- Angela's Ashes: A Memoir by Frank McCourt (1996)
[8/10]
"Frank McCourt tells his fascinating story of growing up in poverty-stricken Ireland."
- Cradle and All by James Patterson (1980)
[5/10]
"I looked around the Internet and found that Patterson has some very popular and successful books. Rather than trying to find this one (which I bought for five cents at a local library sale), go read one of his bestsellers."
- Da Vinci Code, The by Dan Brown (2003)
[7/10]
"Dan Brown has created a fast-reading mystery story with some interesting speculation about the nature of the Holy Grail and the origins of the Catholic church."
- Da Vinci Code, The directed by Ron Howard (2006)
[5/10]
"The Da Vinci Code has some better than average chase scenes and a few tense moments, but doesn't deliver the major punch at the end one would expect from all the hype."
- Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys, The by Chris Fuhrman (1994)
[7/10]
"Fuhrman does an excellent job at recalling the emotional states and physical feelings of first love. He also uses the racial tensions of the 1970s to good effect to show that racial politics affected even eight graders' relationships with their schoolmates."
- Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys, The directed by Peter Care (2002)
[7/10]
"The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys tells a touching story that really captures the essence of growing up as a teenage boy in a staunch Catholic family, and in spite of all the anachronisms, I found the movie completely engaging."
- Fog, The directed by John Carpenter (1980)
[7/10]
"The Fog doesn't have the best acting and doesn't have the most original storyline, but John Carpenter masterfully manipulates our anticipation of impending doom for the community of Antonio Bay. And maybe the next time you see a fog bank, you might just wonder what could hide within."
- Great Brain at the Academy, The by John D. Fitzgerald (1972)
[6/10]
"The Great Brain at the Academy makes a good contribution to the entire series and sets up the maturation Tom experiences in the later volumes."
- Omen, The directed by John Moore (2006)
[5/10]
"Even though each of the parts of the remake surpasses the scenes in the original, the sum of the parts doesn't surpass the effect of the original."
- Omen, The directed by Richard Donner (1976)
[8/10]
"Donner has created a horror classic that lives on in popular culture and has done so without resorting to the pools of blood and gore employed much of today's horror genre."
- Papa Married a Mormon by John D. Fitzgerald (1955)
[7/10]
"Fitzgerald relates a touching story about how his father and mother met, married, and started a family in a frontier town of rural Utah."
- Three Musketeers, The by Alexandre Dumas (1844)
[7/10]
"Dumas weaves action and intrigue (and almost no character development) into a classic story that still fascinates."
- Uncle Will and the Fitzgerald Curse by John D. Fitzgerald (1961)
[6/10]
"You get a pretty clear picture of life in a frontier mining town, and you care about what happens to Will, even though the successes in his life come way too easily."
Average score: 6.54
