My biggest let-down as far as book-to-movie goes was James Patterson's Along Came a Spider. It was a monstrosity. The plot was not even the same.

I liked the Twilight book when I first read it (even the greatest of us fall), but the movie was atrocious. I had trouble following the movie even though I knew what was supposed to happen.

Second worst book-to-movie of all time is Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling. That was another movie where I cannot understand how people who didn't bother to read the books could possibly understand what is going on.

I enjoyed The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini SO much. It was a fabulous book. The movie was actually good. They included quotes from the book and every major event (with the exception of one huge event, but I was pleased enough with the movie that this exception does not bother me). My only complaint could possibly be that the movie was too fast-paced because they had a time limit, but I think that's a small price to have an acceptable movie.

As you can see, I'm not very tolerant of book-to-movie transitions.

I always try to read the book first. I do believe that the only movies I've seen before I read the books were The Green Mile Book Box Set by Stephen King (fabulous movie, fabulous book, the two were interchangeable and this might be the best book-to-movie) and The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien (loved the books more than the movies, but I adore the movies as well).

I notice that I tend to only like the movies that I have seen before reading the book. I guess that way I'm not disappointed.

Read the book first, then saw the movie:
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden - loved the book, did not care for the movie.
White Oleander A Novel by Janet Fitch - loved both.
The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides - loved both.
The Invisible Circus by Jennifer Egan - liked the book, hated the movie.
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer - The movie was pretty bad, in my opinion, and although it's not the greatest literature, I did like the books. Precisely because it reminded me of the type of books I used to read as a kid that got me loving reading in the first place.
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson - both were fairly good, though I read the book years ago, and only saw the movie recently.

Saw the movie first:
Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen - loved both, and though the movie took liberties with the story, I liked the movie better.

I am excited for the Time Traveler's Wife movie to come out, as well as the Lovely Bones. I also have never watched the movie version of one of my favourite books, the Unbearable Lightness of Being, as I had no idea it was a movie until recently, but I am planning on watching it as soon as possible.

I just finished The Time Traveler's Wife and found out there is going to be a movie coming out this year. The book was amazing! I can't wait!

Whats Eating Gilbert Grape is an awesome book AND movie.

Even though I love Nick Hornby, I didn't read the book until after I saw the movie. I tried so hard, but just couldn't make it all the way through. It was so hard to get john c.'s voice out of my head.

Read first then saw the movie:
Nick Hornby's About a Boy- liked both the same
Stan Redding's Catch Me If You Can The True Story of a Real Fake- loved the book and walked out on the movie
Neil Gaiman's Stardust- liked the book, stoked for the film
Chuck Barris's Confessions of a Dangerous Mind An Unauthorized Autobiography- I liked the book much more
David Benioff's The 25th Hour- loved the book and HATED the movie. The screenplay was written by Benioff, but he changed one major item of knowledge of the main character that completely killed the film for me.

Saw the movie first:
Nick Hornby's High Fidelity- absolutely love both