Iron Man 2

Family Appropriate: I would stick with the rating on this one, 13 and up. It's a little violent.

Basic Outline: Iron Man is busy saving the world, while still acting in typical Tony Stark fashion. However, he has a few enemies that he didn't know about. One being a competitor who knows nothing, but wants to get ahead and the more dangerous enemy being a Russian, whose father helped develop the technology that went into the Iron Man suit. These villans, of course, team up to try to take Tony Stark down. You also get some nice plot development with Pepper Pots and learn more about the Avenger Initiative, that is briefly introduced in the first movie.

I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by this movie. I thought the first one was decent. I'm not into the huge influx of superhero movies, but the first Iron Man is one that I will sit down and watch with my husband when he turns it on. I had heard that the second movie didn't have a great plot, but I must disagree. I thought it had more plot than the first one did!

Recommendation: I enjoyed it! If you liked the first Iron Man, see this one too!

Date Night

One Word Description: Awkward/Scarring

Family Appropriate: Most definitely not! We sent the 15 year old out of the room and we probably should have sent the 23 year old (me) out as well!

Basic Outline: This movie is about a typical married couple. Their lives are hectic and they are feeling stuck in a rut. They decide to do something special for date night and go to a fancy restaurant. They didn't, however, make reservations. So, when they hear a name being called and no one coming forward, they claim to be the Triplehorns and take their reservation. Unfortunately, they are then taken outside by two men who think they are the Triplehorns and want a flash drive that they have stolen. They get away and set out to find the real Triplehorns so that they can return the flash drive and not have to worry about these guys coming after them. Of course, they have to do all kinds of ridiculous things before all is settled.

My opinion...the first 5 minutes were dirty and it only went downhill from there. I'm pretty sure I am scarred for life.

Recommendation: Do NOT watch this one!

The Help

I have realized recently that I don't write reviews on books I didn't like. This is because if I don't like a book after the first 100 pages, I generally don't finish it. This leaves me feeling like I can't really write a review on it, because I didn't actually read it. I am going to try to do better and at least let you know about books I didn't enjoy.

Age Range: Adult

This book is set in Jackson, Mississippi in the 1960's. It follows three characters, Minny and Aibileen who are black maids and Skeeter who is a white girl who has just graduated from college. Skeeter is jobless, single and going crazy at home. Minny and Aibileen are essentially slaves who get to go home at night and are paid just barely enough to keep a roof over their heads. Both of the women they work for are a little crazy and not so bright in their own unique ways.

Skeeter is trying to jump start her career in writing and decides to write a book about the experiences of the maids in Jackson. She realizes that these maids raise the children and as children they all adore their maid. And then they grow up and treat them like dirt.

The book details her experiences in trying to write the book and the effects that it has on her life and the lives of those involved, particularly Minny and Aibileen.

Yes, this is one of those books that I gave up on after 100 pages. However, I was interested enough that I skimmed the rest of the book and read the ending. If you are interested in civil rights, this would probably be a more interesting read. I'm not anti-civil rights or anything, it's just not my favorite time period to read novels about. There were some interesting stories, I just found the book to be really slow and was not satisfied with the ending.

Recommendation: If you're bored, go ahead and read it.

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner

Age Group: Technically this is considered young adult, but I personally think all the Twilight books should be considered adult fiction, even though they're about teenagers.

I must qualify, that you need to have read the Twilight series for this book to make any sense. At least the first three anyway, the fourth isn't necessarily required.

When I first heard that Stephanie Meyer was writing this, I must admit that I was a little disturbed. It just didn't sound appealing to me to read a book that I knew was going to end with the main character being ripped to shreds.

That said, I was pleasantly surprised. I found the book to be very interesting. It was kind of fun to read about the world that Stephanie Meyer has created from a completely different point of view. It is a more traditional point of view, where the vampire believes humans to be weaklings, meant for nothing more than food. However, she starts to realize that she has been lied to and questions what she thinks she knows about being a vampire. I felt that Stephanie Meyer handled the sad and gruesome ending rather well. Maybe it was just because I knew it was coming, but I didn't find it to be nearly as depressing as expected!

Recommendation: If you enjoyed the Twilight series, this really is a fun supplement that I would recommend reading.

In The Good Old Summertime

I'm going to start trying to review a few old movies as I watch them! So here goes what will hopefully be the first of many!

Family Appropriate: Most definitely!

Basic Outline: This is a story that everyone knows well, as it has appeared in numerous plays and movies over the years. In movies it appeared first in "The Shop Around The Corner" and most recently in "You've Got Mail".

This particular version stars Judy Garland and Van Johnson. They both work in a music shop and are, of course, rivals from day one. They also happen to be exchanging anonymous letters. They are both fantastic actors and this is a very fun version of a classic story!

Recommendation: If you like romances and old movies, this is a must see.

Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief

One Word Description: Fun

Family Appropriate: Yeah.This movie is PG, it has some violence and a few swear words.

Basic Outline: This movie is based on a book of the same title by Rick Riordan, which was fantastic. As with so many movies, the book is better simply because they can't fit all the good parts into a movie. I had heard that this movie was nothing like the book, which I found to be untrue. They change some things, mostly for the sake of time and moving the plot forward. I found that most of the changes had been made in order to eliminate lengthy explanations and things unnecessary to the core plot. The book contains a lot of things that are there because they will become important in later books. There are not plans to make another movie, so it doesn't matter all that much that things were left out of the first one. Just remember to not spend too much time comparing and enjoy the movie!

For those who haven't read the books, Percy Jackson finds out at the beginning of the movie and he is the son of Poseidon and thus a demi-god. He also learns that he has been accused of stealing Zeus's Lightning Bolt. He has been given until the summer solstice (2 weeks) to return it in order to save his mother a prevent a war between the gods.

Like I said, the movie is lacking the depth that the book has, but it is a cute movie none the less and I really enjoyed watching it!

By the way, does anyone else think that Zac Efron has a twin he doesn't know about? I swear Percy looked just like him.

Recommendation: As long as you can keep yourself from comparing it to the book, watch it! It makes a great family movie night.

Princess of Glass

Genre: Fantasy

Age Group: Teenager (works for pretty much any age though)

I should warn you before I start, this is a sequel to "Princess of the Midnight Ball". I should really write about the first book, but it's been a while since I read that one and I just barely finished Princess of Glass, so I'm writing about that one instead.

In this book, Princess Poppy, one of the main characters from the first book, is faced with another curse. (Sorry, you will just have to read the first one to find out about her curse.)This time, she begins to suspect that a maid in her cousins house is under some kind of spell. She must find out what is going on and save the girl before something terrible happens to her, and before she steals all the eligible young men.

This book is yet another Cinderella story, but it is very unique and can hardly be compared to the others. The first book in the series focuses on Poppy's older sister Rose, but Poppy is such a fun character that I was thrilled when I found out that Jessica Day George was writing a book about her.

Really, Jessica Day George is a great author on the whole and I would recommend reading anything and everything she has written. I have read all her books and enjoyed every one of them. Most of her books are based on fairy tales, but they are some of the more obscure fairy tales, which makes them fun! She is a great author and creates very engaging characters. I always become very invested in the outcomes of the books because I want her characters to live happily ever after so badly.

Recommendation: Read everything this author has written!