Books:
3. Keeping Faith by Jodi Picoult. This was an interesting book, the premise about a 7 year old girl, Faith, and after her parents separate and divorce she starts to see and speak with "God". Slowly the world starts to become interested in this Jewish child who seems to have visions of god, can heal, and experiences the stigmata. It called into question how you view religion and faith, and whether it is really something that chooses you. Whether you are brought up with beliefs or not, God and the power of his influence can still find you. Not sure if I believe any of this, but it made it an interesting read.
4. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. I had never read this in high school, and this was another great book that I really enjoyed. The author really was able to write the novel from the eyes of a 7/8 year old young girl, who wanted to hear and know everything, but really didn't most of the time. Or heard things that just didn't make sense until later on upon reflection. The story has a bunch of things going on, the family dynamic of Jem, Scout and their father Atticus. The race tension of the south in Alabama, the social tensions between the different classes of people, the hysteria of people and how gossip and prejudism always plays a card in opinions and judgments no matter how "fair" and "equal" we may try to make them. This was a sad story, but a triumph as it shows the potential for people to learn from the mistakes of others and educate themselves to be better.
5. Game of Thrones by George Martin. Loved this book. I mean I watched the HBO series so reading the book was basically like re-watching the the series. The show is almost word for word what happens in the book. So I of course loved this. So many characters and plots going on, but personally my favorites are Arya and Jon Snow. (The chick with the dragons, Daenarys or however you spell it, shes pretty awesome too)
6. Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks. This book had its moments. I liked the main character, Katie and her plot line as the woman from an abusive relationship that finally runs away. The love story was pretty cheesy, like most of Nicholas Sparks books. A little too gooey for me, but the story overall was cute and interesting. The way her past was revealed kept me hooked. However, the last two chapters of the book really ruined it for me. I liked the book up until that point, and the ending just made me mad.
Movies:
3. Trouble With The Curve I like all the actors in this movie so I enjoyed it. The plot was very honest, about the troubled relationship between a father and daughter, and older man loosing his place in the modern world, and what we have to cling to in our lives that matter. I thought this was heartfelt and nice, and Amy Adams was great.
4. 21 and Over This movie was hilarious. It was extreme and ridiculous and I loved it. Plot is 2 friends go to visit their friend JeffChang who has finally turned 21. This movie had elements of The Hangover, Beerfest, Eurotrip, Old School, and any other hilarious comedy involving drinking and making poor decisions. I recommend as an extremely funny movie.
