Tag: The Best of 2014

The Best of 2014: Books that became movies

John Guillen5 Comments

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NPR Books

The Best of 2014 is a series of posts in which I talk about a different topic each day this week. Today’s topic will be adaptations. Except today’s post is different. I don’t have a list for you. I’m going to ask what you all think. Because I don’t go to the movies enough to have any idea what the best adaptations of 2014 are.

2014 was no different from other recent calendar years in that there were MANY books adapted into major films. Just a few off the top of my head that were at least fairly well received…Lone Survivor, Gone Girl, Mockingjay Part 1, The Theory of Everything, The Fault in Our Stars, and The Maze Runner. I could have named a lot more, but the point of this post isn’t for me to list out random literary adaptations. I want to know which movies adapted from books you enjoyed this year. Sure there’s an inherent bias if the book happened to be written by an author you like, but who cares.

I have two movies in mind that I think are probably the best movies based on books, but that’s just based on reviews and critics. Y’all may think differently. So tell me, which books adapted into movies did you think stood above the rest in 2014?

PS: Lone Survivor was actually released on Christmas day last year, but it received a wide release in January.

The Best of 2014: Books I read

John Guillen11 Comments

I began this series of posts yesterday by telling y’all about the best bloggers I know. Today we’re going to talk about the best books I read in 2014. Although not over yet, it’ll be my worst reading year since high school. I’ve only made it through seven books. Seven. Oh well. But there were some standouts among those seven that I do want to talk about. Remember these are NOT books released in 2014 but books I read in 2014.

#1 The Diary of a Young Girl – Anne Frank

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I read this book as part of my journey to read every book on Amazon’s 100 Books to Read in a Lifetime. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. This isn’t really a book. It’s her diary, as you well know. And maybe that’s why it really hit me like it did. She takes you through every emotion imaginable and she does so in such an eloquent manner that you can’t help but be impressed by her grasp of the written word. She’s able to take you back to one of the worst periods the world has ever known, and she does it while in hiding. It’s a remarkable work that everyone should read.

I currently have this book ranked #1 on my list of the best books I’ve ever read. There’s no doubt that it will stay there for some time. Here’s the post I wrote the day after finishing it.

#2 The Drop (Harry Bosch #15) – Michael Connelly

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Michael Connelly is right near the top of my favorite authors and I’ve never once been disappointed by one of his Bosch novels. The Drop is no exception. Bosch is working two cases at once. One is the death of a city councilman’s son and the other is a cold case. That’s all I’ll say. It’s vintage Bosch and I already have the next book in the series on my shelf.

I currently have this book ranked #13 on my list of the best books I’ve ever read. One spot ahead of the third and final book on the list.

#3 The Fault in Our Stars – John Green

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I don’t need to tell you anything about this book because you’ve probably already read it and made up your own mind about the story itself. This was the first time I’d read any YA title since Mockingjay in 2012. I really enjoyed this book. Yeah I thought Gus was too perfect and I thought the way he talked to Hazel was a little too much for a couple of teens, but those are pretty minor things. I loved them both as characters and John Green got millions of people to read about a tricky subject.

I currently have this book ranked #14 on my list of the best books I’ve ever read. Here’s the post I wrote about it earlier this year.

So that’s it! Those are the three best books I read this year! Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone just missed being included in the list. I won’t ask if you’ve read these titles because you’ve almost certainly read at least two of them, but I would like to know what your top reads of the year were. Tell me now.

The Best of 2014: Bloggers

John Guillen115 Comments

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The Best of 2014 will be a series of posts all this week in which I talk about different topics related to blogging. This will be the first post in the series in which I tell y’all about the best bloggers I know and have interacted with over the course of 2014. There won’t be any order. I’d said that I would include 10 bloggers, but that’s not going to happen. I couldn’t come up with 10. I settled with eight bloggers I think you all should check out. Let’s start.

Amy – Inkcouragement

Hers was actually the first name I wrote down on my notepad right now as I sat down to write this post. And she was definitely one of the first bloggers to come to mind when I first thought of writing this. She writes about all things writing. And can offer some great writing advice if you’re in need of some. AND she’s the only blogger I’ve ever allowed to guest post here. Couldn’t leave her off the list.

Aly – ILikeBooksTooMuch

Another super easy choice. First off, she’s hilarious. I think I laugh at almost every one of her posts. She reads a ton of books every year. And I know eventually is going to write some great ones. Still waiting for you to finish your book, Aly! And I kind of gave her a nickname. But I’m not telling what it is. And she’s a gamer. Like when does that happen? Oh, and she’s easily the most entertaining person I’m friends with on SnapChat. All great things.

Meg – Meg Writes Stuff

She writes 100 word stories on her blog. And in those 100 words you are guaranteed to be thoroughly entertained. AND she just won a major writing competition! She’s famous. Like no joke. So now I’m more of a fan than anything.

Jess – Like Star Filled Skies

These first four have all been easy choices. Jess has written like 82134 books and she’s only 23. Do you realize what that means? She was born writing. And she paints too! Can you say artistic? Cause this girl is the definition.  You should read her blog because her flash fiction is as good as any fiction I’ve come across on WordPress. And her posts are always interesting.

MP Sharma

Hilarious. Her posts are full of sarcasm and humor and she consistently posts just about everyday. Until now. She’s on a break until early next year, but if you haven’t read her posts before, then you can just scroll through her archives. She doesn’t post about writing or books as much as some other bloggers on this list, but every post is usually short and entertaining. Oh! And she very rarely makes YouTube videos. Her voice. Oh my goodness. Y’all have no idea. It’s perfection.

Crystal – Writer’s Bounty

Simply put, she writes the best poetry that I read on WordPress. And I usually read a lot. Whenever I post a poem I’ve written I’m always just kind of hoping that she’ll think it’s written okay. But shhh, she doesn’t know that.

John – Get Off my Lawn

His posts are pretty random. But this guy is witty, sarcastic, and hilarious. Like the other bloggers I’ve mentioned are pretty funny people, but he’s on another level. I’ll comment on one of his posts or he’ll comment on one of mine and I’ll just be laughing uncontrollably for a few minutes. Just check out his blog. You’re missing out until you do.

Autumn – BrownEyedGirlDotCom

Just an all around blogger. She’s posted poetry, random real-life stories (I think), and writing questions. What more do you want? She’s the only blogger on the list to have two blogs I like, so she gets two links. Her name is one link and her blog is the other.

So that’s it! The best bloggers I’ve interacted with over the course of 2014! I focused on them in my brief descriptions, but every one of them has also been around my blog quite a bit. Go check them out!