By Kathy Pillatzki
Assistant Director
Henry County Library System

  Last week was a good week for romance author Nicholas Sparks. A movie based on his 2010 novel Safe Haven was released just in time to coincide with Valentine’s Day. Any time a movie adaptation of a book hits the big screen, it causes a resurgence of book sales as well, and we see a corresponding uptick of interest in the author’s works at the library.

  Of course, with rare exceptions, I nearly always think the book is better than the movie. Quite a few movie adaptations of books, both classics and newcomers, are set for release in 2013.

  It’s not Twilight, but fans of Stephenie Meyer can catch the film version of her sci-fi/romance novel The Host beginning March 29. There are no vampires here, but still plenty of drama as a handful of humans run from body-snatching alien invaders.

  F. Scott Fitgerald’s 1925 tale of obsession and tragedy in the roaring twenties will hit the silver screen again on May 10. The 1974 movie starred Robert Redford in the title role of The Great Gatsby. This time around we’ll see Leonardo DiCaprio as the wealthy and eccentric Jay Gatsby and Tobey Maguire as his Long Island neighbor Nick Carraway.

  April 5 will bring Odd Thomas to the big screen. Fans of the novels by Dean Koontz will see their favorite clairvoyant short-order cook played by Anton Yelchin, and Willem Dafoe as sympathetic police chief Wyatt Porter.

  Those caught up in the hotter-than-hot zombie apocalypse trend will want to catch World War Z: an Oral History of the Zombie War, based on the book of the same name by Max Brooks and starring Brad Pitt. Release date: June 21.

  August will bring two releases that will appeal to older kids and teens, and to adults who appreciate a good story. August 16 is the release date for Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, the second movie based on the books by Rick Riordan. Cassandra Clare’s paranormal fantasy The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones will be in theaters August 23.

  Just in time for Halloween, we’ll get a remake of the classic Stephen King bloodbath Carrie. This time it stars Chloe Grace Moretz in the title role and Julianne White as her mother. Release date: October 18.

  November will bring us two guaranteed blockbusters. Ender’s Game, based on the novel by sci-fi master Orson Scott Card, is set for release on November 1. The next installment in Suzanne Collins’ dystopian Hunger Games series, Catching Fire, will arrive in theaters on the 22nd.

  One to watch for with no firm release date yet is The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, based on the novel by Annie Barrows. In the book, the story is told in the form of letters exchanged between a London writer and the residents of Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands occupied by the Germans during World War II. Part romance, part historical fiction, and entirely charming, it will be interesting to see how it translates to the big screen.

  All of these titles are available through your nearest Henry County library. Keep an eye on your calendar and make sure you have time to read – or re-read – your favorites before you see the movies!

©Henry County Times, Inc.