While I attempted to list all my Christmas presents in this week's Monday Morning Madness, I forgot to mention a few other gifts that I received. My big present this year, and my favorite, was the Nikon Coolpix L830 Camera along with a bunch of essentials (SD cards, camera bag, etc.).

Another great gift of mine was a LIVE Sound Bar, not one of the expensive ones as it was purchased on Black Friday, but nevertheless it does work great at enhancing the sound on my 32 inch HD TV.

Of course I received three "geeky" t-shirts featuring M&M's characters, the Thundercats Logo and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I did already mention that these were "geeky" t-shirt, but it fits into my style. I also received Old Spice cologne, after shave and deodorant. In the past I have used Brute (which isn't sold in my area anymore) and AXE, which in my opinion this brand has lost its scent. Anyway, I'm going to give Old Spice a trying 2015!

While I don't typically buy my own presents, this year I did and it arrived on my doorsteps on Monday. It is one of those cheap Eclipse MP3 players. Yeah, I know I'm a little behind in technology, but I have been wanting one for awhile. Plus, I have plenty of music on my computer from Digital Copy downloads that come with every new music CD to put on the thing.

As most of my blog readers already know, I kinda like my daily cups of coffee. I thought I would share this coupon code that gives you 50% OFF of one bag of WAVE 3 Whole Bean Coffee.

All you have to do is hop on over to Amazon.com, add the WAVE 3 Whole Bean Coffee to your Amazon shopping cart and enter the promo code WAVE3SAV at checkout.

The coupon is valid for the next 30 days!

I hope everyone has recovered from the Christmas mayhem. I'm definitely ready to put the holidays behind me and start preparing for 2015!

Now before I get to my 2015 plans, I would like to list (well, brag) all the Christmas Gifts I received this year.

I'll start first with the books - Private India: City On Fire by James Patterson & Ashwin Sanghi, Dangerous Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl, Silver Shadows by Richelle Mead, Prince Lestat by Anne Rice, Killing Patton by Bill O'Reilly & Martin Dugard and Revival by Stephen King. I also received all of the Outlander books by Diana Gabaldon - Outlander, Dragonfly In Amber, Voyager, Drums of Autumn, The Fiery Cross, A Breath of Snow and Ashes, An Echo In The Bone, and  Written in My Heart's Own Blood.

The DVDs include The Expendables 3, Operation Petticoat, Penny Dreadful: The Complete First Season, True Blood: The Complete Seventh Season, The Vampire Diaries: The Complete Fifth Season, The White Queen, Arrow: The Complete Second Season, The Strain: The Complete First Season, 9, World War Z and I, Frankenstein. The Blu-rays include Godzilla and X-Men: Days Of Future Past!

Doctor Who: The Blood Cell
by James Goss
Publisher: Broadway Books
Pub. Date: September 9, 2014
ISBN: 978-0804140928
Pages: 256
Buy Link: Amazon

Review:

I've been a Doctor Who fan ever since I saw the first episodes of the first series (season) of the current incarnation back when it aired on the Scfi Channel (now known as Syfy). Though I have been well aware of all the novelization out there, I only started reading a few of the Doctor Who books this year.

 Doctor Who: The Blood Cell centers on the Doctor being stuck on an asteroid prison where he is known as Prisoner 428. The book primarly focuses on the warden - the Governor. The prison is cut off from civilians, so the Governor is a bit shocked when a young woman shows up pleading for Prisoner 428's release. Of course this woman is the Doctor's current companion, Clara.

While I have enjoyed reading the other recently released Doctor Who books, this one is a little bit of a disappointment. Don't get me wrong, there are a few entertaining parts here and there, but as a whole it was quite boring.


About the Author:

AMES GOSS has written three Torchwood novels, a Doctor Who novel, and two radio plays, and is the co-author, with Steve Tribe of The Dalek Handbook and Doctor Who: A History of the Universe in 100 Objects. His books Dead of Winter and First Born were both nominated for the 2012 British Fantasy Society Awards.  

Doctor Who: The Crawling Terror
by Mike Tucker
Publisher: Broadway Books
Pub. Date: September 9, 2014
ISBN: 9780804140904
Pages: 256
Buy Link: Amazon

Review:

Doctor Who fans have a lot of time to waste waiting for the 9th series (season) to begin, but luckily we have a few Doctor Who novels to keep us busy, including Doctor Who: The Crawling Terror by Mike Tucker.

Set during the 12th Doctor's time-line, the book centers on the Doctor and his companion, Clara, arriving in the small village of Ringstone, which is being overruled by alien bugs! With the UNIT preoccupied with something else, the British Army decides to take matters into their own hands by cutting off the village from the outside world, followed by a possible airstrike.

Of course the Doctor isn't going to standby and let innocent people get killed. Besides from being angry at the British Army, things get even more complicated when the Doctor gets separated from Clara.

While there are countless tie-in novels set in the Star Wars' universe, I have only read a handful of them. With next year's Star Wars: The Force Awakens hitting theaters (which is less than a year away), I have become re-interested in the franchise. I have even caught a few episodes of the new Disney XD animated series, Star Wars: Rebels.

One of the newest books in the franchise is Star Wars: A New Dawn by John Jackson Miller. It is set between episodes III and IV and serves as a prequel to Star Wars: Rebels. The novel centers on a bunch of misfit characters, Kanan, Hera, Skelly, and Zaluna, whom are trying to stop the Empire from taking over the galaxy.

As many of my blog readers already know, I am a heavy coffee drinker and while there is nothing wrong with drinking coffee, the habit does come at a price - stained teeth.

Luckily for me, I tried out a teeth whitening kit last month. I am now determined to keep a bright smile for 2015, so I applied to review the Brilliant HD - Deluxe Teeth Whitening Kit and I was one of the lucky bloggers picked to review it.