September 2014 - AudiobooksNow Blog

Strength and Healing….”Wild”, by Cheryl Strayed

The non-fiction novel by Cheryl Strayed, “Wild”, was voted best non-fiction book of 2012 by several review outlets. The personal story she relates is from her experience in making an impulsive decision to hike more than a thousand miles of the Pacific Crest Trail. The route originated in the Mojave Desert and continued through California, Oregon, and ended in Washington State. The most harrowing part of the impulsive decision…she did it alone.

When just twenty-two years of age, Cheryl felt that she had lost everything in her young life. Her mother passed away, which prompted the family to scatter to other places leaving her alone. And, if that weren’t enough trauma, her own marriage fell apart. It was then that she made the commitment to begin her journey.

Wild is a powerful narrative of a young woman who feels desperation and the need to connect with nature on her own terms. The novel captures all the terror and triumphs of one young woman who forged ahead on her journey against all odds. The experience was maddening, but also resulted in giving her strength and healing.

The film adaptation of “Wild” is due to be released on December 5, 2014. The movie will give justification to the motto of the book…”From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail.” The movie will star Reese Witherspoon as Strayed, with cast members Laura Dern (as Strayed’s mother), Toby Hoffman, Thomas Sadoski, Michiel Huisman, and Kevin Rankin. Director for the project is Jean-Marc Vallee’, distributed by Fox Searchlight Pictures.

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Victims Turning Everything on it’s Head….”The Maze Runner”, by James Dashner

Author James Dashner’s novel The Maze Runner is the first in a trilogy of post-apocalyptic, young adult, science fiction novels. Before this first of the trilogy stories, Dashner also wrote a prequel entitled “The Kill Order“.

The novel follows a group of boys who have been deposited after the apocalypse, at a place known as the Glade. It is the epitome of science fiction with mechanical creatures called Grievers, who roam the Maze at night. The Gladers, as the boys are known, have made a community in which each Glader has an assigned job to perform. The Maze is outside of the Glade which is protected by huge doors surrounding it that close every night to give protection from the creatures.

The main character, Thomas, learns more and more about the Glade, and gets the feeling that he has been there before. He befriends fellow Gladers named Chuck ad Newt, and feels strangely connected to the only girl ever deposited at the Glade, named Teresa. The whole plot revolves around the three Gladers performing as runners who explore the Maze and bring back information, all the time avoiding getting stung by the Grievers. Dashner’s original motivation for the novel came from an idea he had where, as quoted directly from the author……..”a bunch of teenagers living inside an unsolvable maze full of hideous creatures, in the future, in a dark dystopian world. It would be an experiment to study their minds……Until the victims turn everything on its head.” And so goes Maze Runner.

The novel has been adapted for film and is due to be released today! The director is Wes Bell with a cast of Dylan O’Brien as Thomas, Blake Cooper as Chuck, Thomas Brodie-Sangster as Newt, and Kaya Scodelario as Teresa.

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He Said-She Said…”Gone Girl”, by Gillian Flynn

American author Gillian Flynn wrote the novel, Gone Girl, based on the suspense created by suspicion of the main character, Nick Dunne and whether he murdered his wife.

Nick and Amy had a less than perfect marriage for several reasons. He lost his job as a journalist and relocates them from New York City to Carthage, Missouri which was Nick’s small hometown. Amy was not happy to leave New York…….she was a city girl. All phases of their marriage were becoming more and more dysfunctional.

Amy disappears on the day of their fifth wedding anniversary. The suspicion and suspense begins. In this novel, Flynn tries to depict the ultimate commitment…marriage. According to author Flynn, marriage turns into the ultimate he said-she said mystery.

The novel has been adapted for film by Reese Witherspoon’s film production company and 20th Century Fox. They reportedly paid $1.5 million for the screen rights. The director is David Fincher with cast members being Ben Afflek as Nick, Rosamund Pike in the role of Amy, joined by Neil Patrick Harris, Emily Ratazko, and Tyler Perry.

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Is Endless Love Possible??? “The Best of Me”, by Nicholas Sparks

In 2011 the author of the hugely popular novel, The Notebook, published his next novel, The Best of Me. Nicholas Sparks is an American novelist, screenwriter, and producer who has published seventeen books. Eight of the novels have been adapted to film.

In quoting the book: “Everyone wanted to believe that endless love was possible. She believed in it once too, back when she was eighteen”. High school students, Amanda Collier and Dawson Cole were very much in love, even though they were from opposite sides of the tracks. But high school teen love somehow defies reality in a small North Carolina town. As so often happens, unforeseen events tore the young couple apart, sending them on very divergent paths.

As the novel progresses, it is twenty-five years later and they meet once again, when they return to the small town for a funeral. In one week-end they will discover undeniable truths about what has happened in the last twenty-five years and will be forced to answer the question …………”Can love truly rewrite the past”?

In October 2014, director Michael Hoffman’s movie adaptation of the novel will be released. The cast includes: Liana Liberato as the young Amanda Collier; Michelle Mongahan as Amanda Collier; James Marsden as Dawson Cole; Luke Bracey, young Dawson. As a side story, Paul Walker was cast as the lead role, but passed away and was replaced by James Marsden.

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