Books to Movie: Tracks Movie Debut Today

A few months ago, I reviewed the book TRACKS by Robyn Davidson.  Now that book is a movie, debuting in the US today! To see my review of the book, TRACKS, click HERE. 

TRACKS is the inspiring true story of an incredible adventure across the Australian desert

from the producers of The King's Speech. Starring Mia Wasikowska (Jane Eyre) and Adam Driver (HBO's Girls), and directed by John Curran.

Praise for TRACKS: 

"A superb adaptation.... 

Evocatively rendered."
—Hollywood Reporter

"Beautiful, thrilling, and ferociously brave....
Robyn Davidson's timeless story of her astonishing journey gripped me from the
first page to the last. Tracks is an unforgettably powerful book."
—Cheryl Strayed, bestselling author of WILD, who incidentally has her own movie premiere for WILD in a few months. 

I can't wait to see TRACKS, I just need to find a few hours to do it! Check your local theaters and go see this inspiring, emotional story of resilience and fortitude of one woman's trek across the Australian desert.  Be sure to let me know if you go see it!

Book Review: Tracks By Robyn Davidson

TRACKS
One Woman's Journey Across 1,700 Miles of Australian Outback

By: Robyn Davidson

Published: May 30, 2995

Publisher: Vintage

Non-Fiction, Memoir

US Movie Release: September 19, 2014

If you read and loved WILD by Cheryl Strayed, you will like TRACKS too.  Both books share a woman who impulsively decides to take on a thousand-plus mile hike without previous knowledge or experience. Check out my review of WILD, HERE.  In Davidson's case, she decides to trek across the deserts of Australia with four camels. Davidson had no previous experience with camels or hiking across the desert. Yet, she decides to take on this challenge and does it with great fortitude.

In TRACKS, Davidson states,

  " The lunatic idea was, basically, to get myself the requisite number

 of wild camels from the bush and train them to carry my gear, 

then walk into and about the central desert area."

When describing the camels, Davidson talks about them saying,

"They are affectionate, cheeky, playful, witty, yes witty, self-possessed, patient, 

hard-working and endlessly interesting and charming. 

They are also very difficult to train, being of an essentially undomestic 

turn of mind as well as extremely bright and perceptive.

 This is why they have such a bad reputation."

I read this book over a period of six months because I didn't really have a deadline and at times the pace of the story was a little slow for me.  Davidson fills in lots of detail regarding the care and training of camels, their caretakers, and her challenges with obtaining the camels.  At times there was information overload, but her stories of the people, especially the Aboriginal people, were interesting and written with much love for them.  I appreciated the progression of Davidson's character through her journey.  She was meek and people pleasing at the beginning and by the end her eyes were open, her opinions were shared and she found a way to experience true joy. Davidson gives us a unique view of the beauty of the Australian land and their people. Her journey is physically and emotionally grueling, heartfelt, and real.  You will be captivated and inspired.

The movie version of TRACKS will hit US theaters on September 19, 2014.  It is already available in other countries.

"I had learnt to use my fears as stepping stones rather than stumbling blocks, and best of all I had learnt to laugh. I felt invincible, untouchable, I had extended myself, and I believed I could now sit back, there was nothing else the desert could teach me. And I wanted to remember all this. Wanted to remember this place and what it meant to me, and how I had arrived there. Wanted to fix it so firmly in my head that I would never, ever forget." Robyn Davidson in TRACKS

Robyn Davidson made this trek across the Australian desert in 1977.  She was born on a cattle property in Queensland, Australia. She went to Sydney in the late sixties, then spent time studying in Brisbane before moving to Alice Springs, where the events of this book begin. Since then, she has traveled extensively, living in London, New York, and India. In the early 1990s, she migrated with and wrote about nomads in northwestern India. She is now based in Melbourne, but spends several months a year in the Indian Himalayas.

To purchase a copy of TRACKS, click the photo below:

Thanks to the publisher for sending a ebook to me for the purpose of this review. This review is my honest opinion. I was not compensated in any way for this review. If you choose to purchase a copy of this book through the above link, I may receive a small commission without you having to pay a cent more for your purchase. Thanks for supporting SincerelyStacie.com reviews.

The Fault In Our Stars Movie

Back in October, I finally had the opportunity to read THE FAULT IN OUR STARS by John Green.  Three months later I am still thinking about the characters and the lessons learned from two teenagers.  Check out the link to my review, HERE.

THE FAULT IN OUR STARS is one of several books coming out as movies this year.  Yesterday, the book trailer was released and I can't stop watching it! Mark June 6th on your calendar now and get your tickets.  You won't want to miss this one!

Read Divergent By Veronica Roth Together Before the Movie

DIVERGENT

By: Veronica Roth

Published:  February 28, 2012

Fiction

I've been wanting to check out this series and our son is already on the second book, INSURGENT.  So, if I am going to take him to the movie version of DIVERGENT, I certainly need to read the book first.

BOOK-ALICIOUS MAMA is offering a read-along on her blog.  We can read and discuss it together just in time to go see the movie.  Even though my reading list is LOONNGG, I am going to do my best to keep up with her reading schedule.  You need to have the first 12 chapters done by February 10th. In 15 days, I should be able to read 12 chapters.  Right?

Would you like to join in the fun?  Just click HERE for all the details.  Jennifer at BOOK-ALICIOUS MAMA will be the host, but I will share my thoughts here on my Facebook page and on Twitter as well.  If you haven't read DIVERGENT yet, now is the time!

Review: The Lovely Bones Movie

Last night I was finally able to see the movie The Lovely Bones.  I posted a review of the book The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold here. 

This is not the type of movie that I can say was a "great" movie because of the subject matter.  This is a very disturbing story and was as hard to read as it was to watch unravel on the big screen.  Also, I am usually very disappointed by the movie after reading the book.  My only exception to that was the movie version of The Secret Life of Bees, which I loved.  But, I wasn't that disappointed with this adaptation of the book.  Of course, I realize that not every storyline and scene from the book can be placed in the movie and I think the correct scenes were edited out of the story.  Some of the timing of events were also different in the movie from the book, but the main storyline, succession of events, and ending to the story remained the same, which I appreciated. 

I absolutely adored the young woman who played, Susie, the daughter who was murdered.  Saoirse Ronan is just lovely and I thought her portrayal of Susie was exactly how i imagined her. 

I thought the images of the "in-between" and heaven were interesting and beautiful.  One of profound images was all the ships in glass bottles crashing in the ocean while the dad was smashing them in the house.  A very powerful scene. 

I appreciated that the movie left out the graphic images of the murder and left that to viewer's imagination.  If you read the book, you were well aware of the horriffic end to Susie's life. 

I gave the novel 3 out of 5 stars and I would give the same rating for the movie as well.  It is not a feel good movie, but if you enjoyed the book, I think you will enjoy the movie as well.

Review: Still Alice by Lisa Genova

Alice Howland is proud of the life she worked so hard to build. At fifty years old, she's a cognitive psychology professor at Harvard and a world-renowned expert in linguistics with a successful husband and three grown children. When she becomes increasingly disoriented and forgetful, a tragic diagnosis changes her life - and her relationship with her family and the world - forever.

I have been wanting to read this book and luckily it was our book club choice for this month. Wow! This was such a heartbreaking, truthful, and lovely novel. I could NOT put it down. It was gripping from page one all the way to the end. I loved that the author wrote this story from the perspective of Alice, the person with Alzheimer's and not from the caregivers or families perspective. The author chose each of her characters and personalities so carefully and everyone was able to have a piece in the story all the way to the end. Throughout the story, I got so frustrated and angry with the husband, John. I am sure this will bring up great discussion in our book club about his role in caring for Alice during her disease progression. I was deeply proud of Alice's children in how they stood by and stood up for Alice and showed their deep love for her. I laughed and cried through this story and was sad to see it end. Anyone who has been touched by Alzheimer's needs to read this book! I am eagerly waiting for Genova's next novel "Left Neglected" to hit bookstores! I gave this 5 out of 5 stars!

My Sister's Keeper Movie Review

I have been anxiously awaiting the debut of "My Sister's Keeper", the movie based of the novel by the same name by Jodi Picoult. I LOVED the book and couldn't wait to see the movie. My friend, Tammy, and I planned to see it on opening night. Unfortunately, we were very disappointed. I would suppose that if someone hadn't read the book, they would probably like the movie. Of course the movie is about cancer and a sibling who no longer wants to use her body to help save her sister. So, the topic isn't a happy one. But, there was so much more they could have done with the movie. I felt the character development was very weak. Alec Baldwin played the lawyer and he was such a pivotal character in the book, but wasn't as amazing in the movie. Jesse, the troubled brothers character, was also not as developed as he could have been in the movie. But then other external family members were part of the movie who I think were completely unnecessary to the storyline. I think the actress who played Kate was amazing and the makeup used to show her cancer was very realistic. I loved seeing Jason Patric as the father. It has been years since I have seen him in something and he looks as good as I remember him! :) The ending of the movie was the most frustrating. I think any lovers of Jodi Picoult's novels know relish in the twists and unexpected storylines and this movie adaptation ruined that for us. It totally changed the flow of the whole story and really ruined it for me. Again, I think if you haven't read the book, you probably won't be as disappointed. I would love to know Jodi Picoult's take on the movie and her feelings on the storyline. I would give this a 2 out of 5 stars.

Review: The Shack by William P Young

Mackenzie Allen Phillips's youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. Four years later, in the midst of his Great Sadness, Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend. Against his better judgment, he arrives at the shack on a wintry afternoon and walks back into his darkest nightmare. What he finds there will change Mack's world forever. In a world where religion seems to grow increasingly irrelevant, THE SHACK wrestles with the timeless question: Where is God in a world so filled with unspeakable pain? The answers Mack gets will astound you and perhaps transform you as much as they did him. You'll want everyone you know to read this book!

This book has been very controversial, so right off I want to say that I LOVED IT! This has been added to my list of all time favorite reads! It is an amazing book. I do want everyone I know to read this book. Since I read the library's copy, I want to go out and purchase my own copy. Then I want to reread it and highlight all the passages that meant so much to me.

For me, as a mom, this book was a tough read because of what happens to the daughter. But, it was about so much more than the child's abduction. The themes that continued to resonate in my head were Faith, Trust, and Forgiveness. Who doesn't struggle with any of these? The storyline may have been unconventional and at times maybe hard to follow, but it definately made me stop and think about my own relationship with God. What kind of a relationship is it? How do I trust in God's plan for me? How and why do I have to forgive? Many of these and more were answered throughout this book and it continues to make me think. I don't want to give any bit of the story away, so I am just going to end by saying, You Must Read This Book and then talk about it with someone who has read it. Be open to new ideas and thoughts as you are reading this book. Find a quiet place to read, especially the first few and last few chapters, as they are very powerful. I give this book 5 out of 5 stars!

The Secret Life of Bees

I read this book quite awhile ago and truly enjoyed the book. Then on Friday, I went to the movie. WOW! If you loved the book, you will truly love the movie. Usually my typical line is "The book is always better than the movie", but this time I think both were equally fabulous. The actors for the movie were well chosen for the roles they played. Numerous scenes in the movie were powerful enough to resort me to sobbing (sorry Tammy for sniffling through the whole movie). I was just drawn into the book in a whole new way and was very impressed with how the movie followed the book. Dakota Fanning is brilliant and many of her scenes were amazing. So, put this movie on your "Must Watch" list and if you haven't read that book, that needs to be on your "Must Read" list too!