The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion

20.4 Mrs. Soule’s Task (Author! Author!) - The Plot Line Thickens
Choose your favorite movie scenario then read a book with a similar plot line.

EXAMPLE: my favorite movie scenario is the fair maiden escaping through the jungle with the Indiana Jones-style hero a la Romancing the Stone, so I could read
Out of Control by Suzanne Brockmann or Midnight Rainbow by Linda Hamilton (both involve a hero & heroine at some point fighting their way through the jungle).

Important points from thread:
- I'm fine with using basic plot lines from TV shows & mini-series too. So if your favorite show is 7th Heaven and what you like about the show is the family dynamics, a book about a family with lots of kids would work. If you what you like about the show is the spiritual aspect, a book about a preacher and his family would fit.
- If it seems too easy with a general plot (crime or historical romance with a happy ending), you can get more specific with the plot - just make sure it matches a movie AND the book. My ultimate purpose for this challenge was to allow you to discover a book version of your on-screen happy place, so it really shouldn't be too difficult - enjoy!
- If you’re having trouble, reading the "companion" novel for a movie is fine.

Plot lines others are using (paraphrased):
- Haunted house
- Surprise endings
- Time-travel
- Reality isn’t always what it seems
- The "good guys" aren't necessarily good
- Romance where the two main characters dislike each other at first
- Noir with a femme fatale
- Horror movies where the evil is in something unexpected
- Characters follow clues to solve the mystery or find hidden treasure
- Heists with a happy ending for the "bad" guys

I like it... but I'm going to have to think.... I mean, my favorite scenes are... I dunno—the weddings at the end of Jane Austen movies, probably. (I LOVE happy endings!) But that's pretty... generic... I could do On the Way to the Wedding....? I dunno. I'll think about it.

I don't like movies so I'm going to have to think hard to come up with a scenario I like.

Ooh I'm liking this one! Deranged killer murders ditzy females, werewolves ripping out throats, unhappy endings...oh yes I'll have fun with this like the sick puppy I am...!

ok, so I like the old movies that have a marriage of conveniance because one or other wants something they need to be married for (i.e. baby)/mail order bride type theme that turns into love (i.e. Sarah Plain and Tall), so I could read something like Silver Lining which from the description:

When a group of grateful prospectors offers to give fellow prospector Low Down her "fondest wish" in return for her nursing them through a smallpox epidemic, they are stunned when she says she wants a baby. What she gets, however, is a husband she doesn't want, a husband who doesn't want her, and a family--and eventually a love--she never even dreamed of.

Sara ♥ wrote: "I like it... but I'm going to have to think.... I mean, my favorite scenes are... I dunno—the weddings at the end of Jane Austen movies, probably. (I LOVE happy endings!)

Sara, if you like the Jane Austen movies, then any historical romance novel with a wedding at the end (since that's what you specified) works!

Oooo, this one is definitely giving me pause. Any suggestions for a good book about an underdog? I really love good books and movies about people overcoming the odds.

hmmm...if you aren't opposed to romance, maybe something along the lines of a girl picks the "nerd" over the popular guy?

Yeah, I could probably do that. I was also thinking about a rags to riches thing...like a Horatio Alger book (maybe Ragged Dick ). Or I could do something like Oliver Twist ...who definitely overcomes a lot. Hmmm, Dickens books are really full of the seemingly hopeless, no? :)

Delicious Dee the book slut wrote: "ok, so I like the old movies that have a marriage of conveniance because one or other wants something they need to be married for (i.e. baby)/mail order bride type theme that turns into love (i.e. ..."

Delicious Dee, Silver Lining sounds perfect for your movie scenario.

Coralie wrote: "I don't like movies so I'm going to have to think hard to come up with a scenario I like."

Is it specifically feature-length films you don't like? I'm fine with using basic plot lines from TV shows & mini-series too. So if your favorite show is 7th Heaven and what you like about the show is the family dynamics, a book about a family with lots of kids would work. If you what you like about the show is the spiritual aspect, a book about a preacher and his family would fit.

Delicious Dee the book slut wrote: "ok, so I like the old movies that have a marriage of conveniance because one or other wants something they need to be married for (i.e. baby)/mail order bride type theme that turns into love (i.e. ..."

I love marriage of convenience type of movies too! I have several of those type of books so I am excited!

Ok so I am really into retellings or of course classics of Fairy Tales (especially Cinderella). So I love Disney's Cinderella, A Cinderella Story, Ever After... Anybody have a good recommendation for this?

Cameron Doeky (I think it is has a couple); one of the best ones i've read recently was Goddess of the Rose which is a pseudo-re-telling of Beauty and Beast...it has a good mythology base in it

Meghan wrote: "Ok so I am really into retellings or of course classics of Fairy Tales (especially Cinderella). So I love Disney's Cinderella, A Cinderella Story, Ever After... Anybody have a good recommendation..."

Meghan wrote: "Ok so I am really into retellings or of course classics of Fairy Tales (especially Cinderella). So I love Disney's Cinderella, A Cinderella Story, Ever After... Anybody have a good recommendation..."

The Fairy Godmother by Mercedes Lackey starts off with a Cinderella twist, then moves along. Another Cinderella based one by Lackey is Phoenix and Ashes

Meghan, I second Sandy's suggestion of The Fairy Godmother. The Best Fairytales & Retellings list might offer more suggestions: http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/96...

Charity wrote: "Oooo, this one is definitely giving me pause. Any suggestions for a good book about an underdog? I really love good books and movies about people overcoming the odds."

Some underdog suggestions in case you don't want Dickens:

The Electric Church by Jeff Somers (sci-fi/cyber-punk)
Going Postal by Terry Pratchett (fantasy/satire)
Rebecca by Daphe du Maurier (classic/suspense)
The Old Man and the Sea by Earnest Hemmingway (classic)
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon (WW2 historical fiction)
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut (classic/WW2 fiction)
The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery (historical fiction)

Meghan wrote: "Ok so I am really into retellings or of course classics of Fairy Tales (especially Cinderella). So I love Disney's Cinderella, A Cinderella Story, Ever After... Anybody have a good recommendation..."

I love those movies, too! :) I found this website: http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/ci...

Ella Enchanted, Just Ella, and If I Have a Wicked Stepmother, Where's My Prince? were all good. I'm going to be reading Before Midnight: A Retelling of "Cinderella" for a different task—I've read others by Cameron Dokey, and have really liked them. She's written a BUNCH of different fairy tale retellings.

Mrs.soule wrote: "Sara ♥ wrote: "I like it... but I'm going to have to think.... I mean, my favorite scenes are... I dunno—the weddings at the end of Jane Austen movies, probably. (I LOVE happy endings!)

Sara, if you like the Jane Austen movies, then any historical romance novel with a wedding at the end (since that's what you specified) works! "

That isn't too easy? That seems too easy....

Bah. This could be tricky. I just plain love movies. I don't have a particular plot line I look for, I have at least two dozen 'favorite' movies because I can never pick just one... AH!!!

And my favorite TV show is Glee because of the music. I like to listen to it and all that. Books don't sing and when characters in books sing, it's not the same thing for me.

I don't have a clue what I could use for this task.

@ Sara
I was thinking last night - another one with a similar theme is Lord of Scoundrels - the witty banter between the two main characters is pretty good and they def. didn't like each other from the beginning (in fact, she shoots him early on)

Sara, if it seems too easy to just have a historical romance with wedding at the end (which actually seemed hard to me because not that many books give you the wedding, rather you just know one's going to occur), you can get more specific with the plot as Delicious Dee suggested. My ultimate purpose for this challenge was to allow you to discover a book version of your on-screen happy place, so it really shouldn't be too difficult - enjoy!

Caity wrote: "Bah. This could be tricky. I just plain love movies."

Caity, you could use this as an opportunity to use a book already in your to-read pile. Just see what books you already want to read fit at least one of your favorite movie plots and go with one of those!

Or is there any plot that you enjoy even if the movie is technically un-impressive? For example, Moulin Rouge is my favorite movie of all time, but the plot of a man falling in love with a prostitute wrapped up with a depressing ending is not something I'm normally interested in. However, pretty much every movie I've seen with the ridiculously-compentent male rescuing the damsel in distress in the jungle floats my boat as awful as the writing might be. I know, I should be moritified! :-) My grandfather has enjoyed every World War II movie he's ever seen, even if he can admit it wasn't REALLY all that great - soldiers in a WW2 setting is just his thing.

Good point about the implied weddings in historical romance. That's DEFINITELY true!

I love plots where the hero and heroine don't like each other at first, because it sparks the BEST witty banter! And I like it even more when the guy falls in love first...

I read It Happened One Autumn in December 2007 (according to GR, anyway), and WOW, I do not remember what happened AT ALL (even after reading my own review!)... But I just picked up a discarded copy from the library, so that would be perfect! I need to reread the whole wallflower series, I think...

EDIT: But I'm not sure I'm being inspired by a movie as much as by romance novels themselves, here... In other words, I think I'm working backward...

I love movies a LOT, but the one I watch OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER again has got to be While You Were Sleeping. So that's more of an... I thought I was in love with one guy, but turns out this other guy is WAY more for me... story. If you swap the guy and girl parts in that movie, you pretty much get On the Way to the Wedding, where Gregory falls in love at first sight with one girl, but it turns out it's her best friend that's the one for him.

it is by far one of my fav books...i love lillian and marcus (but book 3 in the series is my all time fav - evie and sebastian)...wow, i'm a total romance dork!

Sara ♥ wrote: "Good point about the implied weddings in historical romance. That's DEFINITELY true!

I love plots where the hero and heroine don't like each other at first, because it sparks the BEST witty ban..."

Dude. I just realized I can read It Happened One Autumn for the task with a number in the title... ;) (I think that was the one I rolled snake eyes for... ?)

EDIT: It looks like I rated them all 4 stars except for #4... so apparently I liked that one best... I don't remember at all!

Sara ♥ wrote: "Meghan wrote: "Ok so I am really into retellings or of course classics of Fairy Tales (especially Cinderella). So I love Disney's Cinderella, A Cinderella Story, Ever After... Anybody have a good..."

I love all the fairytale retellings too, and I just added a ton of Cameron Dokey to my TBR shelf. I've never read any of them, but I think that's what I'll do for this task. Something light and fun!

I think part of the issue is the way I go about watching movies. The movies that appeal to me the most usually have something brilliant about them that isn't always related to their plot. I'll watch pretty much any generic cheesy plotline unfold on screen and while I'll enjoy the story, that won't be what draws me to the movie.

I'm drawn by cinematography especially. Colors, lighting, the use of light and shadow to tell the story within the story, how each shot is framed (and why). Then I look at editing. I cannot ignore a bad editing job. It makes me twitch. I'll look at writing, sure, but that isn't necessarily what draws me in, since there are some movies I love that really aren't amazingly well-written. Like you, I ADORE Moulin Rouge. The singing and music selections are brilliant and the degree to which they used color, light, and shadow to enhance the story being told is wonderful.

Even when I read a book, I imagine what I would make each scene look like if I was making it into a movie. I love good description in a novel because it means that I can clearly create a picture in my head of what things look like.

I attribute all of these things about me to the fact that the diploma from my university is hanging on my wall because I got my BA in Film. Being a film major ruined movies for me, but at the same time it brought life to them in a completely different way.

since Baz Lurhman did Moulin Rouge, how about one of his other movies...a book on ballroom dancing/that features it...

I still have the limitation of what is on my shelves, though. I don't have easy access to a good library. The nearest one has so far only given me the impression of being really pathetically bad, and it's over 10 miles away.

I'm not sure if I've ever actually seen any of his other films. I'd have to check. I know the first time I saw it his style was completely new to me, but I may just be forgetting a movie.

I'm gonna have to do some big time thinking if I want to figure out a book for this task.

he did three within the space of about 3 years...Moulin Rouge - a movie focused on music; Strictly Ballroom where the inspriation was dance and then Romeo and Juliet (with Leonardo Dicaprio)


Caity wrote: "I still have the limitation of what is on my shelves, though. I don't have easy access to a good library. The nearest one has so far only given me the impression of being really pathetically bad, a..."

Ok, I've definitely seen parts of Romeo and Juliet (I knew I was missing something).

I think my issue is that when I look at a basic plot line, it doesn't interest me at all. I have to have the other elements to get interested. So any plot can be put in front of me and I'll just shrug it off because that's not what I care about. I care more about how it is told and, in the case of a movie, how it is represented on the screen. Without those things, a damsel in distress being rescued by the man she should otherwise hate but ends up in love with anyway just doesn't appeal to me. It gives me nothing to visualize, so I have a hard time caring.

I might just have to skip this task. I read too slow to finish the challenge, anyway, so it's not like I am worried about not being able to finish. The task itself is good, though. I'm just not sure I could fit a book in because of how I go about watching movies and how I draw entertainment from them. (Had I needed to fit a book into this task four years ago, I probably could have done it, but I changed a lot in college.)

hmmm...check with the task creator, but maybe you could read a book where the main character is somehow involved in the film process...

I don't know what to choose. I like fairy tales too. Right now I am watching Quantum Leap and I like Scott Bakula's character where he leaps in his own lifetime setting things right that went wrong. So anything like that

Haha, I actually have a novel called Based on the Movie: A Novel. It's about a guy who works as a Grip and all of the things that go on during the film-making process. I was attracted to it by the fact that it makes it look like there is either a pig in a pool floatie in the sky or else a man with a lighting set up in a desert underwater. The title of it was a nice draw, as well.

I love plot lines where seemingly random people all end up being connected to one another (like in the movie Crash or the best television show in the history of the universe, LOST). So, I think I'll read Day for Night for this task.

Caity wrote: "I think my issue is that when I look at a basic plot line, it doesn't interest me at all. I have to have the ot..."

Haha! I have film major friends who are exactly like this! I know you said you might not do this challenge, but if you read a book where the "directing" so to speak is what's so great about the book (dialogue, scenery, etc.) rather than the actual story-line, that would work. To me, The Historian & Speaker for the Dead are books like this (just looked at your to-read list, I think Hyperion might work as well) - where the plot outline isn't what draws you in as much as each magnificently word-painted scene. Good luck!

Jayme(the ghost reader) wrote: "Right now I am watching Quantum Leap and I like Scott Bakula's character where he leaps in his own lifetime setting things right that went wrong..."

Jayme, is it the time-travel aspect you like or the "setting right what went wrong" that you enjoy most? If it's just the time-travel then any time-travel book would do (see listopia for ideas). For fixing the past, a book along the lines of Kindred by Octavia Butler works. I think any of the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde would fit this too (series starts with The Eyre Affair). It's set in an alternate reality, but the heroine jumps into book settings and changes the stories and therefore her own present day through interactions with characters (most notably a pep talk with Jane Eyre).

Haha. Feel free to go through my 'read' list, as well. I'm not above re-reading books if I liked them the first time around. I might shuffle things around to use The Historian for this task, though. Dunno. Have to think about it.

Having slept on the question, I have decided that what I like in a movie is an unexpected twist at the end. Does anyone have any suggestions for books with unexpected endings?

Coralie wrote: "...what I like in a movie is an unexpected twist at the end. Does anyone have any suggestions for books with unexpected endings?"

My favorite surprise endings:
My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner (or any book from that series)

The listopia section of Goodreads has several "surprise endings" lists if none of these appeal.

Thank you. A quick trip to the library may be in order while the book I fancy is still on the shelf.

My favorite movie scenario is when what you thought was going to be a happy ending suddenly turns sour in a way that tricks you. The best example I can think of without spoiling is Audition. It starts out like a romantic comedy then suddenly turns into horror (not a spoiler because it's marketed as horror).

So... can anyone think of something with a mood flip from upbeat to depressing? No recommendations were it might trick you since I don't want to ruin it for myself.

My favorite movies are the on-the-edge-of-your-seat, spooky, haunted houses type of fills. Hush Hush, Sweet Charlotte was the first horror movie I ever saw and I was hooked.
I think The Haunting of Hill House would work for this sort of movie. Would it?

Petra wrote: "My favorite movies are the on-the-edge-of-your-seat, spooky, haunted houses type of fills. Hush Hush, Sweet Charlotte was the first horror movie I ever saw and I was hooked.
I think [book:The Hau..."

Petra, The Haunting of Hill House sounds fine!

Rhea wrote: "My favorite movie scenario is when what you thought was going to be a happy ending suddenly turns sour in a way that tricks you."

I can only think of two:
- Any of the Darkfever series by Karen Marie Moning (urban fantasy) - things get infinitely worse just as you think there might be hope - every single ending so far has had me throwing the book and screaming curses at the author.
- Sphere by Michael Crichton

Mrs.soule wrote: "Rhea wrote: "My favorite movie scenario is when what you thought was going to be a happy ending suddenly turns sour in a way that tricks you."

I can only think of two:
- Any of the Darkfever se..."

My library doesn't have Sphere or Darkfever. : (

Can anyone think of something that's public domain or more literary? My college doesn't stock a lot of popular fiction, especially not popular fiction published within the last 10 years.

Rhea wrote: "Mrs.soule wrote: "Rhea wrote: "My favorite movie scenario is when what you thought was going to be a happy ending suddenly turns sour in a way that tricks you."

I can only think of two:
- Any of t..."

My University didn't either, but it had a lending system with most of the other universities in the state. Through that I was able to borrow popular fiction. You should see if your university has that sort of program. I hope they do for your sake.

I'm a big fan of the film noir femme fatale. This seems like a perfect excuse to read one of the books some of the great old movies are based on - I'm thinking perhaps Double Indemnity, which I've never read despite it being one of my top five movies. But would it be cheating to read the book the movie's based on? Does the task strictly require looking elsewhere for a scenario similar but not the actual movie inspiration?