Great Gift Idea - A Book and a Movie

Stuck for a great gift?

How about a book and a movie?  Everyone loves a great story and there are hundreds of entertaining and tantalizing tales out there to choose from.  There have been classic movies that have blossomed from brilliant books and flirty films that have spun off some fun literature (Yes, the movie Sideways starring Paul Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church spun off the cheeky The Sideways Guide to Wine and Life).

It can be tricky if you don't know who you are giving a book and movie to.  It's quite the personal present as you don't want to give Fifty Shades of Grey (although the movie is pending) to your grandmother.  In my opinion, it's okay to give a used book but the movie has to be new.  In fact, if you can find a rare, classic, maybe even signed edition in print, it would make the gift that much more special.  As far as the movie goes, right now, you can't go wrong with a DVD.  Entertainment media is always changing so depending on your recipients preferred source, VHS may be too dated and digital may be too futuristic.

Here are my top ten book and movie pairs that would make excellent gifts:

1. The Shawshank Redemption; book by Stephen King, movie starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman
2. Forrest Gump; book by Winston Groom, movie starring Tom Hanks
3. The Help; book by Kathryn Stockett, movie starring Emma Stone, Viola Davis
4. Of Mice and Men; book by  John Steinbeck, movie starring Gary Sinise
5. Oliver Twist; book by Charles Dickens, movie (Roman Polanski musical) starring Barney Clark
6. The Color Purple; book by Alice Walker, movie starring Whoopi Goldberg, Danny Glover and Oprah
7. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest; book by Ken Kesey, movie starring Jack Nicholson
8. Where the Red Fern Grows; book by Wilson Rawls, movie starring James Whitmore, Beverly Garland, Stewert Peterson
9. Dances With Wolves; book by Michael Blake, movie starring Kevin Costner
10. Gone With the Wind; book by Margaret Mitchell, movie starring Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable

 The Next Thirteen....

Jaws, Philomena, The Princess Bride, Charlotte's Web, Carrie, Mean Girls, Gone, Baby, Gone, The Green Mile, To Kill a Mockingbird, Fried Green Tomatoes, Stand by Me, Misery, The Bridge Over the River Kwai, Schindler's List....