Carnival is coming to a close, so it's time to consider either starting or reviving your book club, which might have gone by the wayside during all that revelry. There's no better way to relax and enjoy the company of friends than a book club–especially when the reading experience can culminate in seeing a movie based on the book.The Sunday Arts Section (SAS) Book Club dedicates the month of March to three outstanding books that would make perfect book club choices. All three have been turned into movies. The movies based on Labor Dayby Joyce Maynard and The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History by Robert M Edsel are currently showing at Movie Towne. So is our third choice, Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup.These three books–and their movie counterparts–cover the bases of most people's interests. What's even better is that all three books are a steal of a deal as Kindle e-books available from amazon.com. If you prefer traditional books, check your favourite bookstores or ask them to order copies for your book club.
Labor Day
If you enjoy a book that makes you ponder the meaning of life, try Labor Day, the story of a mother and her son whose lives are changed forever by an escaped convict.This is one movie that didn't butcher the book. Nothing is changed and little of importance is left out. The movie ends in a fitting place, just before the actual end of the book, leaving readers with something to look forward to if they choose to read the book afterwards. Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin capture their characters perfectly.The Kindle edition of Labor Day is available on amazon.com for US$4.99.
The Monuments Men
If you like history, art, art history, World War II stories and adventure, then you won't want to miss The Monuments Men. The movie manages to feature suspense and healthy doses of humour in a compelling story that makes viewers consider a whole different side of WWII.It is about a group of people, mostly art professors and museum heads. who form a special unit in the US army designed to identify and recover art that the Nazis stole from personal collections and museums.A star-studded cast makes this movie a real treat. They include George Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, Cate Blanchett, John Goodman and Jean Dujardin, and Hugh Bonneville of Downton Abbey fame.The Kindle edition is available on amazon.com for US$4.49
Twelve Years a Slave
Twelve Years a Slave is the story of a free black man, Solomon Northup, from New York state, who is tricked and sold into slavery. It is a small book that adds immensely to the literature: Northup's autobiography is an important first-hand account of slavery. There is fascinating information in his story, but it is not written with the intent of being an action-packed piece of literature.The kindle edition of Twelve Years a Slave is available on amazon.com for less than US$1.Good luck choosing a book club read for the month of March. I couldn't narrow it down to one book!
�2 Join the discussion on these and other books in the SAS Book Club Facebook group.