Books2Movies Club discussion

Non-fiction, including biographies and autobiographies, is a genre that usually garners mixed feelings from potential readers. When one hears a suggestion coming from this library section, the first question that comes up, if a reader actually contemplates reading such a book, what sort of topics it covers. It is really tricky to give a recommendation for a work of non-fiction if you do not know well the person in question because some people abhor biographies, some avoid war and crime themes, while some others find travel memoirs rather boring. To be honest, the same applies to the works of fiction - tastes differ in every aspect of human life and experience.

The good side of this club is that if you do not like the book on our bookshelf, you do not have to read it - there are so many other books on our shelf you can. So do not be afraid to nominate a book that you liked or that you would like to read. Maybe we'll like it too!

P.S. The month in the title of the thread will (dis)appear accordingly to the nominations schedule, but the thread itself will remain for further discussion about these books in general.

Our previous nominees were (from the thread Books nominated so far, excluding the winners):

127 Hours: Between a Rock and a Hard Place
21: Bringing Down the House
The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook
Alive: The True Story of the Andes Survivors
The Boys in the Boat
Capote
Elizabeth
Evil Angels
The Executioner's Song
He's Just Not That Into You: The No Excuses Truth To Understanding Guys
In Cold Blood
Inside Wikileaks
A Liar's Autobiography
Marley & Me
The Motorcycle Diaries: Notes on a Latin American Journey (June 2018)
October Sky
Steve Jobs
Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln
To Reach the Clouds: My High Wire Walk Between the Twin Towers
Under the Tuscan Sun: At Home in Italy
A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail

Books nominated below:
All the President's Men
A Beautiful Mind
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (October 2022)
Catch Me If You Can (January 2021)
Hidden Figures (September 2019)
Into Thin Air
Just Mercy (July 2020)
A Life on Our Planet: My Witness Statement and a Vision for the Future
The Looming Tower: Al Qaeda's Road to 9/11
The Professor and the Madman
Seabiscuit
Testament of Youth
Wild

Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster by Jon Krakauer

Blueberry wrote: "Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster by Jon Krakauer"

I liked Into the Wild very much, this should be also interesting.

My vote would be for The Motorcycle Diaries.

Alive

All three sound great to me! Let's wrap this round up and set the poll:

Non-Fiction for June 2018

September 2019

Time to read non-fiction again!

I already have a suggestion! It piqued my interest months ago, and now the movie is out: The Professor and the Madman. I am curious about Testament of Youth too.

Any other ideas?

Maybe you would care for something more contemporary, like A Beautiful Mind, Hidden Figures, or Marley & Me?

The movie version of Hidden Figures was really good.

The poll is up:

Book of September 2019

July 2020

This month I am really late with nominations!

What would you like to read? Would you be interested in A Walk in the Woods, Wild or The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind ?

I think it would be very appropriate to read this book also: Just Mercy. We can read it along with any other book that will be selected for the next month. Of course, if you have any other suggestion, please tell us, we can pick something else instead. This was just the first book that came to my mind at the moment.

Tough choice! I will probably have to stick to WWZ so I won't have much input this time round :P

This month I am totally behind with my obligations here. Considering the importance of these protests all over the world against systemic prejudice and racism, maybe we should focus our next month only on one book, Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption. All these books will have their chance some time later, but this one is really at this moment the only one truly relevant.

I am sadly way behind on my reading, so my first priority is to finish WWZ xD

Anyhow, I do tend to shy away from anything that is not fiction. I kind of read and see films/series to forget about real-life problems, it's my own favorite form of escapism, so I'm out for that one. I've been having to avoid IG due to recent events because of the news flood on all American media!

I do hope you have a great time reading it though :)

Beautiful Mind was a great film.

The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 was turned into a really good miniseries on Hulu starring Jeff Daniels.

Kirsten wrote: "Beautiful Mind was a great film. The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 was turned into a really good miniseries on Hulu starring Jeff Daniels."

Thank you! Excellent suggestion!

January 2021

Is there any person, an event or a chain of events you would like to begin your new year with?

Two suggestions coming from Kirsten above, A Beautiful Mind and The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11, are great ones. I am kind of at the moment more into environmental issues (but of course, I'll read anything :) so I'll suggest A Life on Our Planet: My Witness Statement and a Vision for the Future by David Attenborough.

Would you like to offer more books to read?

Non-fiction or biopics

Just Mercy (already read?)
Catch me if you Can
Amadeus by Peter Shaffer
All the President's Men
SeaBiscuit
Unbroken



Zelijka, have you read Lab Girl by Hope Jahren? I recommend it highly. It's a memoir with a lot of interesting biology and ecology info. The personal parts of her story are great too. I think it would make a great movie (but there isn't one yet as far as I know.)

NancyJ wrote: "Non-fiction or biopics: Just Mercy (already read?), Catch me if you Can, Amadeus by Peter Shaffer, All the President's Men, SeaBiscuit, Unbroken

Zelijka, have you read Lab Girl..."

Oh so many good suggestions! We actually did Just Mercy, Amadeus and Unbroken. The rest we didn't, I'll add them to our list.

I haven't read Lab Girl, sounds so interesting, just what I'd like to read! And I am lucky - a Kindle book is currently offered for a good price :)

We already have a very good selection of books to nominate, but I'll anyway wait two more days, just in case, if somebody comes up with one more suggestion (or two).

Alright, the poll is up:

Book of January 2021

October 2022

We haven't read any biopic and non-fiction book almost two years it seems!

I'd like to suggest The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind. If you would like to read something else, freely nominate your book below.

I'll be hasty and assume you agree with my own suggestion, and post The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind as our next book of the month, just to skip all this drama of waiting for the decision :)