.

The Story/Plot    The story is sort of the same, a mass murderer who was easy to catch but proclaimed his innocence is facing a sure conviction.  Enter Jack Reacher, ex-military police, who comes to prove the murderer’s guilt only to change his mind.  Except for a few second-tier characters essentially missing from the movie and a switcheroo at the end, the stories are close.   Unfortunately, those secondary characters helped make the book better.  Thumbs Up- Book

The Visual  This category is usually, at best, a tie. I mean the movie is almost always better since that’s what its purpose it, but in this case it’s not so easy.  Like many things in the movie, the sets were…underwhelming?  This is not a story based on a location (other than it being quintessential midwest) but it is based on action and they could have done so much more.  Since I listened to the audio of the book I was able to better visualize the scene (Sometimes when I’m reading a fast paced thriller I don’t take the time. Is that wrong?) and it was superior to what came across on-screen.  It can be different, but a movie should be able to win this one.  It didn’t.  And I’m not even talking about Tom Cruise trying to portray a 6’5″, 220-250 lbs., 3XLT coat wearing menace.  I’ll get to that next.    Thumbs Up- Book

Characters vs. Actors  Ok, let’s start with the obvious.   Sure, Tom Cruise plays Jack Reacher but saying he is Reacher is a stretch.  Lee Child’s Reacher is supposed to be a menacing man who intimidates by size and attitude.  It’s a total package.  Yes, Cruise can command a room with his presence and he did an okay job with the attitude, but the whole package was missing something.  I am not slamming Cruise. I actually thought he did an okay job, but then again my expectations were low.  I didn’t like Rosamund Pike as the doe-eyed lawyer, but maybe it’s because they had to add the romantic element that wasn’t there in the book.  It felt forced.  I missed a few of the characters from the book, news anchor Ann  Yanni, private investigator Franklin and ex-lover Eileen Hutton, all added much needed depth to the story.  The movie was so focused on Reacher and Helen that it ignored the parts of the story that made it more believable.   Thumbs Up- Book

The Ending  The endings were a little different, not dramatic enough hate either one, but enough to notice.  This is when the extra characters in the  book made the end make more sense.  And the hostage used to lure Reacher in to the final shoot out was different and so much less melodramatic when Lee Child wrote it.  The movie felt expected, like I’d seen it on-screen before, so it wasn’t bad, just boring.  Thumbs Up- Book

And the winner is…The Book!!

Now it’s your turn to vote!

Other book vs. movie polls you can still vote on: (It Ends With Us) (Perfume: The Story of a Murderer) (The Sun is Also a Star) (We Have Always Lived in the Castle) (Good Morning, Midnight/The Midnight Sky) (Before I Go To Sleep) (The Little Prince) (Charlie St. Cloud) (Far From the Madding Crowd) (The Girl on the Train) (Tuck Everlasting)  (Northanger Abbey) (Me Before You) (And Then There Were None) (Still Alice) (The Blind Side) (The Fault in Our Stars) (The Hound of the Baskervilles) (Gone Girl) (Jack Reacher) (Ender’s Game) (Carrie, the original) (Under the Tuscan Sun) (The Secret Life of Bees) (The Shining, the original)

One Shot by Lee Child

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One Shot (Jack Reacher Series #9)One Shot. Finished audio 3-19-14, rating 4.25/5, thriller, pub. 2005

Book 9 of the Jack Reacher series (Killing Floor) (Die Trying) (Tripwire) (Running Blind) (Echo Burning) (Without Fail) (Persuader) (The Enemy)

Unabridged audio 12 hours.  Read by Dick Hill.

Six shots. Five dead. One heartland city thrown into a state of terror. But within hours the cops have it solved: a slam-dunk case. Except for one thing. The accused man says: You got the wrong guy. Then he says: Get Reacher for me. And sure enough, from the world he lives in–no phone, no address, no commitments-ex-military investigator Jack Reacher is coming.  Reacher’s arrival will change everything–about a case that isn’t what it seems, about lives tangled in baffling ways, about a killer who missed one shot-and by doing so give Jack Reacher one shot at the truth…. 
from Goodreads

Oh Reacher, you wily devil you.  Reacher, ex-military, loner with a taste for justice, is only found when he wants to be.  He heads to the midwest from Florida so that he can make sure that the soldier who escaped punishment in the service gets his just rewards as a mass murdering civilian.  Only Reacher is also being sought for murder and he has to keep moving to stay one step ahead of those who are trying to kill him.

I always enjoy reading about Reacher’s antics and seeing where he’ll end up, since the world is his home.  This is one of the more solid thrillers and a good standalone for non Reacher readers.  I can see why they chose this one to base the first movie on (come back Friday for my comparison of the two).  The cast is good, lots of moving targets and bad guys, solid police work and Reacher only gets one short roll in the hay so it doesn’t take over the story.

I checked this audio out of the library and it is read by Dick Hill, who has read all of Lee Child’s books I’ve listened to, and he has become Reacher for me.  He almost makes me want to listen to them all instead of reading!

I’m curious.  With a show of hands, who has read a Reacher book OR seen the movie?  

Sundays with Gage – Loving Elephant and Piggie

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We’ve been enjoying some books from the Elephant & Piggie series by Mo Willems for the last several weeks.   The illustrations and stories are easy to understand and full of things to talk about.  They also lead to very simple activities that take little preparation.  I would recommend all four of the ones we’ve been reading.  They are especially good for beginning readers as the words are large, simple and repeated.  I’ll list them in the order that Gage likes them best.

Can I Play Too? (An Elephant and Piggie Book)Can I Play Too?  Ages 3-5.  57 pages

Themes- Frienship, Making friends, Thinking outside the box for solutions, Inclusion

Snake wants to play catch with Gerald and Piggie and embarrassment, sadness, and determination come into play.

I hope I’m not spoiling anything here by saying that Piggie’s solution to the no hands problem was using the snake as the ball.  Jason and Gage used his blue snake to play catch.  There wasn’t a lot of catching , but he tried and he had fun throwing.

snake2   snake1

Should I Share My Ice Cream? (An Elephant and Piggie Book)Should I Share My Ice Cream?   Ages 4-6.  64 pages

Themes- Friendship, Sharing, Doing the right thing.

Gerald buys an ice cream cone and before he eats it he wonders if he should share it with Piggie.  As he goes back and forth on whether to share, the cone melts. Piggie saves the day.

So, this activity took less than 5 minutes of preparation, just long enough to cut and tape together a “cone” for the (dirty) “ice cream”.  We were able to watch the melting process in action without the mess 🙂  It took over 3 hours to totally melt.

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I'm a Frog! (Elephant and Piggie Series)I’m a Frog!  Ages 4-8.   64 pages

Themes- Pretend play

Piggie pretends to be a frog and Gerald doesn’t understand what’s going on until Piggie explains how he too can pretend to be something else.

The picture is terrible, but you get the idea. After reading the story we all took turns pretending to be other animals and then guessing what they were.  He’s mid-jump.

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Pigs Make Me Sneeze! (An Elephant and Piggie Book)Pigs Make Me Sneeze!   Ages 3-5.  64 pages

Themes- Friendship, Getting sick

Gerald thinks he allergic to Piggie because he can’t stop sneezing around her and is relieved to know that he is only getting sick and they can still be friends.

No pics with this one because aside from pretending to sneeze and taking turns saying bless you we didn’t really do much.

I can’t wait to check out more of the Elephant & Piggie series!

Filmish Friday- Austen films

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I love the romance and time period of Jane Austen’s novels.  I have 2 left to read (Northanger Abbey, Mansfield Park) and am looking forward to finding time for both.  I think Austen has translated extremely well to screen and have enjoyed all of movies I’ve seen, even some of the ‘Austen-inspired’.

I’m curious to see what your favorite is, so I’ve created a little poll and we’ll see if we have a clear winner.  We can always run a tie-breaker if we need to.  If your favorite isn’t included, leave me a comment and I’ll add it.  I didn’t include any mini-series, sorry BBC.

 

The Innocent by Taylor Stevens

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The Innocent (Vanessa Michael Munroe Series #2)The Innocent. Finished 3-10-13, rating 4/5, thriller, 331 pages, pub. 2011

Book 2 of the Vanessa Michael Munroe series (The Informationist)

Eight years ago, a man walked five-year-old Hannah out the front doors of her school and spirited her over the Mexican border, taking her into the world of a cult known as The Chosen. For eight years, followers of The Prophet have hidden the child, moving her from country to country, shielding the man who stole her. Now, those who’ve searched the longest know where to find her. They are childhood survivors of The Chosen, thirty-somethings born and raised inside the cult who’ve managed to make lives for themselves on the outside. They understand the mindset, the culture within that world, and turn to Vanessa Michael Munroe for help, knowing that the only possibility of stealing Hannah back and getting her safely out of Argentina is to trust someone who doesn’t trust them, and get Munroe on the inside.

from Goodreads

In this second Munroe novel, she is just as brutal and lethal, but she is also more damaged and vulnerable, and that made this book better than the first for me.  After some after-Africa downtime, Munroe’s best friend Logan finds her and begs her to help him find the daughter of a very good friend a fellow cult survivor.  Munroe needs to work and she loves Logan so she says yes and they head to Buenos Aires and she prepares to infiltrate The Chosen, a religious cult, and get the girl out.

In my review of the first book I said that I didn’t necessarily like Munroe and certainly wouldn’t want to grab a coffee together, but this book had me liking her more. Munroe has her own history of growing up on the streets and living through torturous experiences and so her task of getting close to The Chosen and the survivors felt right.  And her having Miles Bradford as her wingman for the operation was great since I already knew their history and was hoping for a little more heat.  I was not disappointed.

I thought this one took a little more time to get sucked into, but it was worth it because by halfway through I didn’t want to put it down (and only did so to do laundry!).  If you know about the author’s history then you know this book was close to her heart.  She knows about this culture and is living proof that people do break free and thrive.   Here’s a link to her website that gives you a little of her history.

Munroe is a great series heroine – there need to be more thrillers out there with kick-butt women leading the way.  I do think that this should be read only after reading the first one (The Informationist).  I bought this with my own money when I heard Taylor speak last year.

Classic Endings Quiz with a little prize – guessing closed

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Do you recognize these last lines from famous literature?  Just to entice you a bit I’ll be randomly choosing a winner from everyone who has participated in this round.  I picked up this cute little thing last week at a Women’s Night Out event because I love Emerson. I’ll draw a winner next Tuesday. Good Luck!

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Take your best guesses, be entered to win a prize.  No cheating (using the web to help find answers) or copying.  You have til Sunday to enter.  All extras can be found here.

Leave your guesses in the comment section.  

You only need to guess one to be eligible for a prize.

1 .”It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.”   A Tale of Two Cities – Dickens

2.  “With the Gardiners, they were always on the most intimate terms. Darcy, as well as Elizabeth, really loved them; and they were both ever sensible of the warmest gratitude towards the persons who, by bringing her into Derbyshire, had been the means of uniting them.” – Pride & Prejudice – Austen

3.  “It’s funny. Don’t ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody.”   Catcher in the Rye – Salinger

4.  “But I don’t think us feel old at all. And us so happy. Matter of fact, I think this the youngest us ever felt.”   The Color Purple – Walker

5.  “Oh, my girls, however long you live, I never can wish you a greater happiness than this.”    Little Women – Alcott

6.  “He turned out the light and went into Jem’s room. He would be there all night, and he would be there when Jem waked up in the morning.”    To Kill a Mockingbird – Lee

7.  “After all, tomorrow is another day.”    Gone With the Wind – Mitchell

8. “He loved Big Brother.”   1984 – Orwell

9. “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”   The Great Gatsby – Fitzgerald

10. “Yes, she thought, laying down her brush in extreme fatigue, I have had my vision.”   To the Lighthouse – Woolf

Answers to last week’s Spring quiz here.   Details and Leaderboard here.

Mailbox Monday – March 10

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mmb-300x282Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week.Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

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The Catch by Taylor Stevens came my way from Taylor herself.  I appreciate her sending it to me and assured her I would be caught up with the series by the time this one came out.  Isn’t the packaging great?  Thanks, Taylor!

In the wake of going head-to-head with international sex traffickers in The Doll, Munroe has retreated to Djibouti, where, while passing as a man, she finds work as an interpreter for a small, private, maritime security company. Pressed into duty at sea by her boss, Leo, Munroe discovers she is part of a gunrunning operation and she wants no part in protecting the crew or cargo. When the ship is attacked by pirates off the Somali coast, Munroe escapes and takes the unconscious captain with her to get answers. Leo’s wife, Amber Marie, the only person Munroe has cared about since she arrived in Africa, is desperate when Leo goes missing along with the rest of the hijacked crew, so Munroe agrees to try to find him for Amber Marie’s sake.

Vengeance Follows by Scott Lax came from Jane at Gray & Company.  The author lives in the neighboring town so I had to accept when offered.  Plus, I get to go to Paris 🙂 Thanks Jane!

A young man loses the true love of his life and seeks vengeance from the man he holds responsible for his wife’s death. Told with elegant simplicity, this novel of literary suspense is a tragic story of love and loss that ultimately reveals the cruelty of human nature and the healing power of forgiveness.

Sam and Sophie’s idyllic life of Parisian cafes, fine wine, and romantic passion is torn apart when Sophie is diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor. Then Sophie reveals something that happened years before they met–a horrific event that changed her life and left her wounded in ways no one knew. She’s found peace in the years since, she swears to Sam. But then she’s gone, and Sam finds only pain.

Bereft and alone, he leaves the City of Light and seeks solace in a small French village where no one knows him or his past. Troubled in heart and mind, he knows one man is responsible for Sophie’s death. Sam cannot live without confronting him and holding him accountable for his past crimes.

Men and Dogs by Katie Crouch I picked this up at the local indie for $1.  Not a bad deal, right?

When Hannah Legare was eleven, her father went on a fishing trip in Charleston Harbor and never came back. And while most of the town and her family accepted Buzz’s disappearance, Hannah remained steadfastly convinced of his imminent return.

More than twenty years later, Hannah’s new life in San Francisco is unraveling. Her marriage is on the rocks; her business is bankrupt. After a disastrous attempt to win back her husband, she is shipped to her mother’s home to “rest up,” and she is once again sucked into the mystery of her missing father. Suspecting that those closest to her are keeping secrets — including Palmer, her emotionally closed, well-mannered brother, and Warren, the beautiful boyfriend she left behind — Hannah sets out on an uproarious, dangerous quest that will test the whole family’s concept of loyalty and faith.

Did anything arrive in your mailbox this week?

So Pretty It Hurts by Kate White

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So Pretty It Hurts: A Bailey Weggins MysterySo Pretty It Hurts. Finished audio 2-28-14, rating 3/5, mystery, pub. 2013

Unabridged audio 10 hours 36 minutes.  Read by Renee Raudman

#6 in the Bailey Weggins series (If Looks Could Kill) (A Body To Die For) (Til Death Do Us Part) (Over Her Dead Body) (Lethally Blond)

Bailey Weggins, the Manhattan-based thirtysomething true-crime journalist, is in a good place. She’s enjoying her regular gig at Buzz, a leading celebrity magazine, getting freelance work, and hoping her first book will garner attention. In the love department, she’s finally back in the game with her recently-turned-exclusive boyfriend, Beau Regan. When Beau heads out of town one early December weekend, Bailey accepts an invitation from her office friend Jessie to a music mogul’s house in the country, hoping for a fun, relaxing getaway. But a weird tension settles over the houseguests–a glamorous crowd that includes the famously thin supermodel Devon Barr. An impending snowstorm only adds to the unease. So when Devon’s lifeless body is found in her bed, Bailey immediately suspects foul play. When Bailey starts to nose around, she finds herself a moving target–running closer to the truth and straight into danger. 

from Goodreads

I fell in love with Bailey Weggins in 2008 and I read the first five books of the series within a year.  Bailey has that cool New York City vibe, with the cool job, the great apartment with a view, and hunky men falling in line.  She writes about true-crime and most often seems to be right in the middle of it.  If I were Bailey I wouldn’t worry so much about solving the murders as I would hiring a bodyguard to keep dead bodies and murderers far away.  I’m not sure I like the stories as much as I like Bailey.

Bailey is invited for a weekend out the city where she gets a chance to party with some big players in the music and modeling biz.  Not surprisingly, one of them ends up dead.  A freak snowstorm keeps them all together in the country long enough for some more nefarious shenanigans and Bailey is hot on the scent of a new murder.  Once back in the city she must wade throught the multitude of suspects (ok, maybe just 8 or so) because the cops don’t think it was murder.  And her beau Beau comes back and wants more of a commitment.  And she’s been suspended from her job at the magazine for making threats.  And she finds herself in more than one deadly situation.  Bailey is a busy girl.

Bailey made too many conscious decisions that put her in harm’s way for me. That coupled with her insecure reactions to Beau and she felt more like a green around the ears 20-something, not a professional  in her 30’s who has seen more of her share of dead people and had more of her share of relationships.  Maybe I was expecting too much out of Bailey since it’s been so long.

I think this could easily be read as a standalone. It might even be better actually.

I checked the audio out of the library and thought Renee Raudman did a great narration.

The Traveler by Daren Simkin

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The TravelerThe Traveler. Finished 3-4-14, rating 3.5/5, fable, 48 pages, pub. 2008

Once, there was a boy named Charlie. He had a pretty nice life . . . but it wasn’t perfect. So one day he packed up all his time—all his round, squishy years and square, mushy months, down to every itsy-bitsy second—in his suitcase and locked it up safe, said goodbye to his parents, and set off to find something better to spend his time on. Charlie traveled all over the world in search of the perfect thing to make him happy, but that turned out to be much harder to find than he thought. In the meantime, his itsybitsy seconds and silky, smooth hours and raggedy days ticked away and vanished, and soon they added up to weeks and months and years—so that once Charlie stopped his traveling and realized what he really needed out of life, it was almost too late. Almost.

from Goodreads

I rarely have the opportunity to browse library shelves. I usually go in with a purpose or am picking up books on hold, so when I had forty free minutes at the library, I somehow found this very slim book in the fiction section.  I think the only reason I’m mentioning this is because if I actually just talk about the book my review would be over.

I thought this was a sweet 5 minute read.  There isn’t exactly anything profound about spending your time wisely as advice, but it left me with a smile on my face and a little nod in agreement.  If you have a moment I’d see if your library has a copy.  I also think it could be a cute gift for a young person going offi into the great unknown for the first time.  They might not fully appreciate the lesson (not many do in their youth) but it is packaged in such a way (easy to read with illustrations) that you can be pretty sure that at least they’ll read it!

This book  was written and illustrated by two brothers and dedicated to their sister.

So how often do you browse your library bookshelves?