Unbroken, Dragons, African Tales, and The Five People You Meet in Heaven

I haven't updated in a while so I will do two posts. One for the books and the other for the movies.  I recently finished reading Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand and I loved it!  It is a biography of Louis Zamperini who was an American runner in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.  When World War 2 started, he joined the air force.  This book tells Louis' story from his childhood, to his service in World War 2, his life in Japanese POW camps and then his adjustment to life after the war.  It is a fascinating read.  I was captivated from page one.  I must say there are some very disturbing accounts in here (as you can imagine from a man who survived World War 2) and it is a tear-jerker but it is so worth it.

I also read a Hero's Guide to Deadly Dragons  by Cressida Cowell.  This is another book in the How to Train Your Dragon series.  They are a fun and easy read!

I read The Girl Who Married a Lion and Other Tales from Africa by Alexander McCall Smith.  Some things I learned about the African culture from these tales is that hares are cunning animals and that hares and lions are enemies.  Gratitude is important and don't cast out a person from your village who has saved the life of the town.  Be loyal to your friends and family. Don't be selfish because one day it will come back and bite you in the patootie. The hyena and the elephant live far away from people because they could not control themselves when it came to eating farmers' crops and they were ashamed of their lack of control and decided to willingly move far away from everyone else. It was interesting, a little odd, but I liked it!

I read The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom.  I liked this book.  It made me think about how we are all connected and how we all influence each others lives whether great or small, but we may not know it until we pass on to the next life.  It is an interesting read and it's a pretty easy read but I am not a big fan of his style of writing in this book.  

Have a Little Faith, Tuck Everlasting, Brave, How to Marry a Millionaire, Addam's Family, Into the Woods

I read Have a Little Faith by Mitch Albom, which I really liked!  It's a true story about Albom who was asked by the rabbi from his childhood to do his eulogy when he dies. "Feeling unworthy, Albom insists on understanding the man better, which throws him into a world of faith he left long ago. Meanwhile...Albom becomes involved with a Detroit pastor...who preaches to the poor and homeless in a decaying church with a hole in its roof." (I got the words from the sleeve cover of the book.)  The book tells the fascinating stories of the Jewish rabbi and Christian pastor. The book is a fast read and has lots of good thoughts in it.  I really liked it.

I also read Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt.  It was interesting, but I was not a big fan of it.

I watched Brave last weekend, which I liked.  It was cute and I liked that it wasn't a love story. It was different than most Disney shows.  I saw How to Marry a Millionaire with Lauren Bacall, Marilyn Monroe, and Betty Grable.  It was cheesy, but funny!  I watched Addam's Family Values and it was highly entertaining. (On a side note, if you've never seen The Addam's Family musical (as a play), it is hilarious and worth it to go and see).  I watched Into the Woods, which is a Sondheim musical and I liked it.  It is funny but a little depressing at the same time.