Mrs Readalot and Umpteen Jodi Picoults

Our old friend Mrs Readalot has been rather quiet lately.
She wrapped up her bookclub, hung up the out-to-lunch sign and retreated to her favourite sunny reading space to devour Jodi Picoult books, one after the other.

Jodi is one of Mrs Readalot's go-to authors. You can count on Jodi for a well written, thought-provoking read. There are 18 novels written by Jodi Picoult and Mrs R has read almost every one.

There's the well known, My Sisters Keeper (made into a movie) and the obscure-but-awesome "Vanishing Acts" among others. Stories told from every side of the fence, giving insight into human nature and challenging the way we think about those who are different to us.

Each and every book, a riveting read.
Each and every book challenging the assumptions we make as humans in the face of ethical dilemmas, tragedies and other conundrums.
Every story thought-provokingly presenting all sides of contentious issues.

Here's the entire list of Jodi Picoult Books:

• Songs of the Humpback Whale (1992) - about to read it
• Harvesting the Heart (1994) - Yet to read it
• Picture Perfect (1995) - Yet to Read it
• Mercy (1996) - Examines "Mercy" killing; 
• The Pact (1998): Examines teen suicide and friendship
• Keeping Faith (1999) - Examines Custody battles, faith, miracles and atheism
• Plain Truth (2000) - About Justice, truth and the Amish
• Salem Falls (2001) - About Witch hunts, bullying, crime and Truth
• Perfect Match (2002) - Yet to read
• Second Glance (2003) - The supernatural, ghosthunting and the paranormal
• My Sister's Keeper(2004) - Examines all sides of medical ethics, family loyalty & sisterhood
• Vanishing Acts (2005) - Child abduction and family relationships
• The Tenth Circle (2006) - Yet to read
• Nineteen Minutes(2007) - Mass shootings in high schools
• Change of Heart (2008) - Examines Organ donation, ethics and conscience
• Handle With Care (2009) - Examines what a mother will be prepared to do for her ill child
• House Rules (2010) - Exploring Autism and crime
• Sing You Home(2011) - Examines IVF, custody and same-sex parenthood
• Lone Wolf (2012) - Yet to read
• and her newest novel, THE STORYTELLER (2013) - Forgiveness, war crimes and the Holocaust. One of her best books yet.

As you can see Mrs Readalot only has five Jodi Books left to read; then she is all out of easy-picks. At the moment, when Mrs R needs a book, she fires up her Samsung Tablet, launches the Overdrive app, and searches "Jodi Picoult". It's a safe bet, a guaranteed great read.
Most of Jodi's books are there in the eLibrary. So convenient.

But what next?
Who can she turn to next, once she runs out of Jodi's??

This is where you come in.
Can you help Mrs Readalot out?
Please recommend your favourite authors or books (even better if they are on eBook). Help keep Mrs R supplied with reading material for the long cold winter months.
Leave her a comment, sharing your faves.
Or even better, if you've blogged about some great reads, link your posts up on her Bookclub Page.

<center> <a href="http://www.greatfun4kidsblog.com/p/bookclub.html"><img border="0" src=" http://i788.photobucket.com/albums/yy162/donnasimone/Bloggy/bloggybookclubnew.jpg " width="160" /></a></center>
(the Bookclub may be retired, but the linky isn't - it's now open all year round for you to link to; Mrs Readalot really appreciates your book recommendations)

Thanks lovely Readers!

Movie Night: Bedtime Stories

Every Saturday we share our ideas for family movie nights, with Movie reviews, fun theme night ideas and a month of FREE DVDs courtesy of our sponsor, Fatso (see below for details).

Our Super-Cool-Fab Review Team...

Our crack team of expert Movie Reviewers are this week reviewing Bedtime Stories.

 If you are one of those people who is irritated by Adam Sandler, you might have missed his family movie gem, Bedtime Stories.
This movie has it all for family viewing - a great story, cute kids, laughs, action, imagination and a bug-eyed hamster called Bugsy. There's a hero (the underdog) and a villain (a pompous oaf) and even a bit of romance.

IMDB sums up the movie as: "A family comedy about a hotel handyman whose life changes when the lavish bedtime stories he tells his niece and nephew start to magically come true."

The main story is interspersed with "storytime" scenes from a Medieval castle, the Wild West, the Roman circus and Outer Space, which gives lots of scope for laughs when those made-up stories start to come crazily true.

Adam Sandler's character "Skeeter" is the handyman at a hotel which his father used to own, many years ago; now he has the chance to prove he can manage the hotel as his father once dreamed.

There are the usual cameos from Sandler's special pals (they feature in every movie he makes) and also stars Russell Brand, Lucy Lawless, Guy Pearce and Courteney Cox among others.

What I love about this movie is it's humour and originality. I am personally a bit of an Adam Sandler fan (especially after "click") and this is one of his best. It's clean, it's innocent, it's hopeful. And it's also funny and clever and cute.

The boys like it for the laffs and the chariot race; the girls love it for it's fab imagination and the fluffy hamster with the big googley eyes.

I just love it, period. If your family hasn't seen it yet but you are usually put off by Adam Sandler, give it a shot; I think you'll find it's worth it.




Here's what our experts have to say about Bedtime Stories.

Dash. B. Cool: "Bedtime Stories is cool. There are lots of funny lines in it. The best one is when he thinks he's getting a Ferrari and he says, 'For Meeeee? For FREEEEE?' It's funny."

Dash scores this movie's "coolness" as: ♥♥♥♥♥

Foxy Fab: "That Bugsy (the hamster) is just so cute! Every time the show his face and his big huge eyes we laugh our ehads off. This is a funny movie. I like it a lot."

Foxy rates this movie's "fabness" as: ♥♥♥♥♥

Super Scrag: "Hahahaha I like it too! I would like it if it rained lollies on me like in the movie. Skeeter is funny and so is Bugsy."

SuperScrag scores this movie's "super-ness" as: ♥♥♥♥♥

..............

For simple theming fun while watching Bedtime Stories:

• Wear your Pyjamas
• Snuggle up under blankies
• Eat gum-balls
• toast marshmallows
• Snuggle a hamster ♥

(For more movie reviews and theme night ideas, click the TV)

What are your best Movie Night Ideas? Send me an email with your ideas (include a picture or link to a blog post if you can) so I can feature it here on Saturday Night at the Movies.




If you haven't tried Fatso Online DVD rental before, check out my post about how it all works. Then click the box above and use the magic code FAMILY45 to get a Month's Free Trial on the Super Plan (worth $28.99).

Have a great Weekend!
♥

Friday Love & Randomness

Rainy Friday in Auckland.
The skies may be grey and tearful but I am warm and bright and hopeful.
Like this happy little clown and his impish bride....

(I love when the kids play dressups; you're never too old to dress up aye?)

Why so cheerful, Simoney? you may ask.

Well... for one thing, its Friday, which is always a good thing.

Next, my hubby got back today after a week touring the country as a van driver with Revo Tour. We survived without him, the house didn't fall and nobody was murdered in their sleep.

Not only that but we had lunch together at the very cool Neighbourhood in Kingsland. I walked in and went WOW. This is my kinda place. Atmosphere, decor, good food, service AND an open fire or two.

Think I've found my new local. 

 

(Gail - this would be a great spot for another grownups night out.)

Third, I walked into my super-clean'n'tidy house and it smelled of furniture polish and bleach. My lovely cleaner has been hard at work while we were out indulging in lunch... and that makes my heart sing.

Fourth, I met up with the lovely Vegemite Vixen today newly returned to these shores from Blighty. Loving that we have so much in common. I think good things could come from this new connection, all round. Welcome back to NZ Vix! So fab to meet you.

And finally, there's Sport.
A couch potato un-co chick like me revelling in SPORT?
Yes. Sport is making me smile a lot lately.
Football (played brilliantly by Dash), Netball (played amazingly by Miss Fab); Cross Country Interscools Comp (competed in valiantly by Dash)... Winter Sport is not the dreary spectacle I once thought it would be.

I actually love trekking across town to watch my kids competing, even in the rain.
And now that I have some sexy turquoise gumboots and a sturdy silver umbrella... bring on the puddle jumping!

So, Friday. My favourite day of the week.
Is that the sound of the people-mover pulling in the driveway?
(Daddy was picking the kids up and taking them for 'IceCream Friday' - our regular Friday treat).
With all the rain, I am anticipating a cosy night by the fire watching a movie or two.
And tomorrow, some standing about in the rain in gumboots cheering on our team.

Have a great weekend!