Water for Elephants

Its rare that I find a book that I CANNOT put down, and I get very emotional about. Might sound silly, but the first book(s) that I felt that way about was the Twilight saga books. I know they have a bad rap for those who are not fans, but I don't care. If you know me, you know what a big Twilight fan I am. Over the years though, I am not as "obsessed" as I once was, but am still a lover of the series. So moving on..

Last week it happened again. This time with Water For Elephants. I have had the book for a couple years now, but its not the typical genre I read so for whatever reason I never picked it up. Well, the movie came out this last Friday, and I was invited to go with a group of friends to opening night. So I KNEW that if I didn't read the book prior to seeing the film that I wouldn't read it. I've had that problem before, and I always would prefer reading a book before seeing the movie. I'm not one of those people who get really critical about changes in the movie, I just love seeing the characters "alive" on screen and being able to understand the characters more as well. So I was talking to my good friend Amanda, who had read it before, and she told me I had to read it before Friday. So we figured if I read 60 pages a day I could finish it before we go. I anticipated not being TOO into the book and having to force myself to read it everyday which is how I have been with all books for about a year or so now. So I picked it up right after we talked and by the time I looked down to see what page I was on I was already past the 100 page mark. I could not put it down! I cried multiple times, for happy and SAD reasons, and ended up finishing it after a day and a half. I even cried when I finished simply because what a GREAT story it was. FYI though, as an animal lover, it was a TOUGH read in certain parts but I can't tell you how much I loved this book. I almost wanted to start reading it over AGAIN as soon as I finished it! So of course, I was even MORE excited to see the movie Friday. I knew they were going to change some things for time of course, and let me tell you. They did an AMAZING job. It flowed so great. I am a crier, I cry at everything, so it is no surprise I cried during the movie BUT, I have never cried so much in a movie before. TITANIC included! I think I cried 90% of the movie. My eyes seemed to be welded up the whole time, and when they weren't just weld up they were streaming down my cheeks! I find it funny that my two FAVORITE books that were turned into movies have Robert Pattinson as the lead. :) He did SUCH a great job in this movie. I don't think I thought of Twilight or Edward once while watching it.

So I definitely definitely recommend the book AND movie. Just make sure you keep tissues with you ;)



I haven't uploaded my pictures from the night, but my friend took this with her iPad with all of us at California Pizza Kitchen after the movie...