Coming Soon: If I Stay Hits Theaters As Early as Tomorrow!!! #IfIStay

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I expect all bookish people to have plans to go to the theater to watch If I Stay (written by Gayle Forman) when its debuts in 2 days!

The nationwide release date is Friday, August 22nd but I''m sure if you check you will see some theaters have showings tomorrow. I will be attending this early showing at my local theater tomorrow at 7pm. I. CANNOT. WAIT!!!

If I Stay is one of my all-time favorite audiobooks I have listen to date. Check out OUaT's review of If I Stay.

Here are some stills from the If I Stay facebook page.

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Kyril Bonfiglioli's "Charlie Mortdecai" Comes to Life in Teaser Trailer

This classic novel from author Kyril Bonfiglioli is getting adapted by Lionsgate and hitting the big screen next year. Johnny Depp will be starring as Charlie Mortdecai himself from the novel. Penguin Books just released a new cover design since the book was originally published back in 1972 and has had varies reprints before this new cover.

When Charlie Mortdecai (Johnny Depp) is faced with a mysteriously missing piece of art, he's forced to set out on an international adventure to uncover the stolen item that may hold the code to unlimited wealth. Will his outstanding charm and good looks be enough to complete this mission? Take a closer look into the life of Charlie Mortdecai below and find out what happens when it hits theaters FEBRUARY 6, 2015!

The film stars Johnny Depp, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ewan McGregor, Olivia Munn, Jeff Goldblum and Paul Bettany. 

FILM SYNOPSIS:

Juggling some angry Russians, the British Mi5, his impossibly leggy wife and an international terrorist, debonair art dealer and part time rogue Charlie Mortdecai (Johnny Depp) must traverse the globe armed only with his good looks and special charm in a race to recover a stolen painting rumored to contain the code to a lost bank account filled with Nazi gold.

Lionsgate and OddLot Entertainment Present, An Infinitum Nihil / Mad Chance / Lionsgate Production

Cast: Johnny Depp, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ewan McGregor, Olivia Munn, with Jeff Goldblum, and Paul Bettany

Directed by: David Koepp

Screenplay by: Eric Aronson

Based on: The novel entitled “Don’t Point That Thing At Me” by Kyril Bonfiglioli

Produced by: Andrew Lazar, Johnny Depp, Christi Dembrowski

Book Review: The Maze Runner by James Dashner

The Maze Runner
The Maze Runner #1
Author: James Dashner
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Dystopian | Science Fiction | Adventure
Released: September 25th 2009 (Original)
Review Source: Random House

Read the first book in the New York Times bestselling Maze Runner series, perfect for fans of The Hunger Games and Divergent. The Maze Runner motion picture featuring the star of MTV's Teen Wolf, Dylan O’Brien; Kaya Scodelario; Thomas Brodie-Sangster; Will Poulter; and Aml Ameen, and hits theaters September 19, 2014! Also look for James Dashner’s newest book The Eye of Minds, book one in the Mortality Doctrine series.

If you ain’t scared, you ain’t human.

When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his name. He’s surrounded by strangers—boys whose memories are also gone.

Nice to meet ya, shank. Welcome to the Glade.

Outside the towering stone walls that surround the Glade is a limitless, ever-changing maze. It’s the only way out—and no one’s ever made it through alive.

Everything is going to change.

Then a girl arrives. The first girl ever. And the message she delivers is terrifying.

Remember. Survive. Run.

A friend recently send me a copy of this book and said that I had to read it. A few days later the opportunity to do a review of the entire series came up and so naturally I couldn't resist.

The story revolves around Thomas who wakes up in the middle of Glades with no recollection of how or why he is there. Thomas quickly learns that the Glades is a remote location that is populated with boys who spend their days and nights just trying to survive and solve the mystery of the Maze.

They are provided with all of the essentials that they need to survive but in the two years that they have been in the Glades, they have made no progress on how to escape this place to get back to where they all came from. To make matters worse, the Maze is overrun with Grievers who hunt them down while they are in the Maze and can kill them or worse, make them go through the torturous "changing" process.

Things have started to change since Thomas has arrived, a few of the boys can't shake the feeling that they have seen Thomas before..and not for any good reason. Thomas himself cant shake the feeling that he's been her before, in the Glades, in the Maze.

Finally a mystery girl arrives, the first one ever. The boys have no idea of what this means but she has come with a message that she is "the last one ever." What follows is an action-packed adventure filled with mystery and adrenaline on every page.

Halfway through the book my 12 year old daughter checked it out from her school library and read it with me, we ended up finishing the book together and we both loved it.

The Maze Runner is set for its big screen debut in September, 2014. I am totally looking forward to the next books in this a-MAZE-ing series.

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Visit our sister site REDCARPETENDING.COM to see what the latest news is for The Maze Runner film.

Book Revisited: Flowers in the Attic by V. C. Andrews

Flowers in the Attic
Dollanganger #1
Author: V. C. Andrews
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Gothic / Family Saga / Classics / Horror
Released: January 7th 2014 (Pocket Books Edition)
Review Source: Pocket Books

A major Lifetime movie event—the novel that captured the world's imagination and earned V.C. Andrews a fiercely devoted fanbase. Book One of the Dollanganger Family series.

At the top of the stairs there are four secrets hidden. Blond, beautiful, innocent, and struggling to stay alive…

They were a perfect family, golden and carefree—until a heartbreaking tragedy shattered their happiness. Now, for the sake of an inheritance that will ensure their future, the children must be hidden away out of sight, as if they never existed. Kept on the top floor of their grandmother’s vast mansion, their loving mother assures them it will be just for a little while. But as brutal days swell into agonizing months and years, Cathy, Chris, and twins Cory and Carrie realize their survival is at the mercy of their cruel and superstitious grandmother…and this cramped and helpless world may be the only one they ever know.

Book One of the Dollanganger series, followed by Petals in the Wind, If There be Thorns, Seeds of Yesterday, and Garden of Shadows.

If there is one book I remember from my youth that I read, it would be Flowers in the Attic by V. C. Andrews. What I don't remember is exactly how old I was when I did. The book was originally published in 1979 which would put me at 2 years old when its first got published, so I know I didn't read it then. So I want to say it was late 80's when I did and let me tell you that that book creeped me out but at the same time I couldn't put it down. Which led me to read more novels written by Andrews. V. C. Andrews is definitely an iconic author that will always get talked about for decades.

So when I saw the new redesigned book cover being released and heard the news of the lifetime movie channel adaptation, I was tickled pink. Then when I was offered the chance to get a copy of Flowers in the Attic, I didn't hesitate to say yes. The copy that arrived didn't have the cover that originally I had seen posted online as the redesign which was good because that other cover was misleading. It look like it belong to a contemporary romance novel as opposed to a Gothic horror novel. The copy I have is the mass paperback size very small and compact that I used up top for the review. Easy to carry and put inside a purse. The cover background's is in black and white with a girl giving us her back with very bright red roses surrounding the girl. So a much better improvement to the original cover from 1979 that showed a simple design of the top of a house and a girl's face looking out the one window in the attic of the house. Now to me that cover is ugly now but back then it was super creepy to my young mind. Many other redesigns have been published since the first 1979 cover but I think the latest is definitely the best.

On to the story that left its mark so many years ago. Its crazy to think I read this book when I was around my son's age now. Would I let him read it now? No. It's definitely not meant for children to read even with its outdated language. Reading it now was an experience I won't soon forget. I kept thinking to myself "How did I read this when I was a kid and survived without needing therapy?" Flowers in the Attic still impacts you and makes you cringe.

The story follows four siblings who father died unexpectedly in a car accident and left the mother only one option and that was to ask her estranged mother to take her back. The catch is she can move back to the glorious mansion and elaborate lifestyle but the four children have to stay locked up in the attic where their grandfather can't know they exist. Their mother needs to win their grandfather's love again to be put back in the will after being taken off for marrying her half-uncle (the children's father). So what was suppose to be just one day of hiding turned into a few years of hiding even though at a point in time the children could have have escaped on their own. Their mother even remarries and hardly visited the kids anymore while they are mistreated, starved and beat by their grandmother. And when the two older siblings that have been acting as the twins parental units start to grow up and mature stuck in that attic, the control they have starts to crack and the rules the evil grandmother implemented begin to get broken.

Once you get to know Cathy, Chris, Cory and Carrie, you will forever be impacted by the lives they live in that attic with the flowers. You will get mad and angry and feel the worst heartache for them. This is not your happy ever after fairytale.

If you have never read this story I suggest that you do before the Lifetime channel world premiere Saturday, January 18th at 8/7c.