Hated both :)

Two books for me:

1. The Perfect Storm. Emotional, intense, action-packed movie with romance and heartbreak. The book had a tiny snippet into the story of the ship and her crew, but spent so much time focusing on other stuff to fill pages.

2. Into the Wild. The movie was just SO good. From the soundtrack to the cast and scenery, it’s breathtaking and packed such an emotional punch for me. It’s an unforgettable movie. The book was often interesting and captured the nomadic soul of McCandless, but didn’t have the same emotional impact on me as the movie did.

In both of these cases I watched the movie first, so that might factor in. But I’m pretty confident with these choices.

I haven’t read the book yet but remember feeling absolutely hopeless despair when I watched the movie. It’s cool that transferred well to the film

I loved Blue Nights too, and also cried

Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell - the way she brought the Shakespeare family to life was so impactful. I can’t describe what the last chapter did to me… some of the most artful writing I’ve ever read!! It’s such a beautiful, special story.

Shuggie Bain ❤️ loved it while also dreading it. If you enjoyed that one then you have to read Stuart’s new book from earlier last year, Young Mungo ❤️ I love Mungo as much as Shuggie

If you like Shakespeare, then Hamnet is a MUST read. The way she brings all these historical folks to life is just breathtaking. And the weaving in of Anne Hathaway’s grief over the real life death of her son to the opening night of Shakespeare’s Hamlet is just…BAHHH soooo gooood the ending is completely beautifully breathtaking

This one stuck with me so hard too! The power of hubris… sheesh. Krakauer depicts the various characters so beautifully, I feel like I know them all and it made for such an impactful reading experience. Was obsessed with this story for months.

Love this fun fact

Addie LaRue is one of my favourite books EVER. Read early last year and still cherish it.

A recommendation I have based on that one is The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna by Juliet Grames. Both books showed me why magical realism is so special.

I still get goosebumps when I think of this book. Marie on the beach for the first time… just stunningly written. It is one absolutely gorgeous book. I echo the sentiments of others who are afraid to watch the series because there’s no way it can hold up! Have heard good things from people who haven’t read the book, so I’m curious.

This is such a beautiful read, I still tear up when I think about Marcellus 😭 if you enjoyed this one, I recommend The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak … the same way you fell in love with an octopus, you will fall in love with a fig tree.

A couple 2023 reads live rent-free in my mind…

• How High We Go In The Dark by Seqoia Nagamatsu
• Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell

Agreed, haven’t read it since I first did in high school and loved it so much. Considering revisiting it as an adult but also worried about the cheese