Armchair BEA Day Five-Middle Grade/Young Adult

I still love to read Middle Grade and Young Adult. I believe that there are great books for all ages. I don't let age recommendations hold me back.

I'm going to start with some of my favorites as a kid.

I will start with Middle Grade:









Not all the books I enjoyed as a young adult would be qualified as Young Adult. Since these are the books I enjoyed I am listing my choices as Young Adult regardless. Sorry for anyone offended, but I certainly had some eclectic taste as a young adult.









As I stated, I still enjoy reading Middle Grade and Young Adult. Some of the more modern books I would recommend are:

MG:









YA:










I hope these choice will inspire you to try out a middle grade or a young adult choice. Truly, many of them are good choices for adults too! What are some of your favorite MG or YA reads? Any of my choices you don't like? What would you recommend to me? I love to read your comments! Thank you so much for joining me for Armchair BEA week. As a new blogger, I can't begin to tell you how much I appreciate you reading my blog!! Enjoy your weekend!

X Men Days of Future Past

For my birthday I went with three of my favorite men to see X Men Days of Future Past. My Husband and Son are huge Marvel, Comic Book, Stan Lee fans, so I knew they would love it. My Dad and I like a good action flick, but are not obsessed with super characters. I won't spoil any of the movie plot. I did like that there was plenty of action and mystery. I also enjoy the sense of humor in the X Men movies, and I was not disappointed here. I did feel like the movie was a little long winded and could have accomplished the same outcome in a shorter amount of time. I must admit a few times I was starting to get bored, but luckily the action would pick up shortly thereafter. One thing we were looking forward to was looking for Stan Lee. It has become a family game to find Stan Lee in these movies. Sadly, if he was here, none of us spotted him. How about you? Did you like the movie? Did you spot Stan Lee? What did you think of that scene after the credits?

Armchair BEA Day Four-Beyond Borders

Beyond the Borders It’s time to step outside your comfort zone, outside your borders, or outside of your own country or culture. Tell us about the books that transported you to a different world, taught you about a different culture, and/or helped you step into the shoes of someone different from you. What impacted you the most about this book? What books would you recommend to others who are ready or not ready to step over the line? In essence, let’s start the conversation about diversity and keep it going! 

What an Awesome topic. Reading is so Wonderful because it can introduce us to other places and cultures and people while we are still sitting in our chair. Living in a very small place that doesn't have much racial, or religious diversity, I turn to books at many times to learn the viewpoint of others. I haven't ever traveled out of the United States so I travel through books. One of my favorites is 13 Little Blue Envelopes. It is a light, fun story and great for a rainy day.



When I think of what I have read of other religions I must admit that I find polygamy fascinating. Having grown up totally different from their beliefs I find their stories enriching. My favorite real glimpse into polygamy would be Church of Lies by Flora Jessop. She is such an inspiration.



Growing up in rural Indiana I have seen and met several Amish families. BUT that doesn't mean I have a grasp on their life. I probably have more misconceptions then real truths floating in my mind. To get a beginning look into Amish beliefs and lifestyles I recommend reading Amish Cooks Across America by Lovina Eicher. Yes it's a cookbook but it also contains where more then recipes. You should check it out, and maybe try a recipe while you are at it!



What is life like in jail? Did you ever wonder who gets convicted of drug crimes and how the system works? If you want to get a glimpse behind the bars I recommend Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman. It is a bare bones although "sympathetic" look into serving time.



What is the real aftermath of rape? What is it like to be mentally confused and depressed and angry? I highly recommend Her by Christa Parravani. No, this is not all butterflies and rainbows. There are real emotions here, and some that certain people may find too strong. I will never forget this story and I feel that reading it could bring new perspectives to many out there.



My last recommendation is for The Midwife by Jennifer Worth. This one will give you a glimpse into the past. Life in London in a home full of nuns can be quite comical and interesting. This is such a diverse glimpse into so many lives. It will make you laugh and cry and cringe. A good mix and the story of an interesting life.



What book do you think of when you hear the topic Beyond Borders? Are there any that you recommend to me? I love to read your comments. Please join me for tomorrow's topic.

Armchair BEA Day Three-Short Stories

Welcome to Armchair BEA Day Three! Today is all about short stories. I must be honest and admit that I didn't used to like short stories much. What changed my attitude was taking a chance and reading a few. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked them. Who knew that an  author could squeeze so much goodness into such a tiny format? Here are a few that I enjoyed:      



These should cover a lot of areas of interest. Checking them out won't take much of your time. If you don't like short stories, take a few minutes and try a new one! Maybe you will be won over and be a new fan, and if you still don't like them, you only dedicated a short period of time to trying it out.

I would love to hear your short story recommendations in my comments. I hope you enjoyed today's Armchair BEA post. I hope that you will join me for tomorrow's topic. Happy Thursday!

Armchair BEA Day Two-Author Interaction and More Than Just Words

Author Interaction
          This is an area I don't have much experience in, BUT I have met one author, which is Mike Mullin. He is the author of 

He just happens to be from Indiana and he did a presentation at our local library. I had actually never read any of his books when I met him. I took my two teenage sons to meet him. After his presentation we went home with his first two books with crisp new autographs. My sixteen year old son devoured them both and has since read the third book. We all enjoyed his presentation which included some talk about volcanos and taekwondo. Mr. Mullin was very personable and took time to speak to everyone after the presentation. He has inspired my son to write. It is a meeting we will never forget and I can highly recommend his books. He won us over as fans!

You can check out Mike Mullins Author Bio here  http://mikemullinauthor.com/about/funny-bio/


More Than Just Words

            Graphic Novels and Manga are pretty new to me. I have read a few, and actually did enjoy them. My son loves them and it is one of his go to pastimes.

I can recommend My son recommends



Thank you for joining me for Armchair BEA Day Two. I would love it if you would leave a comment and check back for more Armchair BEA posts throughout the week.

Armchair BEA! Day one-Introductions

Welcome to my Armchair BEA posts. For my first post I am introducing myself:
1. Please tell us a little about yourself?
  My blog is brand new and I am by no means an expert. I love to read all the blogs about books and thought it would be fun to try it for myself. I enjoy books and movies and you will see them both on my blog. I am the mother of two teenage boys, 5 dogs, and 6 cats. I live smack dab in the middle of the woods, and I am blogging from Indiana.
2. What genre do you read the most?
   I suppose what I read the most is fiction. I enjoy reading many different types of books. One thing you won't find me reading is erotica.
3. What was your favorite book read last year? What is your favorite so far this year?This was my favorite last year. I highly recommend it!

My favorite so far this year is:
  

4. If you were stranded on a dessert island what three books would you bring? What three non-book
    items would you bring? Why?
  
My three books would be The Bible, because I would need to consult it to make it through the day. My second choice would be House of Leaves, because it is really long and I would need a lot to read. My third choice would be The Suitcases by Anne Hall Whit, because it is one of my favorites and I could read it over and over and still enjoy it.

My three non-book items would be a knife, a net, and some string. Because I would need to be able to cut items and catch fish and other items to eat.

5. What book would you love to see as a movie?
  

Thank you for checking out my blog and I hope you will look for my other posts about Armchair BEA!

Veronica Mars: The Movie

Okay, I admit it, I am a Veronica Mars fan! I loved the show when it was on and was excited to see the follow up movie. Obviously these characters have not been seen in the same setting for many years. I don't believe you will be disappointed by what you see here! It was so interesting and made my day to see everyone back together, BUT the storyline was also very good! Veronica and all her old friends, and even her enemies are here! If you loved the love triangle, the snarky comments, the friendship, and the investigating, it is all included here! I was afraid that the filming itself might not be up to snuff since it was a low budget production, but I was pleasantly surprised at the wonderful quality of the film. There are even some surprise guest stars that you won't believe are included in the film. So all you marshmallows should go out and get this, buy it, rent it, watch it. AND if you aren't a fan you should check out the series!!

Blackfish

Wow I don't even know where to start with this film! After watching it I will never look at a zoo or amusement park with animals the same again. I am guilty of loving the animals at Sea World and not seeing a problem with going there to watch their shows and tricks. I have even taken my children there. I am sure that many of us have no idea what is really going on behind the scenes and how many tragedies have happened that most of us have never heard about. If you want to know what I am talking about, you MUST watch this film!! I don't know if I will ever forget what I have seen in this film! It is not for the faint of heart or for children. There is much disturbing content included. BUT it deserves to be seen by those who can make a difference. It is controversial, although I believe everything I saw included in the film. So much is hidden from the public that it is scary to find out what is really going on that we are never privy to. We as a society should wake up and realize that much of what we are being told is lies. Has anyone seen this film? How did it make you feel? Do you disagree or agree with what I have said? What do you think should be done? I would love to hear your thoughts on this film!

http://blackfishmovie.com/

Haunted Library Box Set

I purchased this set from Amazon and read it on my Kindle app on my phone. I had read the first volume in the set before and enjoyed it. As a ghost, haunted house, creepy, fanatic, I found this set fulfilled my needs. Ms. Cross is an interesting writer and many of the stories are her own, but a few contained here are from friends. It was quite interesting to me that she used Bluffton, and Fort Wayne Indiana as the setting of some of the stories. It was pretty obvious to me, since I live quite close to those locations, that the stories didn't take place there. Ms. Cross does let you know from the get go that she changed names of locations, and people, to protect privacy. I enjoyed her stories and would like to read more by her. Following are links to purchase from Amazon and to the author's website. Does anyone have some creepy reads that they would recommend to me?

http://www.amazon.com/Haunted-Library-Box-Willow-Cross-ebook/dp/B00G7SGPJ4/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1399487063&sr=8-6&keywords=haunted+willow+cross

http://willowcrossbooks.weebly.com/