Disney opened up their vault this past Tuesday, August 20, 2013, and released the Blu-ray Combo Pack (Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy) of Return to Never Land, the 2002 sequel to the animation classic Peter Pan. This is the first time the charming sequel has been released to Blu-ray with digitally restored picture and high-definition sound with high-flying extras, Pixie previews (Just Desserts, Hide And Tink, Dust Up, Shooting Stars!, and Volley Bug), deleted scenes, and more.

Wendy Darling is now an adult, with her husband off at war (WWII), she is raising her daughter Jane and her son Danny by herself; telling bedtime stories about the adventures she had with Peter Pan and Tinker Bell. Late one night, Captain Hook and his crew break into their house in the attempt of kidnapping Wendy, but they mistakenly take Jane instead, bringing her to Never Land to lure Peter Pan into a trap.

Peter Pan, the Lost Boys, and Tinker Bell quickly save Jane, who Peter hopes will take the role of "mother" for the Lost Boys, similar to what her mother, Wendy, once did. Jane is not her mother and refuses to participate, becoming more of a Lost Girl than a mother. Peter, Tinker Bell, and the Lost Boys try to get Jane to play some games and have fun, but Hook isn't too far away.

Welcome to the new Book Blogger Hop!

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If you want schedule next week's post, click here to find the next prompt question. To submit a question, fill out this form.

What to do:

1. Post on your blog answering this question:

This week's question submitted by Kero,

Book blogging is more than just reading. Who helped you set up or run your blog? Or did you do it all yourself?

2. Enter the link to your post in the linky list below (enter your Blog Name and the direct link to your post answering this week’s question. Failure to do so will result in removal of your link).


3. Visit other blogs in the list and comment on their posts. Try to spend some time on the blogs reading other posts and possible become a new follower.  The purpose of the hop is to give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, befriend other bloggers, and receive new followers to your own blog.

My Answer:

Yes, book blogging is more than just reading a book and posting a review. It can take several hours a week to maintain your blog, especially if you have your own domain. I'm the only blogger for Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer, except for the occasional guest post. Earlier this year, I put a wanted post for a co-blogger, but I didn't get any serious requests, so it is just me running the blog. My blog's template & graphics are created by Blogovation Design.

I'm still considering giving up a day or two for a co-blogger next year, if anybody is interested, just send me an email.

Whispers on the Dock
Postcards from Misty Harbor Inn, book 3
By Evangeline Kelley
Publisher: Guidepost Books
Pub. Date August 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-0824932596
Pages: 288
Buy Link: http://ow.ly/nXSVh
Blog Tour: http://litfusegroup.com/author/ekelley

Review:

To honor their late mother, the Marris sisters bought the Misty Harbor Inn on the Nantucket Island, despite the fact they are all in their 50's. The youngest sister, Sam Carter, is looking forward to entering her mother's blackberry cobbler recipe in the Summerfest baking fest, as winning the contest would be a great way to promote the Inn, but it is not going to be easy as the previous winner plans on keeping the title no matter what the costs.

Misty Harbor Inn has its own secrets, which the sisters have been trying to unravel to what happened to the original owner's young widow, Hannah Montague, who mysteriously disappeared in the year 1880. Now their most recent guest, an elderly woman, may be the only the person who can unravel the mystery for them. The woman shows them a photo album that will change their lives. It seems their mother had lived at the Inn as a child, something she had never mentioned to them when she was alive.

Why did their mother lie? What was she hiding?

The Official Red Book
A Guide Book Of United States Coins 2014
67th Edition
By R.S. Yeoman
Senior Editor: Kenneth Bressett
Research Editor: Q. David Bowers
Valuations Editor: Jeff Garrett
Publisher: Whitman Publishing, LLC
Pub. Date: April 16, 2013
ISBN: 9780794841805
Retail: $14.95
Format: Spiral Bound
Pages 448
Buy Links: B&N, Amazon, Whitman

 

Review:

Many people collect coins as a hobby or even as an investment. The values on the coins change rapidly, but it depends on the current market. To help collectors to learn more about the value of their coins, Whitman Publishing, LLC has been releasing The Official Red Book: A Guide of the United States Coins since 1946, which was started by R.S. Yeoman, to help them. Their recent 2014 Red Book (67th Edition) was released back in April. Whiteman Publishing nicely sent me a complimentary copy in exchange for my honest review.

The Official Red Book is a must for any new or advanced coin collector, which is available in a hardcover, hidden spiral, large, or a regular spiral (pictured above). It is the #1 best-selling price guide with over 24 million copies sold! There is no single author or collaborator for each edition as there are many people who bring this book to life, such as coin dealer, collectors, and readers.

The guide book gives a helpful introduction on how to use the book correctly and how to find the correct condition (grade) of your coins. Their is over twenty pages giving you a detailed history of the coins in the United States, starting with the Spanish Milled Dollar to sunken treasure coins. Due to the popularity of coin collecting, there have been many fake coins released on the market that look antique. The Red Book contains detailed colored photos of coins from a variety of years, all which are genuine, so you won't be fooled by an imitation.

There have been many big-budget box-office flops this summer and the few successful ones, like Man of Steel, weren't exactly a critical success. Hopefully, the movies being released this fall will do better. The big three films everyone is waiting for is Thor: The Dark World, Ender's Game, and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. The Daily Rehash gave their take on the fall movies in a recent episode, so I decided to give my own thoughts.

Ender's Game is based on the science fiction novel of the same name by Orson Scott Card and is directed by the same guy who brought us X-Men Origins: Wolverine, which gives us a major clue that the movie won't go by the book. Harrison Ford is also in the movie and he has already had two flops for 2013 (42 and Paranoia). Why not make it a third?

After the lackluster 2011's Thor and the overrated Avengers flick, Chris Hemsworth returns as the hammer carrying prince of Asgard in the sequel Thor: The Dark World. I thought the first film was a complete waste of time, but the sequel trailer looks like a major improvement. Let's cross our fingers and hope Loki finally bites the dust.

Heart of the Country
Directed by: John Ward
Starring: Jana Kramer, Randy Wayne, Shaun Sipos, Anne Hawthorne, Gerald McRaney
Studio: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Release Date: August 20, 2013
Running Time: 89 minutes
Rating: PG

Review:

Arriving exclusively to Walmart stores is the movie Heart of the Country starring the 2012 Academy of Country Music Best New Female Vocalist Jana Kramer (One Tree Hill) as Faith Carraday, an aspiring singer, New York socialite, and the prodigal daughter, who is now returning to home to her Southern roots after her husband, Luke, is arrested for fraud.

Faith's father, Calvin (played by Gerald McRaney), welcomes her back home to the family farm, despite the fact she hasn't spoken to her family in four years. Calvin is a retired widower, who is now making it his duty to help guide his daughter back to grace. Her sister, Olivia, is not as welcoming as their father is about her return.

Music was once her passion, but she has lost that creative spark due to her troubling marriage, but after reuniting with an old friend, Lee, who is now a doctor, the old spark returns.

When you are doing yard landscaping, you can think of yourself as an artist. Your medium is all of the elements that you can use to create a beautiful landscape. The elements might be water features, soil, rocks, grass, trees, plants, shrubs, flowers, pathways, gazebos, furniture, wind features, and many other things. The elements you choose and the way they are used depends on the yard you are working with, your budget, and your imagination.

Water and Soil

Water features can be pools, ponds, lakes, waterfalls, streams, and fountains. These elements can be very small or very large. Most of them will require a pump to circulate the water to keep it from getting stagnant and smelly. Some water features include live fish and water plants that have to be monitored and kept healthy. A pool for swimming gets a little more complicated and will need to be maintained on a daily basis to keep it clean and healthy for swimmers. Soil is the foundation for most landscapes and should be conducive to growing healthy grass, trees, and plants. If the soil you are working with is lacking in the proper nutrients, you may have to add them into the soil before you begin putting things on top of or into it. A local nursery may have the ability to conduct soil tests, but it they don’t, contact another local entity that specializes in soil testing.

Before I go into tips on writing a realistic romantic plot, let me start by telling my readers… and fellow writers… that life is much more interesting than fiction. Realism in fiction is relative to the characters in the book.

The Border: The Complete First Season
Starring: James McGowan, Graham Abbey, Jonas Chernick, Mark Wilson
Studio: Mill Creek Entertainment
Release Date: July 16, 2013
ASIN: B00CMDPT68
Retail: $14.98
Buy Link: Amazon.com
Running Time: 9 hours 43 minutes
Rating: TV-14

Review:

The Canadian drama The Border is finally available on DVD for the first time in the United States thanks to Mill Creek Entertainment releasing the complete first season on a three-disc set, which sent me a free copy of the DVD in exchange for my honest review.

The Border is a blend of NCIS and Law & Order, except the series focuses its attention on the fictional ICS (Immigration and Customs Security) agency as it protects the Canadian border from terrorist and smugglers. The agency is lead by Mike Kessler with Maggie Norton as his second-in-command, as they attempt to protect Canada from any threat.

The episodes are:

In this YA paranormal thriller, Pacey O'Brien's high school years haven't been easy thanks to her ex-friend, now enemy, Lexie Vega, aka the most popular girl in school, who also likes to get her hands on every new guy, including the new student, Dean Charleston. No matter what evil scheme Lexie has up her sleeves, Pacey can always rely on her Bad Girls Club lead by Rhiannon, which the club's main goal is take down the one and only Lexie Vega.

Pacey had no intention of getting herself a boyfriend, but it seems she is falling in love with Dean, who is finally getting over his ex-girlfriend. Life seemed to be going on the right path for her, and then strange things happen to her. Someone or something doesn't want Pacey to date Dean and whoever it is will kill to get them apart!

In a literary world over-ruled by Twilight, it is nice to see a young adult supernatural novel with an original plot; in this case it happens to be the mirror/body jumping demon Lilith. With a memorizing cover, I was eagerly looking forward to reading it. Maybe it is become I'm a male, but I couldn't connect with main character, Pacey, for the first half, which I felt was more in line with a Sweet Valley High novel than a supernatural one. I became interested in the plot when the strange things happen and when Pacey started to realize what was actually happening to her. The second half felt more like a 80s horror movie. A demon hopping around through mirrors has been done before, but the author uses it effectually to help enhance the fearfulness of Lilith. The second half felt more like a 80s horror movie; it even has a cliffhanger ending for a potential sequel, in which I hope the author switches the point-of-view to one of Pacey's friends or even her boyfriend, Dean.