The plot was completely oversimplified. All sorts of major characters were removed and the motives blurred and misleading. The ending was modified to the point where the villain was absolutely obvious as soon as the character appeared on the screen on my first watching. My first time through, I had to wonder what the attraction to the series was, and though I would never judge a book by it's movie, the cliche script did not encourage me to pick up the series any sooner. Now that I've read the book, I find myself wondering how the movie industry can plan on doing a sequel when so much was cut from the first film.
That being said, there were some great things about seeing it on screen. I thought the casting was excellent. I love Kevin McKidd and Pierce Brosnan in just about anything and Uma Thurman is an amazing Medusa. However the movie writers took the whole story and moved it from middle school into high school, which is how I envision Percy when I read it, but I have to wonder if that's because I saw the movie first or because of how it's written? One of the things that bothers me with that though is it moves Annabeth's and Percy's relationship towards romantic, and, though that may be where Mr. Riordan is headed with them, I am enjoying seeing their prejudiced rivalry turn into friendship in the books, but that's what comes of aging the characters.
I liked the added scene between the gods at the beginning. It gives a little necessary plot exposition, though it does intimate a closer amount of familial relations between the gods and their children than is portrayed in the book. Although in the book we only see things form Percy's point of view, so that's an advantage of a movie, I guess.
All the while I was re-watching the film, I was wondering what the author's thoughts were on it. Apparently prior to it's release, he didn't plan on seeing the film because he didn't want it to skew his view of his characters. I have to wonder if it had been a blockbuster hit, if he could have stuck to that. What bothered me most about the plot changes were the sneaking off on the quest instead of having it assigned -it changes the tone of the movie- and the grand omission of the conspiracy part of the plot. All in all, I'm not sorry to have watched the movie (twice), even though it doesn't quite do the book justice.
Final Take: 3/5
Review: This one might escape the attention of children due to the fact that it's not as vivid as most children's books, but it's definitely worth seeking out. Especially if you have a twisted sense of humor like my family.
Summary: Mikael Blomkvist, crusading publisher of the magazine Millennium, has decided to run a story that will expose an extensive sex trafficking operation. On the eve of its publication, the two reporters responsible for the article are murdered, and the fingerprints found on the murder weapon belong to his friend, the troubled genius hacker Lisbeth Salander. Blomkvist, convinced of Salander’s innocence, plunges into an investigation. Meanwhile, Salander herself is drawn into a murderous game of cat and mouse, which forces her to face her dark past. ~amazon.com
I loved that this book delved into Lisbeth and her past. I admire Lisbeth for her strength and her perseverance. Do I think she has some issues? Heck yes but most of her reactions have always been because she needs to survive. She's been surviving all her life. She doesn't know how to need someone because she's always relied on herself. 
so I can wait until the paperback comes out in early 2012 to read the final novel. 
Summary: After a summer spent trying to prevent a catastrophic war among the Greek gods, Percy Jackson finds his seventh-grade school year unnervingly quiet. His biggest problem is dealing with his new friend, Tyson—a six-foot-three, mentally challenged homeless kid who follows Percy everywhere, making it hard for Percy to have any “normal” friends. But things don’t stay quiet for long. Percy soon discovers there is trouble at Camp Half-Blood: the magical borders which protect Half-Blood Hill have been poisoned by a mysterious enemy, and the only safe haven for demigods is on the verge of being overrun by mythological monsters. To save the camp, Percy needs the help of his best friend, Grover, who has been taken prisoner by the Cyclops Polyphemus on an island somewhere in the Sea of Monsters, the dangerous waters Greek heroes have sailed for millennia—only today, the Sea of Monsters goes by a new name…the Bermuda Triangle. Now Percy and his friends—Grover, Annabeth, and Tyson—must retrieve the Golden Fleece from the Island of the Cyclopes by the end of the summer or Camp Half-Blood will be destroyed. But first, Percy will learn a stunning new secret about his family—one that makes him question whether being claimed as Poseidon’s son is an honor or simply a cruel joke.
Summary: Based on the best-selling Jodi Picoult book, former teacher Jack McBradden moves to Salem Falls after a student's crush led to false accusations and a wrongful conviction for sexual assault. He finds a job and settles into a new routine, but everything turns when a trio of teenage girls with dark secrets (lead by manipulative Gillian Duncan) maliciously target Jack with accusations of assaulting Gillian in the woods. Now at the center of a modern day witch-hunt, Jack must once again proclaim his innocence to a town searching for answers and the woman who has come to love him. ~mylifetimemovies.com
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Review: 
Summary: For years Philippa Gregory’s readers have been asking her to write a novel about Mary Queen of Scots—a request she now fulfills with a tale as engrossing as any she has ever written. A heroine everyone recognizes but few truly know, Mary Queen of Scots is remembered mostly for her death on the scaffold than for her turbulent, romantic life. In The Other Queen, Philippa Gregory resurrects Mary and her world by way of a chapter from her life that is all but forgotten: Mary’s long imprisonment as a “guest” of the Earl of Shrewsbury and his wife, Bess of Hardwick. With the earl and his wife, whose fortune and marriage are jeopardized by the extraordinary woman under their charge, Gregory has found the perfect means for understanding Mary herself, a queen who will lie, seduce, plot, and sacrifice the lives of thousands in her quest to regain her Scots throne—and to take over Queen Elizabeth’s. ~amazon.com
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by Jodi Picoult
by Lisa Scottoline
by Nancy Pickard
by Jen Lancaster
by Tatyana Soli
by Maddie Dawson
by Hilary Mantel
by Scott Turow
by Camille DeAngelis
by Laura Grodstein
by Iris Johansen
by Kristin Hannah
by Karen White
by Chris Bohjalian