Book vs. Movie: Warm Bodies

And Book vs. Movie is BACK! *eep of excitement!*

 

                                                                        VERSUS
So, last week I finally saw the movie Warm Bodies after reading the book back in January. And here are my thoughts from my brain that has yet to be eaten by a corpse.

*SPOILERS BEWARE AVERT YOUR EYES*

Major Differences: (thanks to this blog for help with the list!)

• M and Nora don't have a hopeful potential romance like in the book.
• The movie's human city didn't take place in a sports stadium
• They left out R's family in the movie version (which I was thankful for)
• The loss of Julie's mother isn't as prominent
• M became a comic relief character (which I did not mind)
• In the movie, the last human R kills is Perry
• While it ends on a similar note, the ending of the movie becomes only loosely based on the book's ending

Me Being Stupid: Do you ever not notice something about a book/movie but when someone points it out, it's like "Why didn't I see this before?" For me and this movie, it's the fact that Warm Bodies is a retelling of Romeo and Juliet. I don't know how I didn't see it before and I've been mentally kicking myself. There's R (Romeo), Julie (Juliet), M (Mercutio), Perry (Paris), and Nora (Nurse). It's obvious. 

Which Do I Pick?: I think I liked the movie more, because I had a tough time getting into a zombie book but I liked the whole zombie flick. But the book was still good, well-written and funny. I just prefer the movie. 

Tell me what you guys thought down in the comments!

Have a great day!

Owyn

P.S. Nicholas Hoult is very attractive. That is all.

OMG Fierce Reads Author Lunch

Salutations!

As one of the many perks of being an intern here, I got to accompany my bosses Stephanie and Liesl to a lunch on Pearl Street with the four authors from Fierce Reads: Leigh Bardugo (Shadow and Bone, Siege and Storm), Anna Banks (Of Poseidon, Of Triton), Jessica Brody (My Life Undecided, Unremembered) and Emmy Laybourne (Monument 14, Monument 14: Sky on Fire)

First of all, I read all the books for the event and it made it SO MUCH MORE FANTASMAGORICAL.

Since I have a horrible memory (even though this was just a couple hours ago), I decided to tell you some amazing things that I managed to remember:

Anna:
- We somehow managed to try to get her fourth book title of Testicle/Tentacles and I hope she does name the book the latter and accidentally says the former.
- She just threw in so many sassy, sarcastic comments throughout and it reminded me of her books.

Emmy:
-She told this amazing story how she drove up skiing with her friends and they forgot to get a hotel so they went to this shady place instead. And then the spigot from the faucet in the kitchen was missing and it totally freaked her out.
-She also made fun of me for scraping all the toppings on my pizza but I don't need her judgment ;)

Jessica:
- She told us these awesome stories of how she used to work at Disney World and told us all the secrets. (We'd leak them here but no one wants a Disney lawsuit)
- We also fangirled over How I Met Your Mother. That was amazing.

Leigh:
- She just had these amazing stories and also threw in her witty quips that were fantastic.
- My favorite story was when she was watching The Titanic and was sitting next to this man who kept mumbling throughout the movie. When it got to the part Kate Winslet took off her clothes, he said "MAGNIFICENT" and now whenever people mention the movie that's what she associates it with.

But yes, these people are so amazing and the books are SO GOOD. I recommend them highly.

Ta ta!

Owyn

Plot Wars: Prom and Prejudice vs. Epic Fail

Hello everyone! The BBS Intern Owyn is BACK with a blogging vengeance!

So, for my first day, I decided to start a series of blog posts called Plot Wars, which will pit two books with similar plots against each other and one shall rise the victor!

The first two books are Prom and Prejudice by Elizabeth Eulberg and Epic Fail by Claire LaZebnik. 

VERSUS

The Set-Up:

• Prom and Prejudice focuses on Lizzie Bennett, a piano-playing girl on scholarship at Longbourn Academy. Due to her constant bullying for being poor, she's developed a mistrust and distaste for rich people. And then she meets Will Darcy, a rich man with a mistrust and distaste for poor people. With the huge prom coming up, will they be able to give up their prides and prejudices?
• Epic Fail is about middle-class girl Elise Benton who moves to a new school with her principal-mom and four sisters. Derek Edwards is the son of two famous actors and is pretty much royalty around their school. Unfortunately, her sister falls for his best friend. Is there a way to refuse his amazing smile and embrace his known-enemy Webster Grant?

Similarities:

They are both modernizations of Pride and Prejudice.
-A brooding male lead
-A romance between the friends of the male and female lead
-A character who uses people to get wealth.
-A wealth gap between the leads
-A big event (Prom versus a Movie Premiere)
They're both set in the 2010s

They both have a attention-seeking younger sibling character who falls whim to the guiles and charms of Wickham/Webster (that I despised.)

Differences:

Eulberg's is more obvious about the fact it's a retelling of Pride and Prejudice. Same character names, same plot, just with some modern slang and euphemisms... Yo.

LaZebnik's uses fame instead of richness as the separating factor, making Derek Edwards the son of prominent actors and Elise the daughter of her prep school's principal.

Lizzie's character punches Wickham's character in Eulberg's version (YES BRING ON THE PAIN)

WHO WINS???

I think Prom and Prejudice wins because Darcy was more likable than Derek and less annoyed-sigh-inducing, Lizzie punched Wick, and Epic Fail was too preachy when it came to the way Paparazzi treat celebrities. While I admit it must get annoying, I don't need to hear about how much it sucks. They get free things. No complaining. 

If you want to read a modernization of Pride and Prejudice, then I'd recommend Prom and Prejudice.

Glad to be back!

Owyn

P.S. Check me out on my personal blog The Bookstore Intern Chronicles!

Nice 'ta Meetcha Monday 12/03/12

Welcome back! This week's edition of Nice 'ta Meetcha' Monday will be featuring two of the most important members of the Boulder Book Store team...the legendary ladies of the Business Office, LuAnn & Tracy.

LuAnn Harris --

• When did you start working at BBS? 
  
  •  I started working at the Boulder Book Store on 5/2/05
• What is your role on the floor?
• My role on the floor is to the avoid the floor/customers at all costs! I am the Business Manager and Bookstore Mom.
• Where are you from originally and what brought you to Boulder?
  
  • I am originally from Florida and my ex-husband's job brought us to the area.
• What are some of your favorite genres/specific titles?
  
  • My favorite genre is mystery.

• What is your favorite thing about working at BBS?
• My favorite thing about working here is all the employees. I truly do love my "kids" and I love how kind and wonderful they are to each other.
• What is one unique/interesting fact about you that one wouldn't necessarily learn in ordinary conversation?
• The only unique/interesting thing I can think of about myself is that the best thing I ever did in my whole life is to adopt my son, Scott. He is 19-years-old now and has worked summers here for about three years now and many of the staff know him.

Tracy -- 

• When did you start working at BBS?
•  I started in Summer of 2009 right around the time I turned 30-years-old.
• What is your role on the floor?

• I've done almost every job available at BBS. I started as a bookseller, moved to shipping and receiving, then spent a year as the Head Buyer's assistant. Now I am Business manager/Bookstore Mom LuAnn's assistant in the business office. My days are spent counting the previous day's cash and paying our vendors. I'm an accounting nerd so it's my favorite job by far.
• Where are you from originally and what brought you to Boulder?
• I grew up in Southern California where I learned to loath the sun. In 2003, I escaped to Portland where I met my partner Bryce, a mathematician, who decided to go to graduate school at CU.
• What are some of your favorite genres/specific titles?
• My all-time favorite books are the Sandman graphic novels by Neil Gaiman. I judge book by their covers on a regular basis, it is often how I choose my next read. A quirky western called The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt is one of my favorite books/covers from the last year.
  
• What is your favorite thing about working at BBS?
• My fellow employees for sure. We're a goofy bunch of dorks.
• What is one unique/interesting fact about you that one wouldn't necessarily learn in ordinary conversation?
•  I want to live in the middle of nowhere and rarely come into contact with human civilization.
  

Nice ta Meetcha Monday, 11/26/12

Hullo there everybody. Hope that everyone has settled stomachs after Thanksgiving and that it was an enjoyable holiday. Here's is another weekly installment of Nice ta' Meetcha Mondays. This week, we are only featuring two employees, but they are fantastic: Hayden & the man with the plan, Arsen.

Hayden Griggs --

• When did you start working at BBS? 
  
  •  I started in August of 2012 
• What is your role on the floor?
• To ensure the happiness and well-being of our customers and make sure that those who come into our store keep loving literature as much as I do. Down with Amazon.
• Where are you from originally and what brought you to Boulder?
  
  • I am from Boulder, born and raised.  
• What are some of your favorite genres/specific titles?
  
  • Victorian era fin-de-siecle literature (HG Wells, Oscar Wilde, Jules Verne, Bram Stoker, etc.) and Science Fiction and Fantasy (Orson Scott Card, Neil Gaiman, etc.) My favorite books are Oscar Wilde's Picture of Dorian Gray and Patrick Suskind's Perfume: The Story of a Murderer. You also can't go wrong with Arthur Conan Doyle.

• What is your favorite thing about working at BBS?
• The booksellers. Everyone who works here works here for a reason. We love literature.
• What is one unique/interesting fact about you that one wouldn't necessarily learn in ordinary conversation?
• Claymation gives me nightmares.

Arsen -- 

• When did you start working at BBS?
•  September of 1992
• What is your role on the floor?
• I am the buyer of all new books in the store. The arbiter of literary newness. I keep the shelves fresh and updated. Also, I answer oddball questions with very little background information, ie: what is that book by that one woman who wrote that other book and I think the cover was green? 
• Where are you from originally and what brought you to Boulder?
• I am from Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love, and ironically enough it was brotherly love that brought me here. A good friend lived out here and visiting the area made me love it.
• What are some of your favorite genres/specific titles?
• Literary fiction, confessional poetry, and first-person baseball history books. Jewish American writers such as Philip Roth or Bernard Malamud are some of my favorites because it is serious-themed literature that can incorporate humor. Also, Junot Diaz, Zadie Smith, and Jhumpa Lahiri are fantastic. 
  
• What is your favorite thing about working at BBS?
• There's something new every day! Every 10 seconds for that matter.
• What is one unique/interesting fact about you that one wouldn't necessarily learn in ordinary conversation?
•  I got drunk with Gillian Flynn and at the same party proceeded to lie to Barack Obama about having read his book. Also, I was a sportswriter for a few years when I lived in Maryland, before moving to Colorado.
  

Nice ta Meetcha -- Monday, November 19th: Christian, Emily, Kyle W

Welcome back! Ready for another round of learning about three great BBS employees? Prepare yourself for this week's edition of Nice 'ta Meetcha Monday.

Christian --

• When did you start working at BBS?
• I started working at BBS a little over 3 years ago at the end of summer. I was thrilled to get the job.
•  What is your role on the floor?
• My role is to connect people with the books they love. Some customers are looking for something specific, but have no specific information, some customers have fragmentary information, and others are looking for something new, absorbing and unheard of; it is my job to make a happy couple between book between customer and book.  I am a literary detective. I also make jokes, tell funny stories and assist my other co-workers and whatever they need so that we all work together and help the store run smoothly. Aside from this I host authors events which is a lot of fun. I like connecting the authors with the public and make sure that this relationship is smooth, comfortable and enjoyable for all.
• Where are you from originally and what brought you to Boulder?
• I was born in Springfield, Illinois, but my parents left when I was four and since then I grew up during the school year in Boulder and summers in Seattle. Aside from this I have lived in New York, Prague and eight years in St. Petersburg, Russia.
• What are some of your favorite genres/specific titles?
• I have too many favorite titles to list, but a current favorite is Tomorrow In The Battle Think On Me by Javier Marias. I like David Foster Wallace, Philip Roth, Sylvia Plath and in general literary fiction and poetry. Currently I am on a Latin American writer binge. Also Dostoyevsky, Bugalkov's The Master and Margarita, Anna Ahkmatova and Russian poets of The Silver Age, Anna Karenina and Joan Didion.
• What is your favorite thing about working at BBS?
• My favorite thing about BBS are the wonderful people I see every day. Without them this would not be the Boulder Book Store. I also enjoy our diverse, eclectic and often eccentric clientele. And of course all the books and my generous employee discount.
• What is one unique/interesting fact about you that one wouldn't necessarily learn in ordinary conversation?
• Most people wouldn't know that for several years while growing up on Bluff Street in Boulder, Allen Ginsberg lived just a few houses down from us.

Emily -- 

• When did you start working at BBS?
•  June 2012
• What is your role on the floor?
• Bookseller, Card and Sidelines Buyer
• Where are you from originally and what brought you to Boulder?
• Seattle, WA, but I've lived many places.  I have family throughout Colorado and figured I'd give Boulder a try! Plus, it's safe to bike here. :)
• What are some of your favorite genres/specific titles?
•  I love the classics and literature in general.  I particularly enjoy Latin American magical realism and 19th century British Literature.  I'm also a big fan of John Steinbeck and Virginia Woolf.  I studied science so I always enjoy a science writer who understands the value of entertaining writing!  Sam Kean and Richard Preston come to mind. I also love to cook and travel so the cooking section and travel sections are among my favorites.  Some books I've loved recently? Every Lonely Planet book I've picked up, The Art of Travel by Alain de Botton, Wild by Cheryl Strayed, The Life of Pi by Yann Martel, Yoga and the Path of the Urban Mystic by Darren Main, The Wisdom of No Escape by Pema Chodron.  Some of my all time favorites include East of Eden, 100 Years of Solitude, Zorba the Greek, Like Water for Chocolate, Mrs. Dalloway, A Room of One's Own, The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath, and Hamlet.
  
• What is your favorite thing about working at BBS?
• My book discount? The wonderful staff? Talking to people about books all day? It's hard to choose!!
• What is one unique/interesting fact about you that one wouldn't necessarily learn in ordinary conversation?
•   I have visited 26 countries.

Kyle --

• When did you start working at BBS?
•  Mid September, 2012
• What is your role on the floor?
• I am the revised edition of the Promotions and Marketing Assistant. I make signs, tend to the recommended shelves, and mess around with this blog thing. And also do any and all of Stephanie's grunt work.
• Where are you from originally and what brought you to Boulder?
• I'm from Doylestown, PA, a small town outside of Philadelphia, far away on the Eastern side of things. What didn't bring me to Boulder? Mountains, adventures, a big change in life. I mean, it's completely fantastic.
• What are some of your favorite genres/specific titles?
• I love reading classics, literary fiction, sci-fi/fantasy, and young adult lit. Some favorite all time titles include the Harry Potter series, all JD Salinger, Ayn Rand, The World According to Garp by John Irving, all Jonathan Franzen and John Green. Best of the year: Sailor Twain by Mark Siegel (an incredibly wonderful graphic novel - check it out!)
• What is your favorite thing about working at BBS?
• The books. I feel more at home surrounded by literature than most things. Since I've moved out here I've been made to feel very welcome by everyone that works here so that too has been great.
• What is one unique/interesting fact about you that one wouldn't necessarily learn in ordinary conversation?
• Okay, I'll admit it, I have three cats.

Nice ta Meetcha-- Monday, November 12th: Taylor, Katie, & Christine

Hello again. Today, we're back to an all-girl lineup for the BBS Staff E-Meet-N-Greets. Enjoy!

Taylor --

• When did you start working at BBS?
•  I started working here in June this year (June 2012).
• What is your role on the floor?
• I'm a bookseller and coordinator, which means I do what the booksellers do but I also get to hold a cool yellow phone.
• Where are you from originally and what brought you to Boulder?
• I'm from Centennial, CO originally. I came to Boulder to attend CU but also because the ever-growing presence of cookie-cutter houses in my hometown gave me the creeps.
• What are some of your favorite genres/specific titles?
• Right now I'm working on Stoker's Dracula and enjoying it. The Little Prince never gets old and is my go-to comfort book. I'm crazy for magical realism but branching out of that I'm definitely a sci-fi/fantasy girl. I love Abarat by Clive Barker, The Foundation Trilogy by Asimov and anything Vonnegut. One of my favorite books is Life of Pi by Martel. Recently, I've been delving into a little non fiction. I read Air by William Bryant Logan (he also wrote Dirt: The ecstatic Skin of the Earth, which is worth reading) and I loved it. What I'm getting to is that I am addicted to reading and I will read just about anything I can get my hands on. 
• What is your favorite thing about working at BBS?
• I have the best co-workers around and that makes this a great place to be. It puts me in a good mood which definitely helps with the customer service aspect of our job. Also: books. That one's self explanatory.
• What is one unique/interesting fact about you that one wouldn't necessarily learn in ordinary conversation?
• I am terrified of cotton balls and participating in choreographed/organized dancing.

Katie -- 

• When did you start working at BBS?
•  Halloween day, 2011
• What is your role on the floor?
• I am a bookseller and an Event Host
• Where are you from originally and what brought you to Boulder?
• I was born in Denver but raised in Aspen and Denver, I came to Boulder for school, hooray learning!
• What are some of your favorite genres/specific titles?
• I had a weird obsession with the classics for awhile. Everything from Tolstoy to the Bronte sisters (except for Anne, poor, sweet Anne is always left out) Jane Austen and pretty much anything else you can find in the Dover Thrift section. My favorite book of all time is probably The Great Gatsby but that's impossible to know for sure. I really love Neil Gaiman, Leif Enger, but Jack Kerouac I love more than most. This could go on forever. I don't really stay in one genre, I will read any book that is nearby, I think that's what's great about books, though, there's an unending variety!
  
• What is your favorite thing about working at BBS?
• The people I work with, and Buster's giant bowl of candy, that's pretty neat too.
• What is one unique/interesting fact about you that one wouldn't necessarily learn in ordinary conversation?
• I'm a twin, but seeing as that is becoming increasingly less interesting (everyone has a twin these days) I will also add that I learned to ski when I was not even a year old.

Christine --

• When did you start working at BBS?
•  October 8th, 2008
• What is your role on the floor?
• The last two years I've been the Assistant in the Marketing and Promotions department. The last few months, I've also added ordering books to my list of things I'm in charge of. Really though, I just do everything.
• Where are you from originally and what brought you to Boulder?
• I'm originally from Cleveland, Ohio. My cousin's empty room and my lack of immediate prospects post-college-graduation brought me to Boulder.
• What are some of your favorite genres/specific titles?
• I love most books. Words are wonderful. Lately, I've been a big fan of Ruta Sepetys (she wrote Between Shades of Gray -- NOT to be confused with 50 Shades of Grey -- and will soon come out with Out of the Easy in February). In the last few years, some of my favorites have included Let the Great World Spin and Brooklyn. And really most books. Talk to me about books.
• What is your favorite thing about working at BBS?
• The people. I'm actually leaving at the end of November to live closer to my inlaws and I'm certainly going to miss my coworkers and working with books in general. The bookselling industry is pretty dismal in Pittsburgh (where I'm headed). Stores there have not fared as well as BBS. I've been fortunate enough to meet so many people (both staff and customers...and authors!).
• What is one unique/interesting fact about you that one wouldn't necessarily learn in ordinary conversation?
• When i was in high school, I owned enough pairs of ridiculous socks to fill a suitcase. Also I lived in Canada for 5 years of my childhood.