books – Page 2 – Mimi's Thoughts

Different strokes

I remember, I think it was two years ago. I logged into a book club I belonged to, as I tried to catch up on all I had missed for the duration of my absence, I noticed a comment from the anchor, she said “If anyone suggests anything by Colleen Hoover I am going to have to remove them from the group”.

I was startled. Why would she say that? I didn’t bother to find out why. I just went on ahead with my life. I didn’t participate in the group so much anymore.

I had never read anything by Hoover before this time. Shortly after that, I came across one of her books from her ‘Maybe’ series. ‘Maybe Someday’ was an interesting read for me, I think it was a good book. It left me with mixed feelings but I think it was well written.

I attempted the other two in the series but I didn’t quite feel it. I never finished any of the two.

A couple of weeks ago, I realized that a book I had been meaning to read for a while was being made into a film and I recently made a habit of reading books and then seeing the films, so I jumped on the book.

The book is a novel by Colleen Hoover; ‘It Ends With Us’.

There are a lot of mixed reviews about this book and the film too.

It’s from these reviews that I realized why the anchor of that book club had spoken that way. A lot of people believe Hoover writes as though she favours the wrong that has been done…I don’t think so.

A few days ago I wrote on Zoom in and how Tyler Perry movies usually left me sad, so I know how people must feel about Hoover’s writing, but they can just be like me… If it bothers you that much, just avoid it.

Yeah, I don’t watch Sci-fi, horror or anything that breaks me mentally…but I don’t condemn it. I just avoid it.

My review of the book will come when I’ve seen the film… I would recommend it though. It’s good. It’s got a few good lessons…for me.

This and then that

I like to read books and then watch the television adaptations. I’m not sure when I decided I liked this but in the last six months, I’ve gone from the Lost flowers of Alice Hart by Holly Ringland to The Idea of you by Robin Lee and then Beth O’Leary’s The Flat Share.

I love The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart. The book taught me a few new things and then it made me think too…I love it when a book makes me pause just to think. The television series was just okay.

I had a lot to say about The Idea of You in my posts The Idea Of You and The Idea of You…2… book and film were lovely.

For The Flat Share, I loved the book but I think the television version could have been better than the attempt that was made. You see, it’s such a good story line, two people who share a flat but never get to see each other until they finally do of course. Tiffy gets the Flat from 6pm to 8am on weekdays and weekends. Leon, who actually owns the Flat works nights at a hospice, so he gets 8am to 6pm on weekdays and spends the weekends at his girlfriend’s place. Convenient and economical for both of them. The novel plays out nicely and it ends well. I can’t say the same for the film, a six part series, forty five minutes each.

Next in line…The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave, I’ve got a forty pages to go with the book. I hope I enjoy the television series. I already love the fact that the Main role is played by Jennifer Garner and it’s a thriller.

The Idea of You…2

Yesterday, the long awaited movie dropped.

I planned to see it as soon as I got the notification but I couldn’t make the time. As soon as I woke up this morning, I got some pop up news on my phone from different blogs and sites I had subscribed to.

I saw different headlines for reviews… I refused to read them. I wanted to see it for myself first. To decide for myself.

Two headlines caught my attention though… The first one was the exact same title I had planned to use for my post-movie review… The big differences between the book and the movie; The Idea of You.

The second one got me thinking a lot and wondering if I agreed with the poster… It read “The Idea of You is basically about bad parenting“. Right now, I don’t agree.

Today I paused everything in the middle of the day and gave a hundred and ten minutes to the movie.

I’m not going to juxtapose the book with the movie. It would not be fair to the movie.

Standing alone, It was a lovely movie.

I loved the boy band nostalgia I felt with all of August Moon’s performances. The memories of Backstreet Boys, NSYNC and others. The songs… The songs were and are beautiful… I got goose bumps when they performed Closer at Coachella.

I loved the choice of characters for the roles of Solene and Hayes. They had great chemistry.

I love that he was still singing about her, 5 years after they said goodbye.

The Idea Of You

Never have I wanted to interview a person more than I want to interview Robinne Lee right now. If only I would be that lucky.

I recently became aware of her book, The Idea of You. I am wondering why it took me seven years to learn about it. I guess I have got to thank whoever decided to make a movie adaptation of the book. The movie trailer got my attention a few weeks ago and then in my curiosity I found the book.

The novel is about a thirty nine year old divorced mother of a thirteen year old girl and how she falls for a twenty year old member of a very popular/successful boy band.

You see, I’m glad I found the book because I love what it did to me. It made me argue with myself and my feelings and my ideas and beliefs. Lee succeeded in making me question my stereotype of not only a younger male with an older female but of huge age differences in relationships as a whole.

I want to sit with Lee and pick her brain. I wonder, did she have an experience close to this? Why did she come up with this and how did she portray it so perfectly…it felt so real.

I was moved by the conversations and how easy it seemed. The way they were able to understand each other and spend quality time together in spite of their age difference. One would assume it would be basically for sexual benefits, but no. Lee makes us follow them around the world as the band goes on tour and their love blossoms. It is an amazing ride until we get to the end… but the ending leaves you hurting.

…but what was I expecting? I wonder.

In the end, I took two things from the book.

We love who we love, we don’t get to choose.
Sometimes we have to leave that love behind and move on, even when it feels like we could die when we do.

I will see the movie when it drops. I can’t wait. I just need viewers to know that it is just an adaptation. Judging from the trailer, it is almost completely different from the book… it looks interesting, but the book is the real deal.

Maybe I will write a comparative review once I get to see it.

Not a review

When I lived with my Aunty 14 years ago, she observed and stated that “Mimi bakes when she gets depressed”.

I wasn’t sure but many years down the road I found that statement to be true.

I love to try out, tweek and also create my own recipes. I also love the decorative aspects too.

Baking makes me happy…

That’s why I couldn’t wait to see this movie.

It is based on a true story, initially told in a book with same name by Audrey Shulman.

I loved the story… it’s a much deeper story than one about sitting in bars with cakes.

The following details from the movie stayed with me and remain true;

Guys love cakes
Everyone loves free cake
Most things in life are deeper than we present them to be.
There are still very genuine friendships out there.

My current high

I love a really good romcom so I will start with this; I learned that a film adaptation of this book is being developed… The casting has got to be right for it to be good. Adam has got to be Adam.

That being said…

…I didn’t jump at the book. I didn’t know if I would actually like it.

Somehow, thanks to AI conspiracy, it kept popping up on all my platforms, so I decided to give it a go.

I loved it.

The Love Hypothesis is just the kind of thing for me…

From the witty conversations to secrets waiting to be told and then unto to the “bad guy” with a good heart and a great sense of humor… Adam.

Now, Adam…that was some character. He was all geeky and standoffish but come chapter sixteen and boom…he was something else I never expected…Unbelievable. I couldn’t reconcile the scientist with the lover. Naaaah.

If Romcoms are your thing and you are looking for a quick read, I would recommend The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood.

Su’eddie

Last night my entire maternal family (OBF is what we call ourselves) held our breath as we watched and waited for the revealing of the winner of The Nigeria Prize for Literature.

One of ours, Su’eddie Vershima Agema had emerged among the three finalists for 2022.

We waited together on our whatsapp group as we kept ourselves occupied with discussions and jokes from the live broadcast of the Grand Award Night. The tension was really high for us all; we really wanted our Su’eddie to win. Besides the honour of being named the winner, winning came along with a “token” of One Hundred Thousand US Dollars.

The moment came, the winner was announced. It was not my Su.

Su as I prefer to call him is my brother and my friend. He is also my mentor and muse when it comes to writing. He is a pain in my neck whenever I go long periods without writing something. He still remains a pain concerning an unfinished project I have been working on. He is the same way even with himself, he starts a thing, he pushes himself and he completes it. He is a hard worker. He is diligent.

OBF took the news well, we went ahead to congratulate him because to us, being top 3 is a big deal.

Dear Su, I know there are more finalist positions, nominations and wins ahead.

Love you loads.

Adapted for television

The first time it happened was with Robert Ludlum’s ‘The Bourne Identity‘. I remember feeling a big wave of confusion and disappointment. This was about 20 years ago.

Then it happened again. It literally ruined the book for me. I watched the entire Hulu TV series ‘Little Fires Everywhere’, regretting every minute of it. I had just finished the novel with the same title a few days earlier. Shortly after I started reading it, I had found out that it had been developed for television…and so I thought it would be a wonderful idea to give it a shot. Like I said, I regret that decision.

Being my usual curious self, i decided to find our why these adaptations needed to have these changes at all. It turns out, reading and viewing are two completely different things and must be presented differently. One point I agreed with was the fact that if a book was to be made exactly as it was written, it would be boring for many because people watch television for entertainment and not to be bored.

Lately I have learned to take adaptations with an open mind, I have seen a few unnecessary changes in some adaptations but i must admit that I have come accross some very interesting ones too.

No matter how open my mind has become, I seem to have a problem with a particular change I have encountered in a Television adaptation. The creators of the beautiful TV series ‘The Chosen’ thought it would be wonderful idea for Simon the Zealot (one of Jesus’ disciples) to be the brother of the man by the pool of Bethesda. In as much as this makes for a good twist, it seems to be messing with my head. I found myself searching high and low for any clue to where this may have been mentioned previously in the Bible. I guess I will have to live with it.

I have made a small list of some of the books that have been made into movies that I really liked;

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly
The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks
The Longest Ride by Nicholas Sparks
Normal People by Sally

Read some or watch some, either way you will love them.

Which ones have you seen or read? What do you think about them?