Juliana Stone: Movie Adaptations of Books

My lovelies! Today we have awesome author Juliana Stone with us, talking about books and movies. Whoo!

Hey all!  I’d like to thank Limecello for letting me take up space and time here today at her blog! She told me that I could talk about pretty much anything, so I thought that for today, I’d talk about books and movies, in particular a book that needs to be made into a movie.

Why, you might ask? Well, I’ve just finished reading The Bronze Horseman, then onto book 2, Tatiana and Alexander, and immediately had to start in on the last book in this series, The Summer Garden.  First off, you have to know that these books are long.  The first and last are over 700 pages and the second is over 500.

Doesn’t matter. At all. From the first chapters these characters captivated me, but most importantly the characters stayed with me when I was done reading.  I ached for them.  I would randomly think of Alexander and get upset…that’s how real he was to me. That’s how good Paullina Simons, the author is.

I’m not going to get into the plot details of The Bronze Horseman, because I don’t want to spoil it for any of you who haven’t read the book yet, but I can tell you it takes place during World War 2, inside the Soviet Union. It’s an epic love story revolving around a young Soviet girl and an officer in the Red Army.

When I say epic love story?  I mean epic. It has all the thrills, heartache, want, need, danger, and anguish that an epic love story has.  Think Gone With the Wind X 10. (at least for me). When I was done reading book 1, I immediately Googled the author to see if film rights have been sold. They were, but nothing came of them.  So as of now, my Alexander and Tatiana will remain just for me in my kindle, where I can read the pages over again whenever I wish.  But man, I want to see this on the big screen.

So, my question to you all is, what book have you read recently that you are dying to see on the big screen?  I’ve just read Warm Bodies, and am anxiously awaiting its release on February 1.  (If you’ve not heard of it, youtube the movie trailer, hilarious…well, if you like zombies!)

I’ll award one commentator an ebook copy of my latest release, Collide.  You can read an exclusive excerpt here.

Bobbi-Jo Barker has been in love with the wrong man for years. A man who doesn’t fit into the perfect, controlled life she’s created. A man who not only broke her heart but nearly destroyed her. So the fact that he’s back in town shouldn’t matter because he’s all wrong for her, or so she thinks…

Shane Gallagher, prodigal son, ex-con, and all around hellion, has returned to the small town of New Waterford to mend fences and get his life back. What he doesn’t count on are the feelings he still has for the one woman who can break him—the one woman who is totally wrong for him.

And yet, as Bobbi and Shane are thrown together and begin to navigate a life with each other in it, neither can deny the attraction they feel, or the emotions that come with it—the good and the bad. And so the question becomes… can these two damaged souls survive a second chance at love?

So books? Movies? Books into movies? What’s your poison? (Or your pick?) Join our discussion ’cause there’s an awesome book up for grabs! (And if you missed the first book, you can get Offsides here!)

10 thoughts on “Juliana Stone: Movie Adaptations of Books

  1. Danny

    I don’t like to see a movie after I read the book, because I already have certain pics in my mind of how the characters might look like.

    Reply
  2. Cris

    I must admit that I ‘enjoy’ watching film adaptations of books I’ve read because I’m always curious to see how someone else visualises the characters/world/plot– it’s essentially the same reason I really enjoy audiobooks! Generally, I end up liking the book better than the film–usually because they end up changing something in the film version– but I find the film interesting nonetheless. An exception to this: I love what HBO has been doing with George R.R. Martin’s ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ series, much more than the books themselves. Epic fantasy is far from my favourite genre and the novels are so dense that the television series makes them much more palatable. Granted, it’s a series and not a single feature film…

    On the literary front, I’d love to see Isabel Allende’s ‘Daughter of Fortune’ on the big screen. On the romance front– apart from anything Nora Roberts– Pamela Clare’s I-Team novels!

    Reply
    1. Juliana Stone

      I agree here, I like the Martin books but I don’t love them. I also stopped reading halfway through #4 because the series is following so closely. I heard book 3 might be split into 2 seasons, which would be awesome, so much happened in that book…

      Reply
  3. Colleen Isolde

    Inevitably, I end up being disappointed in the movie adaptations of many of my beloved books. There are some surprises out there, however. I preferred the movie version of “My Sister’s Keeper” over the book by Jodi Picoult. At most I tend to hope that the movie is enjoyable and keeps to the spirit and message of the original book. I think the A&E miniseries adaptation of “Pride and Prejudice” with Jennifer Ehle and Coliin Firth, and the movie version of “Persuasion” with Amanda Root and Ciaran HInds were decent adaptations.

    That being said, I would love to see a miniseries version of “Trinity” by Leon Uris (which is my all-time favorite book). As far as recent reads that I may enjoy as a movie, I would say “Battered Not Broken” by Ranae Rose and “Because of You” by Jessica Scott (Of course I would cast either Tom Hardy or Jason Statham as the heroes) 🙂

    Reply
  4. Mary Preston

    Some of my favorite adaptations are actually not just a single movie, but a mini-series. The BBC does this brilliantly with classic titles. Think Dickens for example. The books are heavy in all respects, but come alive on screen.

    Reply
  5. JoAnne

    It’s hard for me to watch a movie of a book I’ve read since I always seem to be comparing the two.
    I can usually guess if a book I am reading will eventually go the movie route.

    Reply
  6. flchen1

    Books. I do watch a few movies, but not many. And yes, I’ve watched a few movies where I’ve read the book first; others where I’ve seen the movie first. I find I enjoy both the book and the movie most when I’m able to think of the two as completely separate experiences–they aren’t really the same kind of storytelling, and if I try to think of one as an extension or adaptation of the other, the differences and errors and choices made in the adapting just drive me bonkers. 🙂

    Reply

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