I thought I would go ahead and get this post written while I'm currently awake. I have strep throat and have spent most of today sleeping, but since I'm currently awake and feeling halfway decent, I thought I would write this post while I'm watching/listening to Comic Book Men. As long as I continue to feel better, I will try to get my workout in before midnight. I know I shouldn't be exercising when I'm sick, but I'm going to anyway.

While catching the first few minutes of Talking Dead, I finally realized the Oscars were on tonight. I don't even know who were nominate. To me, all the actors and actresses look a little too perfect, like they all received a Botox in South Jersey or liposuction in Philadelphia. If there was an actual good movie nominated, maybe I would watch the Oscars.

After my workout tonight, I'm going to brew some coffee, as I'm going to need an extra boost to finish some reviews that need to be posted tomorrow. Plus, while I'm writing I'll be watching/listening to The Venture Bros. Season Five, as I need to review it.

Trying to compensate for all the recent French ebooks I am not allowed to buy on amazon.fr because I live in the US [seriously, French authors would make much more money if anyone could buy them, whatever their country of residence], I went to look at my local College library what they had in French. Not much at all!

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Director: Francis Lawrence
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson,Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Lenny Kravitz, Stanley Tucci, Donald Sutherland, Pillip Seymour, Jeffery Wright, Jenna Malone, Amanda Plummer, Sam Claflin
Studio: LionsGate
Release Date: March 7, 2014
Retail: $39.99
ASIN: B008JFUS8M
Running Time: 146 minutes
Rating: PG-13
Buy Link: Amazon

Review:

Actress Jennifer Lawrence had a memorable 2014 by winning an Oscar for Silver Linings Playbook, staring in the all-star heist American Hustle (which she is nominated for best-supporting actress) and she returned to her role as Katniss Everdeen in 2013's biggest blockbuster, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire based on author Suzanne Collin's book of the same name. The box-office hit is arriving on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD on Friday, March 7, 2014. Special Features include filmmaker commentary, 9-Part Making-Of Documentary, deleted scenes and a sneak peek of the upcoming Divergent adaption.

Grossing over $850 million worldwide, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire once again stars the talented Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen and Josh Hutcherson as Petta Mellark, the winners of the 74th Hunger Games, whom have returned home to District 12 for a short visit before going on the Victory Tour.

Donald Sutherland returns as the wicked President Coriolanus Snow, who fears a growing rebellion within the districts over Katniss's actions during the Hunger Games. He is determined to have Katniss killed, therefore there will be a major twist to the 75th Hunger Games - all of the tributes will consist of former winners. Of course, Katniss name is drawn for the Games, while Petta volunteers.

Homefront
Director: Gary Felder
Starring: Jason Staham, James Franco, Winona Ryder, Kate Bosworth
Studio: Universal Home Entertainment
Release Date: March 11,2014
Retail: $34.98
ASIN: B00HEPCRLE
Running  Time: 101 minutes
Rating: R
Buy Link: Amazon

Review:

It seems like a new action-film starring Jason Statham is released quarterly every year, when he isn't busy making another Expendables sequel. His latest outing Homefront sneaked into theaters at the end of November taking in only $31 million on a $22 million budget. For the moviegoers who missed the film because they were busy watching Hunger Games Catching Fire around Thanksgiving, now have a chance to see the film as it is being released on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD on March 11th. Special features include deleted scenes and a "Standoff" featurette.

The film is based on the novel of the same name by Chuck Logan and it was adapted to the screen by Sylvester Stallone. After a DEA undercover drug-bust went terribly wrong, Phil Broker (played by Statham) retires from the law enforcements and moves to a quite Southern town to raise his ten-year-old daughter, Mandy.

Being a single-parent, Phil taught his daughter to always defend herself by teaching her a few fighting moves, which comes in handy when Mandy knocks down a school bully during recess. Mandy's actions tick's off the bully's meth-addicted mother, Cassie Bodine (played by Kate Bosworth), who enlists her drug lord brother, Morgan "Gator" Bodine (played by James Franco), to seek vengeance against Phil and his daughter. Phil has no other choice, but to fight back.

Where Courage Calls
By Janette Oke and Laurel Oke Logan
Publisher: Bethany House
Pub. Date: February 4, 2014
ISBN: 978-0764212314
Pages: 336
Buy Link: http://ow.ly/tyWJH
Blog Tour: http://litfusegroup.com/author/joke

Review:

Author Janette Oke's novels cross my radar after I watched the TV-movie Love Comes Softly on the Hallmark Channel back in 2003. I ended up buying all the books on eBay, including the spinoff  Prairie Legacy books. Over the years, I have picked up a few other novels by the author. I was pleasantly surprised and excited to hear about her new novel Where Courage Calls, which she co-writes with daughter, Laurel Oke Logan.

Where Courage Calls is the seventh novel in the Canadian West series, written fourteen years after the sixth novel, When Tomorrow Comes. The first book in the series, When Calls the Heart, was turned into a TV-movie on the Hallmark Channel, followed by a weekly series.

Where Courage Calls was written as a companion story to the new series, which centers on Beth Thatcher as she leaves the life that she has always known and travels to western Canada for a teaching position, following in the footsteps of her aunt Elizabeth (main character from When Calls the Heart).

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 is submitted by Elizabeth!

 

Have you stopped accepting books from either authors or publishers to try to catch up? If not, do you think you would ever do that?

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, I don't accept very many eBooks, as I can't keep up with the requests. I also don't accept very many paperback requests anymore. Typically, I only accept the books that I really want to read from book blog tours.

Doctor Who: The Time of the Doctor
Director: Jamie Payne
Starring: Matt Smith, Jenna Coleman and Peter Capaladi
Studio: BBC
Release Date: March 4, 2013
Retail: $14.98
ASIN: B00HCK7THS
Running Time: 63 minutes
Rating: NOT RATED

Review:

BBC's Doctor Who franchise celebrated its 50th anniversary last year with a slue of DVD/Blu-ray releases, the second half of Series 7 and the 50th anniversary special, The Day of the Doctor. It all ended with Matt Smith's final adventure in the Christmas Special Doctor Who: The Time of the Doctor, which is arriving on Blu-ray and DVD this Tuesday, March 4th. Special features include "The Time of the Doctor - Behind the Lens," "Farewell to Matt Smith," and "Tales of the TARDIS."

Picking up shortly after the events in "The Day of the Doctor" that revealed the possible survival of the Doctor's home planet, Gallifrey, the Doctor's Cyberman head "Handles" picks up an odd signal coming from an unknown planet, which the planet is orbited by thousands of aliens, all wanting to know who or what sent the signal.

Doctor Who: The Time of the Doctor; the Doctor (Matt Smith) and Clara (Jenna Coleman) Photo Credit: © BBC

The Doctor's latest companion, Clara Oswald (AKA - the impossible girl), is trying to have a normal Christmas dinner with her family, when the Doctor magically shows up, once again dragging her into the TARDIS to travel to the unknown world to figure out what the signal is coming from. With the use of Handles, they track down the strange signal which is located in a town called Christmas, where the Doctor encounters a familiar mystery - the crack in the wall, which was thought to have been closed in "The Big Bang."