My imagination is a pretty powerful thing. It can take branches outside my window and turn them into murderous fingertips in about five seconds. Which is why I generally try to cut film adaptations some slack. If they're competing with something I've already read, they're in for some stiff competition.

That doesn't mean I've never left a movie theatre wishing I could gouge my eyes out and erase the last two hours from my memory. In fact, if you asked me to name good and bad film adaptations, I can rattle off a long list of offenders (Everything is Illuminated and The Handmaid's Tale are the first to come to mind). But if you ask me to name some of the winners, I have to think a little bit.

So when we asked for your best and worst lists, I expected the bad reviews to come rushing in like a raging river. But surprise! We've actually received more comments on good films than bad ones.

That doesn't mean you've let the folks in Hollywood completely off the hook, though. Here are some of the offenders so far:

Simon Birch: Based on John Irving's novel A Prayer for Owen Meany, this one is a common offender due to the fact that it is so different from the book. It doesn't even have the same ending! John Irving himself requested that the film have a different name so that people who read the book wouldn't be disappointed. We got this suggestion from Corey Redekop, who thinks it "massacres any goodwill" towards the novel

War of the Worlds: Steven Spielberg's adaptation of the science fiction classic by H. G. Wells got mostly positive reviews after its 2005 release. Not from commenter b_dumoulin, though, who had "such high expectations that (Spielberg) would follow the original story by setting it in England in the period around WWI, but instead he turned it into an action flick for Tom Cruise."

The Shipping News: The 2001 film of E. Annie Proulx's award-winning novel has come under fire from commenter Spinnaker 709 and our own Kimberly Walsh. Truly, its crime is the worst a film adaptation can possibly commit — getting our hopes up and then letting them down. According to Spinnaker 709 "I loved this book, and as a Newfoundlander I was looking forward to the movie, especially with the great cast, but it was just a horrible, thrown-together movie that really disappointed."

So let's hear it. We've all seen the film factory take a book we love and turn it into some twisted, shallow, misinterpreted version of itself on the big screen. Tell us which film adaptations made you want to throw your popcorn at the screen and walk out in frustration. We can handle it.

Vent your frustration on Twitter, Facebook or right here on the blog.

One of our favourite things to do here at the Book Club is to hear what you avid readers out there have to say. When it comes to great insight and strong opinion, you never cease to amaze us! This week was definitely no exception. Here are some of the highlights from the discussion surrounding this month's Top 10 list of the best movie adaptations so far:

Fight Club (based on the novel of the same name by Chuck Palahniuk):    This one has been getting a lot of buzz on the blog, most recently from moviefan. It was first suggested by Linzbulb, who said it's "not often a movie captures the essence of a book so well." Mattbin wasn't so sure about the book, calling it a "tolerable gimmick," but agreed that the film was great and "went straight to the heart of modern male angst."

Notes on a Scandal (based on the novel of the same name by Zoë Heller):    Pamela Lindeman put this one forward on Facebook. Here's what she had to say:

"Notes on a Scandal was one of the few movies I watched before I read the book. I usually don't do that because I can't get the actors out of my head once I've seen the movie. In this case, the acting was excellent, so that didn't hinder my enjoyment of the novel. I loved that they kept the sarcasm of the narrator of the book in the movie as well. Screenwriters generally avoid voice-over, but I think it's the best way to get the thoughts of the narrator across in the movie, and that's what was done in this case."

The Road (based on the novel of the same name by Cormac McCarthy):    This is one adaptation that has stirred up a lot of discussion, so it seems only fitting that it was the first entry in this month's Critics' Corner contest, courtesy of Tammy Jones, (thanks, Tammy!). Everyone seems to be in agreement that the movie succeeds in being both faithful to the book and entirely enjoyable — that is, if you can get past the bleakness of the subject matter!

What I'm finding really interesting in all this, though, is the idea of whether or not a movie has to be faithful to the book to be good, or if it might even be possible to make a movie that's actually better than the original text. And I'm not the only one. Here's a huge shout-out to Robby Redmond, who asked the same question on our Facebook page. According to him, there are "some fantastic movies that are based on books that might not be great literature: The Magnificent Ambersons, The Thin Red Line, There Will be Blood...As far as bad adaptations go,...one can only make a bad movie, not a bad adaptation. If the movie is bad, the source material is irrelevant. Books are good for ideas, how the director chooses to execute what they want from a book is another story."

One thing is for certain — the conversation is just getting warmed up. What do you think? Can a movie ever be better than the book? Is it a crime to watch the movie first? What are some of the best and worst adaptations out there? Let us know on Twitter, Facebook or right here on the blog.

Ramona Geraldine Quimby is probably one of the literary characters I know best. I grew up with Beverly Cleary's best-selling books about the rambunctious girl, and in my imagination, Klickitat Street and the Quimby's weren't a fictional family in Portland, they were real people who could have lived right around the corner.

Ramona and I understood each other. We were tight. Which is probably why I was both excited and reluctant to see Elizabeth Allen's movie adaptation of the Ramona books, Ramona and Beezus. Would it stand the test of my seven-year-old self?

This is the first Ramona movie ever made. Cleary has long been reluctant to see her books brought to the screen — with the exception of a 10-episode Canadian television series starring Sarah Polley in the late '80s. For this film, the author was invited to pore over the screenplay, making suggestions and changes. In the film's quieter moments, there are times when you can see her influence.

Those of you who go to the film expecting it to be Cleary's book, Beezus and Ramona, will be sorely disappointed. The film incorporates storylines from all eight Ramona books. As a result, fans are treated to some classic moments, but the plot seems hurried. The rush to cram it all in neglects the careful pacing that made Cleary's books so true to life and Ramona so much like a real girl. The scene in which Ramona tries to hide being sick so that her recently laid-off father can go to a job interview, for example, is portrayed beautifully by Joey King, the young actor who plays Ramona, but its five or six seconds of screen-time are so fleeting that it's likely to get lost. More often then not, the focus on Ramona's precocious antics or runaway imagination robs her of a deeper character development. We get to know her, but only from a distance.

King is wonderful as a nine-year-old Ramona. She manages to portray the character and her roller-coaster of emotions in a way that is consistently believable and never smarmy. John Corbett and Ginnifer Goodwin are also natural and loveable as Ramona's father and Aunt Bea. Overall, the film is heartwarming and a welcome alternative to standard kid movie fare. Beverly Cleary herself is said to be quite pleased with it, and so am I. Ramona and Beezus is a good movie. It's just not as good as the books.

Are there film adaptations of favourite books that failed up to live to your expectations? Or have you been pleasantly surprised? Whether it's thumbs up or down, we want to hear from you. Swing by our Critics' Corner and have your say. (You could win a prize, too!)