Does listening to audiobooks count as reading? Here it does. Let’s discuss your favorite reads — or listens.
All tagged adaptations
This isn’t an easy read, even in graphic form. It’s confrontational and, at times, exhausting. But it pushes back against the comforting fiction that racism is episodic or aberrational. The book argues that racist ideas are adaptive — that they evolve to protect power. Addressing them requires confronting the structures and narratives that sustain them. As an entry point, this is a solid place to start.
Chuck Palahniuk's “Fight Club” has gained cult status for its literary transgression and societal critique, but the novel is nothing more than a sophomoric and misogynistic rant. It’s the type of book that someone reads in their twenties and finds edgy and dangerous, but that’s simply because it is effective at appealing to those with an underdeveloped world view.
Expectation: A straight-forward re-imagining of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.”
Reality: A dark, engaging story that builds on the source material and delivers a highly entertaining read more attune to our modern sensibilities.
Expectation: A queer retelling of Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Fall of House of Usher.”
Reality: Shortcomings of the gothic horror genre aside (for this reader anyway), there was nothing “moving” about this uninspired novella.
Expectation: A dramedy celebrating the life of a norm-busting female scientist in the 1950s and 1960s.
Reality: What was a expected but with the addition of a talking dog (bonus), but I was let down by how conveniently Garmus tied up the plots and how most characters remained two-dimensional.
Expectation: Cringe-level disappointment that I found the film so entertaining given the hindsight view of its problems.
Reality: Deeper characterization and discussion of the socio-political realities of the time period made this an excellent, if still flawed, novel.
Expectation: A nostalgia-fueled story of what Halloween was like for kids in the 1970s and 1980s.
Reality: A little convoluted, but ultimately an entertaining and family friendly spooky story.
Expectation: A part-romance, part-revenge tale made more heartbreaking due to the time period.
Reality: A simple, yet effective story with no clear villain or hero.
Expectation: A modern retelling of “The Stepford Wives” for the #MeToo era.
Reality: Definitely not what I expected but, in the best, most WTF ways.
Expectation: An overrated classic.
Reality: Not every aspect of the story worked for me, but our collective experience during the pandemic gave new understanding – and perhaps compassion - to Meursault’s personality.
Watching the “Fear Street” trilogy on Netflix got me thinking about the book adaptations I actually want to see.
Neither is a masterpiece, but “The Art of Racing in the Rain” film changed one key plot point from the book, which helped elevate the overall story. Does that make it better than the book?
With the release of “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” The Avid Listener debates if the film series was better than the source material.
