Apparently this guy does this with many different themes. But I love this. It made my day, and I hope it makes yours.

Also, I fudged a little bit. Some of these I hope NEVER become films, but I think they’d be brilliant on TV.

Top Ten Books I’d Like To See Made Into A Movie Adapted to Big or Small Screen

1. Any of Ann Rinaldi’s Episodes series - At a time when I thought I didn’t care about history, I had Ann Rinaldi there to put tween and teenage girls in the heart of American historical action. I think A Break With Charity, The Fifth of March, Finishing Becca, or any number of others would translate well to film…or perhaps Masterpiece Drama.
2. More Dirk Pitt - We got Sahara, which I enjoyed well enough, but even with the little Dirk Pitt I’ve read, it’s not the strongest story. Silly adventure stories have become something geared at 10-year-old boys. Dirk Pitt could appeal to an older, more general audience.
3. Elantris by Brandon Sanderson -- I’m one of the very small minority who prefer Brandon’s freshman book to the (better written) Mistborn trilogy. It’s such a beautiful world with three equal viewpoints written directly into the story that I think it would rock as a Syfy miniseries.
4. Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins -- I adored all three books, and I think they’d film well, and have natural humor rather than the melodrama humor of, say, Smeyer’s creation.
5. Young Jedi Knights series by Kevin J. Anderson and Rebecca Moesta -- Don’t make a film out of these, oh please don’t, but I think this MG/YA series would suit itself well to tween television, live action. The journey of going to the Jedi Academy, training, building their lightsabers, fighting the Shadow Academy—it could easily sustain a series. Biggest problem would be to convince Harrison Ford to do cameos.
6. Gallagher Girls by Ally Carter -- These are the kinds of books that I sort of picture like movies in my head anyway. Heist Society I’m fairly certain is farther along in development than GG (last I saw Drew Barrymore was attached to direct/produce) so I’d love to see something move forward here.
7. Crocodile in the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters -- I would love to see this Victorian archaeologist on the screen. Seriously.
8. Beekeeper’s Apprentice by Laurie R. King -- Oh come on, you didn’t think I’d get through this list without mentioning Sherlock, did you? Honestly, I don’t know that these could be filmed well, but I’d love to see them try.
9. Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey -- I very recently learned that there IS some development here. I hope it does Pern justice.
10. The Belgariad by David Eddings -- I’m throwing this on here because I really couldn’t think of ten! I don’t know how well these 5 books would adapt to the screen, or if they’re better left on the page. It would definitely need to be a mini-series, though. The problem with the Belgariad now is that it looks derivative, even though it was one of the first epic fantasies that took off after it became a genre.

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

The sound of laughter
A child’s wonder
Heaven captured in a newborn’s eyes

Music filling you
The spirit teaching truth
Gazing at a million stars in the sky

Our mighty God has given us
So much good to find
There’s just no room for darkness in our lives
If there is anything that’s praiseworthy
Anything that’s virtuous or lovely
We seek after these things

The birds gliding through the sky
Rain on the roof at night
The morning sunlight breaking through the clouds

Helping one in need
Knowledge growing as you read
Working hard as you feel your heart pound

Claiming what we know
Love burning in our souls
Praying in secret and singing out loud

Our mighty God has given us
So much good to find
There’s just no room for darkness in our lives
If there is anything that’s praiseworthy
Anything that’s virtuous or lovely
We seek after these things

Dancing, flying, running, smiling
Reaching, loving, sharing

Green grass beneath my feet
The wind blowing through the trees
Feeling peace inside of me

We seek after these things

Oh, this list is hard, and then I read Kelly and Kimberly’s list on Broke and Bookish and realized that we have similar tastes in characters, so I feel like so much of this is copying them. In reality, we’re just equally awesome people.

1. Fred and George Weasley, Harry Potter Series -- Without them, I would not love Harry Potter, and if I didn’t love Harry Potter, well, I wouldn’t be writing this blog post. End of story.
2. Nancy Drew, Nancy Drew Mysteries -- Before I was exposed to Sherlock, I had Nancy Drew. I loved Nancy, I wanted to be Nancy, and it saddened me when I’d read enough and become old enough that I was smarter than Nancy. But I loved that I was never without a Nancy Drew to read growing up.
3. Sherlock Holmes -- I’ve been fixated on Sherlock for a little less than five years. I’m not picky about my incarnation of him—Conan Doyle, Laurie King, Great Mouse Detective, Guy Ritchie/Robert Downey Jr., and of course Moffat/Gattis. Oh, and my master’s thesis. I love him as a highly flawed character who sees very little flaw in himself. And he will never stop being interesting to me.
4. Cinna, The Hunger Games -- I’ve jokingly called myself Team Cinna in the Hunger Games camp, and that’s not so much that I ship Katniss/Cinna as it is that I just adore him as a character. A wonderful mentor, and the kind of person I wish I had to help me stay focused.
5. Scout, To Kill a Mockingbird -- Doesn’t every little girl relate to Jean Louise “Scout” Finch? I sure did the first time I read it. But then…I love every character in To Kill a Mockingbird. I could fill up half this list with them.
6. Tom Sawyer, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer / Huckleberry Finn - I was asked by a classmate in grad school who my favorite American author was. I said Mark Twain, without pausing, and he stared at me blankly. He said he’d never considered Mark Twain as a viable answer to that question. I laughed. While I will admit the more powerful book is Huckleberry Finn, it’s not my favorite. I love Tom, and you should have heard my cry of glee when Tom shows up at the end of Huck Finn.
7. Vin, Mistborn Trilogy -- Brandon crafted a wonderful blend of a character in Vin for the Mistborn series. From the very first chapter I fell in love with her, and wished I had the kind of guts she did, not to mention wished I lived in the world she did, even though I knew it was dirty and disgusting.
8. Menolly, The Harper Hall Trilogy (et al Dragonriders of Pern) - Yes, she’s a Mary Sue. Yes, she’s good at everything, she can even make little fire lizards sing. That doesn’t stop me from loving her, and wanting to run off to a medieval society when I can study at a Harper Hall and show up every boy and music instructor on the premises.
9. Amelia Peabody, The Amelia Peabody Series - She’s a spitfire. And she raids Egyptian tombs, and solves mysteries. Sometimes in full-on Victorian garb. And beats up men with an umbrella. And tamed one of the grumpiest men alive into a respectable husband. Love her.
10. Rebecca Baxter, Gallagher Girls - I think what I love so much about Bex is she’s the one of Cammie’s crew that I don’t relate to in the least. We have next to nothing in common, and it makes her very interesting to me. Many of my friends over the years have been the Rebecca Baxters of this world, and have helped keep me from being a spineless recluse.

I used to maintain a list of things that I wouldn’t do without a boy taking me. I’ve broken a number of those now (the list used to include restaurants that have been tried owing to their gluten free menus). However, there’s a whole different list of things I’ve never touched because as much as I love doing things by myself, there are some things that are more fun with another person.

So, here is a list of ten dates I’d love to do, in no particular order.

1. Registry scanners -- How is Target gonna know that you’re not engaged? Or that you don’t have a bun in the oven? I’d say either split up from your date and compare your registry lists or take another couple with you and compare each other’s lists. But let’s face it, this is fun simply because you play with a barcode scanner.
2. Double date: cooking war -- You and your date meet another couple at a market of your choice (could be really fun to do something like the Orange Artisan Market). Make a spending budget then retire to two different kitchens. Two hours later, meet back up to share food and decide who cooked the best meal.
3. Paperback rag exchange -- Go to Barnes & Noble, each pick out a paperback book, preferably a ridiculous one, and buy it for the other. Spend the rest of the night attempting to read said ridiculous book, hopefully having some zingers to share. And who knows, maybe you end up with a new paperback guilty pleasure.
4. Sporting event -- I’m not picky about what kind, but I’d love to go to more sports (and unlike last time I went to a pro game, be sitting next to people I know rather than strangers). College, pro, Reno Air Races, whatever!
5. The $5 gift -- Go somewhere, preferably with quirky little shops (Balboa, antique malls, LA flea markets or suburban downtowns), and buy the other one a present that is worth no more than 5 bucks.
6. CA mission(s) -- I love the California missions. I love their setup, the history, the simple beauty of the chapels, and the history between the Catholic missionaries and the native Californians. I’ve been to about half of them, but most of the ones I haven’t seen are in SoCal, so…golden opportunity!
7. State park -- I love state parks, and their simple scale compared to the national parks (not to say I don’t love Sequoia, Kings Canyon, Yosemite, Redwood, etc. because I do). I also feel like we need to support them, what with how many CA had to close last year. But between LA, Orange, and San Diego counties, there’s a huge offering of state parks so easy to get to.
8. Museum and people watching -- Two of my favorite things in the whole world, and luckily they go amazingly together. Not only can you look at cool historical artifacts or weird-tastic art, but you can make up stories about the people there with you. Who is there by force, who is a museum rat, who is a hipster, who is drugged up. Sit there, enjoy the atmosphere, and make up stories together for the other people in the museum with you.
9. Restaurant hop -- Appetizer at one restaurant, entree at another, dessert at another. Why? Simply because you can.
10. Double/Triple date: girls vs boys bowling -- Girls on one side, boys on the other, and you have to bowl at the same exact time as your date, to allow for the playful taunting and awkwardness of bowling at the same time as someone else. Losing team buys the food.

MY CHALLENGE! To my single friends: make your own list of top ten potential dates. To my attached friends: come up with ten date ideas you and your significant other haven’t done. To my married friends: come up with ten unusual fun things to do together.

I don’t know how I feel about Google’s plot to take over the world (half kidding, only half), but when I had this come up OnDemand, I was so touched by it. I sincerely hope this is a real story, and not fabricated to pull at my heartstrings.

The gospel of the Savior is not simply about avoiding bad in our lives; it also is essentially about doing and becoming good. And the Atonement provides help for us to overcome and avoid bad and to do and become good. Help from the Savior is available for the entire journey of mortality—from bad to good to better and to change our very nature.

I wasn’t particularly aware of Coachella until a couple of years ago—anyone that knows my music listening habits would be able to tell you I’m never up on the current stuff—but as soon as my coworkers started describing the experience, this was what I pictured.

This week from Booking Through Thursday:

What are your literary “pet peeves”?

A very good question! I guess I have a few that come to mind.

1. Present Tense: Every so often I will find a story that engages me in the present tense, but typically it feels like a lie to me. It’s not in the present. You’re not right in front of me. There are pages behind you, which means this can’t possibly be the present. It also tends to remind me of choose-your-own-adventure stories. Are there exceptions? Yes. But as a general rule, give me past tense.
2. Teen Fiction Love Triangles: Often, I love a book until new-guy-who-is-better-than-the-one-you’ve-always-loved or guy-you-never-knew-but-has-loved-you-for-years shows up. Seriously. Thanks, Smeyer. When reading Wings, I almost chucked the thing across the room.
3. The Recap of Ultimate-ness: Hello, person reading book eight in this series, here is a recap of the first seven books; we will be spending six pages on this recap. Seriously—unnecessary.
4. Moldy/Asbestos Books: You know those books. The ones hidden away in the back of an old library that you need for a research project, but your hands smell terrible for hours afterward? Yuck.