The Perpetual Debate on the Book vs. the Film

As the Story Goes

“A picture is worth a thousand words.” Does this time-honored axiom hold up in modern cinema? We have watched through the decades as film-making has advanced ten-fold with improved CGI (Computer-Generated Imagery) and motion capture technologies. We have even seen classics such as Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” remade and retold in movies countless times since its creation in 1818, but to what end? Surely if you could capture the imagery kindled by a readers imagination on the big screen, we would have done it by now, no?
On the other hand, isn’t it much simpler to experience a story in vibrant colors and imagery without the tedious perusal of paragraphs on paragraphs of visual depictions and adjectives – not to mention keeping track of all of the names and references listed in longer novels?

The Bibliophile or the Cinephile

The Bibliophile

If you have read the book before you’ve seen the movie, already you’ve created a universe of your own imagining, and soared through the narrative arc creating personal meaning and memories of the tale. Each character’s name brings a face and a story of its own; the tragedy, adventure, or turmoil ascribed to them is the reader’s own. You walked with the hobbits through every step of the journey to Mordor, you stood in the court room alongside Atticus Finch, and you rode the dragons with Eragon. How can the experience of a theater buff possibly compare?

The Cinephile

From the movie-goers perspective, though, how could one enjoy a book if they’ve seen the story in IMAX 3D? You could spend a hundred pages to detail one frame of the final confrontation in Avengers: Endgame or almost any moment in James Cameron’s Avatar. The pace of the silver screen is much faster too – you can watch 3 movies in under 4.5 hours, but reading a novel can take days, and the book becomes less of a page-turner when you can see the twists coming (plus you don’t get the convenience of pre-popped popcorn and a large soda in your recliner at home). In addition, the farsighted demographic may have a bias in favor of the cinema

The Conclusion

Undoubtedly, the experience can be left up to the preference of the individual; though it seems more likely for an avid reader to go to see the movie than it is for a theater buff to pick the book up off the shelf. Directors of the silver screen are allowed to impart their own interpretation of a story to the viewer through the various scenes in a movie (whether including or excluding details of events), while novelists leave subjective context for the reader to create their own explication. So which do you prefer? Are you an avid filmaholic or a die-hard bibliomaniac?

Hilarious Books – More than Meet the Eye

Hilarious Books Inspire Insight


Avid readers whose favorite genre is light-hearted comedy often find the hilarious plot offers a realistic drama readers relate to easily. Authors who write books in this genre do so knowing the comedic plot builds to a dramatic climax that holds reader interest to the last page.

The Drama in Funny Books


The seemingly insignificant, vignettes found in funny books with plots based on everyday life create the landscape from which readers draw dramatic conclusions. For example, murder mysteries are not without their funny moments.

Perhaps, the murder has multiple suspects as characters who may unwittingly place a spotlight on their connection to the murder by the simple act of inexplicable, yet humorous whereabouts.

Nearly all characters in funny books are described to meet a cohesive plot. Even police investigating a murder can be portrayed in ways that make their characters appear to be hilarious while they are employing high investigatory drama.

How Hilarity and Drama Work Together


The scene at the funeral of a prominent celebrity is cloaked in drama until tearful mourners arrive graveside and pallbearers with shaking hands accidentally dump the deceased’s coffin upside down into the open grave. Mourners struggle to stifle their laughter while red faced pall bearers grope to right the coffin.

This is funny drama that works for those with a ready sense of humor. There are relatively few life episodes that do not provoke laughter through high drama. Authors who are skilled in blending drama and funny situations understand the delicate balance that exists between these two literary mediums.

A simple trip to market can blend drama and comedy when a grocer uncovers a pilferer loading his pockets with goods. The pilferer hurries for the door just as his pockets empty stolen goods all over the floor and police arrive on the scene to witness the crime.

Reader Visualization


Readers imagine funny characters based on author description. A vicar at a church may be visualized by readers as a rotund, mustached cleric even when the author alluded otherwise simply due to the vicar’s name or his actions.

Children characterized dramatically in hilarious novels fall prey to whims of their interactions with their parents, siblings and playmates.

Readers pick up certain childish nuances that combine drams and funny situations. When seven year old Tommy gets his head stuck in a narrow fence rail as a result of a dare from playmates, the situation is highly dramatic until he recounts the episode to his parents and siblings years later. Drama thus becomes a funny childhood memory readers enjoy and helps remind them of their own childhood and dramatically hilarious experiences.

The Lessons Learned


Of the many benefits of drama and humor blended in books, readers find it easy to see the lessons drama and humor in literature teach. What begins as an enjoyable, funny story for readers provides drama that implies a moral to the story contained within the pages of the book.

This is proof that a well written hilarious book weaves drama and humor with intentional insight into human nature.

Five Perfect Winter Reads

Are you ready for winter? These five books will transport you to the middle of a snowstorm, so have your hot chocolate ready before you turn the first page.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

This classic children’s tale is set in a winter wonderland, where the Pevensie children must battle the White Witch and bring spring back to Narnia. Packed full of sleigh rides, snow-covered woods and frozen waterfalls, this book masterfully evokes the harsh beauty of winter with every page. Sit back, snack on some Turkish delight, and travel back to childhood.

A Song of Fire and Ice series by George R. R. Martin

“Winter is coming.” Has any other modern fantasy series produced a more iconic phrase? Although these epic fantasy novels visit the sun-drenched gardens of Dorne and the blistering hot Red Waste, the Northern sections of Westeros dominate the pages. Whether you’re following along with the young Starks as they huddle by the fire in Winterfell, cheering for the Night’s Watch as they defend the solid ice of the Wall or holding your breath as Jon Snow encounters Wildlings in the freezing cold of the uncharted lands beyond the Wall, you’re never far from a long night of dark, unrelenting cold.

Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris

Are grimdark fantasy novels not for you? Do you long for some Christmas cheer to read as you sip hot cocoa beneath a pile of blankets? Try humorist David Sedaris’s collection of holiday-themed short stories, including his beloved, career-launching account of working as a Macy’s elf for one long Christmas season.

The Long Winter by Laurall Ingalls Wilder

Return to a simpler time with the sixth book in the Little House on the Prairie series. The Ingalls family must survive a harsh winter in North Dakota with the help of their neighbors. This realistic story showcases the importance of community and is packed with heart-warming moments like Laura and her sisters learning to make maple syrup candy, settlers sharing food with each other and a much-anticipated Christmas morning in May when the snow finally melts.

The Shining by Stephen King

Winter can be wonderful, but it can also be cruel and isolating. In this horror novel, a suffocating snowfall that traps the Torrance family in an isolated hotel, opening the door for malevolent spirits to torment Jack, Wendy and Danny. With each passing day, Jack grows more insane, and Wendy and Danny have no way to escape. Make sure to read this novel by a bright, crackling fire, or the wind that howls through the pages of this book may echo too loudly in your skull.

Whether you’re looking for a winter-themed read to cool yourself down during a sweltering summer day or a snow-centered adventure to get you through a long day huddled beneath blankets, these five books to read in the cold will take you on a magical journey.

The Top 10 Most Prolific Book Releases of March 2020

The Top 10 Most Prolific Book Releases of March 2020
The Top 10 Most Prolific Book Releases of March 2020

March is set to be a killer month for avid readers. There is an abundance of awesome new tomes to dive into. Here are the top 10 most anticipated book releases of March 2020.

Early March


1. House of Earth and Blood
This novel is the first in a new series by Sarah J, Maas. The story follows Bryce Quinlan as she attempts to avenge the death of her friends with the assistance of Hunt Athalar. The book expertly blends fantasy and romance into one compelling narrative.

2. You Are Not Alone
This psychological thriller is sure to keep you on your toes. The protagonist, Shay Miller, gets caught up in a bizarre plot that may change the course of her life forever. Co-authors Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen are set to recapture the magic from their previous collaborative works.

3. Deacon King Kong
This story takes place in 1960s New York and follows the aftermath of a shooting at the housing projects. James McBride spins a hopeful tale about the community coming together in the face of madness.

Mid-March


4. A Good Neighborhood
Two families will learn what it means to come together in this novel by Therese Anne Fowler. Witness how a burgeoning romance and a rustic oak tree is all people need to set aside their differences.

5. My Dark Vanessa
This book provides an interesting take on the #MeToo movement. A 15-year-old student and a 42-year-old teacher start a relationship behind the scenes. Almost two decades later, skeletons come out of the closet.

6. The Mirror and the Light
This the final installment of Hilary Mantel’s Thomas Cromwell trilogy. The story picks up in 1536, immediately after the prequel ended. Fans of the series won’t want to miss this one.

7. In Five Years
Dannie Cohan has a great career and a wonderful fiance. When she has a dream about being with another man five years later, she chalks it up to a bad dream. Things get interesting when she meets that dream man four and a half years later.

Late March


8. The City We Became
This love letter to New York is the first in a five-part series. Five residents must come together to defend their beloved city from a mysterious evil presence lurking below the earth.

9. Wow, No Thank You
In this collection of humorous essays by Samantha Irby, she recounts her experience of moving from the bustling Chicago streets to a quaint little town in Michigan.

10. The Glass Hotel
This mystery novel is penned by none other than Emily St. John Mandel. When a container ship goes missing off the coast of Mauritania, a Ponzi scheme in New York is set to rattle the lives of everyone involved.

Most Popular Books of 2019

Most Popular Books of 2019
Most Popular Books of 2019

Even if you’re living the perfect life, in the perfect location, there’s just something about summer that makes you long to experience new things. The best books of beach season all have that in common: a desire to escape place, time, or circumstance. We read the most highly awaited releases, both fiction and non-, and picked our preferences.

My Lovely Wife

By Samantha Downing

Central Escape: Instead of couples therapy, what if you kept your marriage alive by murdering young women?

Summary: A suburban couple’s proclivity for violence spirals out of control when the discovery of a victim’s body generates intense public interest, requiring an elaborate cover-up.

Best Line: “Millicent killed Robin the same way I had killed Holly. No hesitation. All instinct. And it was sexy.”

The Vagabonds

By Jeff Guinn

Central Escape: Hit the road with best friends Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, and Harvey Firestone at the dawn of the automotive era.

Summary: Nearly every year from 1914 to 1924, the three titans of American industry took a highly publicized road trip to promote “the possibilities of car travel.” It happened to be a pivotal decade that transformed the world.

Best Line: “It seemed a foolproof plan. And then, on August 2, President Warren G. Harding died.”

I’ll Never Tell

By Catherine McKenzie

Central Escape: Imagine how different your life would be if your parents ran a summer camp.

Summary: The five MacAllister siblings reunite at the family’s camp in rural Canada after the death of their parents. Their father’s will stipulates that four of them must determine if older brother Ryan killed camper Amanda Holmes 20 years ago.

Best Line: “Her father had been spying on them. All of them. For twenty years.”

Working

By Robert A. Caro

Central Escape: Put yourself in the shoes of America’s most recognized biographer.

Summary: The Power Broker author Robert A. Caro became a successful nonfiction writer in the U.S. through a journalistic approach to truth (“Can it be verified?”) and novel-worthy prose. His new book provides a peek into how he manages it all: hard work and a brilliant wife.

Best Line: “Interviews: Silence is the weapon, silence and people’s need to fill it—as long as the person isn’t you, the interviewer.”

Furious Hours

By Casey Cep

Central Escape: After working with Truman Capote on In Cold Blood, Harper Lee decamps back south to report her own crime novel.

Summary: An Alabama reverend, accused of murdering a growing list of family members for insurance money, is shot dead at the funeral of one of them. The trial of his killer captures the attention of the state’s most famous author.

Best Line: “A murdered person’s name always becomes synonymous with her murder; a murdered person’s death always threatens to eclipse her life.”

Three Women

By Lisa Taddeo

Central Escape: Take your pick of perspectives: an unloved housewife, a student in love with her teacher, or a restaurateur with a voyeuristic husband.

Summary: Lisa Taddeo tracked three women and conducted thousands of hours of interviews with them to understand, and portray, the nuances of female desire.

Best Line: “She wipes her eyes and walks out and passes the rest of her senior year like a kidney stone.”

The Golden Hour

By Beatriz Williams

Central Escape: A society reporter heads to Nassau in 1941 to cover the infamous Duke and Duchess of Windsor and their colorful coterie.

Summary: A shocking death under the Caribbean sun. A cover-up with a whiff of royal privilege. Williams mixes those ingredients with spies, swindles, love affairs—plus a dash of racial animosity—and the result is a zesty romantic cocktail.

Best Line: “Murder. It’s one of those words, isn’t it, that sounds as dreadful as the deed itself.”

City of Girls

By Elizabeth Gilbert

Central Escape: For a naive 19-year-old girl, nothing could be more alien than dizzy, post-Prohibition New York.

Summary: At 89, Vivian Morris takes a rollicking look back on her days as a promiscuous girl working with a cast of flamboyant characters at her aunt’s theater in the 1940s.

Best Line: “At some point in a woman’s life, she just gets tired of being ashamed. After that, she is free to become whoever she truly is.”

Honestly, We Meant Well

By Grant Ginder

Central Escape: A remote, run-down island is lovely for a vacation but maybe not where you want to live the rest of your life.

Summary: The Wright household needs to flee—their lives, their mistakes, and each other. Still, a hilariously misguided visit to certain overlooked ruins in Greece ends up unearthing more than just ancient history.

Best Line: “A mistake is mismatched socks or taking the Bay Bridge at rush hour. You didn’t make a mistake this time, Dad. You made a baby

Must Read Books of 2018

When we talk about the best books of 2018, there are a lot of books out there that really deserve a prize and a lot more than at least deserve an honorable mention. For the purposes of this article, we are going to look at the top vote-getters of the year and see what made them worthy of being at the top of the best of the best in 2018. These are the best books that 2018 gave us.

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A Crisis of Beliefs: Investor Psychology and Financial Fragility

This book helped to show a lot of people the reasons that we went through the economic crisis of 2008 and helps us to avoid making the same mistakes again. The authors of this book basically said that investors used the wrong type of Psychology when they were looking at the risks of the investments that they were going to make. According to the authors, if we are not careful, we could lead to this happening again if we are not careful.

Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don’t Have All the Facts

We all make calculated risks when we are betting at a casino, if we take that logic and apply it to everyday situations, then we can win at life just like we win in a casino. This is explained in great detail and helps the reader understand the thinking behind this theory. It really is a great read that a person should look at a reading next year to make some big changes in their life.

Fire Sermon

This tends to give the readers a unique look into the way that we perceive the world around us. One of the analogies that are used is that some days are furniture that all blends in together and brings the elements in our life together while other days represent different types and colors of furniture that tend to lead to there being constant chaos in our lives.

Network Propaganda: Manipulation, Disinformation, and Radicalization in American Politics

While there are a lot of books out there covering this subject, this is by far the one that you really need to make sure you read. It gives the reader an insight that they might not have otherwise had and shows the reader the way that things in our day to day lives can really have an impact into how the political machine really runs. If you are a political junkie, then this book will be a goldmine of facts and insight that you might not get anywhere else or even think about for that matter.

As you have been shown, there are a lot of books out there that really got peoples attention, but these were the ones that really got people talking about the book and helped to bring a new world of reading to those that may have just glazed over these books had they not been made aware of them. What were some of your books of 2018 that you felt were deserving of being on this list?