Scraps of Evidence
Quilts of Love Series (Book 14)
By Barbra Cameron
Publisher: Abingdon Press
Pub. Date: January 21, 2014
ISBN: 978-1426752780
Pages: 240
Buy Link: http://ow.ly/tB3KX
Blog Tour: http://litfusegroup.com/campaigns/scraps-of-evidence-barbara-cameron

Review:

I automatically sign up for books that have an interesting plot, a nifty book cover/jacket or if I'm familiar with the author's other novels. When I receive the books, I stack them in a pile based on the blog tour date. I had just finished reading a book by author Barbara Cameron and then I began reading Scraps of Evidence without knowing until I was about halfway thru it that it was by the same author.

Scraps of Evidence centers on Tess, whom has worked really hard to become a police detective. She is assigned a new partner, Logan, shortly before investigating the death of a young woman, which the manner of death is similar to a high school friend of hers, who had died around prom years ago. Could it be the same killer?

While at first, Logan thinks his new partner is just the typical serious, non-emotional detective, but as he slowly gets to know Tess, he learns she has a completely different side to her. It seems when Tess isn't busy solving crimes and taking care of her Aunt Susan, she likes to spend her time quilting.

The only way to stop the serial killer may in fact lie in Tess's knowledge of quilting, especially the origins of a unique quilt.

Strawberry Shortcake: Berry Big Help
Studio: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Release Date: February 18, 2014
Retail: $14.98
ASIN: B00HE11KA2
Running Time: 66 minutes
Rating: Not Rated
Buy Link: Amazon

Review:

Throughout the early '80s the majority of the animated television shows and series were created only to sell a toy line. While the majority target audience was boys, there were a few aimed for girls, such as Strawberry Shortcake.

It was created by the American Greeting for a greeting cards in the late‘70s. What started out as only Strawberry Shortcake and her cat, Custard, eventually lead to 32 different character designs. The cards became extremely popular, eventually launching into the toy industry with a rag doll, followed by other toys and merchandising. Later, Strawberry Shortcake and friends appeared in a series of animated specials and quickly disappeared as the franchise became unpopular.

Strawberry Shortcake made a brief return in 2003 with a brand-new toy line and animated series, later appearing in a big-screen feature film, but it seemed it was the wrong time for a reboot as the new generations of kids didn't exactly catch on to it. Nevertheless, Strawberry Shortcake received another reboot with another line of toys and a new computer-animated series, Strawberry Shortcake's Berry Bitty Adventures, which three seasons have already aired and a fourth season is in the works.

Self Confidence: How To Overcome Shyness, Worry and Boost Your Self-Esteem
By: Anastasia Verg
Publisher: Social Press Publishing
Pub. Date: January 24, 2014
ASIN: B00I1KW8LA
Pages: 38
Buy Link: Kindle

Review:

Many people, young and old, suffer from shyness and low self-esteem, including myself. There are many self-help books out on the market, but I have only read a couple of them. Recently, I got a chance to review Self Confidence: How To Overcome Shyness, Worry and Boost Your Self-Esteem when it was free on Amazon Kindle for a few days and I was more than eager to read it.

The short self-help book is written by Anastasia Verg, who happens to be a graduate of Technological Educational Institute of Patras, Department of Social Work and a qualified social worker and welfare officer. Over the years, she has worked with different social groups, from the elderly to school kids with mental disabilities. The author's purpose for writing the book is to help others in social situations.

I'm multitasking tonight by halfway watching/listening to the newest episode of Arrow while writing a few blog posts/reviews. Yes, I know I said I was going to cutback on my reviewing this year, so I can  focus on my fiction writing, but my plans have changed.

I currently have two Blu-rays, two DVDS, a fan and five or six books that I need to write reviews for. Plus, I have three DVDS, one Blu-ray, a stack of books and two products that I need to either watch, read or test out, so I can then write more reviews.

Yes, at times blogging can become a little stressful, especially when you are behind in reviews, but I'm trying my best to avoid stress by exercising daily (normally at night). Every time a package is left on the doorstep, I keep wondering what my neighbors think, or the mail carriers, UPS driver or FedEx driver. The FedEx has already delivered two packages and UPS has dropped off four packages this week. Plus, I'll be receiving two packages by UPS tomorrow and one package by FedEx, the latter is either a DVD or Blu-ray, but I'm not for sure what the title is or if I even signed up to review it.

Goosebumps Most Wanted - Creature Teacher: The Final Exam
By R.L. Stine
Publisher: Scholastic
Pub. Date: February 25, 2014
List Price: $6.99
ASIN: 978-0545627733
Pages: 160
Buy Links: Paperback, Kindle

Review:

Author R.L. Stine has been scaring kids with his Goosebumps books since 1992. The creepy book series was inspired by the Twilight Zone, in which both usually had a shocking ending, but course Stine's stories involved kids as the main characters. A television series of the same name aired from 1995 to 1998, which most of the episodes have crawled their way onto DVDs over the last several years. The books were so popular that several spin-off series were created, Give Yourself Goosebumps, Tales to Give You Goosebumps and Goosebumps Presents and Goosebumps Series 2000. Stine took a slight break from the Goosebumps world, but returned in 2008 with a brand-new series Goosebumps Horrorland and later followed by Goosebumps Hall of Horrors.

The latest series is titled Goosebumps Most Wanted, where Stine's favorite villains return to haunt a new generation of readers. The newest installment, Creature Teacher: The Final Exam, hit bookshelves yesterday; which is a sequel to 1998's Goosebumps Series 2000: Creature Teacher.

This terrifying tale centers on twelve-year-old Tommy Farrelly, who is not looking forward to spending the rest of his summer at Winner Island Camp, a camp that teaches you how to become a winner. The camp's tag-line is: Winners Are Always Winners. His parents are winners at everything, as well as his younger sister, so he is being sent to a strange camp to learn how to be like them.

Upon arriving at Winner's Island Camp a few days late, Tommy meets Ricardo and Sophie and learns of the camp's terrible secret. Each kid will leave the camp a winner, well, except for one loser - who will be eaten by the "teacher" Mrs. Maaargh, and Tommy happens to be on the bottom of the winners' list.

In Out of the Furnace, Bale plays Russell Baze, a down-on-his-luck steel worker in a small town in Pennsylvania. The long, stringy hair, unkempt facial hair, oversized clothing and conspicuous neck tat make him look the part of a working class hero who may have had one too many run-ins with the law.


Bale had big shoes to fill when he stepped into the caped crusader’s costume in 2005 for Batman Begins, but his performance ended up being so remarkable it breathed new life into the iconic character. He bulked up to bring a heroic physicality to the role without seeming out of place in one of Bruce Wayne’s designer suits.

The usually svelte Bale really let himself go for his Oscar-nominated role as Irving Rosenfeld, a smarmy, middle-aged grifter living in 1970’s Long Island. From the film’s first scene where a portly Bale spends an uncomfortably long amount of time making sure his greasy comb-over is coiffed just right, you know this isn’t the Hollywood hunk we’re used to seeing.

Adventure Time: The Complete Third Season
Voice Cast: Jeremy Shada, John DiMaggio, Hynden Walch, Niki Yang, Tom Kenny, Olivia Olson, Martin Olson, Dee Bradley Baker, Pendleton Ward, Polly Lou Livingston, Jessica DiCicco, Maria Bamford
Studio: Cartoon Network
Release Date: February 25, 2014
Retail: $32.07
ASIN: B00GOFVED2
Running Time: 286 minutes
Rating: TV-PG

Review:

Arriving on Blu-ray and DVD today is Cartoon Network's hit animated series Adventure Time: The Complete Third Season featuring twenty-six exciting episodes. Bonus features include commentaries, alternate Adventure Time intro and How An Idea Becomes Adventure Time.

Adventure Time is created by Pendleton Ward and premiered on the Cartoon Network in 2010; quickly becoming a fan-favorite for kids and adults. The series is currently in it's fifth season with a sixth season in the works.

The series centers on a human named Finn and his best friend/adopted brother, Jake - a dog with the ability to change shape, size and shrink. The two friends/brothers have many exciting adventures in the post-apocalyptic Land of Ooo; sometimes helping our their friends, Princess Bubblegum, Marceline the Vampire Queen and other characters. Plus, they occasionally have to stop Ice King from destroying Land of Ooo.


There is a lot in store for Finn and Jake in The Complete Third Season, including the Annie Award Nominee and the Emmy Nominee episode, "Thank You." The season opens up with Finn and Jake meeting the "evil" Cute King and the Cuties in "Conquest of Cuteness." "Too You" gives a resolution to the second season finale with Princess Bubblegum trying to revert back to her correct age. The season ends with the cliffhanger episode "Incendium."

The twenty-six episodes on the single-disc are: