Bout of Books 17: Challenge #1 & Reading Updates

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, August 22nd and runs through Sunday, August 28th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 17 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

Yay! Another Bout of Books! I'm so excited to get some reading done and hopefully tick off some books I've been meaning to finish. We recently moved and still have a lot of unpacking to do but hopefully I'll be able to get some reading time in.

Are you participating in Bout of Books 17? If so, how was your first day? And if not... well, why not?

:)

Hosted by Writing My Own Fairytale

Book-To-Movie Adaptations

All I need you to do is share with us your favorite book-to-movie adaptation and your least favorite book-to-movie adaptation. You can give reasons for your answers or just names, it’s really up to you how much you share. 

So here are my choices!

Favorite - Harry Potter Series

My favorite of the entire series (book AND movie) is Goblet of Fire but I really love the rest of the books and movies as well. Understandably, the movies do have their differences from the books but this is like the one and only time that the differences don't bother me. I think the movies were done so well that they pair well with the books and create an experience all their own. I love the books and movies equally. The only real issue I have with the movies is "HARRYDIDYAPUTYERNAMEINTHEGOBLETOFFIYAH?RAWRRRR"
Seriously?

Least Favorite - Twilight

Okay, okay. So Twilight in general was always a love/hate thing with most of the population. But I, admittedly, was one of the crazy twi-hards. I fell in love with Twilight not long after the books came out and I couldn't get enough. It refreshed my love of reading and I was insanely excited when I learned a movie was being made and I couldn't wait to see it.

When the Twilight movie was first released, I fangirled like crazy and my love for the books completely overshadowed the fact that the movie really wasn't that good. I never did care for the blue tint that's thrown over the entire movie but I never realized how unhappy I was with how it was made until recently when I sat down to watch it and I found myself cringing constantly.

I just don't think the movie was made well. And the story is so insanely rushed that none of it works. There's none of the good story there and the characters were even slightly changed. Bella was supposed to be this shy, quiet girl and in one of the first scenes she's goofing off with Billy and be insanely optimistic and social. 

I did enjoy the movie versions of New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn, but the Twilight movie could have been way better in my opinion.

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Day One Reading Updates
Strikethrough = finished
The First Taste by Jessica Hawkins (pages read: 62 )

Total Books Finished: 0
Total Pages Read: 62

Review: Beautiful Bastard by Christina Lauren

Cover Source: GoodReads.com

Title: Beautiful Bastard

Author: Christina Lauren

Series: Beautiful Bastard #1

Version Reviewed: Finished, eBook

Website: www.christinalaurenbooks.com

I purchased this book myself.

GoodReads Summary:

An ambitious intern. A perfectionist executive. And a whole lot of name calling.

Whip-smart, hardworking, and on her way to an MBA, Chloe Mills has only one problem: her boss, Bennett Ryan. He's exacting, blunt, inconsiderate—and completely irresistible. A Beautiful Bastard.
Bennett has returned to Chicago from France to take a vital role in his family's massive media business. He never expected that the assistant who'd been helping him from abroad was the gorgeous, innocently provocative—completely infuriating—creature he now has to see every day. Despite the rumors, he's never been one for a workplace hookup. But Chloe's so tempting he's willing to bend the rules—or outright smash them—if it means he can have her. All over the office.

As their appetites for one another increase to a breaking point, Bennett and Chloe must decide exactly what they're willing to lose in order to win each other.

Review:
This was one of those books that I had seen floating around for quite some time. It always seemed like one of the more “popular” contemporary romance books on the market but one that I never seemed to be able to get my hands on. One day I was looking through ebooks and Beautiful Bastard popped up so I said “what the hell” and bought it. And I’m so glad that I did.

The book was very accurately named. I loved that Bennett had a strong personality and that Chloe had an equally as strong personality and stood up to him so well. Individually, the two of them were extremely persistent and headstrong and together they were the perfect combination. A lot of books with strong characters usually have a more submissive female, which is perfectly okay if that's the type of dynamic they enjoy in the bedroom, but it was refreshing to see a female character as equally dominating as the male. 

This book was a great change of pace and I'm really glad that I sank my teeth into it. I'm not sure if I'll continue with the series, simply because I have many other books I need to read, but I do definitely recommend Beautiful Bastard. Great read!

Rating: 4 Stars. 

Bout of Books 17: Sign Up Post

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, August 22nd and runs through Sunday, August 28th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 17 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

So if you guys have been around my blog for any length of time, then you probably already know about Bout of Books. I've participated in the read-a-thon for the past couple of years and I really, really enjoy it! Usually, I set a goal for myself that's a little unrealistic. I'm a pretty slow reader and with everything going on in my life, I tend to not be able to read as often as I'd like. So, this time, instead of creating a lists of books to read, my goal is to just read as MUCH as possible! If I finish one book, cool! If I finish ten books, well... that's even cooler!

Bout of Books is a ton of fun, so if you're interested in checking it out yourself, click on the links above or the button at the top of the post for more information! Hope you join in!

Goal: READ!