Garfield: Holiday Collection
Director: Phil Roman
Voice Cast: Lorenzo Music, Thom Huge, Gregg Berger
Studio: Anderson Digtial
Release Date: November 4, 2014
Retail: $14.99
Running Time: 150 minutes
Rating: TV-Y
Buy Link: Walmart

Review:

From 1982 to 1991, twelve animated specials based on Jim Davis' comic strip Garfield aired on CBS. All of the specials have been released on DVD over the last decade, but are now out-of-print. Luckily for Garfield fans, five of the specials will appear on the Garfield Holiday Collection: Collector's Edition DVD exclusively at Walmart. As an added bonus there is a brand new featurette "The House that Garfield Built: A Visit with Jim Davis."

The five Garfield specials on the DVD are:

A Garfield Christmas (1987) - Jon drags Garfield and Odie to his family's farm to celebrate Christmas. After befriending Grandma (voiced by Pat Carroll), Garfield learns the true meaning of Christmas.

Garfield's Thanksgiving (1989) -After a visit to veterinarian, Dr. Liz Wilson, Garfield is put on a diet and somehow Jon convinces Liz to join him for Thanksgiving dinner. Jon may know how to make a dish of lasagna, but he has no clue how to make a turkey dinner. Garfield comes up with the idea to ask Grandma to help them cook the meal.

Garfield's Halloween Adventure (1985) - After hearing about Halloween on the Binky the Clown Show, Garfield is determined to go trick-or-treating, so he can get all the candy, candy, candy that he can get his paws on. He grabs some of Jon's old clothes from the attic and goes as a pirate. He brings along Odie, so he can have twice the candy, candy, candy, but he makes a mistake by crossing the river by a boat, as their are ghost pirates not to far behind them.

Garfield On The Town (1983) -When being driven to the veterinarians, Garfield accidentally falls out of Jon's car. At first he likes living on the streets that is until he meets a gang of stray cats.

The Brickmaker's Bride
Refined By Love series
by Judith Miller
Publisher: Bethany House
Pub. Date: October 7, 2014
ISBN: 978-0764212550
Pages: 352
Buy Link: http://ow.ly/CAurf
Blog Tour: http://litfusegroup.com/author/jmiller

Review:

Being a book blogger, I constantly find myself backed up with titles to review for authors and publishers, so as of lately I have been more picky about what books I accept or sign up to review. In this case, I recognized the author's name, Judith Miller, so I instantly agreed to review The Brickmaker's Bride.

Set in the 1868, the novel centers on Ewan McKay, who mmigrated from Ireland to West Virginia with his Uncle Hugh and Aunt Margaret. Uncle Hugh had bought a brickmaking operation there and wants him to help get the business up and running as smoothly as possible. Starting a new business isn't easy as the economy is still trying to recover from the Civil War, but that didn't stop from Uncle Hugh from getting a bank loan for a business that he has no clue how to run.

Ewan seeks the help, well the advice, from the former owner's daughter, Laura Woodfield. He hopes he can make the brickworks a huge success, so that his uncle has no choice, but to make him a partner. Then maybe he'll have enough cash to bring his sisters to this country. The one thing he didn't expect was to fall in love with Laura, but there is one problem - she already has a suitor, a high-paying lawyer, Winston. No matter what obstacles lie ahead of him, Ewan is determined to make the brickworks a successful business and somehow win Laura's heart.

The Promise
by Beth Wiseman
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Pub. Date: September 30, 2014
ISBN: 978-1401685959
Pages: 320
Buy Link: http://ow.ly/CP8sr
Blog tour: http://litfusegroup.com/author/bwiseman

Review:

By glancing at the cover to Beth Wiseman's new novel "The Promise," I would have never guessed that it would be set in modern times as I originally thought it would be set in the late 1800s. I guess you can't judge a book by its cover.

After reading a several other titles, the Daughters of Promise series and the novel The House That Love Built, by the author, I thought I had an idea the way The Promise would go, but I was completely wrong.

The Promise centers on Mallory Hammond who made a promise when she was seventeen-years-old and now twelve years later she intends to fulfill that promise when she learns that a sick teen in Pakistan needs her help. Despite her parents' and her boyfriend's objections, she travels overseas to meet a man she only Skype with a few times; a man who claims that he can help her achieve the promise she had made to herself all those years ago.

A Robertson Family Christmas
by Miss Kay Robertson
with Travis Thrasher
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers
Pub. Date: October 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1414398204
Pages: 320
Buy Link: Amazon

Review:

With Halloween officially over, I'm almost sure that many department stores will begin rolling out their holiday decorations this next week. However, if you have been in a bookstore lately, then you probably know that several Christmas titles have already been released, including the novella A Robertson Family Christmas by Miss Kay Robertson with Travis Thrasher.

You might have heard of the author's name before as she appears on the A&E's hit reality series Duck Dynasty. Over the years, Miss Kay has been asked what it would be like to spend a few days with the Robertson family, which eventually lead to the idea for this Christmas novella.

A Robertson Family Christmas centers on the Robertson family running a contest where the winner will get to spend the Christmas with them. Stacy Clarke, a struggling divorced mother, hears about the contest and decides to sign up her teenage son, Hunter. She didn't actually think he would be win, so she was shocked when she gets the confirmation email, but deep down she hopes this experience will change his negative attitude.

Planes: Fire & Rescue
Director: Roberts Gannaway
Voice Cast: Dane Cook, Stacy Keach, Brad Garrett, Danny Mann, Teri Hatcher, Julie Bowen, Ed Harris,Wes Studi, Dale Dye
Studio: Walt Disney Home Entertainment
Release Date: November 4, 2014
Retail: $39.99
ASIN: B00MMUXOLS
Runing Time: 84 minutes
Rating: PG
Buy Link: Amazon

Review:

Arriving on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD on Tuesday November 4, 2014 is the high-flying Disney animated adventure Planes: Fire & Rescue. Bonus Features include Exclusive Animated Short "Vitaminamulch: Air Spectacular," Welcome To Piston Peak!, "CHoPs" TV Promo, Air Attack: Firefighters From The Sky, Deleted Scenes With Filmmaker Intros, Animated Shorts "Honkers" & "Dusty Dream No More" and "Still I Fly" Music Video By Spencer Lee.

Planes: Fire & Rescue is set in the wild world of Pixar's Cars and is a sequel to last year's Planes. The film is directed by Roberts Gannaway and uses the voice talents of Dane Cook, Stacy Keach, Brad Garrett, Danny Mann, Teri Hatcher, Julie Bowen, Ed Harris, Wes StudiStudi and Dale Dye.

The sequel centers on the crop-duster turned racer, Dusty Crophopper (voiced by Dana Cook), who's racing career comes to a complete haul when his gearbox malfunctions. To make matters even worse, this style of gearbox is out-of-production, so Dusty must quit being a racer.


After an accident causes a fire at the Propwash Junction, a government inspector plans on shutting the airport down due to the lack of firefighting personnel. This is when Dusty decides to get certified as a firefighter, so the airport can be reopen. He travels to Piston Peak and is given two pontoons. He must undergo training before he can become certified. After several spot fires occur, Dusty must prove to himself that he can be a hero.