This was an interesting read for me; I’ve long been a fan of the movie, which is a delight, and I was curious how the book measured up. I’m sorry to say, I honestly do enjoy the film more. That’s never happened to me before. I’ve enjoyed the book and film version equally, and seen them as different beasts (e.g. Fight Club , The Princess Bride , most TV adaptations of detective series...) and I’ve certainly had much-beloved books whose movie versions horrified me (e.g. The Hobbit ; who decided there should be 3 installments and none of them good?!). But I’ve never before preferred the film’s ending to the book’s ending, and that’s exactly what happened with Stardust . As a reader and a writer, I can understand why that happened. The film script was actually written by Gaiman himself, and he certainly played with the difference in medium like an expert! What it boils down to is, the film version is always fast, always adventurous, and the characters are defined (along with your opin...
I got this school year rolling with a thin, sweet, and incredibly moving piece. Rainbow Rowell, author of Fangirl , Carry On , and other fantastic books about modern geekhood and emotions, has outdone herself with this 62-page novelette, written for World Book Day 2017. I never knew I could feel so many feels after knowing the characters for such a small amount of time. Kindred Spirits is about Elena, a Star Wars superfan who decides she ought to celebrate The Force Awakens ' release by camping in line at the theater. She's seen pictures and read accounts of how people filled block after block when the previous films came out, and so even though it's winter in Omaha, she's sure she'll find a community of peers who care just as much as she does for Luke, Leia, Han, and their galaxy far away. Instead she finds she's one of only 3 people willing to line up in advance... but Star Wars means so much to her that she stays anyway and has a truly unique experience, ge...