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!

Opinions

Alright, now that I'm starting to get the hang of this. I would like some opinions.

What kinds of reviews would be helpful to you? Do you want to know about movies? new movies? old movies? books? products? Is there any information you would like that I'm not currently including in my reviews. Really, do you have any input at all for me?

Even if you have no suggestions, please leave a comment on this post anyway. The second purpose of this post is to find out if anyone is actually reading this blog. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy doing it even if no one else cares, but I would like to know if I'm talking to myself here.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

I know, I saw a movie in the theaters...weird. Don't expect it to happen again for a while.

One Word Description: Exciting

Family Appropriate: I would personally say yes. It is PG-13 for violence and yes, quite a few people die. However, I didn't feel that it was scary or scarring violence, 90% of it is sword fighting.

Basic Outline: (I'm going to try hard to tell you as much as I can, but there's not much I can say without giving things away.) This movie follows Dastan, the youngest son of the king of Persia. He is not a prince by birth, Dastan was a homeless orphan who was adopted by the king because of his bravery. At the beginning of the movie, the three princes, Tus, Garsiv and Dastan, attack the sacred city of Alamut. After they have taken control of the city, the king of Persia is murdered and Dastan appears to be the obvious culprit. He flees and takes the princess of Alamut with him. As they run from his brothers, Dastan discovers that the princess is the guardian of a sacred dagger that holds the sands of time and the power to rewind time. Dastan begins to believe that the attack on Alamut and the death of his father were a plot to get the dagger. He must prove his innocence, protect the dagger and, of course, save the world.

I have to say that the movie was very well made. It's made by Disney, of course it was well made. Jake Gyllenhaal was fantastic and Gemma Arterton, who played the princess was very impressive. I thought the movie had a really good balance of a lot of different elements: danger, action, romance, comedy, adventure. It really had something for everyone.

Recommendation: I would definitely see this one!

Sherlock Holmes

One Word Description: Fun

Family Appropriate: I would say yes. It is PG-13, almost exclusively for violence. There is some hand fighting and a really big explosion, but nothing terribly gross or scary. There is one slightly suggestive scene. It is very short and anyone who understands that it's suggestive won't be bothered by it, in my opinion.

Basic Outline: I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by this movie. The previews definitely made it look more violent than it was. The character of Sherlock Holmes was much closer to the character in the books than I expected him to be.

In the movie, Holmes is solving a case that begins with the apparent death of Lord Blackwood, who is hung for practicing black magic and for murder. When Blackwood rises from the grave and starts killing again, Holmes sets out to figure out how he is pulling off his stunts that appear to be magic and what his ultimate plan is.

It's very fun to watch his mind at work and try to keep up with what he's thinking. Of course, you're not given every detail, but I definitely didn't figure out what was going on! The movie is unpredictable and the character of Sherlock Holmes is brilliant, neurotic and hilarious. I am starting to be very impressed with Robert Downey Jr.

Recommendation: I enjoyed it. It makes for a fun movie night!