THE BOOK IS ALWAYS BETTER

All Adults Here is the newest book from bestselling author (and owner of the amazing bookstore, Books Are Magic) Emma Straub. Taking place in a fictional small town, in upstate New York, Clapham, All Adults Here tells the story of the Strickland family. It’s a story of family, letting go of the past (past insecurities, past regrets, past mistakes), making brave decisions, and moving forward.  When Astrid Strickland witnesses a tragic bus crash, a repressed memory from her younger parenting days resurfaces. Astrid begins to question if she really was as good of a parent as she had thought she was. Her grown children are also questioning their parenting skills. Eldest son Elliot can’t let go of a conversation he overheard between his parents years ago, letting it affect the choices he’s making now, in both his personal and professional life. Middle daughter Porter is choosing to have a child on her own, while revisiting an affair with her high school boyfriend. Youngest son Nicho...

November 25, 1960, sisters Patria, Minerva, and Maria Teresa Mirabel are found dead at the bottom of a cliff in the Dominican Republic, along with their driver, after visiting their husbands in prison. The Mirabel sisters, known as las mariposas, the butterflies, are part of an underground political movement to overthrow the dictator, Rafael Trujillo. A fourth sister,  Dede, survi ves to tell their story. In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez, tells a fictionalized story of the Mirabel sisters. From their childhood, to their time away at school, from their crushes to marrying the love of their lives, and, eventually, as they become outspoken adults who join the Movement of the Fourteenth of June. The story tells of the sisters, not as legends of a myth, but as genuine, relatable women. Alvarez introduces the readers to Dede, the sister who survived, and now runs a museum that honors her sisters. She reminisces about their childhood and how close they were. We read Pa...

The TV miniseries adaptation of Sally Rooney’s Normal People is a book lover’s dream. The adaptation stayed true to the book, with dialogue translated verbatim from page to screen, and interactions described beautifully in the book, played out just as I had imagined them. The were a few changes and added scenes, but everything new in the miniseries added to the story in a constructive way.   Each chapter of the book centered around one scene, told from either  Connell or Marianne’s perspective, with mentions to events that had happened since the last chapter. While I loved this unique style of storytelling in the book, I wondered if the TV show would take the same approach. Sometimes, it did, setting up a scene and then flashing back months later, catching the viewer up. I thought it was done wonderfully and I’m glad that it wasn’t done for every episode, just when it was needed, like when Connell was meeting with the therapist.   I also loved how scenes that we...

***Warning: Major Spoilers Ahead*** When you read a book, you envision the universe in your head. Based on the author’s descriptions, you have a vison of what the characters look like and what their world looks like. The author’s words give you such a deep understanding of who the characters are and what drives their actions. When characters come across obstacles, we feel like we know them so well, we can guess how they are going to react before they do. What makes a reader fall in love with a book is their ability to connect to the characters and join in their world. Of course, an adaptation of a book is not going to be exactly the way you imagined it; it would be unrealistic to expect the adaptation to be an exact retelling of the story. However, a good adaptation shouldn’t make unnecessary changes, and, any changes that it does make, should enhance the story, while still sticking to the heart of what the story is about. Little Fires Everywhere made a lot of changes ...

Connell is popular. Marianne is awkward and a loner. Marianne’s family has money and she lives in a large house. Connell’s mom, who was only a teenager when she had him, cleans Marianne’s house. There is really no reason for their paths to ever cross. And yet, they do. Again, and again. From their last year in school and throughout their undergraduate career, Connell and Marianne keep finding each other. Sally Rooney’s Normal People explores the friendship and love between two people who just can’t stay apart from each other. I love books that explore relationships over a long period of time. I love to see couples find a way to overcome any obstacle that is thrown their way and still be together. Normal People is one of these books. Connell and Marianne are introduced as two people with nothing in common aside from the small town they’ve grown up in. However, as they continue to interact, it becomes more evident that they need each other in their lives. I couldn’t put the...

Natalie Tan returns to her once thriving San Franciscan Chinatown neighborhood home after hearing the news of her mother’s death. Natalie left seven years ago, after fighting with her agoraphobic mother about her desire to become a chef, like her grandmother before her. After all this time, Natalie finds that the neighborhood is not as she left it, now facing the threat of gentrification and capitalism. Natalie inherits her grandmother’s restaurant and hopes reopening the restaurant will help to revitalize the neighborhood, bringing back some of their history. She meets with the neighborhood seer, who tells her that success will come by cooking three recipes from her grandmother’s recipe book, that will help the neighbors. Natalie is hesitant, for she resents the neighbors she believes left her alone to tend to her mother growing up. But, when Natalie starts cooking, she finds many surprises and opportunities as the result of her food. After just reading a book involving fo...

The TV show, High Fidelity is adapted from both the book and the movie. Right from the start there are few obvious changes from both the book and the film. The TV show reverses the gender of Rob, and her being a woman brings upon some changes to her past experiences and relationships. Whereas the book takes place in London and the movie takes place in Chicago, the TV show takes place in Brooklyn. Also, the book was written in the 90s and the movie was produced in 2000. This adaptation is a modern take on the story, which, again, brings about some changes from the original story. Rob in the TV show has been dumped. However, now a year has gone by since the ex has left her to move across the pond to London. Now, he’s back in town, with his new girlfriend. She moves him into her top five most devastating heartbreaks of all time. First in the top-five most devastating heartbreaks is Kevin Bannister (the name of the boy Rob’s first girlfriend kissed in the book and the movie), who,...

I watched High Fidelity years ago. But, since I just read the book, I wanted to watch the movie again. As a movie, its pretty good. The characters are intriguing, the plot is interesting, and the movie moves quickly. I think as a movie inspired by a book, it’s one of the better ones that I’ve seen. The movie stays true to the book. There are also so many lines taken verbatim from the book, which I appreciated.   One reason that books are usually better than the movie, is because there is so much more information in the books. The author can tell the reader what is going on in the character’s mind, revealing his deepest thoughts. This inner monologue usually doesn’t translate on screen. However, in High Fidelity , John Cusack, who plays the main character, Rob, breaks the fourth wall and reveals his thoughts directly to the audience. I think that it works well, and I enjoyed this way of storytelling. Though I’m also glad that not every movie does it. I think that part of the ...

Rob, the owner of a record store and a music lover, has just been dumped by his girlfriend. This latest rejection doesn’t even rank in the top five of his most devastating breakups. And yet, he can’t seem to get over her. To understand why he keeps getting rejected, he decides to revisit those top five most devastating breakups to learn why things didn’t work out. Rob is an unlikable character. He has very strong opinions about music and judges those who don’t agree with him. He’s unambitious, continuing to work in the failing record store, rather than put himself out there and try something new. It is unsurprising that these are the reasons why his girlfriends have left him. He becomes too stuck in his ways and judgmental. He never shows a real interest in his girlfriends but tries to make them more like himself. His latest ex, Laura even complains that he only makes compilation tapes with the songs he likes, as opposed to making tapes with songs she likes. He never fully comm...

Last Spring, I attended BookCon in New York City. In all four of the panels that I attended, at least one member of the panel mentioned Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors by Sonali Dev. Each author spoke highly of the book and how important it was in adding diverse voices to the romance genre. The admiration for Dev that these authors had instantly made me add the book to my “To Be Read” list. Trisha Raje is a successful neurosurgeon who is passionate for her work. Despite her achievements in her career, she feels like the black sheep of her family. Years after an event almost jeopardizes her beloved older brother’s political aspirations, she still carries the guilt with her. DJ Caine is a private chef, who, like Trisha, has a deep passion for his career. His life is uprooted when his younger sister, the only family he has left, is diagnosed with a terminal tumor and he moves from Paris to San Francisco. Trisha and DJ’s paths cross as she is the only doctor who can operate on...