50.) A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness and Siobhan Dowd

“There is not always a good guy. Nor is there always a bad one. Most people are somewhere in between.”

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness and Siobhan Dowd with illustrations by Jim Kay (Walker Books 2011)


Genre: Horror, Fantasy

Honors: Kate Greenaway Medal (2012), Galaxy British Book Awards for Children's Book of the Year (2011), Los Angeles Times Book Prize Nominee for Young Adult Literature (2011), Red House Children's Book Award (2012), ALA Teens' Top Ten Nominee (2012) Carnegie Medal in Literature (2012), The Inky Awards Nominee for Silver Inky (2012), Galaxy National Book Award for Children’s Book of the Year (2011), Kirkus Reviews Best Teen Books of the Year (2011), Grampian Children’s Book Award Nominee (2013), YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults (Top Ten) (2012), The Kitschies for Red Tentacle (Novel) (2011) [Honors Information found at Goodreads.com]

Review: Connor's mom is sick with cancer and her treatments are not helping her like they should be, and on top of that and the bullying he is receiving from school,  a monster continues to plauge him night after night in the form of an awakened yew tree. The monster says that he will tell Connor three stories, and then Connor must tell him a fourth, because if he doesn't then he will have to eat Connor. But soon Connor's mom takes a turn for the worse and the monster is the least of his problems.

Opinion: This is such a very deep novel. Not really horror at all, but about pain and grieving and loss. It definitely starts out very terrifying, but quickly turns to almost a problem novel in a way. The problem is that Connor is a teen who is dealing with the impending death of his mother, the fantasy element comes in with the Green Man who is both scary and caring. 

Ideas: I would recommend this to anyone who is dealing with grief from the loss, or the impending loss, of a loved one. I would also recommend this to a reluctant reader because the story is rather short, and moves very quickly with great creepy illustrations.

One of the illustrations in the book

49.) Tomb Raider

Tomb Raider by Square Enix (2013)


Genre: Mystery, Action, Adventure, Survival

Honors: Best of E3 2011: Best Action Game; GamesRadar E3 2011 Awards: Coolest Character Reinvention; E3 2011 MVG Award Winners: Most Valuable Game; The Best Games of E3 2011: Best Stage Demo (Reader's Choice; Gamespy's Best of E3 2011 Awards: Best Trailer; IGN's Best of E3 2011: Best Action Game; IGN's Best of E3 2011 Awards: Best Action Game and Best Trailer; E3 2011 MVG Award Winners: Most Valuable Game Award; The Shortlist Best of E3 Awards 2011: Best Action Game; E3 2012 MVG Award Winners:Most Valuable Game Award; IGN's Best of E3 2012 Awards: Best Overall Game, Best Trailer, People's Choice; E3 2012 MVG Award Winners: Most Valuable Game Award; Digital Spy's Most Anticipated Game of 2013: Most Anticipated Game of 2013 (Readers' Choice)[Found on Wikipedia]

Review: Lara Croft is on an expedition to find the mysterious island of Yamatai in a Bermuda Triangle type area of the Pacific Ocean. Her ship is mysteriously wrecked and she washes up on the shores of an island. She soon discovers that there is a cannibalistic cult that lives on the island. Lara must survive, and rescue her team mates.  

Opinion: I really liked the game, the details and the game play were beautiful and seemless. But it was a little tricky for me to play being a beginner game player even on the easiest of difficulty levels. The game is quite gory with lots of blood and body parts, but I don't mind that as much as some other people. I didn't get a chance to finish this game but I got a decent way through it. There is lots of fun mystery and intrigue in the overarching story. 

Ideas: I would recommend this to experienced gamers, especially if they like strong female leads. If they like survival type games, or adventure games, this is a perfect game for them.

Screen Shot from game

48.) Kingdom Hearts

Kingdom Hearts by PlayStation, Disney, Square (2002)

Genre: Fantasy, Modern Fantasy, Role Playing 

Honors: IGN's Best of 2002; PS2's Best Game of 2002 Editor's Choice Award (nominated); PS2's Best Game of 2002 Reader's Choice Award (Runner-Up); IGN's Best Art Style/Direction,  runner-up for "Best CG Graphics"(Runner-Up), honorable mention for "Best Animation" in IGN's 2003 list of "Best Looking Games on PS2"; GameSpy "Top 25 Video Game Cinematic Moments" (listed twice).

Review: Sora is the main character in this roleplaying game that consists of different worlds. The characters are a mix of Disney and Final Fantasy. The player can have Goofy or Donald Duck as helpers in certain worlds. The different worlds consist of worlds that come from Disney animated movies. Sora is trying to trying to find his friends and help defeat the souless with the use of the Keyblade.  Goofy and Donald are on a similar mission from King Micky since his lands are being attacked by the Heartless.


Opinion: I know this game is old, but I am not a very good gamer and this is a fun game for beginners. It takes a player through the game play very slowly and in general is very simple to follow. 

Ideas: I would recommend this to someone who likes Disney, and is trying to start playing video games. Some teens might be having a hard time breaking into the video game world, this is a good gateway game for them. I wouldn't recommend it to serious gamers who play a lot of games because this might be too easy for them, unless of course they were really into Final Fantasy or Disney.

47.) Bob's Burgers

Bob's Burger's on Fox


Genre: Comedy, Animation

Honors: Teen Choice Award 2011: Choice TV: Animated Show (nominated);
Teen Choice Award 2012: Choice TV-Animated Show (nominated); Critics Choice Award:Best Animated Series (nominated); Primetime Emmy Award: Outstanding Animated Program (nominated)

Review:  Bob's Burgers is an animated television series about Bob who owns and runs his own burger restaurant and his family who help him. The whole operation is quite dysfunctional and the family is constantly plague with streaks of bad luck (most of which they bring upon themselves) which makes for some very funny episodes. 

Opinion: I never thought I would like this show, I was afraid it was going to be like Family Guy which I despise, but I sat down to watch an episode with my husband and we laughed our butts off, so we went back and watched all of season 2 and then season 1 (you don't really have to watch them in order although later episodes to refer back to events that happened in previous episodes. Season 1 is not as funny as season 2 in my opinion.  It's not as raunchy as Family Guy, much of the gross humor is implied, and if you didn't know what they were talking about you might not get it.

Ideas: This would be a good show to recommend to anyone who also likes Family Guy, Simpsons, or South Park. Anyone who likes comedy and humor. If someone doesn't like Family Guy or South Park then I would recommend this show as a little bit toned down compared to those.

46.) Downton Abbey

Downton Abbey on PBS (2010-UK, 2011-USA- Present) 


Genre: Historical Drama, Period Drama

Honors: Including: Prime Time Emmy Awards, Creative Arts Emmy Awards, Golden Globe Awards, Screen Actors Guild Awards, National Television Awards, and many more. Please refer to this page for the full list of Awards and Nominations [Found on Wikipedia] 

Review: This show takes two points of view from a large family estate, Downton Abbey,  in the Yorkshire countryside of England. There are three series that range from 1912-1921. The show takes a look at the world of the aristocratic family who owns Downton and the servants who work there.

Opinion: I loved this show and can't wait for more. I have heard so much about it but wasn't sure it would be something that I would like, but I ended up getting sucked right in. I think I watched the entire first two series in a week, but I have yet to watch the third. 

Ideas: I would recommend this show to anyone who likes historical pieces, high drama, and romance. I would recommend the second series to anyone who is doing any research on WWI, even though it's fictional, it would give a good insight to how the British people were involved in the War, and what it entailed.

45.) Vampire Diaries

Vampire Diaries on CW (2009-Present)



Genre: Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy, Vampire, High School

Honors:  Teen Choice Awards (2010): Choice TV Show–Fantasy/Sci-Fi, Choice TV Actor-Fantasy/Sci-Fi (Paul Wesley), Choice TV Actress–Fantasy/Sci-Fi (Nina Dobrev), Choice TV Villain (Ian Somerhalder), Choice TV Breakout Show, Choice TV Female Breakout Star (Nina Dobrev) and Choice TV Male Breakout Star (Paul Wesley). For more awards and honors please refer to this page Awards and Nominations [Found on Wikipedia].

Review: The show centers around a small fictional town called Mystic Falls. The plot lines revolve mainly around a love triangle between Elena, who is human, and two brothers, Damon and Stefan, who are both 160+ year vampires. The show also has witches, werewolves, and other mystical creatures. A majority of the characters are teenages, or at least look like teenages (as in the case for Stefan and Damon), and attend high school and high school centered events.

Opinion: I watched the first season and half of the second season and I just couldn't stomach anymore, I just kept hoping it would get better. I guess the Twilight and other paranormal romance vampire fans really like this show because it has won many teen choice awards, but it's just not for me. 

Ideas: I would recommend both the book series and the television series to anyone who really likes Vampire romances. 

44.) Safety Not Guaranteed

"It's that time and that place and that song, and you remember what it was like when you were in that place. And then you listen to that song, and you know you're not in that place anymore, and it makes you feel hollow. You can't just go find that stuff again."

Safety Not Guaranteed by


Genre:Comedy, Independent, Romance 

Honors: ALMA Awards: Favorite Movie Actress- Comedy/Musical; Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Horror Films: Best INdependant Film (nominated); Central Ohio Film Critics Association: Best Overlooked Film (2nd Place); Chicago Film Critics Association Awards: Most Promising Film Maker-Colin Trevorrow (nominated); Chlotrudis Awards:Best Actress, Best Original Screenplay (nominated); Gotham Awards: Best Ensemble cast (nominated); Independent Spirit Awards: Best Screen Play (won), Best First Feature (nominated); Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards: Overlooked Film of the Year (won), Breakout Performance on Camera- Mark Duplass (nominated); Sundance Film Festival: Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award-Won, Grand Jury Prize (nominated).  


Review: Darius is in a funk, life hasn't been the same after her mother passed away. She begins interning at a magazine and gets and assignment to check out a guy who believes that he can time travel and is looking for a partner to go with him. Darius with another intern and her boss infiltrate Kenneth's plan to time travel thinking that he is a complete nut, but after Darius spends some time with his she begins to fall for him. 

Opinion: This was a fun and cute movie. Audrey Plaza plays pretty much the same character she always plays, but a little less cynical in this movie. Jake Johnson also plays pretty much the same character he always plays, Nick on New Girl, but he made the movie pretty funny.  I really like independent films because they don't play to the whole big Hollywood ideas. This is a simple, cute film.

Ideas: I would recommend this book to anyone who reads any of the general fiction books like Gingerbread, or Stoner & Spaz, just because they are all about real life but have an underline feeling of hope. That's what this movie has.