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⭐ 9.0/10 (Originally written by Joseph) This game has been a HOT topic in the gaming community and everybody has had something to say. I'll admit I have a lot to say also. I absolutely adore the first game in the series, and so I was more excited for this release than I've been for any other. The first 10-15 hours did not disappoint at all. It was perhaps my favorite hours of a single-player video gaming I've ever experienced. The gameplay is fantastic, the graphics are stunning and story is bold, gripping and emotional. The acting is probably the best ever for a video game. I was completely taken in. From here the story makes another bold move (that I don't want to give away) that I appreciated, but can't say I enjoyed. All the drama is taken off the characters you are attached to and the spotlight shifts elsewhere. I love the idea that they were going for, but I didn't like the end result. The story really started to drag and this portion of the game fel...

⭐ 6.5/10 (Originally written by Joseph) Not too much to say on this one. It's a pure comedy, so if it's not making you laugh it's not doing anything else for you. I laughed sometimes, and fell asleep at the end. Soooo yeah. Just depends on if you find this kind of movie funny.

⭐ 7.0/10 (Originally written by Joseph) Jess and I were exhausted and wanted to turn our brains off and watch something stupid. This fit the bill. I actually didn't think it was very funny, probably because I don't think Seth Rogan is funny. But I thought as a drama, this movie was not bad. I think it understood relationships and sex better than 99% of movies out there. Some of the arguments and then the consequences of actions felt very authentic. This movie is also incredibly filthy. Lots of swears, boobs, drugs, etc. We weren't expecting that going in, though I suppose we were naive to think a movie called Knocked Up would have been anything else.

⭐ 9.0/10 (Originally written by kare) I had no idea what I was getting myself into when we decided to watch this movie. I had seen the trailer and thought, if nothing else, maybe it would be good for a chuckle or two. Who doesn’t enjoy a dumb, lighthearted movie every once in a while, right? But wow, I was not prepared to laugh as much as I did, smile until my face hurt, and fall in love with the ridiculously catchy songs. To say I was pleasantly surprised is an understatement. This movie had no right to be this good, yet here we are. I will watch this again and again, and you better believe that soundtrack will be on repeat for the next month of my life. Well done, Netflix. Well. Done.

⭐ 8.5/10 (Originally written by Magdalene) It's my man Science Mike! This book surprised me a bit, since it was more psychology and behavioural science, and less about faith or science. He tries to answer the question "Why did I do that?", reflecting on impulse control, gender expectations, social media, and more. He discusses how a lot of the reasons why we do dumb stuff like eat way too much pizza stems from the way humans evolved. The final conclusions are a lot about accepting yourself and your emotions. He does include some anecdotal examples, and he talks about the death of Rachel Held Evans. That chapter kind of gutted me. It's a pretty short book (5-6 hours on audio), and I kind of wished it were longer. I wanted it to go a bit deeper, maybe just because I thought it was so interesting. Anyway, I really enjoyed listening to this and thought it was super interesting!

⭐ 9.5/10 (Originally written by Will) Book two (of three) of the Mistborn series. A very satisfying escalation of book one, I couldn't put this book down. The ending was masterful - just when you think it's starting to get predictable there's a really unique twist. I liked the political storyline in the first half, but Sazed's arc was the best part of the whole book.

⭐ 9.0/10 (Originally written by Will) Mistborn is an epic fantasy series, and this book 1 is a very promising start. The basic premise is that the standard hero who rose up to save the world failed, so the world has basically been a wasteland for a thousand years now, which is where we start off. The world is interesting and detailed, and the magic system is great and actually makes a bit of sense (as magic systems go). It's 600 pages and still manages to seem pretty fast-paced and action packed, and also avoids being predictable in a lot of ways. I docked one star because I've read the Stormlight Archive (written after this) and I can tell Sanderson has improved as a writer since Mistborn. I've read a lot of fantasy, and inevitably there are a lot of themes and types of characters and settings etc. that become pretty standard. In his newer stuff Sanderson's makes his worlds feel really fresh with new ideas, but this one just wasn't quite as unique.

⭐ 9.0/10 (Originally written by Rebecca) I was really surprised by how much I loved this show, because I don't typically like high school dramas. But this was so fun, and so FUNNY, but also so earnest and touching at times. I cannot relate to the main character on really any level, but that didn't take away from my enjoyment at all, which is really impressive. I was hooked from episode one. Also I cried like 4 times. Wonderful.

⭐ 8.0/10 (Originally written by Rebecca) Sorry, I'm catching up on my movie night backlog. Tremors is a 1990 monster B-movie starring Kevin Bacon (and some other people) about huge underground WORMS and I watched it with my friend because it's her favourite movie. Despite the ridiculous premise, it was a blast to watch, possibly because I watched it with someone who loves it so much. It's a pretty standard monster movie, and the special effects are predictably lacking, but I had a good time regardless.

⭐ 9.0/10 (Originally written by Rebecca) I watched this in Grade 10 history class and definitely never quite understood it, so I really wanted to watch it again, and I'm glad I did. Such a cool concept, so thought-provoking, holds up so well even after 21(!!) years. Still manages to spur some really interesting conversation. I remembered very little, and it really kept me on my toes the entire time. Thanks, Young Keanu Reeves.

⭐ 5.0/10 (Originally written by Rebecca) Watched this at Wednesday movie night, definitely would never have seen it otherwise. I often enjoy "man in organized crime is doing one last job so that he can remove himself from that life" plots, but this one just felt so frustrating and stressful, and didn't end very satisfyingly. All I got from it was "wow, so glad I have never been involved in organized crime." Once again I feel like this was probably a good story that just wasn't for me. Thanks but no thanks, Daniel Craig. The romantic subplot was so dumb also.

⭐ 10.0/10 (Originally written by Rebecca) Can't believe this is the best book ever written. Seriously though, I feel like this story was tailored for me specifically. I can't imagine anything more delightful than a story about a lonely man told to go stay at an orphanage for magical children to make sure it's safe and discovering not only a love for the children there and the man who cares for them, but also a joy for life and a new perspective on acceptance and change. I genuinely teared up sometimes from how much I loved it. Every character was so different and lovely, the process of healing and growing was so beautiful, and it was so thematically relevant in today's world. I listened to it on audiobook (12 hours and I finished it in a single day--that's how good it was) and I didn't really love the narrator, but that barely even took away from HOW WONDERFUL IT WAS. I cannot stress this enough. I want to read this book every day for the rest of my life. (Also,...

⭐ 9.0/10 (Originally written by Beans) It’s the 10th annual Hunger Games, and Coriolanus Snow, along with 23 of his classmates from the Academy in the Capitol, have been chosen to be the first ever mentors to this years tributes. I thought this was a really great prequel. If the Hunger Games books tell the story of the revolution, the this tells the story of the oppressive system in place. It was incredibly relevant for the time. It was also a really cool perspective, seeing it from the outside and from a privileged, Capitol point of view. It’s a much less polished version of the games as it’s only the 10th one, but a lot of the ideas that make up the Games are introduced in this one. I don’t want to go into too many details cause I’m hoping some or most of you will read it. But one of the biggest takeaways I got was how the system looks so different based on where you are in the food chain. I would definitely say this book hit hard for the time we’re living in. It was fast paced and ...

⭐ 6.5/10 (Originally written by Joseph) I feel similar watching this show as I did watching Mad Men. I know this show is good, and often I appreciate the craft, but I don't actually enjoy watching it all that much. And along with Mad Men, I think my main problem is that I don't have any characters I actually like or that I root for. The Queen is less likeable with the new cast and most of the family is insufferable - especially her kids. The only characters I ever liked were the ones that opposed the royal family, if that means anything... I thought the show tried too hard to have an impactful, hard-hitting message every episode, though I admit some of them were really effective. The scene where the Queen digs into her son was one I loved, as was the scene where Phillip talks to the astronauts. I didn't hate this show, I just found it hard to ever want to watch it.

⭐ 8.5/10 (Originally written by Anita) Well I don't really know what to say about this one. It starts in the 1960's in America with a doctor having to deliver his own twins in a snowstorm. One is born with Down Syndrome and he makes the call to send her with a nurse to a home and tell his wife her daughter died right after childbirth. I mean that tells you right there how much of an emotional wreck you're going to be if you read this. I did enjoy the story arc of reconciliation and that it was told from multiple points of view. I also enjoyed how unclear who the protagonist was kept being. It was intense.

⭐ 7.0/10 (Originally written by Rebecca) I feel like this was a good book, but it was just not really my thing. I'm super excited to be seeing more stories with queer main characters that are nothing about the characters being queer (woohoo!) and I was really excited by the initial concept, but boy, I just do NOT like stories about war strategy and politics and betrayals and secrets. I loved the concept--boy from war-torn country finds out his best friend (who he's in love with!) is the heir of the ruling power who conquered his planet and they have to escape together! But everything after that just stressed me out. Really made me think about making difficult decisions in a war, especially as a pacifist, but again, it just stressed me out. Also, it's the first book in a trilogy, and it stressed me out even MORE that I know there's going to be another two books full of this mess. It's just not for me! Also, the author kept setting up fun tropes (forced to share a bed...

⭐ 8.0/10 (Originally written by Magdalene) The story of Jesus' fictional wife, Ana, by the author of The Secret Life of Bees. The author is exploring the fact that the Bible never says directly that Jesus didn't have a wife, and what would it have been like for her? Ana has her own goals and longings, primarily to study and to write, but of course is limited by the culture. She's also the sister of Judas, so it's an interesting take on him as well. Most of the book takes place before Jesus starts his ministry, but we also get to see a lot of the events that we're familiar with from the Bible. The concept is really interesting, because as the author says in her note, she's not trying to say she believes this is how things happened or that Jesus was married. It's more of a "what if" situation. (Or even kind of like fan fiction!) She focuses on Jesus' humanity (he doesn't seem to know/believe he's God's son) and his life before he bega...

⭐ 10.0/10 (Originally written by Magdalene) This book was really delightful and weird, in the best way. It reads like straight contemporary fiction, but the only speculative fiction element is the fact that some kids are able to spontaneously combust. Just like, set themselves on fire but not be hurt by it. No explanation, just that it's a super rare condition and probably genetic. The main character is Lillian, who's a mess, and one day her best friend from high school asks her to come to her mansion, and then asks her to take care of her fire stepchildren. Her husband is running for secretary of state or something, and their mom just died, but they want to keep the kids hidden. The kids are really weird and quirky because they had a crappy life, and of course Lillian kind of falls in love with them. The book is mostly her trying to find ways to keep them from catching on fire, and navigating their super weird family dynamic. And the weirdness of suddenly living in a mansion. ...

⭐ 7.5/10 (Originally written by Anita) I don't think I was this book's target market. I was constantly frustrated by how everyone was pushing the main character to give up everything for a stupid treasure. (I know it was metaphorical but I was still just annoyed.. like no one wants contentment?) It did get a lot better near the end for me when he was talking about enjoying the journey, etc. Overall, I'm glad to have read it since it's a somewhat classic and it gave me a perspective so different from my own and may have pushed me to shoot a little higher since sometimes it really is worth giving up some contentment for something better.

⭐ 7.0/10 (Originally written by Tim) I was handed this 600 word tome by my lead at work almost 2 years ago, and today I finally finished it. And no, I didn't just start it a couple weeks ago, I started 2 years ago and read about 2 pages a day. It's that kind of book. Ray Dalio started Bridgewater, an investment management company, and he is now one of the wealthiest people on Earth, and has been called the "Steve Jobs of investment". This book outlines the principles he crafted during his time as CEO, and the way he believes a company should run. It starts off with about 150 pages of his own biography, and how it all started, then really gets in to the nitty gritty with a systematic listing of his philosophies. My company follows quite a few of the principles he lays out, and I realized as I was reading how much of a Bible this must be to the leaders in my own company, since I recognized a lot of his pet phrases and concepts. It mostly revolves his concept of an i...