Good and Cheap (Books)! Day 19

I love the ponies. No, really. I went to horse camp for a couple of years when I was a girl scout (Troop #8059; why can't I forget that?), and then, when given the opportunity to select a PE elective in college, I signed up for horseback riding. Back in the days when I had the craziest house-sitting gigs you could imagine, for awhile I had the privilege of caring for a horse (and a cow, until the cow went to the slaughterhouse in the sky), and I really could be happy cleaning stalls every day. Horses are pretty. Of course, I love the pageantry too. Big horse races--I'm glued to the TV. I sing "My Old Kentucky Home" to the cat. Thus, my pick today is Seabiscuit.

Seabiscuit with trainer
George Woolf

Seabiscuit, the book, is so much better than the movie. First of all, Tobey Maguire does not make an appearance in the book. Secondly, Laura Hillenbrand adds nuance and historical context to her story of the little horse that could. Third, who doesn't love to root for the underdog? Seabiscuit was the ultimate underdog (underhorse?), a horse that might have been put down, a horse that hated running and didn't trust people. He was broken, beaten.

Seabiscuit with jockey
Red Pollard

And the horse isn't the only one in need of a second chance. His owner lost his son. His jockey was a washed out failure who was basically abandoned by his family (it was the Depression). His trainer had seen better days. The horse was too small, and the jockey was too big, and both were handicapped.

Seabiscuit is a story about recovering and finding hope during difficult times and continuing to persevere. So trust me, you think you know this story, but if you haven't read the book, you're missing out. This book could be one of your favorites of all time.

Also, horses are pretty.

New Year, New 30 Day Book Challenge, Day 19

Someday Gianna will
understand what it is
to love Gus and Call.

Day 19: Favorite Book Turned into a Movie

Gianna:

This category is just one more chance for Liz to jump down my throat about Lonesome Dove! Some other great movies won't make my list because I never read the book, such as The Shawshank Redemption and The Princess Bride. Not that anyone asked, but I will note which I liked better, the film or the book. Here we go, my top ten books to movies. [Let me state here that it's selfish of Gianna to pick ten movies. She does this so that it's harder for me to pull alternatives out of my butt.]

Friday Night Lights – I think I liked the movie more, which may be unfair because I read the book after the movie, but man, I did really like the movie.

Atonement – The book, but what a great movie. In fact, I think I will watch it again tonight. [Sweet! Baked the cookies. I'm on my way over!]

The Silence of the Lambs -- I don’t want Jodie to think I don’t love her post-Golden Globes so I will say the movie. Well, I would say the movie anyway.

No Country For Old Men – See, now I am already regretting this list because this is tough. I think the book because it shocked me so much.

The Godfather – I thought the book was a snooze compared to the movie, but again, I saw the movie first. This is my favorite movie ever by the way (Leave the Gun. Take the cannoli. - Clemenza)

Drugstore Cowboy – This too, is one of my favorite movies ever and I do think it's better than the book. Author James Fogle was robbing pharmacies until he died last year at the age of 75. Well, technically he was robbing pharmacies until he was 74 and then went to prison.

The English Patient – I do think this movie was lovely, but it doesn’t hold up so in this case I pick the novel.

Misery –
I think Liz and I will agree on this one, the movie was better. ("God I love You" - Annie to Paul as she takes the sledgehammer to his ankles.)

The Hours – I feel the same about this movie as I do The English Patient, I loved it at first but after seeing it a few times it’s a bit blah. I pick the book.

Terms of Endearment – I adore this book, but the movie the movie the movie.
(“It's past ten. My daughter is in pain. I don't understand why she has to have this pain. All she has to do is hold out until ten, and IT'S PAST TEN! My daughter is in pain, can't you understand that! GIVE MY DAUGHTER THE SHOT!” –Aurora)

I guess it’s not great that I have liked more movies than books. Hey Liz, let's start a movie blog!

Liz:

Sure, let's start a movie blog. First, we're watching Lonesome Dove. For the love of god, what do I have to do to convince Gianna that both the book and miniseries are fantastic?

Here's another fantastic miniseries based on a book: Band of Brothers. It's my favorite war drama, and since I think the writer of the book was a hack and a disgrace to historians. But the miniseries is really great. Damian Lewis, Ron Livingston, a Wahlberg, David Schwimmer as a jerk.

The Virgin Suicides is that rare thing--a Kirsten Dunst movie that doesn't make me want to vomit. Of course, she barely speaks and then she commits suicide, so it's like a little cinematic gift to me. Liked the movie...didn't hate the book.

The Wonder Boys--I liked both movie and book.

Seabiscuit--I think people have forgotten how phenomenal this book is, and the movie isn't half bad. I seem to have a thing for horse racing movies. I will stop and watch even though I know exactly what happens. Black Beauty, Seabiscuit, Secretariat--spoiler, they win in the end.

Stand by Me is based on
the novella The Body.

I think we just need to declare that Stephen King's works are better as movies. I'm basing this generalization on the relatively few Stephen King works I've read--The Shawshank Redemption, Stand By Me, The Shining, Misery.


Ordinary People--It's that rare thing that rips me apart. If Gianna hasn't seen this movie, we're adding it to her must watch list.

To Kill a Mockingbird--Atticus Finch. 

30 More Days Book Challenge: Day 16

This day is brought to you by Zorro.

Day 16: Favorite Books Featuring Animals

So yeah, I'm obsessed with my cat.  I am.  We're codependent and he's my abusive lover.  But there are many great books with animals in them if you think about it.  What is Jaws without the shark?  What is Moondogs without the blind, cockfighting rooster named Kelog? (Seriously, you people need to read Moondogs.)  What is Moby-Dick without the whale?  Boring, boring, and boring.  Without animals, Rita Mae Brown wouldn't have launched her super successful cat mystery series and have been reduced to writing about lesbians and stuff.

Gianna:

My favorite book about animals is an easy pick. Stories Rabbits Tell: A Natural and Cultural History of a Misunderstood Creature: Includes 32 Delicious Recipes. [Rabbit is tasty.]

Okay, I made up the last part of that title, but even without it…crazy. I had no idea that rabbits were misunderstood. Are they capable of doing things that I don’t know about? I know they are really excellent at pooping on everything but I am excited to hear about possible hidden talents or uses. [You would approve of their procreational propensities.]



Rub my belly. I dare you.



I refuse to write about any book that has talking animals – as it creeps me out (sorry Yann Martel and Daniel Quinn…. I tried). Animal Farm doesn’t count because these guys mean business and are scary. Scary talking animals are okay. If only Cujo could talk.

Spoiler alert if you haven’t read Old Yeller – STOP reading - I don't want to Marley and Me your ass. Ooops.

I have no idea what my favorite book about an animal is (Liz picked this question and I will just assume her cat Zorro had some input). [Zorro is my god.]  I tend to avoid books about animals as I am still recovering from Old Yeller. [G, you should steer clear of The Yearling, then, too.  People eat deer.] I am working my way through the grief process but seem to be stuck on denial. And the sequel starring Yeller’s pup, which I am sure was meant to cheer up the millions of scarred sobbing children.... Well guess what, Fred Gipson, it didn’t work. I just focused on the fact that Old Yeller was killed when she had little babies to care for. Terrible. [Yeller was a bitch?  How did I miss that?]

I’ve never read Charlotte’s Web – I assume it is also devastating. I mean I know the one pig gets to live but..it's a farm and the animal body count is likely to be pretty high. It's best I avoid it.  [Animals talk.  Creepy.  And the spider dies.]

But I am about to get pretty unoriginal because truly the best book I have ever read about an animal is Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand. I am not a horse person and certainly not a horse race person (unlike my father who let me know in the bluntest of ways that if I didn’t know the story of Seabiscuit then I didn’t know history at all…awkward). I read Seabiscuit the day my father informed me that I was an idiot. The book is just phenomenal. Hillenbrand is quite simply an incredibly gifted writer; you really will not be able to put this book down. Just the imagery of the thousands of fans travelling for miles, all over the country, to see this horse run is breathtaking. He was the hope of a nation, he helped bring a broken country together in a terrible time; can you imagine that? [Just like Zorro!] A not so good looking horse. Now that is a happy story. If you’ve seen the movie, trust me when I tell you the book is so much better. I also had this on audio, read by Campbell Scott, and it's one of the best audio books I have ever listened to (and yes I am including the Harry Potter books too).  [Campbell Scott is the audio book god, but Zorro is the universe's god.]

It just now occurred to me that when I was a child I loved watching re-runs of Mr. Ed The Talking Horse...does this have anything to do with my disdain of talking animals? Too much Mr. Ed too soon? So curious.

Liz:

Guess what?!  I'm a cat person.  I don't dislike dogs, but since I was seven years old and Fluffinella entered my life, I've related best to cats.  We understand each other and share eccentricities.  Dogs are easy, but you must work to earn the devotion of a cat.  So I'm sticking to books about cats.  They are the most beautiful creatures in the world, after all.



I am cat, destroyer of worlds.
And toys.



The Tiger by John Vaillant features the largest cat in the world, the Siberian Tiger.  Set in post-Soviet Russia, Vaillant recounts the true story of an 800 pound kitty that, out of desperation and revenge, becomes a maneater.  This tiger was shot by a poacher, but wasn't killed.  He tracked down the hunter, waited for him at his hunting cabin, and destroyed him.  The guys who discovered the "body" were able to place the remains in a backpack.  Tigers are highly intelligent and lethal, but they don't normally seek humans for prey.  This particular tiger, though, developed a taste for the other white meat, and several days later killed another woodsman.  The Russian version of a game warden was charged with tracking and removing this tiger hunting the members of a remote village. 

The Tiger details the complexities of this region of Russia, and this period in history (late '90's), as well as the reasons tigers are poached.  This is a humane book about the most dangerous game and the moral ambiguities of an animal lover hunting a cat capable of destroying a person with a swipe of its paw.  It's great adventure writing and it's a great cat story.

At first glance, We Were the Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates isn't about animals at all.  The book tells the story of a seemingly All-American family that is torn apart one night when the daughter is attacked.  Her father can't cope with the assault on his precious girl and she's sent to live with relatives, then eventually lives on her own.  It's a devastating book about the ways families betray each other, and it's beautifully written.  Why am I mentioning it here?  First, We Were the Mulvaneys is one of my favorite books.  Second, when Marianne Mulvaney is sent away, the only part of her family who accompanies her is her cat.  The cat provides companionship and love in her worst moments.  The cat becomes her family, and Marianne even goes so far as to look into kitty dialysis when her pet's kidneys begin to fail.  I would have done the same for Fluffinella, back in the day.  And let's just all hope that Zorro is immortal.

Yes, I am the world's greatest cat.  Obey me.