9. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

This was a really sweet novel that paints a wonderful picture of Brooklyn. How it was and what it turns into throughout the course of one girl's adolescence into her adulthood. I loved the way the author could really get inside the head of the young girl and then how the mind grows up. How the things you adored as a young child loose their meaning. How much more magical the moments were when you were innocent and then how they dull and loose their fresh hold as you age. It took me about 2 months to read this book, as it is a really slow paced novel that not too much happens. So reading a chapter here and there before bed is all that is needed. Definitely worth a read, as the descriptive language and the aging of Brooklyn along with the aging of the main character, Francie, is really creative. Also, its told through the perspective of this low class poor family and the darker side of the world that you learn to love.

There are a lot of hidden elements and themes throughout the novel about poverty, the aftermath of living such a life. There are so many different types of characters introduced, the drunk but lovable father, the strong willed mother, the petty women who stand on the blocks discussing the other women on the block. The other members of the Nolan-Rommeley family and how they all have their own faults and shortcomings. I really liked that this novel became a real tribute to the different generations of the family and also the differences surrounding Brooklyn itself. A worthwhile read if you want a book you can slowly take your time with to enjoy.

Week of the Movie Theatre Outings (And some rando movies too)

33. Ted - Loved this movie. How can you go wrong with a stuffed animal that talks, sleeps around and anything and everything inappropriate? The "dirty fozzy" I mean too many great lines to go into further. But I would say if you like Family Guy with their inappropriate jokes and constant references to other actors, movies and T.V. shows. Such a great movie.


34. Men in Black III - Eh I did not love this movie. I didn't really care for the second Men in Black movie either so I had a feeling I wouldn't be too thrilled with it. The plot was kinda the same as the other movies, except Will Smith ends up going back in time to save K (Tommy Lee Jones) as a young man. It was okay, kid friendly fun. I think the jokes and humor between the two has been done too many times that it has lost the original magic the first movie had.


35. The Amazing Spiderman in 3D  - I actually really liked this re-make of Spiderman. I thought the guy cast to play Peter Parker was believable and personally Tobey Maguire didn't really do it for me in the original movies. Emma Stone is a great actress and I usually love her. The plot was different enough from the original Spiderman that I didn't feel like I was simply re-watching the same movie (like the Hulk movies) The lizard/doctor was a great character that you sympathized with, and overall I would recommend.




36. Wrath of the Titans - Another movie that didn't do it for me. Why do I continue to watch sequels when I  do not like the first movie? A good question that I did not stop and think about long enough before turning this on. The plot was pretty boring, another Perseus must save the world as he is the last hope....blah blah been there done that in round one no? Pass on this flick, nothing special.


37. Goon - This was a hilarious movie I had never heard of. If you are a hockey fan and liked Stifler from the American Pie movies....well then this movie will have all you need and more for a good time. Sean William Scott plays a local nobody, who is not the most intelligent from Boston and happens to be very good at kicking people's asses. He catches the eye of a hockey team manager when he fights a hockey player in the stands and knocks him out. He somehow gets added to the team...can he skate? Fuck no. He is just a goon they need to intimidate the other team and protect the real hockey players so they can score. Interesting movie that I just loved.

8 - Night Road by Kristin Hannah

I really liked this book. It's way more sappy than I usually like, but it was not over the top so I could handle it. (I like to think of it as similar to a Nicholas Sparks novel but not quite so cliche and ridiculously sappy). So the story is told through two eyes, the first set is a young girl named Lexi. She was living in the foster system for the past 5 years off and on and had a drug-addicted mother who kept coming back into the picture to mess up her prospects. She finally seems to have found a home...in Washington.

Then the story switches to the perspective of a mother of two, twin boy/girl, Mia and Zach and she is the overprotective mother who is immersed in her kids lives suffocatingly so. She cares and loves them, but she is head mom of the PTA and knows all the events going on at school, when the school dances are...and is involved way more than the typical parent. Almost as though she wanted to re-live her childhood through her kids. The story really takes off when the kids hit their senior year of high school. Lexi and Mia are best friends, and Zach and Lexi fall in love. One night out drinking changes their lives forever, one life taken, one sent to prison, and one left trying to live a half life without the love needed to grow.

Told you, its a very emotional book that had highs and lows, but overall I really enjoyed it and would recommend it if you want a story that has love, tragedy, and questions about how would you try to move on after a life altering tragedy? Who would you blame? Yourself, friends, family, alcohol... or is it just life and you have to learn to deal with it.