Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Movie 73 ~ Annie

ANNIE
2014 * PG * 118 min *
Directed by Will Gluck
Written by Will Gluck & Aline Brosh McKenna
Stage Play Book by Thomas Meehan
Comic Strip "Little Orphan Annie" by Harold Gray
May 2016

Movie 72 ~ The Choice

THE CHOICE
2016 * PG-13 * 111 min *
Directed by Ross Katz
Written by Bryan Sipe
Book by Nicholas Sparks
May 2016

Movie 71 ~ The Good Dinosaur

THE GOOD DINOSAUR
2015 * PG * 93 min *
Directed by Peter Sohn
Written by Bob Peterson, Peter Sohn, Erik Benson, Meg LeFauve, & Kelsey Mann
May 2016

Movie 70 ~ Dirty Grandpa

DIRTY GRANDPA
2016 * R * 102 min *
Directed by Dan Mazer
Written by John Phillips
May 2016

Movie 69 ~ The Pursuit of Excellence: Synchronized Swimming

THE PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE:  Synchronized Swimming
2007 * NR * 56 min *
Directed by Mark Lewis
May 2016

Movie 68 ~ Love the Coopers

LOVE THE COOPERS
2015 * PG-13 * 107 min *
Directed by Jessie Nelson
Written by Steven Rogers
May 2016

Movie 67 ~Jane Got a Gun

JANE GOT A GUN
2016 * R * 118 min *
Directed by Gavin O'Connor
Written by Brian Duffield, Anthony Tambakis, & Joel Edgerton
May 2016

Movie 66 ~ How to be Single

HOW TO BE SINGLE
2016 * R * 110 min *
Directed by Christian Ditter
Written by Abby Kohn, Marc Silverstein, & Dana Fox
Book by Liz Tuccillo
May 2016

Friday, May 27, 2016

Movie 65 ~ Shaun the Sheep Movie

SHAUN THE SHEEP MOVIE
2015 * PG * 85 min *
Directed & Written by Mark Burton & Richard Starzak
May 2016

Thursday, May 26, 2016

Movie 64 ~ Sisters

SISTERS
2015 * R * 118 min *
Directed by Jason Moore
Written by Paula Pell
May 2016

Movie 63 ~ Aloha

ALOHA
2015 * PG-13 * 105 min *
Directed & Written by Cameron Crowe
May 2016

Movie 62 ~ Zootopia

ZOOTOPIA
2016 * PG * 108 min *
Directed & Written by Byron Howard, Rich Moore, & Jared Bush
May 2016

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Book 37 ~ Their Great Gift

THEIR GREAT GIFT:  Courage, Sacrifice, and Hope in a New Land
By John Coy
Photographs by Wing Young Huie
© 2016 Carolrhoda Books - Minneapolis, MN
ISBN# 978-1-4677-8054-4
32 pgs
May 2016


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Great book. Fantastic photographs. Would be wonderful for use with ESL classes.


Book 36 ~ The Great American Burger Book

THE GREAT AMERICAN BURGER BOOK:  How to Make Authentic Regional Hamburgers at Home
By George Motz
Foreword by Andrew Zimmern
© 2016 Abrams - NY, NY
ISBN# 978-1-61769-182-9
240 pgs
May 2016

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Calling all carnivores - this is the book for you!

I have had a pimento cheese burger and it is fantastic!!


Book 35 ~ Katie Chin's Everyday Chinese Cookbook

KATIE CHIN'S EVERYDAY CHINESE COOKBOOK:  101 Delicious Recipes from My Mother's Kitchen
By Katie Chin 
Forward by Raghavan Iyer
Photographs by Masano Kawana
© 2016 Tuttle Publishing - North Clarendon, VT
ISBN# 978-0-8048-4522-9
160 pgs
May 2016

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
The photographs are mouth watering. If you want to venture into Chinese cooking - this is the book to start with.


Book 34 ~ Fix-It and Forget-It Slow Cooker Champion Recipes

FIX-IT AND FORGET-IT SLOW COOKER CHAMPION RECIPES:  450 of Our Very Best Recipes
By Phyllis Good
© 2016 Good Books - NY, NY
ISBN# 978-1-68099-125-3
598 pgs
May 2016

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Practically every recipe has a photo - but not many that I feel compelled to try.


Book 33 ~ Dinner A.S.A.P.

DINNER A.S.A.P.:  150 Recipes Made as Simple as Possible
By the Editors of Cooking Light
© 2016 Time Inc Books - NY, NY
ISBN# 978-0-8487-4640-6
288 pgs
May 2016

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Most recipes feature full color recipes. But I did not see a great number of things that I would want to cook.


Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Book 32 ~ Beware of the Frog

BEWARE OF THE FROG
By William Bee
© 2008 Candlewick Press - Cambridge, MA
ISBN# 978-0-440-7636-3920-4
48 pgs
May 2016

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
What a quirky book. Would be great for a read aloud presentation. The frog eats everyone...or does it?


Book 31 ~ Outlander

OUTLANDER:  Outlander #1
By Diana Gabaldon
© 1991 & 2011 Delacorte Press - NY, NY
ISBN# 978-0-440-42320-1
662 pgs
May 2016


Narrated by Davina Porter
© 1997 Recorded Books
ISBN# 978-1-4193-5968-2
32.5 hours on 28 discs
May 2016

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Fantastic! I entered the world of Diana Gabaldon via the Outlander series on Starz. Oh the world of Jamie and Claire is lush and romantic but then dark and deadly. Somehow Diana combines romance, history, and fantasy all into one. The narrator was greatly enjoyable and I hope she the narrator the entire way through the series! Now onward...I believe there are currently ten books so far in the series!


Friday, May 6, 2016

Book 30 ~ The Scam

THE SCAM:  Fox & O'Hare #4
By Janet Evanovich & Lee Goldberg
© 2015 Bantam Books - NY, NY
ISBN# 978-0-345-54316-5
286 pgs
May 2016

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Nick & Kate are back to take down some more bad guys. This time their target is Evan Trace, casino owner bent on expansion and destruction. I enjoyed this book the whole way through and then it ended with a big 'ol cliffhanger... Not cool. Also makes me want to visit Hawaii and gave me a hankering for shaved ice.