Sunday, March 5, 2017

Review - Redeeming Grace by Jill Eileen Smith


Revell; 360 pages; $15.99; Amazon
Now available from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group, is the biblical drama Redeeming Grace (Ruth's Story), book three in the Daughters of the Promised Land, by author Jill Eileen Smith.

I had never read any of the other books in the series, but I thought it would be interesting to read how life was like during biblical times.

Redeeming Grace centers on Ruth and Naomi from the Old Testament. Naomi and her family had moved from Bethlehem to Moab after famine had struck there. They had better luck in Moab, where there were greener pastures and the harvest was good. 

However, a series of bad luck occurs, one after another, leaving Naomi alone in the foreign land with just her widowed-daughters-in-law for comfort. She would prefer to return to Bethlehem, but her daughter-in-law Ruth refuses to leave her side.

Friday, March 3, 2017

Ice Age: The Great Egg-Scapade DVD Giveaway



Arriving on DVD on March 7th from 20th Century Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment is Ice Age: The Great Egg-Scapade, featuring last year's Easter Special that aired on Fox.


Scrat, Manny, Sid, Diego and the rest of your prehistoric pals from Ice Age are back in an all-new hilarious animated adventure! Business is booming at Sid’s new egg-sitting service but when the dastardly private bunny Squint steals the eggs, Manny, Diego and the rest of the gang take off on a daring rescue mission that turns into the world’s first egg hunt. Enjoy even more nut-tiness with tons of Scrat extras!

The original herd Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary, Seann William Scott, Josh Peck, Keke Palmer and Queen Latifah are back. Featured guest voices include Taraji P. Henson, Seth Green, Wendy Williams, Gabriel Iglesias, Lili Estefan and Blake Anderson.



Special Features on the DVD are:

  • Ice Age: Collision Course Cosmic Scrat-tastrophe 
  • Ice Age – The Story So Far 
  • 6 Scrat Shorts 
  • Lost Footage 
  • Digital HD 


Giveaway Details:

Book Blogger Hop: March 3rd - 9th




Instructions: Select all code above, copy it and paste it inside your blog post as HTML


Welcome to the new Book Blogger Hop!

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 Maria @ A Night's Dream of Books)!

When you start reading a novel, do you prefer to be plunged right into the action, or do you prefer a slower, more descriptive introduction to the plot and characters?

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: 

 I prefer there to be some kind of "hook" in the first chapter that will instantly intrigue me to continue reading the rest of the novel.


Linky List:

Q&A with Glover Wright, author of Hard Act



Now available from Fiery Seas Publishing is the thriller Hard Act by Glover Wright.


The author has taken a few minutes out of his busy schedule for a Q&A about his newest novel.



When did you become interested in storytelling?

Schooldays.

What was your first book/story published?

“The Torch”

What inspired you to write HARD ACT ?

In 2011 when American Seal Team Six hunted down and killed Osama bin Laden on presidential orders in Operation Neptune Spear in Abbadabad, Pakistan it was the final act in an ultra-secret CIA operation hailed by US president Barrack Obama as a huge success and was seen as the crowning achievement of his presidency. Yet according to Brigadier Shaukat Qadir who investigated Operation Neptune Spear for the Pakistan government, this was only achieved through Bin Laden’s betrayal by Al Qaeda itself, which, by completely deceiving the CIA, received the $25,000,000 cash bounty America had placed on their ailing leader’s head.

Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Popcorn & Coffee: Doctor Strange Blu-ray Review


PG-13; 115 minutes; Amazon
Available today on Blu-ray + DVD + Digital HD from Marvel Studios is the fantasy comic book adventure Doctor Strange. Directed by Scott Derrickson, the film stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rachel McAdams, Benedict Wong, Mads Mikkelsen, and Tilda Swinton.

Created by Steve Ditko and Stan Lee, Doctor Strange debuted as a comic book supernatural superhero in 1963. The film adaptation stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Dr. Stephen Strange, a brilliant (but arrogant) neurosurgeon who loses the use of his hands after a terrible car crash. After having several unsuccessful surgeries to restore the nerves in his hands, Strange travels to Kamar-Ta to seek out the Ancient One (played by Tilda Swinton), who has been known to help others heal from wounds.

Shortly upon arriving, Strange learns that the Ancient One is a powerful sorcerer, who shows him that magic is real, as well as the astral plane and other dimensions. He learns there are are three buildings called the Sanctums (one in New York City, one in London, and one in Hong Kong) that protects the world from the other dimensions.

Under the guidance of the Ancient One and another sorcerer named Mordo (played by Chiwetel Ejiofor), Strange begins his training as a sorcerer, and hopefully he will one day be able to regain control of his hands. Using his photographic memory, he easily learns their ways and starts to gain magical powers, such as bending time with the mystical Eye of Agamotto.

Unfortunately, Strange also learns there are evil sorcerers, lead by Kaecilius (played by Mads Mikkelsen), who are going to destroy the Sanctums and summon Dormammu of the Dark Dimension.


Blu-ray Bonus Extras includes:

Monday, February 27, 2017

Review - Home to Paradise by Barbara Cameron


Adingdon Press; 288 pages; $14.99; Buy Link; Blog Tour
If you live in the Midwest, it doesn't currently feel like winter, but we're still technically in a winter month; therefore, I'm still including this review as a "Winter Reads" post.

Home to Paradise is the third installment in the Coming Home series by author Barbara Cameron, and as you can see from the cover art, it's an Amish-romance story, which is one of my favorite genres to read.

The novel centers on Rose Anna Zook, a young woman who has always wanted to marry the third Stoltzfus brother, John. However, her dreams of marrying him become in jeopardy when John refuses to leave his Rumschpringe years behind him. He's enjoying living in the Englisch world and has no plans of returning to the Amish community.





Friday, February 24, 2017

Book Blogger Hop: February 24th - March 2nd




Instructions: Select all code above, copy it and paste it inside your blog post as HTML


Welcome to the new Book Blogger Hop!

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 Eli @ The Book Supplier)!

How do you feel about books with multiple narrators?

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: 

 It all depends on how the novel is written. Too many narrations can be a bit of a distraction. However, it doesn't bother me when there are two or three different point-of-views in one story.


Linky List: