Details: Memoir of Christine Hall's life and lessons learned by changing. Christine's Grandmother's death brings the family together one last time at the old family farm. What is discovered there while the family sorts, and cleans and cleans out the farm is priceless. Settled in the Amish country side Christine and her family take the time to say good bye to old dear Amish friends, who were dear sweet friends to their Grandmother. The gift that is given and shared for years to come will never be forgotten.
My Review: This was a book club book for the month of May. I read this very short book in 3 days. I bought it from Amazon for $4, for my Kindle. Its the most amazing book ever. It opens your eyes to lessons you learn from the most unusual things, people, and circumstances. I highly recommend this book to everyone. There is a Facebook page just for this book as well, which is fun to check out because Christine is always doing book signings. Best Part: Christine Hall has a website directly attributed to this book, and through this website, anyone can buy a package of Moon flower seeds for $4. What an amazing author. Not only does she tell you her wonderful experiences with her Moon flower, but she allows you the chance to experience the joy in your own back yard.
Pros: short book with lots of lessons, not preachy, not religious, pure every day life lessons to be learned and appreciated.
Katheryn Stockett's The Help Book Details: Skeeter graduates from Ole' Miss and decides to come back home to Jackson Missouri, and get a job as a journalist. But her plans don't go the way she imagined. Her special maid is gone, her mother is sick, and no one wants to hire her as a journalist. But as she works on getting experience writing, she is inspired by her career contact in New York and finds a worthy cause to write about, if only she can get the Helps on board with her law-breakin', hair raisin' scheme.
My Review: Kathryn Stockett wrote this book in 3 years, because of her experiences with her own Help as she grew up in Jackson Missouri. I love this story, and love how we as people who are many times blinded by what we don't know, don't want to see, and wish not to know, Kathryn gives us an open window view into the injustices that our Country has had to over come, through the eyes of those who lived those lives.
Pros: amazing realistic characters, loving plot, easy to find and buy a copy of this book
Cons: none
Tate Taylor's vision of, Stockett's, The Help Movie Details: This is exactly like the book Kathryn wrote, as Tate Taylor has been Kathryn's best friend since they were 5 years old. The actress who plays Mini is Tate's other best friend. When Kathryn wrote the book no one wanted to publish it. In fact it was rejected 60 times before someone fell in love with the story. Tate was able to have the screen play finished by the time Kathryn's book was published. Tate and Kathryn kept most of the acting within the family, as both their mother's are in the movie, as is Tate's Maid, and Kathryn's daughter.
My Review: I have been wanting to see the movie the Help since I heard it was going to be a movie. It is so heart wrenching and warming at the same time everyone falls in love with the characters and the story. My favorite parts of the movie only come on the DVD/ Blueray disc. I watched all the commentary, deleted scenes, and extras and got to see Tate Taylor with his Maid, Kathryn and her family. I got to see interviews with women who live in Jackson today and remember the time of house Maids and also got to hear some of those women tell of how they were house Maids to the white folk living in Jackson.
Pros: I love the actors and actresses they found the perfect fits for each character
Details: Jason Aloe Vera is 98% natural. It is a moisturizing gel. Nature's penetrating skin moisturizer with allantoin. 8 oz bottle of gel with no artificial colors. Paraben free, bio-degradable, no animal by-products or animal testing. This is certified organic.
My Review: My Mother-In-Law bought this when she came to visit us summer of 2011. Not used to dry desert weather she and my BIL got fried going to the Zoo. She wanted to find a real aloe vera plant, but this was cheaper and easier to use. She loves this brand of products. Over the past year of using this with myself and my children being out in hot, cold, dry desert weather I'm very impressed with how quickly sunburns fade, and how nice our skin feels after using it. I can compare this to a few other types of aloe vera gels specifically for sunburns and this is by far the best. But it also has other factors not so good according to my husband.
Pros: kills the pain to sun burns quickly, and fades the redness quickly, smells good, small amount goes a long way.
Cons: super sticky skin after use even after letting it dry there is still a sticky residue my husband hates.
My Rating gets a thumbs up for the quick factor, and a thumbs down for the sticky residue.
Think About It: Image can mean many different things to many different people. When it comes to image the size of house or family, type of house or car, clothes and accessories, the amount of money you make or spend, where you live, the type of friends and entertainment you host all matter. Do you have an image? What is your image? How do you up keep this image? How far would you go, or what would you be willing to do to keep this image intact?
Details: When prestige is the rule, and money is the exception to the rule, where friends are only friends when you have that money, and image is everything. This is the world in which the Banks lived, that is until Mr. Banks ends up in jail, and his wife Nora is stuck cleaning up the mess. But as she cleans up, disasters occur around every bend. Nora and some newly acquired friends are put to the test and then some, as they discover how to be true to themselves, and how to over come their dependency to men, marriage, image and well the society they now find themselves thrust out of but unable to leave. Can time and forgiveness really melt the ice that has formed around Nora's heart so that love and trust can be built back up or will she give into her physical need for intimate comfort, peace and fulfillment?
My Review: I bought this book late one night while out giving myself release from the busy life of a mother. I was searching for something that would be fun to read, give me encouragement to continue being patient and keep my faith strong while my family goes through some major changes and important decisions. I got exactly what I was looking for, but not in the way I was hoping. I read this book in 1 week. It took me about 30 pages to actually enjoy reading this novel. But as the story unfolded my heart was truly touched. I learned lessons right along with the main characters. I found courage and peace in my own life by reading about Nora Banks and her family. This is my new favorite read, and with the price I paid, I think its a great Mother's Day gift, or perfect for any woman! This would make the perfect Book Club book for all the discussions that you can come up with.
Karen Weinreb pays great attention to details, I love the details of nature, the houses, the descriptions of intimate fantasies. I love the details of all the baking, man I'm so craving some of those yummy sounding goodies mentioned in this book.
Details: Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson, Thomas Haden Church, Elle Fanning and other stars. Based on a true story, based on the Dartmoor Zoological Park in Sparkwell Devon. After a tragic death of the wife and mother to the Mee family, Benjamin hopes to start a new life, a new way of living and goes for a large risk, in buying a zoo where his children will live and grow up. But things don't go as planned. Life isn't as easy and happy as he had hoped. But with help and encouragement from the Zoo help, things can turn around.
My Review: I wasn't really interested in watching this movie, but once I found out that it was based off a true story I was very enthralled. I love true story movies. My husband loved this movie more than me. He was sucked into everything: the subtle humor, and business logic, and the parenting guidelines hidden within the plot.
Watching this movie, reminded me of some of the neat Zoos that I've been to during my childhood. There is a drive through Zoo in Texas, where you drive around a path to see the Zebras, Rinos, Ostriches, etc. After we drove through the Zoo, we went to the Gift shop and got to pet a baby Tiger, Hedgehogs, and different small pets and insects. Petting the baby tiger was so cool and very different. Its amazing to see the behind the scenes to what it takes to care for wild animals. And this movie gave us part of that great connection. This is a keeper in my book.
Pros: great acting, wonderful story, that's both touching and true, without too much drama and emotion.
Are you geeking out as much as we are that Avengers the Movie was totally awesome?!!! "Avengers assemble, always we will fight as one til the battle's won...assembled we are strong." Did you hear the music in your mind and sing along with that?!!! OMG!! Totally need to own this movie. My husband and I went to see this in the theater first, then because we loved it that much, we did something we never ever EVER do. We went back with our kids while it was still in theaters. Granted, we went to the $2 showing, but it was so worth it! Our kids were so enthralled, their action figures, their toys were alive and on the big screen. See as a family we loved watching all the animated Avenger themed shows on Netflix, so this was huge. Favorite Super Hero... 2012's big movie of the year starring: Robert Downy Jr., Chris Evens, Christ Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Gwyneth Paltrow, Samuel L. Jackson, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner, and more major actors and actresses. Based off the Marvel Cartoon The Avengers. Available to be seen in 3D and regular when it came to the theater. A large group of super natural creatures, super humans, some even resurrected from death, scientists and a God come together to try and save the world from destruction. Lies, and betrayals, lost love, and pride are on the bad guys side against the super heroes. Freaks of nature, science experiments gone wrong, wielders of lightning, electricity, and the biggest serving of courage give the Avengers something special. Okay, so if you have followed any of the other Marvel movies: Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk, and Thor you know these faces, you've come to love those handsome actors, those sexy actresses, and hate their sworn enemies as much as they do. Now with their combined powers they must save the world, the world of New York, because let's be honest, there are only a handful of cities movie makers enjoy trashing. I love seeing Ironman strut his fancy tech and smart brains, with his clever banter with Bruce Banner aboard the Helicarrier. Thor's love-hate relationship with Loki is especially funny. But let's be honest the coolest scenes always involved the Hulk! Except the first scene, which still scares my youngest, so we have to cover his eyes and ears.
Best movie of the Year... in my opinion! We've been waiting for this movie to come out since the beginning of the Introductory movies: Iron Man 1 and 2, Hulk, Thor, and Captain America. Our boys were just as excited as my husband and myself. On Netflix you can find a cartoon series of the Avengers, and many other individual full length movies about Thor as a child, Iron man series (adult, teenager, avenger), Hulk, The Ultimate Avengers, etc. So after months of watching these Netflix movies with our boys they were VERY ready to go to the big movie theater to watch the REAL AVENGERS!!! We saw it in 3D, which was only good because we had a digital screen, and dolby surround system in the specific room. Surprisingly, none of us go sick, which is one reason we don't watch in 3D, but again, totally worth it in my opinion. Amazing acting, great plot, well known cool actors and actresses, sweet special effects and fight scenes. This is on our to buy list. Some things we found that we didn't like in the movie come from our avid prep. In the cartoon series by Stan Lee, they have more Avenger characters than what was in this movie. So when 2 characters where introduced in a way, I was very disappointed. Scarlett and Jeremy are amazing characters in the movie, but no one really knew who they were in the movie. There should have been a separate movie with Jeremy Renner and Scarlett Johansson displaying their characters, skills, and why they work for SHIELD. I hope to see more individual character movies coming out, because it helps us as normal people live in that fantasy world that much more. Bring on Ant Man and Wasp, Black Panther etc!
My Rating
If you enjoyed this movie review, come check out Money Ball.
