November List

Books:
40. Son, by Lois Lowry
41. The Alchemist, by Paolo Bacigalupi
42. The Executioness, by Tobias Buckell
43. Frozen Heat, by Richard Castle

Movies:
65. Mirror, Mirror
66. Tales from Earthsea
67. The Lorax

I am starting to worry about finishing my 50 books. I may have to go back and count some of the Sci Fi omnibus editions I read as multiple books. I even backed off some movie watching. Since hitting 50 movies in September, I had been considering trying for 100 movies, but I need that time for the books now. I am in the middle of 3 books now. Maybe if I get them finished soon I have a chance.

October List

Books:
36. When the Wind Blows, by Raymond Briggs
37. Fuzzy Nation, by John Scalzi
38. My American Revolution, by Robert Sullivan
39. The Great Destroyer, by David Limbaugh

Movies:
58. The Last Man on Earth
59. The Omega Man
60. Unknown
61. Wrath of the Titans
62. The Big Year
63. Cowboys & Aliens
64. Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow

It's going to be tight down the stretch with just two months left to get 11 more books.Might have to cut back on the movie watching to make sure I get there.

Book 20

I have mentioned before that I enjoy lists of books, specifically award winners and finalists. So when I was looking for potential nonfiction reads, I discovered the NBCC Awards site. From that, I found book 20, The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned into a War on American Ideals, by Jane Mayer and an NBCC award finalist for 2008. This is a book that took me a while to read, but I finished while I was on paternity leave in May.

Dark Side was a good inside look at the upper echelons of the government during the battle to reconcile torture with the Constitution. At least that's my take on it. It was at times difficult to read, especially looking at the tortured logic, so to speak, of the legal opinions Vice President Cheney's people provided to differentiate between enhanced interrogation and torture. My mind still boggles over the fact that this stuff went on in an official capacity. I was glad to see there were several members of the administration that opposed the whole thing.

But long term, what really troubles me is the expansion, under a Republican administration that nominally believed in limited Federal government, of the executive power. Cheney pushed to circumvent the long standing checks and balances that are a foundation of our government, and did so by spreading fear of a potential future terrorist attack. The author effectively describes a shadow legal system that secretly came into existence for this War on Terror. One that valued the supposed short term benefits of "enhanced interrogation" over the long term troubles it was sure to cause the country. And all this with no concrete proof that the system provided any useful benefit that the country wouldn't have obtained through more traditional methods.

The book is recommended for anyone interested in America's reaction to 9/11. I would be interested in an updated edition, one that describes the effects and changes over the last few years. But as a description of what took place under the Bush administration, this one can't be beat.

September List

Media consumption for September:

Books:
34. The Adventures of the Stainless Steel Rat, by Harry Harrison
35. The Fuzzy Papers, by H. Beam Piper

Movies:
50. Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey
51. John Carter
52. C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America
53. Outsourced
54. This Means War
55. Super 8
56. Boston Bruins: Stanley Cup 2011 Champions
57. Skyline

A little light in the books department, but both of those were classic Sci-Fi  omnibus editions, so if I broke it out it would actually be 5 books. And at least I blew past the 50 movie mark.

Books 18 and 19

These are two books that aren't related by anything other than the place and time I read them. As I've noted before, my wife was in the hospital giving birth. She was there for about 4 days, and I was able to stay with her most of the time. I helped out with the baby where I could, but without the other kids around, it left a lot of time for reading between baby feedings and diaper changings. So I took advantage of it.

Book 18 was a book I had already started when we went to the hospital, The Boy in the Suitcase, by Lene Kaaberbol and Agnete Friis. This comes from the newly popular genre "Weird Scandinavian crime thrillers". I've had a vague notion of reading the popular Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series, but apparently that was checked out of the library at the time. At any rate, I found this, thought "Close enough," and checked it out.

The book is well named, as it is literally about a small boy who spends at least part of the book in a suitcase. More generally, it is about human trafficking. I found the set up interesting as the identity of the boy is not the central mystery, the reader knows where he comes from and about his mother's anguish and efforts to find him. The tension comes from the protagonist's efforts to solve the mystery and help the boy.

Speaking of the protagonist, she is a nurse named Nina Borg, and it looks like the authors plan to write a whole series about her. I found her a little annoying as a protagonist. Her quirks, such as an obsession with what time it is, or her insecurity with her family, don't come off as endearing. And her motivation for not involving the police is never really explained. Several other characters are thin in places, but on the whole they are adequate and believable. And the plot moves the action along nicely, making it easy to overlook any character weaknesses.

The book was translated into English from Danish by one of the authors. I read a review on Goodreads that called the translation "imperfect." This may be an apt description as I often found myself thinking, "No native English speaker would use that phrase." Of course I may be talking as a ugly American here, but it stood out a few times. And I don't want to sound like I'm piling on here. I did enjoy the book, despite it's dark subject matter. As a crime thriller it really kept me turning the pages. I wouldn't mind reading more by these authors.


Book 19 was one my wife brought with her to the hospital, and I picked it up when she was done. It was Shatner Rules: Your Guide to understanding the Shatnerverse and the World at Large, by William Shatner and Chris Regan. I found out later that Regan was a writer for the excellent The Daily Show, so he may be a big part of why I liked this book. At any rate, this is yet another memoir from Shatner, one in which he fully embraces his ego, yet convinces us to laugh with him, not at him.

My wife has been a Shatner fan since watching him on Boston Legal. I have enjoyed him since watching Star Trek reruns as a kid, but my wife is the one who convinced me to admit I was a fan. So I went into it on Shatner's side, so to speak. It does jump around a lot, and the "rules" he list barely qualify as a memoir, so those who aren't fans may not be converted. But my wife and I enjoyed it. The fact that the aging Shatner realizes he is closer to the end of his time on Earth than his prime adds a certain poignancy in some parts, and helps the reader empathize with the actor. Nothing too groundbreaking, but a good read for Shatner fans.

Book 17

Wow, this has been a busy summer. Now that it is more or less over, along with the family vacations, Scout camps,dance camps, and cook outs (on the new grill), I have the urge to turn my attention back to tracking my media consumption for the fiftyfifty challenge.

At the end of April I finished The Sense of an Ending, winner of the Man Booker award. I only just discovered the Man Booker nomination lists and recently read a nominee, The Sisters Brothers, which I really enjoyed. I was very impressed with The Sense of an Ending, too, but I think The Sisters Brothers should have won the prize, between the two.

Still, Ending was a very good book. It is more of a novella, and that alone made it ideal for a fifty books in a year challenge. I was impressed with how much meaning was packed into such a short novel. I even remember thinking, "I should read that again," which is rare for me. Of course it may be telling that I didn't read it again; it wouldn't count twice.

Most reviews I've seen of the book make a big deal about the unreliability of the narrator's memory. And this is certainly a big part of the story. But what struck me as a more prominent theme was that the narrator was trying to escape responsibility for his actions. Perhaps willfully forgetting these memories. In any case, it makes you wonder if the nice constructed reality we impose on our lives is really worth anything, or does it prevent us from seeing things how they really are?

August List

Books:
30. The Swerve: How the World Became Modern
31. The Mormon People: The Making of an American Faith
32. Throne of the Crescent Moon
33. Cowboys & Aliens

Movies:
48. Green Lantern
49. Contagion

Really light on the movies this month, still not quite at 50. But now this busy summer is winding down and I'll have time to catch up on my reading and watching.  And update the blog.

July List

Books:
26. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Good mystery, pretty intense
27.There But For The - Quirky, but fell a little flat
28.Bridge to Terabithia - Good classic YA book
29.Redshirts - Funny sci-fi read

Movies
44.The Conspirator - Good historical fiction
45. We Bought a Zoo - Interesting "based on true story" movie
46. An American Girl: McKenna Shoots for the Stars - The girls love anything American Girl
47. Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil - Fun for family movie night

Been a busy summer, but I got some good reading in. Movies were mostly kids' picks from Family Movie Night.

Movie 31

Movie 31 (this was way back at the end of April) was a Family Movie Night pick by my daughter. All of my kids have liked Scooby-Doo, but my five year old absolutely loves the show. So since we started letting her have a turn picking movies for Family Movie Night, we have watched a lot of Scooby-Doo DVDs.

Her pick was Scooby-Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster.  This one was one of the live action movies, although I believe it was made for cable, probably Cartoon Network. There wasn't great acting, but the actors weren't bad at keeping up the characters' well-established personality. The plot was about what you would expect from a Scooby-Doo movie. I don't know if the live action made it better or worse, but I remember the kids complaining they didn't see the computer generated Scooby enough.

Still, they seemed to enjoy it. I hesitated briefly about adding this to my movie list, but then I figured why not? If nothing else it is representative of the movies I often watch with the kids. Not one I'd recommend to anyone, unless you are a five year old with a Scooby obsession. I figure that is the target audience.

Movie 30

As I posted before, I watched the remake of True Grit in March. Towards the end of April, I checked the original out from my library. This is the one with John Wayne. I don't know that it was inherently better than the remake, but I know my Grandpa would have thought so. And it made me wish I was watching it with him.

I was a little surprised how closely the remake followed the original. Sure there were differences (the stereotyping of the Chinese shopkeeper in the original was blatant, but the Cogburn in the remake seemed more racist overall), but they were not wildly different.

Generally, I preferred John Wayne to Jeff Bridges (slightly), Hailee Steinfeld to the original's Kim Darby (by a long shot) and surprisingly I found it a toss up between Matt Damon and Glenn Campbell as La Boeuf. I liked the setting in the remake better than the original, it seemed grittier, more realistic. However, this may say more about the time periods when the movies were produced than how things really looked in the old West. If pressed, I'd have to say I enjoyed the remake more, but in the back of my mind I can hear my Grandpa disagreeing. Maybe it's just because I saw that one first.

Anyway, True Grit certainly qualifies as a classic in my book. I may need to read the novel now.

Fiftyfifty Halfway Point

So last week marked the halfway point of the fiftyfifty.me challenge. I am right on pace with 25 books and 43 movies as of the end of June. I'll admit that I thought I'd be a little further along, with 26 books and 50 movies by this point, so I could finish with 52 books - a book a week - and 100 movies. But I really can't complain about where I'm at, especially with the kids out of school and demanding more attention.  Not to mention our new addition to the family last May, Arissa Cate.

One thing I have fallen behind with is blog posts. I had an informal goal to post about each book and movie, if not  a review, at least some mention of what I liked or didn't like. This is pretty typical of my past blogging and journal writing attempts, they stall after a few months. But in this case, as it wasn't necessarily part of the challenge, I am deciding not to be bothered by it. If one aspect of the challenge is going to lag, the blogging is  what I'd prefer.

That said, I am going to attempt to get caught up this month. We'll see how that goes.

June List

Books:
23. Who Moved My Cheese? - nicest thing I can say is at least it was short.
24. How Markets Fail: The Logic of Economic Calamities - some good information, but about as exciting as you would expect a economics book to be
25. Echo - Fun sci fi read in the Alex Benedict series by Jack McDevitt

Movies:
35. Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
36. And Then There Were None
37. Puss in Boots
38. The Captains
39. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
40. Brave
41. The Avengers
42. The Secret of Moonacre
43. Real Steel


A little light on the reading this month, the economics book took a lot out of me. But I am still on track (halfway!). Plus I am in the middle of three more books at the moment, so looks good for July. I watched a lot of movies compared to last month, but I have to admit I thought I would be at fifty already at this point. Then I'd be shooting for 100 for the year.

Movie 29

My 29th movie was Country Strong.  We saw a preview for this on some other DVD we were watching and my wife thought it looked interesting. I wasn't so sure, but I knew it would count for a fiftyfifty.me movie, so why not? I guess this challenge is having some impact on my viewing habits after all.

Country music is something I can take or leave, and I felt the same way about this movie. Even my wife, who is the country music fan in our family, said it was pretty boring. The actors were okay, Gwyneth Paltrow was even pretty good. But the story just wasn't there, whether it was the comeback tour part or the rising star part.

Not much more to say about the movie. The script was just too cliched to keep our attention.

Book 16

I think I have mentioned before that I have a slightly uncontrollable library habit. I often have more books checked out than I can possibly read in the renewal period the library allows. But what really made me realize it was out of control was when the librarians not only knew when I had items on hold before checking my library card, but also recognized my voice on the phone when I called in about renewing a book one day. I guess I am lucky the library has such a friendly staff.  (Really, it's the Merrimack Public Library in NH. They are great!)

So let's just say I frequent the library a lot. And despite already having a to-read list that will take me at least a decade to complete, I always check out the "New Books" shelves when I am there. You never know what will catch your eye. This is how I found my 16th book, How to Build a Time Machine: The Real Science of Time Travel, by Brian Clegg.

I have found that a residual impact of having studied physics in college (and then never using it again) is an interest in popular science books. I especially enjoy end-of-the-world physics (see Death from the Skies, by Philip Plait) or impossible physics (see Physics of the Impossible, by Michio Kaku). So when I saw a science book on time travel, I had to grab it.

The book discusses theoretically valid time travel possibilities, along with some background on relevant scientists pursuing these methods, which I liked. As expected, time travel paradoxes are also introduced. And I enjoyed those, even if it wasn't that original. But I found the actual time travel science discussion to be a little lacking. I didn't expect it to be like a text book, after all this is a pop science book on some pretty far out theories. But I was expecting at least some explanation of the physics underlying the theory. I actually grew bored with the book because there wasn't enough science in it.

So this is not one I'd recommend. If you want to try a pop science book, pick one of the above, or Hawking's A Brief History of Time. Or if you want something with a gimmick, go for How to Teach Physics to Your Dog, by Chad Orzel. These all made me feel like I actually learned something when I finished reading them. I did not get that feeling when I finished How to Build a Time Machine, no matter how interested I initially was in the subject.

Movie 28

Another treat that the older kids found in their Easter baskets last April was money to go to the movies. Actually seeing a movie in the theater is a rare thing for our large family, so this was a special treat, complete with overpriced candy from the snack bar. And while the boys considered saving the money for The Avengers, we ended up going to see The Hunger Games, which we have all read and enjoyed.

My wife had already seen The Hunger Games at a midnight showing on opening day with a group of girlfriends, so she stayed home with the younger kids. So it was a day out for me and the boys. And while we are not in the target audience of teenage girls that seemed to eat up this movie, I think we all enjoyed it.

The casting was very well done, even Woody Harrelson as Haymitch. I had my doubts about him from the previews, but he pulled off the drunk character rather well. And I thought the young actresses cast as the Everdeen girls, as well as Rue, did an excellent job.

The plot didn't stray too far from the book, which is good. Of course it is always disappointing when they have to cut scenes due to the time constraints of a movie, but it was done well in this case. I guess having Suzanne Collins, the author, involved with the screenplay was a good move.

I don't remember what else I specifically enjoyed, but I remember walking out thinking I wanted to watch the sequel right away.


And the boys later went to see The Avengers with family friends while my wife was still in the hospital after giving birth. I guess I'm waiting for that one on DVD.

Movie 27

Another DVD we found in the kids' Easter baskets was Kung Fu Panda 2. We enjoyed the first one, and Jack Black usually makes me crack a smile, so we watched this one as a family, too.

This was perhaps not as good as the first, but come on, we're talking about animated pandas learning Kung Fu. It was generally enjoyable. I liked trying to identify the voice actors (who were all pretty good) but everyone got tired of me saying, "Hey, you know who that is, don't you?"

I did have some issues initially with the miraculous things Kung Fu could supposedly do. Things like allowing you to change the path of a cannon ball with your hands. But then I remembered movies like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and The Forbidden Kingdom and realized this is really a fantasy genre. Perhaps the animated talking animals should have clued me in.

Movie 26

The kids received several DVDs in their Easter baskets this year. One of these was The Smurfs. Most of the family had already seen it, but I hadn't. I mean, a live action Smurfs movie? Really, this is what American audiences have been asking for?

Well, one of the girls picked it for Family Movie Night, so I watched it anyway. I'll admit, I liked it more than I thought I would. I'd even say Hank Azaria as Gargamel was enjoyable to watch. Still, you really need to like Smurfs, or have kids that like Smurfs, to enjoy this movie.

Book 15

I love lists of books, and this includes award winners. I'm not sure how I stumbled on it, but in March or April I found myself looking over the Man Booker prize archives. I have to admit I was a little taken aback that I hadn't read any of these books. Perhaps I've been avoiding the international literary scene.

Literary pretensions or not, some of the books, whether award winners or on the short list, looked interesting. So the next time I was at the library, I picked up The Sisters Brothers, by Patrick deWitt, which was short listed last year for the award. It looked good; a modern Western with a catchy cover illustration. And a fun title. It turned out to be a good book to start with on my Man Booker journey.

I was surprised how much I enjoyed the book. Maybe it was because I had no expectations other than seeing it on the short list. The book was very well done.  The titular brothers, some unsavory mercenary gunslingers, were very well drawn, and quite empathetic given their profession. Well, at least the narrating brother was. They introduced a humor that may have been dark at times, but was equally delightful at others. For example, the novelty of having tooth powder after a visit to the dentist.

The setting of the gold-rush era West, along with the task the brothers go through of tracking down a man for the mysterious Commodore, let them encounter a variety of interesting characters. The sheer number of them occasionally made me feel the narrative was a bit bumpy, but it didn't disrupt the book that much. And if the resolution was perhaps a bit heavily foreshadowed, it at least flowed naturally from the story. Perhaps my biggest problem with it was I didn't want the story to end yet.

I read a review on Goodreads that said this wasn't your father's Western. But when I finished I found myself wishing I could call up my Grandpa and recommend it to him. Who says the Western is dead?

May List

Media consumption for May:

Books:
18. The Boy in the Suitcase - A Scandinavian thriller, a little dark.
19. Shatner Rules - Yet another memoir by William Shatner, light but made me smile.
20. The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned into a War on American Ideals - enlightening
21. Fever 1793 - YA historical fiction
22. The Diary of a Young Girl - I wanted to like this Anne Frank book more than I did

Movies:
32. Water For Elephants - Love triangle with a circus backdrop.
33. In Time - Sci Fi thriller with time as a currency, but the same old problems with capitalism still exist.
34. Hereafter - A bit boring, especially for a Clint Eastwood directed film.

With my wife giving birth this month, I thought I would be reading less. Turns out it was the movie watcing that suffered. My blog posts are falling behind as well.

Book 14

A frequent subject of conversation at work is introversion and extroversion. We have had examples of both introverts and extroverts on our team, and it is interesting to see how management tries to manage these personality types. I'm a pretty strong introvert, and I often take it upon myself to educate people that this does not mean "socially awkward."

I was searching the internet one day for examples of other introversion myths, such as introverts don't like people, they are all shy, they can't work in a team environment, that sort of thing, when I discovered a book by Susan Cain called Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking. I immediately reserved the book at my library.

The book does an excellent job of explaining introversion, and contrasting it with the "extrovert ideal" that our American society seems to value so much. The author is skilled at looking at all the research that is out there and distilling it down to a very readable book. She offers great insights into why it is dangerous to overlook introverts, especially as employees and team leaders, and why overvaluing the extrovert ideal can be detrimental. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about the subject.

Personally, however, I was hoping for a bit more from the book. I came to grips with my introversion long ago, so I was looking for some sort of life changing epiphany on how to use my introvert status to greater effect. In retrospect this was probably an unfair expectation, but there it was anyway.

To be fair, perhaps it has motivated me to seek out projects, and possibly a new job, that better value an introvert's personality traits. The book is good at pointing out there is value in being an introvert. And sometimes it is okay to be quiet in a loud world.

Not related to reading (or movies)

Last Tuesday (May 8) my wife gave birth to our daughter, Arissa Cate. 7 lbs 11 oz and 21 inches long. Makes things a bit busy, but what's adding one more to the mix? Once you have 3, you and your spouse are outnumbered anyway.

Mom and baby are doing great. I've forgotten how tired you get taking care of a newborn, but life really is a miracle.

April List

Books:
14.Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking
15. The Sisters Brothers
16.How to Build a Time Machine
17. The Sense of an Ending

Movies:
25. Battle: Los Angeles
26. The Smurfs
27. Kung Fu Panda 2
28. The Hunger Games
29. Country Strong
30. True Grit
31. Scooby-Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster

Lots of family movies this month. Also interesting to watch the original True Grit after seeing the remake. Pleasant surprise read of the month: The Sisters Brothers. The Sense of an Ending was also good.

Movie 25

At the start of April I came down with a cold and a fever that I'm pretty sure one of the kids brought home from school. Accordingly, I decided to take a day off of work. After all, that's why we have sick days. I also took the opportunity to add another movie to my list.

I had checked out Battle: Los Angeles from the library because I thought the boys might want to watch it for Family Movie Night. We ended up turning it off because of some pretty strong language for kids, as I probably should have guessed with a movie about Marines. I decided to watch it myself as I was sick in bed the next day.

The movie was a pretty mindless sci fi action flick. You want war cliches, this movie's got 'em. From the Marine about to be married to the about-to-retire sergeant called back to see action one last time. Still, the characters were likable enough for such a routine story, and the actors weren't bad. The alien invaders added a nice touch, even if they didn't seem all that original either. They certainly annoyed me less than Transformers.

It was a movie you didn't have to think about, which is just what I needed on a sick day.

Book 13

While I was reading Heat Rises, my wife was also reading the same copy, and she would often beat me to the Nook (I had the ebook checked out from the library). Fortunately, due to a slightly uncontrollable library habit, I generally have several books checked out waiting to be read at any one time. One of these was Gone, by Mo Hayder, a British crime fiction writer.

Gone is apparently the fifth in a series about Detective Jack Caffery. I did not realize that when I read a review of the book that enticed me to read it and checked it out of the library. I'm usually a little compulsive about reading a series in order, but that compulsion did not kick in this time. The book worked well as a stand alone, although I can see where I might have missed out on some character development that carried over from previous volumes. There is one character, the Walking Man, a vagrant confidant of the detective, that seemed wildly out of place. I can only assume his presence would make more sense if one read the other books.

Despite this, Hayder has written a nicely paced mystery. Not only is the suspect unknown, but his true motive in carjacking cars with children in them is a mystery, too. A nice supporting cast, both police and victims, flesh out the story. It was a bit dark in places, but it kept me turning the pages.

My one complaint with the main character was with how he pieced all the clues together. The problem is he didn't. Other characters are shown working out the mystery, but Caffery sort of just magically knows all of the sudden who did it and why. There are other examples of action happening off scene, in particular a rescue I was looking forward to reading about, that I didn't like either. Perhaps it moved the book along, but it left me wondering, "What exactly happened there?"

Still, I wouldn't mind reading the other books in the series, even if I'm not rushing out to find them.

On another note, I learned not to read two mysteries at once. I often have bookmarks in two or three books at the same time, but they are generally from different genres. For example a history book and a science fiction book. But this time it was two mysteries. They were different enough that I didn't get too confused, although there were a couple of minor characters that I had to remind myself were in different books.

March List

Looks like I'm slowing down a little, but still on pace.

Books:

10. The Power and the Glory

11. The Book Thief

12. Heat Rises

13. Gone

Movies:

20. The Devil's Arithmetic

21. Johnny English

22. True Grit

23. Zookeeper

24. Holocaust

Movie watching was less than normal this month because we have been watching the Christopher Reeve Superman movies for Family Movie Night. Apparently I'm the only one in the family that has seen them before.

Book 12

My wife and I are fans of the show Castle. It's one of the shows we always try to watch together. We have enjoyed Nathan Fillion since we saw him years ago on Firefly. And he is great in the role of a ride-along crime fiction writer with a NYPD homicide squad.

So when we discovered that they were actually publishing the fictitious books Castle was writing on the show, we were intrigued. Unfortunately, the books tend to leave us with the feeling that we wish we were just watching the TV show. However, we have now read all three of the Nikki Heat books and each one does seem to be better than the last. Although I wouldn't call any of them great.

I finished the third book in the series, Heat Rises, as my 12th book. While this was the best book in the series to date, it was still fairly average. I'm a pretty casual mystery fan, but the plot moved along nicely here. The ending might have been a little rushed, but I get that feeling a lot with detective stories.

The main problem with the book is that scenes and plot threads seem to be lifted directly from the TV show. This installment even had some dialogue, especially one liners, straight out of the TV characters' mouths. I guess I can understand it as an inside joke, but it gives weight to that feeling that I'd just rather be watching the real show.

One area where these books are actually a bit better than the show is they have moved along the relationship between the writer and the detective. No more coming up with artificial reasons to extend the ride-along. However, the books are a little more crass than than the show when it comes to this area, so maybe it is a toss up. Anyway, I'd probably only recommend this to Castle fans when the show is in reruns.

Movie 24

A couple of weeks ago I watched an old TV miniseries with my wife called Holocaust, originally shown on a broadcast network. As I mentioned when I posted about The Devil's Arithmetic, one of my boys had to watch a WWII movie for school. Knowing nothing about this one, I piked it up at the library as an option. Only when I got home and found 3 DVDs in the case did I realize it was a miniseries from the 70s.

While we didn't make the kids watch it for school, we decided to put it in to see how it was. I think I miss miniseries. They were a good way to tell an involved, dramatic story without needing to commit to a whole season of TV shows. Holocaust tells the story of a German Jewish family in WWII. I thought it was a good look at the atrocities committed in that time, even if it was unrealistic that one family would have all this happen to them. I have read that the show was criticized for this, basically making everything happen to one family for dramatic purposes. But overlooking that, it wasn't a bad miniseries, at least for the 70s.

It was pretty graphic for broadcast TV, with the violence and even some nudity. Probably realistic, but I'm glad we didn't have the kids watch it. Some images were very disturbing, which you would expect with the subject matter. There were even some photographs shown which looked like they were actually from the concentration camps.

I was surprised at the names involved with it, namely Meryl Streep and James Woods as the mixed marriage couple. Michael Moriarty was also good as an SS officer. The whole cast put on a good show over the 7.5 hours of the miniseries.

Afterward, I hesitated about including this as a fiftyfifty movie, since it wasn't really a movie. I had already decided I wouldn't count TV series, but would count cable movies or direct to DVD releases. Made for TV movies are more of a grey area, as are miniseries. But in the end I figured I was on pace to reach about 100 movies this year, so why not count this?

Book 11

I finished reading my last Goodreads pick last week, The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak. An interesting book, although I was a little surprised to find it labeled as a Teen book, I figured the nonlinear style, along with the WWII subject matter, wouldn't find much of an audience there. But I'm hardly an expert in YA lit, so what do I know.

I was a little hesitant when I got into the book because of the nonlinear narrative. A lot of the time these type of things pull me out of the story. Or it comes across as a wink at the reader, the author's way of saying, "See what I did there?" But this worked well. It gave the book more of a conversational tone so that the format didn't get in the way of the story, but enhanced it.

The book did start slow. I don't know if this was a function of the nonlinear narrative, or if I just struggled with it at first. It felt like a large chunk of the first half was all introduction. Having said that, I did find myself getting caught up in the characters' various stories in the second half, and thought the pacing moved along nicely.

I also enjoyed the point of view here. I don't mean Death as a narrator, although that seemed appropriate for a WWII setting. Most WWII books I've read, or movies I've seen, at least recently, have Holocaust victims as the point of view characters, which certainly imparts the terrors of war. But using a civilian, a young German girl, as the main character made it fresh for me. That may not be the best phrase for a war story, but it gave me a different perspective. And it still let me feel the individual's suffering in a country at war.

So this wrapped up my recommendations experiment. The three books my friends rated 5 stars, I rated 4 stars each on Goodreads. Worthy recommendations, and I don't need to worry about these friends' literary tastes. My worry now is my to-read list will grow beyond control as I watch what they read.

Movie 23

Our Family Movie Night Pick this weekend was Zookeeper, a talking animals movie starring Kevin James. My wife saw it in the Redbox and figured the kids would like it. I'm a casual Kevin James fan at best, and I'm leery of the talking animals gimmick, so I wasn't expecting much. But I have to admit I enjoyed the movie, and even laughed a few times.

I'm not saying the movie is danger of winning any awards, but it was a fun, silly, family movie. James was good in his comic role. The animal voices were done well, too, although I'd still call it gimmicky. The romantic comedy plot was predictable at best, but the cast carried the show. I thought Joe Rogan, or "the Fear Factor guy" as my wife called him, was especially well cast as James' rival. Rosario Dawson, Donnie Wahlberg, and Ken Jeong were also all bright spots as the coworkers.

Like I say, it was a silly movie hanging its hat on a gimmick, but I'm not above saying I cracked a few smiles. Not bad for a Sunday evening family flick.

Movie 22

When I was in college, I lived with my grandparents. One thing I learned about my Grandpa is he liked Westerns like I like Sci Fi. When I had to watch John Ford's The Searchers starring John Wayne for a film class, Grandpa loved it. When he found out I'd never seen High Noon with Gary Cooper, he sat me down and watched it with me. He read Westerns sometimes as well, but these movies are where we connected.

So when the remake of True Grit came out last year, I realized I had never seen the original. I couldn't believe here was a John Wayne Western, a fairly famous one, I'd never watched with Grandpa. Both versions of the movie went on my to-watch list.

This week with my wife and I watched the more recent one. I heard good things about it from coworkers, and I think the Coen brothers are great movie makers, so I was expecting to enjoy it. It was even better than I thought it would be. Even taking into account all the familiar Western trappings: the Indian territory, a US Marshal, a Texas Ranger, a search for justice, rattle snakes, and shootouts. I guess the old Western still has a place in American storytelling.

The cast was fantastic. I've always liked Jeff Bridges, whether it's Tron or Lebowski. And I'm a Matt Damon fan. But I was really impressed with Hailee Steinfeld as the teenager trying to track down her father's killer. It was a good portrayal of girl thrust into responsibility for her family's affairs at a young age. She was great in this role.

I feel I did this a little backwards, watching the remake first. But the library does have a copy of the original, so I'll be checking that out soon. And Grandpa, I'll be thinking of you.

Movie 21

Last weekend we watched another Rowan Atkinson movie for Family Movie Night, Johnny English. When I got Bean: The Movie from the library, this DVD was included as a double feature. It was fun, light spoof of spy movies.

Of course, it is more enjoyable if you like British humor. My wife actually fell asleep while watching the movie, and woke up towards the end of the movie where an elderly gentleman was mooning the audience. Her only comment was. "What is it with the British and bums?" But on the whole, if you like Atkinson's other work, you'll like this.

The plot was a bit silly, but that's what you would expect from this type of comedy. The actors all pulled it off well, including a surprisingly good performance from Natalie Imbruglia. I don't think I even knew she acted. John Malkovich was also good as an over the top villain. I think I'd actually recommend this over Bean. Of course, as far as I'm concerned, the TV show Mr. Bean is where to find Atkinson at his best.

Book 10

This weekend I finished the second book I picked based on ratings from my Goodreads friends: The Power and the Glory rated five stars by my brother. I have to admit, Graham Greene could write. And this is far and away the best of his I've read, although that is a small sample size.

The author has drawn a remarkable character in the whiskey priest. A man torn between his duty and his human weakness. As the story went on, I found myself caught up in the priest's struggle. I was engrossed in his plight right up to the bitter end, to see if he found some measure of redemption.

Greene has created a good setting as well. I found the historical Mexican backdrop interesting, even if it made me realize how ignorant I am about this "redshirt" period. Overall, a great story.

One thing that I found surprising was that I struggled at first to get into the book. As I mentioned, Greene was a good writer. But he was British, and wrote this many decades ago, in the 30's. I didn't think that would be a big deal. After all, I've read history books that were from the 1910's. Perhaps fiction is different. I have read some 19th century literature, Jane Austen and Wilkie Collins and such, but that was back in college. Whatever the reason, the differences of time and geography made a bridge I had to work at to cross.

So in the end, a worthwhile read, even if it took more effort to get through than anticipated.

Is it bad that when I hear the phrase "The power and the glory" instead of hearing hymns of praise I hear Rush's "The Big Money" in my head?

Movie 20

One of my sons is learning about the Holocaust in school this month. One of the class assignments is to watch a movie about WWII or the Holocaust with your parents. We picked a made for cable movie, The Devil's Arithmetic, which is based on the book by Jane Yolen. My wife and I had read the book some time ago and enjoyed it. We figured this would be a good movie to introduce the subject to the kids.

As far as I can tell, the movie is historically accurate. Well, there is the framing device of a girl going back in time to experience the things her family went through back then, but the parts about the Holocaust seemed accurate. The going-back-in-time portions probably worked better in the book, but it put forward the idea that these are events never to be forgotten. "Always remember" is a common phrase in the movie.

I was surprised at the actors I recognized. Kirsten Dunst and Brittany Murphy did an excellent job carrying the movie. It was interesting to watch the main character grow to realize the importance of her family's heritage. Perhaps it only offers a glimpse of what the Jewish people went through, but it is a glimpse that helps you understand the toll it took on individuals who survived.

So it was a good movie to watch for a school assignment on the Holocaust. And as such, even though it is a made for cable movie (it was done for Showtime in 1999) I have no problem counting it as one of my fiftyfifty.me flicks. Recommended as an introduction to this sensitive subject.

Movie 19

The other movie I watched with my wife this week was The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1. All I have to say about this is, "Yawn." I tolerated the first three movies in the series that I watched with my wife. She liked them so when she finally bought the DVD I figured I'd spend an evening watching it with her. This one was a deal breaker for me. Way too boring.

They really needed to split this into two movies? For a wedding and a drawn out honeymoon? And the scene I thought I'd enjoy, the fighting between wolves and vampires, was cut way too short. As was the potentially interesting back story of the past life of the vampires. Add to this the fact that everyone mumbles their lines and it was almost unwatchable. And all this is leaving aside the fact that the heroine is someone who seems to define herself by her relationship to the males in her life.

Back when she read the books, I told my wife that I would probably read the books someday. I like to keep up on popular fiction, see what the rest of the world is reading. Sometimes this works for me (Hunger Games, Harry Potter), but other times it doesn't (The Da Vinci Code) After this movie, I doubt I will be reading the books.

Movie 18

This week I watched a couple of movies with my wife. One was Killers, which my wife found while browsing on Netflix. She likes both Ashton Kutcher and Katherine Heigl, and even Tom Selleck, so she thought we might enjoy this. Unfortunately, it was a bit of a let down.

The film tries to cross a secret agent action flick with a romantic comedy, and does a sub-par version of both. There was a strange lack of chemistry between the leads. The plot was pretty much unbelievable, especially the disappointing reveal at the end of who was behind it all. But really, the wooden interaction between the characters was what doomed the movie.

I think it would have worked better if it had been done in a more absurdist vein. I mean really play up the weirdness of suburban neighbors and coworkers trying to assassinate you and your spouse. This would have cut into the romantic comedy the movie was aiming for, but it missed that mark anyway.

My wife even agreed that the movie was mediocre at best. That seems to describe a lot of the Netflix selections of streaming movies.

February's List

February's media consumption slowed down a bit, but still pretty good:

Books:

Jan:

1. The Hunger Games

2. Catching Fire

3. Mockingjay

4. The Janitor's Boy

5. The Road

Feb:

6. The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains

7. Strider

8. Touching the Void

9. Perloo the Bold

Favorite so Far: The Shallows, by Nicholas Carr, but The Hunger Games is close.
Biggest Surprise: The Janitor's Boy, by Andrew Clements. Nice examination of the father/son relationship, especially for a children's book.
Biggest Disappointment: The Road, by Cormac McCarthy. I really wanted to like this book better than I did, but it was just too bleak for me.

Movies:

Jan:

1. Inception

2. Knight and Day

3. Tuck Everlasting

4. The Mighty

5. The Adjustment Bureau

6. Transformers: Dark of the Moon

7. Sherlock Holmes

8. Mr. Popper's Penguins

9. Diary of a Wimpy Kid

10. X-Men: First Class

11. Dolphin Tale

12. Taken

Feb:

13. Gnomeo and Juliet

14. The Tourist

15. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

16. Bean: The Movie

17. Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker

18. Killers

19. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1

Favorite so far: Inception, hands down. Very well done. I enjoyed The Adjustment Bureau as well.
Biggest Surprise: Probably Sherlock Holmes, I enjoyed it more than I expected.
Biggest Disappointment: Transformers, even though I wasn't expecting much, Bay didn't even meet those expectations.Breaking Dawn wasn't great either.

Book 9

I finished another book from my daughter's "Battle of the Books" this weekend. Perloo the Bold, by Avi. I'm starting to feel like I'm padding my list with these books, but I believe this was the last one. And I'd be way behind if I didn't count them. At any rate, they have been pretty good books.

I would have loved this book when I was younger and reading things like Watership Down. I've also heard that it's like the Redwall series for younger kids, but I've never read Brian Jacques. I may need to pick up one of his books.

Perloo has animal-like creatures as its characters, and uses them to examine aspects of leadership. That makes it sound more like a treatise, but it was actually a fun little story about the "Montmers" and the "Felbarts," two different rival animal tribes on the verge of a war. As the Montmers struggle with a change in the leadership of their tribe, the reader, or at least this one, asks what it takes to be a good leader.

My wife thought the ending was wrapped up too quickly with the war averted and Perloo making a monumental decision about his role in the tribe's leadership. It was a bit abrupt and maybe not entirely realistic, even if it was in keeping with the characters. But it was a good look at what being a leader means. Impressive for an elementary school book.

Movies 16 and 17

I watched a couple of movies with the kids yesterday. The first was Bean: The Movie. The youngest two kids were acting up so I put this on hoping they would at least enjoy Rowan Atkinson's funny faces. After all, they enjoyed Mr. Bean's Holiday multiple times. I know, I know, using the TV as a baby sitter, but I watched it with them and we all enjoyed it.

Growing up, my parents and siblings (well, at least my dad and brothers) were all Mr. Bean fans. We loved the show and Rowan Atkinson in general. I'm not sure how I missed this attempt to introduce Mr. Bean to the American masses. But in the end I don't think I missed much in waiting. It was enjoyable, with a lot of recycled Mr. Bean gags, but also a bit crude for the kids I was watching it with. And of course it was for an American audience, so Mr. Bean had to speak more than usual. And the plot needed to have the obligatory moral message shoehorned in, this one about families (not a bad thing, just un-Bean like). Mr. Bean's Holiday is a better movie to watch to capture the essence of Mr. Bean.

But even so, Bean is good for fans. Atkinson is at his bumbling best, and the supporting cast does its job well. Peter MacNicol was good as the straight man to Mr. Bean, and special mention needs to be made of Burt Reynold's cameo as the no-so-art-loving patron of the arts. And I laughed quite a bit. But some of the charm was lost due to what can only be described as the Americanization of Bean. And this is from someone who likes American The Office better than British The Office. Doesn't make it a bad movie, just less than what it could have been.

Last night we watched Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker. The boys have recently discovered the Alex Rider books, which I haven't really noticed before, and are enjoying them. So when I found this at the library, I knew we had a Family Movie Night pick.

Apparently, this was supposed to be he next big teen movie franchise, but it flopped. It played out like a James Bond film for a younger audience, and it was easy to tell where they were setting up potential recurring characters. Stephen Fry as the gadget guy comes to mind. Not having read the books, I can say it came off as just that, an inferior James Bond.

It is hard to put my finger on just why it wasn't that great. Certainly the lead, Alex Pettyfer, wasn't the best as Alex Rider. And if some of the stunts and jokes seemed forced and juvenile, well, it was aimed at a teen audience. The pieces just didn't seem to fit right. But the target audience, my boys, loved it. They were very disappointed to learn this movie was from 2006 and there was no sequel yet. I didn't have the heart to tell then there probably won't ever be a sequel.

Book 8

This weekend I finished Touching the Void, Joe Simpson's remarkable mountaineering survival story. This is one of the books I picked that was rated 5 stars by a friend on Goodreads. Now I'm no mountaineer or climber, even though I do love the mountains. But the places these guys go are insane. I can't imagine doing this type of climbing in perfect conditions.

Which makes Simpson's story all the more remarkable. He ended up climbing down a mountain after falling down a crevasse in a glacier, alone and freezing, and all this after already breaking his leg. Even knowing that he survives (after all he is writing the book) the story is very tense. It includes a good depiction of what his climbing partner, thinking Simpson was dead, went through as well making his own way down the mountain. It really is amazing what people can endure.

The book is a worthwhile read. My only complaint is the first part, about climbing up the mountain, is very technical. I'm sure those familiar with climbing would enjoy it, but I found it a bit slow at times. All that changes when the disaster hits, and I found it a much quicker read from that point on. The reader gets a good picture of the hardships endured on the lonely, grueling climb down. Amazing that this is all a true story. I may need to check out the movie.

Book 7

I took a break from reading Touching the Void, one of the books I picked up as a secret recommendation from my friends on Goodreads. I read another of my daughter's books she had to read for Battle of the Books at her elementary school called Strider, by Beverly Cleary. I had never heard of this book, although I remember Cleary quite well as an author we frequently read in grade school. It is apparently a sequel to Dear Mr. Henshaw, another book I've never heard of. But I have fond memories of Cleary books, so I gave it a chance.

The book did not live up to my memories of the author's other works. It was well written, with well drawn characters. And it had a dog, so bonus points there. But for a coming of age story, I didn't feel much of a struggle taking place. It seemed pretty uneventful, and frankly, slow. Even for a children's book.

My daughter seemed to like it. She found it interesting that it was written as journal entries, rather than as traditional chapters. So if nothing else, it has introduced her to a slightly different kind of narrative. She enjoyed discovering that stories can be told in different ways. So it may not have been my favorite Cleary book, but it was a success if the book expanded my daughter's literary horizons in whatever small way.

Movie 15

This weekend we watched Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, which I picked for Family Movie Night with the kids. It was based on a video game series I know little to nothing about. Given the track record of films based on video games, that could have been a cause for concern. But it is also a Disney movie, so I figured at least the kids would like it.

And everyone did seem to like it. It was good for a movie based on a video game. I didn't recognize much of the cast, except Ben Kingsley, who I've decided is pretty much good in anything he does. The story was fun, action with fantasy thrown in, all mixed with an exotic Persian setting. But I don't know that it was that memorable. My wife disagrees, she liked how the story ended. It was a good Family Movie Night pick, it's just not a story I find myself returning to.

Having said that, if they ever make a sequel I'm sure I won't hesitate to watch it for Family Movie Night, too.

One Way to Get Book Recommendations from Friends Without Their Knowledge

A while back on Fiftyfifty.me they posted a theme idea about recommendations. I'll admit that since I already have such a large to-read list, I generally just nod and smile politely when a book is recommended to me. Occasionally there is an exception, like from my mom or brother. Although truth be told their last few recommendations are still sitting on my bedside table, unread. Or if someone recommends something already on my to-read list, the book may be bumped closer to the front of the list.

The Fiftyfifty post is correct, recommendations aren't for the weak of heart. For book lovers, you run the risk of discovering someone you know has terrible literary taste. Or, perhaps worse for the book snob, someone you know is better read than you are. But it also represents a challenge to broaden your horizons.

The other day, while browsing some friends' lists on Goodreads, I had an idea. I noticed each of these friends, when comparing books we both had rated, were never more than one star off on our ratings. Sure, sometimes my five star book was only a four for them, and the book I thought was a two made it to three in their rating, but we were never that different. It made me wonder what I would think of their favorite, five star books.

What I decided to do, instead of asking for a favorite, was semi-randomly select a five star book from these three friends on Goodreads. I say semi-randomly because, in order to make it a bit of a challenge, I wanted to make sure these were books not already on my to-read list. They needed to be books I probably wouldn't read normally.

So I now have three new books checked out from the library. The first was a five star book from my college friend. We sat through many physics classes together, but I also enjoyed discussing books with her. I recognized several of those books on her list, but I settled on Touching the Void, by Joe Simpson, a survival story of a mountaineer in the Andes. I've heard coworkers discussing this book, and the movie based on it, before, but I was never motivated to pick it up.

The second was from my cousin. Almost everyone in our extended family is a reader, so I knew my cousin would have some good books on her list. I chose The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak. This book has popped up here and there in reviews and blogs I've read, and while it's looked interesting, I've never considered reading it before. Based on her review, it looks like my cousin really enjoyed this book.

Last was from my brother. This was a bit harder to pick since a lot of his five star books are already on my to-read list, or at least they are books I could see myself picking up on my own. I've noticed our tastes aren't that different, although growing up he leaned more towards the fantasy side of things, where I read more sci fi. Anyway, I picked Graham Greene's The Power and the Glory.

I have read Graham Greene before. The one I remember was The End of the Affair, which was well written, but failed to make me care about the mentioned affair or its end. My brother, a self proclaimed Greene fan, says that one was probably his least favorite, but The Power and the Glory was much better. I said at the time that I would be willing to give Greene another go, but I've never felt the desire to pick up one of his books since then. We will see how this goes.

I'll admit I'm looking forward to reading these books. It should be an interesting twist to the fiftyfifty challenge.

Movies 13 and 14

Watched movies 13 and 14 this week. Number 13 was Gnomeo and Juliet, Which my daughter noticed while we were scanning through Netflix and then wanted to watch for Family Movie Night. I was a little hesitant as most of the "family" movies I've watched on Netflix have been sub-par. (Netflix's streaming movie choice just isn't that good, although I like it for TV shows.) But I remembered enjoying the commercials for the movie last year and figured I could sit through it if I kept my expectations low.

Maybe the low expectations did it, but I enjoyed the movie. Perhaps not as much as the kids, but then I probably got more out of the Shakespeare jokes than they did. Now, it's not destined to become a family classic or anything, but it is one of those movies that entertains the kids while throwing just enough lines at the adults to keep them watching, too. And the voice actors fit the parts well, especially Patrick Stewart in a cameo as the Bard himself. It was a pleasant surprise to hear his voice.

14 was The Tourist, a Johnny Depp movie I watched with my wife. We liked the movie, but we are Depp fans. (It wasn't always that way, I never liked 21 Jump Street.) Angelina Jolie, on the other hand, she might be nice to look at sometimes, but her movies don't always grab me. However, she was good in this and I even liked the the pairing of Depp and Jolie together.

My wife felt the movie started a bit slow and predictable, but I liked the way suspense was built without the usual action/thriller movie plot devices. It might have taken longer to build up, but the pay off for me was Depp really letting you feel the tourist's confusion at the events happening around him. I liked it, even if we did call most of the plot twists along the way. In the end, worthwhile for fans of Johnny Depp.

Book 6

Last weekend I finished The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains, by Nicholas Carr. As this was a Pulitzer finalist, I had fairly high expectations, and the book generally met them. Carr makes an excellent case that the internet is in fact changing our brains, making us think differently than we used to when knowledge was mainly obtained through books. Newer and more distracting technology is making us use a different set of skills, different from what Carr calls "deep thinking" that comes with reading books with greater focus.

I believe this is an important discussion. As the author says, we need to consider this change and how it affects us as this technology becomes even more pervasive. Are the distractions that seem to be inherent in the technology making us lose focus, and is this detrimental to our culture? It has certainly made me think. I can't count the number of conversations this book made me start with my friends and coworkers. And I don't mean the "Hey, this book is cool" conversations that Hunger Games started.

In thinking about it, I realized that I don't totally agree with the author about everything. The brain activity we use on the internet may be different than when reading books, but does different necessarily mean worse? While Carr makes it a point to say we are losing deep thinking skills, the book doesn't demonstrate that what we are gaining will put us in a worse situation. Sure things are changing, but we are still using our brains, the activity just appears to be focused in different areas.

Carr himself admits we can't see how things will play out in the long run yet. Just as people like Aristotle were concerned that giving up an oral tradition to focus on silent reading of books would make us lose wisdom, we should be concerned about how this distracting technology affects us. On the other hand, I think most would argue the switch from an oral tradition was beneficial for our race as a whole, and I find it plausible that newer technologies will ultimately prove similarly beneficial, whatever disruptive changes they bring. But on the whole, it is a conversation we should be engaging in more often.

Whatever disagreements I may have with the implied conclusions of the book, I can say I recommend it wholeheartedly to anyone at all interested in subjects like reading, learning, or the internet in general. I even gave it 5 stars on Goodreads.

Funny side note: while reading The Shallows I frequently found myself distractedly flipping to the end notes and checking out a source online that was listed there. I have since started rereading an Agatha Christie mystery on my Nook called And Then There Were None. The first time I read the book, in print, I constantly flipped around to reference different parts of the story. This time, reading an ebook, I haven't flipped around as much. Not exactly the situation Carr refers too in talking about distracting technology, but I found it interesting that I focused better reading my Nook over a print book.

January's List

The list through one month , only includes books and movies I haven't read or watched before:

Books:

1. The Hunger Games

2. Catching Fire

3. Mockingjay

4. The Janitor's Boy

5. The Road

Movies:

1. Inception

2. Knight and Day

3. Tuck Everlasting

4. The Mighty

5. The Adjustment Bureau

6.Transformers: Dark of the Moon

7. Sherlock Holmes

8. Mr. Popper's Penguins

9. Diary of a Wimpy Kid

10. X-Men: First Class

11. Dolphin Tale

12. Taken

I'm off to a better start than I thought I would be. I'm even close to finishing book #6.

Movie 12

A few weeks ago, while channel surfing, I came across a Liam Neeson movie on a cable channel. I missed the beginning, so I didn't watch more than a couple of minutes. But when I heard Neeson tell the guy on the other end of a cell phone to let his daughter go or he would find the guy and kill him, I was hooked. I thought it looked good and was one my wife would tolerate, so when I saw Taken, the movie in question, at the library, I picked it up.

Neeson seems to be getting some questions lately with his new movie The Grey in theaters. Is he really an action star? Is he making so many mediocre movies as a way to cope with his wife's death? Well, I'm a Liam Neeson fan and I liked Taken. And I wouldn't mind watching The Grey either, even if the experts don't like the way the wolves are portrayed. Neeson says the wolves are out to get him, who am I to argue?

Taken was a good action flick, heavy on the fighting, but refreshingly light on unexplainable, large explosions. Certainly not a feel good movie. Sure the hero is out to rescue his daughter from the human traffickers, but what about the approximately 100 other young women he ran across and couldn't help. I tried not to think about that part, too depressing. And apparently everyone in France needed to be beat up and/or killed along the way, but I expected that from this kind of movie. Maybe my expectations were set low, but if you like the lead actor, you could do worse than this movie.