The Book Thief: Book or Movie?

So a couple of days ago, I watched the movie of The Book Thief and it was enjoyable. The filming was great, the cast was great... etc. And I thought I must do a comparison because why not? It is very well known that books are always a million times better and I do agree but still I thought someone could benefit from this? 
Comparing it to the book though of course the book wins, by far. If you haven't read the book but are considering the movie, you'd still enjoy it.
The choice of actors and actresses is brilliant, I should say. The acting and the directing was brilliant. It was definitely a good watch. What I didn't like of the movie was the way they portrayed Rosa Huberman (Mama). She's way more mean and strict in the movie, I think maybe because they didn't introduce the characters of Hans Junior or Trudy (her children who are quite hateful and strictly with the Nazi party) they made it up in her character. I don't think this is fair. In the book, she had no problem with Max, she never complained there was a Jew in her basement, she never complained that he was another mouth to feed when they couldn't feed themselves. Another point about her too in the movie was that when she got Liesel, she complained about her mother not taking care of her brother who died!  
Furthermore, in the movie there were scenes and events that were eliminated, and some characters too, which is a typical thing to do anyway but there were some symbolic scenes that were quite important to the plot and climax. 
All in all, still a beautiful, touching story and a great film nonetheless. Let me know your thoughts if you have seen the movie in the comments!

The Book Thief Reviewed

I finished reading The Book Thief last week and I must say, what a read! One of the most beautifully written and structured novels I have read, and that is definitely saying something. 
The Book Thief, written by Markus Zusak, centres around a young girl, Liesel Meminger, living during Nazi Germany who was fostered. What is really remarkable about this book is that it is narrated by Death. Zusak, in his immaculate writing, made Death more humane and affectionate than the Nazis and the fuhrer himself, that is, if he ever was affectionate.
The book begins with Death associating his picking up of souls with colours; mostly that of the sky. Throughout the book, you'll notice Death connecting colours with a lot of things.
When you're reading, Death will tell you who eventually dies or who's a bout to die in a certain chapter, so you can't really say there are spoilers. But this kind of makes the narrative that much more intense and gripping, in my opinion.
Death learns about Liesel when he picks up her brother's soul and is immediately interested in her. Moreover, her brother died on the way to their new home in his mother's arms on the train from a cold. They were to be fostered together. The boy, Werner, was burried by the tracks and that is when Liesel steals her first book, a guide book on how to bury the dead, which was dropped by a boy who was there to help bury her brother. They catch the next train to Molching where Liesel is to live with her new parents on Himmel street. At first, she was stubborn, she refused to go in their home, the Hubermans. We come to learn that Hans Huberman, Papa, is a loving, humble, kind and light delightful soul whom Liesel loved the most. Rosa Huberman, Mama, treated her with more of a tough love way but had a kind, big heart. Additionally and most importantly, the Hubermans proved all this when they took in and hid a Jew, Max. Well actually, it was with Liesel first because her father was killed for being a communist and her mother's whereabouts remain unknown. Perhaps she was put in a concentration camp. 
Moving along, Liesel struggles with coping with the trauma of her past and always wakes up at night, and Hans comes to comfort her, this is when he finds the book she stole and learns she can't read or write. And so commence the midnight lessons which later on transfer to the basement. Liesel makes friends with the next door neighbours' son, Rudy Steiner, who is such a sweet, typical young boy. He helps her later on with her book thieving. An exceptional trait of Rudy's was his refusing of Hitler's ideals and he was definitely not afraid to show it.

Furthermore, Max and Liesel find in each other so many things in common and grow very close. Max writes her two books; the second one was handed to her by Rosa after Max had to leave and I must say it is just gorgeous. Zusak's aim with the second book Max wrote, The Word Shaker, was to show how easily manipulative and brainwashing words can be, how gullible and willing people are and yet how some words can be sweet and kind. 
Not to drag this too far, The Book Thief is such a brilliant read and a beautiful addition to my shelf. It definitely is a book I'd read a thousand times and never get bored with. 

TBR: The Book Thief

Good Morning!
Hasn't the weather been crazy lately?! There's a sandstorm outside! Dust is getting everywhere and it's so hard to breathe; therefore perfect weather for staying in with a cuppa and a good read! I do still have to attend my classes at university though, plus all the work that needs to be done so I'll need my couple-hours a day's rest from all the chaos (only three weeks in and I already feel drained of all my energy!) So let's get on with the book shall we?
The Book Thief is the title of our first read. This book has been on my reading list for so so so long but I've been busy with other books first. Mum read the book and she absolutely loved it (my mum gets bored easily so it's a huge thing when she says she loves it!) We shall start this coming Saturday, 12/9/2015. I'm not sure whether to make it a monthly book-club or less, let me know what you'd prefer. I hope you join and enjoy the book! It'd be fun!

Fear the Walking Dead

I just can't get enough of The Walking Dead, what a fantastic show! So of course I had to start with the spin off, Fear the Walking Dead. If you haven't heard, they created FTWD to kind of show how the other side of USA (by that I mean the West Coast) was handling the apocalypse. The story is situated in LA mainly, although there have only been two episodes so far. What I really like about it though is that they started right when the apocalypse did; there aren't that many walkers yet and those who have come in interaction with them were considered nuts or on drugs. Of course, the government and a selection of people do know but they are treating it as a virus and waiting for the vaccination, but as we know from The Walking Dead, it uncontrollably breaks out and is very much unstoppable, so far.

Additionally, the theory of Walter White's blue ice may be approved or disapproved in the spin off. If you haven't watched Breaking Bad then you have no clue what I'm saying. Basically, Walter White creates and markets an almost pure methamphetamine that gets discoloured into a baby blue colour but ends up being his signature. The theory is that his meth caused the apocalypse, and if you were watching TWD closely-mainly the first couple of seasons- you might've spotted it. It was usually with the stash of medication Darryl picked out from his brother Merle's motorcycle, I believe this was season 2 when they were on the highway trafficked with abandoned cars, right when they lost Sophia and found the Greene house. Another incident was when Darryl was talking to Beth in season 5 and mentions "a janky little white guy" ,AKA Jesse Pinkman, and continues saying that he got fussy at Merle and said pulling out a gun "I'm gonna kill you, bitch!" which sounds very much as our beloved Jesse.
It does seem that AMC is subtly hinting TWD may be a prequel of Breaking Bad. I did think that the Ws that were scratched on the walkers' heads in the last season (season 5) was an initial of Walter, but it seems that it stands for the Wolves, who we will come to learn are the new rivals in the new season coming out in October.
Anyways, we were talking about Fear the Walking Dead weren't we LOL. Well it still very exclusive so there isn't much to say. The characters already seem very likable, haven't met any that you'd consider evil or backstabbing but we all know what they're going to go through and how their characteristics will develop and transform, take Rick for a very obvious example.
So if you really enjoy The Walking Dead, you will for sure like Fear the Walking Dead. If you have started let me know your thoughts and whether you're liking it or not.
Tootleloots!

First Thing's First

As the first post, I best introduce what this blog will hopefully center on. I've created this blog to share with you my hobbies and interests, including reading, writing, TV shows, movies...etc. I'm hoping to start a monthly book club with this blog where we'll read a book then discuss it once we're done.