This is a little something different for me, but a lot of people requested it so I figured I would give it a go!
I really, really enjoyed The Martian by Andy Weir when I read it back in July of this year. I gave it a 5/5 star rating, and I absolutely loved it, so I was extremely excited when I found out I was able to see The Martian for its opening weekend. I had superbly high hopes for the movie because of how much I loved the book, and I am so glad that I can say that I wasn't disappointed.
I'm going to start by saying that the movie and the book are both very different from each other, and that I'm not going to lie and say that they're the exact same. Some aspects of the movie were different from the book, and they left quite a bit out of the movie, but they stayed true to the story and that is all that really matters in my opinion.
Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars. Now, he's sure he'll be the first person to die there. After a dust storm nearly kills him & forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded & completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive—& even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive. Chances are, though, he won't have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment or plain-old "human error" are much more likely to kill him first. But Mark isn't ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills—& a relentless, dogged refusal to quit—he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. Will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him? (Synopsis from Goodreads).
I'm going to start with the basics of a movie - casting. Personally, I really liked the casting. A few characters were nothing like I had originally pictured them while I was reading the book, but I actually liked the casting of the people in the movie much better then what I had imagined. I found all of the acting to be very believable, and every actor/actress pulled me in and made me believe what they were saying.
I LOVED the setting of the movie. I am a science and space nerd, and seeing how realistic the surface of Mars was, and how detailed every square inch of the red planet was, the space nerd in me just loved every second of it. As well as the setting, the wardrobe was all very well designed. They were a lot different then what I had imagined (which was more of a space suit then what they had in the movie), but I really enjoyed being able to imagine all of the different scientific discoveries that we had made in order for us to be able to design and create the suits that they had over the time period between present day and the future, when The Martian takes place.
The plot, like I said in the above paragraphs, was very similar to that of the book, but there were a few differences. Thankfully there was nothing major missing, but there was a few scenes in the book that I really loved, and I was disappointed when they didn't make the cut into the movie. I understand that the movie was already 2 hours and 22 minutes as it was, and with even more details and scenes the movie could have been upwards of 4 hours, but that would have just made the movie even better. In the book, each and every obstacle that Mark Watney faces is something that makes him want to quit and give up, but instead we see him constantly pushing himself to come up with an idea to fix and solve the problem. Each obstacle helps Watney largely develop as a character, and I feel that by having more obstacles, and more parts of the book in the movie, it would just make it more believable and the viewers would be able to connect with him even more than without them.
Overall, I really enjoyed the movie. I loved how they kept all of the characters very defined, with each characters having their own personality, from disco music to Watney's sense of humor. I really liked the casting, the setting, and the wardrobe, as well as how they decided to film and create the movie. I recommend seeing the movie after reading the book, as there are a lot of details that you miss out on while watching it, but you don't need to read the book at all to enjoy the movie. I loved it, and I will most likely see it again while it's still in theatres!
So, this month I got a total of just three books. I wanted to try and read more books than I bought this month, which was successful...but I only managed to read four books. The books I got this month are:
I plan on reading: 
I went into Extraordinary Means by Robyn Schneider with very high hopes, as I had read her other book, The Beginning of Everything, in 2013. And boy, were those high hopes reached. I was able to connect with so many of the characters, and I loved each and every one of them. It was beautifully written, and the plot was so compelling and grabbing, I read it in just two sittings. I have a full review under the review page of my blog, so check that out if you want more information!
Shadow and Bone takes place in a very different world, where some people are born with powers and are called Grisha. They are seen by some as saints, and others as witches. The story follows a young Alina, as she discovers that she is actually Grisha, and her massive change in her life and what must happen to her, and what she must do, with her newfound powers. This book was beautifully written, the characters were all witty and lovable, and the world was absolutely to die for. I have a full review up on the review page of my blog if you want more info!