Finally read a book! It helps when you’re up late at night feeding the baby and have time on your hands (and your son is a lazy eater and takes his time).

This is the novel that inspired the movie that came out this last year (starring Hayden Christensen and Rachel Bilson), though it is not the same story at all. The book is completely different from the movie, apart from the names of characters and the fact that Davy is a jumper. Of course, the book is better than the movie (it always is, isn’t it?). This is also the prequel to Reflex, which was another book I enjoyed reading, and which, in my opinion, is the better of the two.

Davy Rice is a troubled teen. He’s been abandoned by his mother, and is physically abused by his alcoholic father. One day, as his father prepares to give Davy an especially brutal beating, something happens — Davy vanishes and reappears in the safety of the local library, a place he has always felt safe. At first, Davy thinks he dreamt it all, and that the stress of the beating is blocking his memory. He decides to run away and make it on his own in New York City. On his way there, he hitch hikes with a trucker who has some nasty plans in mind for Davy that make a beating from his father preferable. As the trucker starts to carry out the plan, Davy vanishes once again and finds himself back in the safety of the library. This is no mental blockage — Davy realises he can teleport, or “jump”, and he begins to practice his new skill, learning that he can only jump to places he has been before and can picture vividly in his mind.

Davy’s new skill gives him some purpose in life. While he uses his skill to teleport into the vault of a bank and rob a million dollars, he does also use the money to support himself as he performs some good deeds; for example, helping the homeless or teleporting around the world to catch terrorists who have hijacked planes. It is certainly interesting to think about what life as a teleporter would be like. No need to spend hours and money on transportation; you can teleport yourself home anytime you want to take a quick nap, make a snack, or use your own bathroom; nothing could stop you from going where to want to go.

I enjoyed this book, and I thought the story was well plotted, though not necessarily well-written. Some of the dialogue was awkward and the character development of Davy and his girlfriend, Millie, could have been a little better as I found their relationship and the way they spoke to one another to be a little too contrived at times. And, not that it impacted the story at all, but (my pet peeve) the editors missed some spelling and grammatical errors (gah! drives me nuts!) as well. But overall, this was a well-paced, interesting story.

Most film adaptations don’t live up to the novels they are based on, but this movie is different: it actually is on par with the novel, and I thought the novel was good. I remember thinking as I read it that it packed in a lot of emotion for such a short book, and the movie captures that well.

Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams play the main characters of Noah and Allie, with James Garner and Gena Rowlands playing them in their later years. The casting was good. Ryan Gosling is particular was great at capturing the intensity of Noah’s characer: from his first infatuation with Allie, to the passion with which he loves her, the misery he feels when they’re separated, and the frustration he experiences when she comes back but can’t promise to stay with him; his performance is intense and believable.

I’ve never been much of a Rachel McAdams fan, but after seeing this movie, I started thinking about the casting and who else could have starred in the role, and I came to the conclusion that no one else could have played her part better. She plays the rich, spoiled girl very well, and then she evolves into someone struggling with the inner turmoil she feels in having to choose between what is expected from someone in her position in life and all that she can have from staying in it, and her love for a poor man who can’t provide her with the material things she’s used to having but can love her better than anyone else could.

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Watched the movie adaptation of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants the other day. A movie will NEVER be as good as the novel. Well, the only exception I can think of would be the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but otherwise… nope.

This movie got some good reviews. I looked forward to seeing it. And then I walked away from it disappointed. Of the 4 central storylines (one for each girl: Tibby, Lena, Bridget and Carmen), only Tibby’s and Carmen’s stories were true to the novel. Lena’s and Bridget’s stories were based on the novel, but they veered way too off course for me to be happy with it. Bridget’s had potential to be okay, but then the screenwriter and director decided to go and wrap it up with a happier ending. BAH! What?! No! There are 2 sequels to this story, with another on the way but they had to make it all good and well because what’s a teen movie without the happy endings? BAH! I was soooo disappointed with it. (more…)