Sept May I Suggest: Entertainment.

I am so excited about today's edition of "May I Suggest." The best books, movies, games and blogs I've discovered have mostly come to me by word-of-mouth. I love receiving recommendations on good entertainment. Thanks again to the three fabulous bloggers participating this month. They've outdone themselves and I'm so pleased with what they've recommended thus far.

 HANNAH
1. Harry Potter. Oh my goodness. I just finished up book #4 tonight. I forgot how good that one is! I'm reading the entire series of Harry Potter for the second time; preparing for the much anticipated movie that will come out in November. (I already have a babysitter for it!  I actually arranged for her to babysit 2 months ago. I will be in line to buy tickets for the midnight IMAX showing as soon as they go on sale. I've never done that before, but I've never been a groupie of anything until now.) I realize that admitting this may put me in the ranking of "Total Nerd."
2. Books on CD. My last baby was a tad bit colicky. (Weird to think about that. As soon as he was 4 months old, he was the most calm and pleasant of any of my babies.) During those hard early months, I would take my kids on drives in the car to make my baby fall asleep. I'd put a movie on for the older two and pop in my earphones. I listened to so many books! (I actually listened to "These is my Words" on Hilary's suggestion. I'll vouch for it. It's fabulous.) While I still love reading printed books, it sometimes makes a book come to life to listen to it read. I recommend listening to "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society." Each character is read by a different actor. It is highly entertaining.

CHRISTINA
When Hannah offered a few suggestions for entertainment topics, I instantly thought I'd choose blogs or books or magazines, something I usually opt for by way of entertainment. I don't spend a lot of time watching tv. TV is something I've always said I have no desire to pay for, so we've had the 6-10 channels received by antenna for our entire marriage. I'm not a huge movie-goer and have gone years (!?!) between trips to the theatre. But I decided there is something that is my latest (and definitely late to the party) entertainment find. This summer we added the following two items to our family fun and joined the 21st century. In case you're still living in the dark ages like I was, let me bring you up to speed.

1. Nintendo Wii- I'm not a "gamer" in any sense of the word, but this.is.awesome. When our Wii is in use, it's usually something we're doing as a family, which is an instant plus in my book, and so many of the games are more active than just sitting and pushing buttons. I held out for a long time on this purchase because I'm always on the hunt for a deal. The Wii prices have dropped over the past year with some amazing bundle deals to be found. I'm sure with the coming holiday season there will be even more sales to be had, so start looking around if this is something you've been thinking about. I've had great success purchasing through Amazon who has had several offers for gift cards or credits to use towards more games or accessories.
2. Netflix- Although Netflix is awesome on its own (movies in the mail with no late fees is one of those ideas I think we all wish we'd thought of), my favorite feature is the instant watch available through the Wii. Since we don't pay for cable, this is especially awesome. I suddenly have a few more options for my kids than whatever might be on PBS at the moment, my husband and I can watch old seasons of some of the tv shows we do happen to love or watch quite a selection of movies if we've already watched whatever we've gotten through the mail, and I even have access to a variety of workout videos all to watch instantly on our TV through our Wii console and some magic Netflix disc. I don't know how this stuff works, but I do know that the Netflix/Wii option makes me feel like the Wii was even more worth the money. I love this combo for those nights when watching old episodes of 30 Rock can cure a bad day or when a movie with the family is complete bliss.

MIRANDA

These days, our main source of entertainment is TV.  First of all, it's cheap.  We don't have cable but we get all of the network channels with our antennae, and we stream Netflix Watch It Now through the X-box.  Second, it's all inclusive.  If N8tr0n and I want to spend a little time together and we weren't organized enough to actually find a babysitter and go out, TV is our next best choice.  So I'm going to tell you about a few of my absolute favorite TV shows.  Maybe they will become your favorites too!

1.  Arrested Development—ahh the Bluth family.  I shall never tire of watching your antics.  I would say that I wish I could forget the entire saga so that I could relive the magic all over again, but that really isn't necessary.  Every time I watch this series I am laughing like it's the first time and dying over a brand new favorite character.  I prefer to watch it from the beginning straight through to the end (which is totally do-able because it's only three seasons!) but that doesn't mean I'm opposed to watching a random episode just to pass the time.  This series is endlessly quoted in our household and I swear to you that if I ever have vinyl lettering on my walls it will say something like, "There's always money in the banana stand."

2.  30 Rock—I started watching this show because of my undying love for Tina Fey.  I kept watching it because of Tina + Alec + Tracy.  I don't have the words to do this show justice.  You're just going to have to watch it.  Plus it's not too late to jump on the 30 Rock Bandwagon (trust me, it's never too late).  The season premier in next Thursday!  I wait all Summer for this show to come back and I refuse to leave the house or take calls on Thursdays from 7:30-8:00 PM.

3.  Dr. Who—I can't believe I'm telling you this but, I love Dr. Who.  The new series.  I'm sure the old ones are great too but that's not what I'm talking about.  I refused to watch this show for months while my friends were all freaking out about it because I am not a sci-fi girl.  My attention literally switches off when I see outer-space and the grey-blue corridors of ships.  But somehow—and I don't even remember how—I got sucked in to Dr. Who just like everyone else.  It is witty, suspenseful, scary, hilarious, and charming all at once.  There are still moments when I'm watching some kind of giant dripping alien thing hanging from the ceiling and I think, "Wait.  Why am I watching this?  This is too weird for me."  And then The Doctor says something about "ripping a hole in the fabric of reality," and I think, "Oh that's right.  I'm watching it because it's The Doctor.  Man I love the Doctor.  I wish I had a sonic screwdriver."  If you watch this show, please let me know, then we can talk about how adorable the current Doctor (Matt Smith) is and how I wish I had hair exactly like Amy Pond.  (You can find the first four seasons on Netflix.)

4.  Friday Night Lights—I can't leave it off the list. It's more than a show about high school football you guys. I recommend that you trust me and start from the beginning.

HILARY

My top entertainment picks for today range from "best movie ever made" to "completely and embarrassingly addictive phone game".  I highly recommend all three, with the exception of the phone game as I am afraid to suggest something that will take up way too much of your time and cause you to go to bed way later than usual.  Here we go:

1.  Inception by Warner Bros :: Holy crap.  Those were the only words I was able to form as we walked out of the theater after watching this movie.  My husband and I both decided it was the best movie we had ever seen.  It kept us entertained and thinking through the entire 2 hours and 28 minutes.  This really is a must see!

2.  Angry Birds by Rovio :: There is a reason this game is currently the #1 paid for app for iPhone.  It is incredibly addicting.  I have pushed my bedtime back one too many nights playing this game.  I dare you to try and just play this game once.  It's not possible.  Thankfully I don't have an iPhone and the only time I can play is when I can sneak my husband's away from him!  

3.  These is My Words by Nancy E. Turner :: This book is one of those that is impossible to put down.  I was completely sad when I was finished reading, only because I wished it could go on and on.  Sarah is such a great character.  Besides being stubborn, strong and good with a gun, she is also very lovable and oddly relatable.  Captain Jack Elliott, in my opinion, is who everyone should be swooning over rather than that vampire Edward guy from Twilight.  It is one that will be a favorite for a long time and has been placed on my re-read list.

Found any good blogs? Read any great books? Watched an amazing movie? Let us all know in the comment section!
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