February 2012 "Wrap-Up"

Welcome to this month's edition of "what's entertained me the most"

(other than my children, of course!)

Best Book of the Month:

This month, we have a tie...

'The Soulkeepers' and 'Weaving Destiny' - both by: G. P. Ching

A friend of mine inquired about this young-adult series (the series is called 'The Soulkeepers' - Book 1, obviously being titled after the series. 'Weaving Destiny' is # 2 in the series...)

Anyhow, my friend wanted to know if these books were appropriate for her daughter to read.

[I encourage all parents to read what their children are reading 1st, or at least monitor the books that they choose...]

Having never heard of the series, I looked into the first book and it definitely peaked my curiosity, so I bought it, and a few pages into it, I immediately bought the 2nd one as well.

If you are at all familiar with Cassandra Clare's 'Mortal Instruments' Series, then you will definitely enjoy this series as well!

While the 1st book was excellent, the 2nd book was even better! However, both deserve to be this month's "Best Book Choice"

Book #3 - 'Return to Eden' - is supposed to be released sometime next month...!

Runner-Up:

'Level 26: Dark Revelations' - by: Anthony Zuiker (with Duane Swierczynski)

This book completes the "Level 26" trilogy that began with 'Dark Origins' and 'Dark Prophecy'.

If you haven't read this series, I highly recommend it!

For those who may not know, Anthony Zuiker is the creator of the television show C.S.I. and these books are considered to be "digi-novels" - they have interactive sequences spaced throughout the books. 'Dark Origins' was the 1st digital book that I read, and it completely sold me on the format!

Definitely check these out, if you have not already...!

Other books that I read this month:

'Invasion' - by: Robin Cook

Best Movie of the Month:

Breaking Dawn: Part 1

Yes, this is part of the Twilight series and I'm sure that I'll get flak for it, but I enjoyed the books, and I enjoy the films as well, so you'll just have to deal with it! :-)

Runner-Up:

This one's a toss-up between 'Chronicle' and 'The Dead'...

I'm going to go with 'Chronicle', purely for entertainment purposes.

While 'The Dead' is one of the best zombie movies that I've seen in a while, it definitely has it's slooooow moments as well as very minimal dialogue, so it's probably not for everyone, though it is still definitely worth watching!

Other movies that I watched this month:

(in the order that I watched them)

A Smile As Big As The Moon (a good family film!)

Red Hill

Killer Elite

The Silent House

Attack the Block

The Vampire Conspiracy

Star Wars - Episode 1: The Phantom Menace [I had to take my son to see this one in 3-D!] :-)

The Woman (while I am a big fan of Jack Ketchum, this movie just didn't work for me - quite disturbing actually... unfortunately, I wouldn't recommend this one to anyone)

Real Steel

Apollo 18

Contagion

The Reeds

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (*I was extremely disappointed in this one - if you plan on watching it, I would wait till DVD! While it does have some good "3-D" moments, it is not worth the price of admission!)

Outcast

2012: Ice Age

Seven Days in Utopia

Puss in Boots (better than I expected it to be!)

My Favorite iPhone App of the Month:

Judge Dredd vs Zombies

Runner-Up:

Crazy Hedgy

These were initially going to be reversed, however Judge Dredd came out with an update, a week or so ago, that added "Arena Modes" and more levels, and this caused me to put Crazy Hedgy on the back burner for a bit, while I decimated some zombies - definitely worth the buck!

Well, that's all I have for this month. As always, if you have any questions, just leave a comment - I'll check for them on my phone.

Until the end of March - take Care!

Jason