Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Books I Love That Became Films or TV Shows

 

The Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge is hosted by Long and Short Reviews. They offer this blog hop as a weekly prompt to help you gain new friends and visitors. You don't have to participate every week, but if you decide to post and join the blog hop for a week, Long and Short Reviews asks that you share your link on their weekly post on their website (it will be the top post on the home page each Wednesday morning). The link list remains open for new links for 48 hours. Visit the other bloggers participating to see what they are talking about that week. Comments are appreciated. 

How is it Wednesday again? I still haven't caught up on Tuesday's blog visits, but I hope today is an easier day. Today, we are talking about favorite books that became films or TV Shows. Since I spoke about Little House on the Prairie, I won't go there. I won't even mention Anne of Green Gables. Here are a few others worth sharing. 

The 1993 movie, Gettysburg, was based on the novel The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara, which tells a fictionalized version of the three days of fighting at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, during the American Civil War. This novel is part of a series that Sharra wrote with his father. 

Before Nicholas Cage starred as Rayford Steele in Left Behind, based upon the Left Behind novels by Tim Lahaye and Jerry Jenkins, that role was played by the late Brad Johnson, with Kirk Cameron playing another major character, Buck Williams. This is the last series I recall eagerly awaiting the arrival of each new book. 

The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough was brought to the small screen in the early 80s, with Richard Chamberlain playing ambitious priest Ralph de Bricassart alongside Rachel Ward's Meggie Cleary. 

In 1994, The Stand by Stephen King was brought to television as a mini-series starring many well-known actors like Richard Thomas, Molly Ringwald, Gary Sinise, and Rob Lowe. 

On Strike for Christmas was the first book I ever read by Sheila Roberts. It's how I came to love her work. In 2010, Lifetime Television brought it to the small screen. I've never seen it, but I really want to one day. 

What can anyone say about the Harry Potter series except that it is amazing? I held off on reading it for years because I don't read overly popular books. Once I indulged myself, I was hooked, though I don't think I've seen a single movie all the way through. 

Top 5 Tuesday - Top 5... Friend Recommendations

Top 5 Tuesday is a weekly meme that explores different topics. Originally created by Shanah at Bionic Book Worm, it is now hosted by Meeghan at Meeghan Reads. For a list of November topics you can click here. To participate, link your post back to the weekly post.

I have a lot of reader friends. So, this should be easy, right? Umm... we will see.

Top 5... Friend Recommendations

Ever since I represented the 20th anniversary edition of this book for it's virtual book tour with Pump Up Your Book, bloggers have been telling me to read it. Have I? No, but it will happen. It just might take a few more years.

By the time the fourth book in the Left Behind series came out (1998, if I recall correctly), several of my family members were reading the series. I borrowed the first three books and was totally hooked. I waited impatiently for each new release and felt devastated when I read the last word of the last book. 

Recommended by an author friend of mine. I like Civil War fiction, but the reviews aren't phenomenal. 

My husband and daughter enjoy this show, so he recommended I read the book. It is 1962 in an America occupied by Nazi Germany and Japan after the United States lost World War II. The show is too violent for me, but I don't know how it compares to the book.

A good friend of mine has been recommending this series for years. I really just need to sit down and read it one day.

Hope you like my list. What are some good book recommendations from your friends? 

New Release: 25th Anniversary Edition of Left Behind by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins

One of my favorite Christian fiction series.

On a Boeing 747 headed to London, passengers instantaneously disappear from their seats, resulting in terror and chaos for those left behind—not only throughout the plane, but also worldwide as the apocalypse begins.

Included in this 25th anniversary edition is an essay by Jerry B. Jenkins, exploring cultural and spiritual changes over the last quarter century through the lens of this groundbreaking work of fiction.

Mass Market Paperback: 416 pages
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.; Anniversary edition (August 4, 2020)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1496447565
ISBN-13: 978-1496447562

Purchase from:

Tyndale
Christianbook
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Books-A-Million

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I’m Scared to Re-read

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

Books I’m Scared to Re-read

I read The Thorn Birds for the first time after the movie staring Richard Chamberlain and Rachel Ward came out. I've read it several times since, usually skipping much of the narrative and getting right into the dialogue. I'm not sure I would be as enamored with it if I read it now.

It took me a while to actually read the Left Behind series. I rarely read anything popular when it first comes out. I finally gave it a chance after the third book had come out and I was hooked right away; blew through the entire series as each new book released. As one would expect in a book about the end times, there is a lot of death. I'm not sure I want to read that these days.

I began reading this series in high school and went right from one book to the next until I was done. I'm sure my mother never would have allowed it if she were alive. Some sexy scenes in these books. My fear in re-reading a series that came out so long ago is that the writing won't capture me the way it did when I first read it and that might be disappointing. I've never read anything else from this author either. 

This was probably one of the creepiest series I read when I was a teenager. Not sure I could handle the content now. It is so disturbing to me as a wife and mother. 

While I found the pace of this book to be very slow, I recall how eloquently written and intriguing it was. The mystical aspects of the book didn't do much for me, but it's woven deeply into the plot. This is a book I really enjoyed then, but would never feel the need to read again. It's pretty dark. 

Jerome Charyn's I Am Abraham is a riveting, intimate, and compassionate portrayal of Lincoln. I'm a huge fan of Charyn's work, but not sure I would ever dive into this one again. Some of the subject matter might turn me off.

This was an excellent book. Not my typical read and not your typical vampire story, which is what drew me to it in the first place. Loved it. Don't know how I would feel if I read it again.

This was a fascinating book, but I don't know if I could tolerate the content anymore.

Here's another great book that I loved when I read it, but I fear I don't want to read about cyber bullying these days. I've watched my kids go through too many things. I don't want to read about them too. 

This is the book that changed my mind about dystopian fiction. Avoided the genre before this book. I'm really scared if I re-read The Hunger Games I won't like it as much as I did the first time.

That's it from me. What are some books you're scared to re-read?

The Last Operative by Jerry B. Jenkins -- Book Review

A suspense filled post 9/11 retelling of his first stand-alone novel, The Last Operative, by Jerry Jenkins is a superb read.

Being an NSA intelligence officer has cost Jordan Kirkwood a great deal. He barely knows his children. His wife, Rosemary is supportive, but he knows she deserves more than he's been able to give. Meeting Rosemary in London to explore Europe as a tourist, is part of Jordan's commitment to his family. But when horrifying intelligence is confided to him in Frankfurt, everything changes. Even worse, someone inside the NSA may be behind the greatest threat since 9/11. During one of his most dangerous missions, Jordan must figure out who he can trust, knowing the fate of his country hangs in the balance.

Having been a fan of Jerry Jenkins since the release of the first book in the Left Behind series, I was eager to read his latest book. When I heard about a contest to win a free autographed copy of The Last Operative, I entered my ideas for how I would promote the book online. I won a copy of the book and a cash prize (something I didn't know about when I submitted my ideas).

I have to admit this wasn't a book I got into immediately, but because I had enjoyed every book in the Left Behind series, in fact, liked each new book more than the last, I knew I had to stick with it. I am so glad I did, because by Chapter 5 I was totally hooked.

With The Last Operative, Jenkins blends family, faith, suspense, and international intrigue to come up with a winner. While faith doesn't play a huge role in this novel, some of the conversations between characters touch upon faith in God.

With Jordan Kirkwood, the author creates a character who struggles with knowing his job has always needed to come first; a struggle that increases after London. The reader sympathizes with Jordan, his family, and those who are drawn into this newest threat that demands Jordan's attention, and again, pulls him from his family.

In the Author's Note, the reader discovers The Last Operative is a retelling of the author's first stand-alone novel. In addition, Jenkins pulled off an experiment with this book, by eliminating any "he said" or "she said" tags. Jenkins says no reader has told him they were confused by who was speaking, and I certainly didn't find this experiment to be an obstacle to my own reading enjoyment.

Lovers of suspense and international intrigue will certainly enjoy The Last Operative by Jerry Jenkins. I know I'm looking forward to his next release.


Title: The Last Operative
Author: Jerry B. Jenkins
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
ISBN-10: 1414309201
ISBN-13: 978-1414309200
SRP: $14.99

The Last Operative by Jerry B. Jenkins

I was first introduced to the work of Jerry Jenkins with The Left Behind series. The Book of Revelation has always been one of my favorite books of the Bible, but it is very mystical. While this series is fictional, the Biblical prophecy behind these books isn't, and I felt a better understanding of the Book of Revelation as a result.

Through Tyndale, the publisher of The Left Behind series, I learned Jerry Jenkins had a new book coming out on June 24, The Last Operative. I also found out through this email from Tyndale, that Jenkins was running a contest.

Readers were asked to submit ideas for ways they would promote The Last Operative. There were 15 winners selected out of more than 500 entries. I was fortunate enough to be among the winners. I received an autographed copy of the book and a cash prize. This last part was a total surprise to me. I guess I didn't read the original email carefully.

You can view some of the winning contest ideas by clicking here. I actually felt mine were some of the more boring ideas. The others who won made awesome suggestions.

You'll find a list of the winners here.

I'm bringing The Last Operative with me on vacation, so look for my review coming in July or August.

NaBloPoMo Special Feature - Heroes

If I asked you to name a well known Christian author, who would it be?

The author I am thinking of is a man who has written more than 175 books and assisted Billy Graham in writing his memoirs, Just As I Am. He owns a filmmaking company and a guild for Christian writers, and he also wrote the nationally syndicated sports story comic strip, Gil Thorp from 1996-2004.

As if all that isn't enough, he collaborated with another popular Christian author and speaker on a sixteen-book Christian fiction series that has sold 70,000,000 copies.

Who is this literary hero?

Dr. Jerry Jenkins.

I might never have heard of the name Jerry Jenkins had it not been for my family being so enthralled with a new Christian fiction series that told of a world in chaos when family, friends, and loved ones suddenly disappear. Pilot Rayford Steele loses a son and a wife in the Rapture as believers are taken up and the rest are Left Behind.

This fictional series uses the Book of Revelation to depict what happens in the End Times for Rayford Steele, Buck Williams, Bruce Barnes, and many others.


The Book of Revelation has long been a favorite of mine, but the symbolism can sometimes be hard to understand. The Apostle John wrote the Book of Revelation as an elderly man while he was a prisoner of Rome. In the Bible, John is referred to as "the disciple who Jesus loved", and it is into John's care that Jesus placed his beloved mother Mary right before His death. John's love for Jesus was so strong that he defied the Roman magistrate's order to no longer proclaim Jesus as Messiah, Savior and Lord; even while a prisoner.

It is, therefore, fitting that John should be the one to receive this vision of the End Times. The opening line of Revelation says, "1The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,2who testifies to everything he saw–that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.3Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near." (NIV)

On the Left Behind website, one can read the mission for this series: "This fictional account of life after the Rapture delivers an urgent call to today's readers to prepare their own hearts and minister to others."


In addition to the Left Behind series, Jenkins and Tim LaHaye collaborated on The Jesus Chronicles, a four-book series that focuses on the writers of the Gospels. So far, Mark's, Luke's and John's stories have been released. Matthew's story is yet to be released.

Jenkins has also written numerous non-fiction titles and many books on marriage and family. He is also the author of several children's series. It seems that there is no stopping him.

Writing for the Soul: Instruction and Advice from an Extraordinary Writing Life was released in 2006. I own this book and often refer to it.


If you go to Jenkins's website, you'll be able to read chapters 1 and 2 of Riven, the book he says he always wanted to write.

For his unlimited talent, for all that he does to mentor aspiring authors of all ages, and for the inspiration that his long career provides others, Dr. Jerry Jenkins is our next featured literary hero.