Wednesday, October 10, 2018

DVD Review: Sleep No More


RLJE; Not Rated; 91 minutes; Amazon
Now available on DVD from RLJ Entertainment is the horror film Sleep No More. Directed by Phillip Guzman and written by Jason Murphy, the film stars Keli Price, Brea Grant, Stephen Ellis, Christine Dwyer, Yasmine Aker, Lukas Gage, and James Hoare. There are no special features or bonus extras.

Set in the 1980s or 1990s (more on this later), Sleep No More centers around a small group of graduate students who volunteer to be to test subjects for a sleep study that's being conducted by Dr. Whatley (played by Yasmine Aker). This isn't your typical sleep study. Their goal is to prove the theory that once you've passed 200 hours without sleep, you'll never have to sleep again!

After one of the test subjects kills himself, the university wants to to close down the sleep study. Despite the objections to their research, the four remaining students, Joe (played by Keli Price), Frannie (played by Brea Grant), Dale (played by Stephen Ellis), and Holly (played by Christine Dwyer) decide to become guinea pigs under the supervision of Dr. Whatley. Dale would be the "control" of the study and the other three students would take a stay-awake type drug.

Their goal of staying awake for 200 hours comes with a price - a supernatural being, who begins tormenting the group. The longer they stay awake, the more deadly the threat becomes.




Tuesday, October 9, 2018

Tuesday Picks! - October 9, 2018


Welcome to my first Tuesday Picks! post, where I will be picking out my favorite books and movies that are being released this week.


Books

Max Einstein: The Genius Experiment
by James Patterson and Chris Grabenstein

Buy Link: Amazon, Barnes & Noble  


 Ambush: A Detective Michael Bennett Thriller
by James Patterson and James O. Born

Buy Links: Amazon, Barnes & Noble


I'm not aware of any other books being released besides from Ambush and Max Einstein, which are both co-written by James Patterson; though there are many other books out this week. If you're not already aware, I'm a big James Patterson fan (something I picked up from late grandmother). It's difficult to keep up with all his new books because the guy releases one or two books a month. I am glad he stopped publishing the Bookshots novella series, as it was way to hard for me to find copies of them. Anyhow, I had already pre-ordered Max Einstein: The Genius Experiment and Ambush a few weeks ago and I received both books today. My reading queue is booked for the rest of the month, so I might read these two sometime in November.


Movies

Hotel Transylvania 3

Buy Links: Amazon, Best Buy

Monday, October 8, 2018

Monday Morning Madness: October 8, 2018


Wow! I didn't even know it was Columbus Day until I glanced at the calendar. I caught a cold over the weekend, which probably had a little to do with rainy weather, so I accidentally slept in this morning. Yes, I'm well aware that it's no longer in the morning, but I wanted to get this "news" post written and published for all my followers.


Book Blogger Hop News

The Book Blogger Hop is going really well, despite the fact that I haven't been participating much in my own meme. Hopefully, that's going to change. I spent some time on Saturday visiting everyone's blogs and replied to my blog's comments (more on the comments later in this post). I believe there are three or four more participants, so I'll try to get to those blogs sometime today.

There have been quite a few new questions sent in for 2019. However, there are still several weeks that needs to filled, especially for next's year's "Halloween Edition." So, make sure to send in your questions.

Each week's hop question will now be located in the top of the sidebar. Or you can just visit the Book Blogger Hop page or my weekly post. 


There's a New Comment Box!

If you're wanting to comment on the Book Blogger Hop post from last week, you can't anymore. All previous comments on all posts are no more. Starting yesterday, all new posts will now use the InstenseDebate comment box! Why the change? Well, I get way too much spam in the old comment system and I just didn't like the layout. To use the InstenseDebate comment system, you can either make an InstenseDebate profile or sign into your Wordpress account, or sign in as a guest by using your email.

(Well, actually you can still comment on last week's post, but all previous posts have been removed. You now have to use the InstenseDebate comment system.)

New Social Icons and Post Headers

It seems my blog designer disappeared last year, so I made some much need fixes to my blog! Three of the social icons next to the "Contact Me  →" area no longer exist, so I had to learn how to make three replacement icons. And I believe I did a pretty good job. I now have icons for YouTube, Instagram, and Pinterest! 

Also, I have made brand-new post headers for Fall Reads, Winter Reads, Spring Reads, Summer Reads, DVD Reviews, Blu-ray Reviews, Music Reviews, and Monday Morning Madness. I made the headers with the Canva Graphic Design. Considering I know very little about graphic design, I think the headers look really good.

New Memes!

Starting yesterday I am now participating in the weekly meme called Sunday Post! You can read my first post here. And beginning today, I'm rejoining the weekly meme, It's Monday! What are you reading?, and you can read that post here.

No More "Book Tours"

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?


It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by The Book Date.

What am I currently reading?


I started reading A Willing Murder by Jude Deveraux on Friday. I meant to finish reading it yesterday, but due to the season premieres of Doctor Who and The Walking Dead, I didn't get very much reading done. Plus, I wasn't  feeling my best yesterday, which I blame on the rainy weather. (FYI: It's still raining as I'm writing this!) Hopefully, I will have some free time to read today. Maybe, I'll even finish it.



What am I reading next?

Sunday, October 7, 2018

Sunday Post: October 7th, 2018

Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly @  Caffeinated Book Reviewer!


Good Morning, Everyone!


For those of you who don't already follow my blog, let me introduce myself. My name is Billy (AKA - Coffee Addicted Writer or also known as coffeeramblings) and this is my first week participating in the Sunday Post meme. I've been blogging and reviewing books for over nine years. 


My Current Reads


I started reading A Willing Murder by Jude Deveraux yesterday and if everything goes as planned, I should finish it today. However, there are will be two distractions for me -  the season premieres of Doctor Who and The Walking Dead


Last Week's Reviews
Goosebumps: Haunted Halloween - Movie Novel by R.L. Stine (book)

The Promise of Breeze Hill by Pam Hillman (book)

The Gifted: The Complete First Season (DVD)

9-1-1: The Complete Season One (DVD)



In The Mail

Books


Escaping From Houdini by Kerri Maniscalco arrived in the mail on Friday, courtesy of Little, Brown and Company. I'll be reviewing the book on October 20th, which will be the 2nd day of my 13 Days of Halloween event!

DVDs / Blu-rays


For those of you who don't already know, besides from books, I also review DVDs and Blu-rays. And I received quite a few this week. 

From Mill Creek Entertainment, I received Strait-Jacket / Berserk!: Double Pyscho Biddy Feature (Blu-ray), Metropolis (Blu-ray + DVD Steelbook), Born Free: The Complete Collection DVD, and Buffalo Girls DVD, which the latter is based on the novel by Larry McMurtry. 

I received Ash vs. Evil Dead: The Complete Series Blu-ray on Monday from Lionsgate Home Entertainment. It will be released on October 16th. I should have my review posted in a few days.

RLJE Films sent me the Sleep No More DVD, which I just watched last night. I should have my review for it posted sometime today. 

Lastly, I received The Resident: The Complete Season One DVD from Fox Home Entertainment on Friday. I've never seen the series before, so I don't know what to expect from it.

Great Finds

Saturday, October 6, 2018

DVD Review: 9-1-1: The Complete Season One


Fox; Not Rated; 437 mins; Amazon

Now available from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment is 9-1-1: The Complete Season One, featuring all ten episodes. There are no special features or bonus extras on the 3-disc set.

Created by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Tim Minear (American Horror Story), the series stars Angela Bassett, Peter Krause, Connie Britton, Oliver Stark, Aisha Hinds, Kenneth Choi, and Rockmond Dunbar.

9-1-1 centers around the lives of Los Angeles police officers, paramedics, firefighters, and 911 operators. An 911 operator named Abigail "Abby" Clark (played by Connie Britton) must find a way to take care her mother, who has dementia, along with dealing with the daily stress that comes with her job.

 LAPD patrol sergeant Athena Grant who is one of the first to arrive at an emergency. Despite the chaos of her job, Athena's home life is a complete mess, especially after husband, Michael (played by Rockmond Dunbar), announces that he's always been gay, even before they were married. To make her life even worse, her daughter tries to commit suicide.

Robert "Bobby" Nash (played by Peter Krause), the LAFD station 118 captain, is probably the most stressed of the first responders. With every 911 call, he makes it a personal mission to save everyone. However, this isn't an easy thing to do when he doesn't have faith in his firefighters, especially when cocky Evan "Buck" Buckley (Oliver Stark) has his mind getting laid instead of saving people's lives.

Episodes on the DVD set include
  • Pilot
  • Let Go
  • Next of Kin
  • Worst Day Ever
  • Point of Origin
  • Heartbreaker
  • Full Moon (Creepy AF)
  • Karma's a Bith
  • Trapped
  • A Whole New Year



Final Thoughts

Friday, October 5, 2018

Book Blogger Hop: Halloween Edition! - October 5th - 11th




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



Welcome Ghouls and Goblins
to the
Book Blogger Hop: Halloween Edition!
  
If you want schedule next week's thrilling question, click here to find the next prompt fright-fest. 
To submit a question, fill out this form.

How to participate in this week's creepy meme:


1. Post on your blog answering this haunt:

  It's getting close to Halloween. If you HAD to read one of these two genres, which would you prefer -- urban fantasy, or horror, and why?


(This week's question is submitted by Maria @ A Night's Dream of Books.)

2. Enter the link to your terrifying tale in the haunting 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 a curse).

 

3. Visit other haunters in the list and comment on their posts. Try to spend some time on the blogs reading other posts and possible become a new creeper.  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.
 

Billy's Answer!

I would rather read a good old fashioned horror novel in the vein of Stephen King or John Saul. Horror is scarier than urban fantasy.





Linky List:

The Friday 56: A Willing Murder by Jude Deveraux


Rules:
  • Grab a book, any book.
  • Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader.
  • Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it).
  • Post it.
  •  Add your (url) post below in the Linky at: www.fredasvoice.com
  • Add the post url, not your blog url.



Thursday, October 4, 2018

A Thursday Rambling: Harlequin Books & Adult Dating



*This is sponsored post. All opinions are 100% mine.
 
Many people will probably find it a bit weird for a man to like reading Harlequin-type novels, as romance novels are targeted towards women and not men. Personally, I do like reading romance novels, which was a habit I picked up during my teenage years. Growing up in a small town with very tiny library/city hall with 30+ year-old reject books, I didn't have much to read unless I went to the next town's library. I had already read most of the books in my school's library, so I eventually started reading the romance books (Jude Deveraux, Johanna Lindsey, etc.) that my mother owned. Yes, some of those books were a little erotic, but to me a book was a book.

Anyhow, I was around 19 or 20 years-old when I stumbled upon a thrift store, where I found $.10 Harlequin paperbacks and, of course, I purchased many of them. The those type of books are fast-paced, guilty pleasure reads. Some of them are written really well, while others aren't very good. Nevertheless, I was crazy about them at that point in my life.

Over the years, I have continued to read a few Harlequin novels here and there, though not as many as I did when I was younger. My reading tastes have expanded, so I now read other genres, such as Amish fiction, crime novels, supernatural romances, mysteries, etc..

Honestly, I don't know why romances appeal to me. Maybe it's because I like the thought of romance in general. Well, at least in the last year or so romance has been on my thoughts. Being single at 37 is not a fun thing. If you are a follower of this blog, then you would already know about my thoughts on online dating. I still haven't actually gotten the nerve to join a dating site yet due to my fear of being rejected.

Wednesday, October 3, 2018

Fall Reads: The Promise Of Breeze Hill


Tyndale Fiction; 408 pages; $14.99; Amazon
I believe The Promise Of Breeze Hill has been sitting on a shelf for nearly year before I finally got around to reading it. It's was published by Tyndale and written by Pam Hillman. I'm not for sure it's book one in a series or not, but the "A Natchez Trace Novel" on the cover makes me believe that it's part of a series.

Set in Natchez near the Mississippi River in 1791, the novel centers around Isabella Bartholomew, a young woman who has taken the responsibility of rebuilding her family's home, Breeze Hill Plantation. A fire had destroyed their crops, damaged their home, and killed loved ones. With her father not in good health, Isabella is given the task of recruiting a carpenter to help rebuild their home and their lives.

That carpenter happens to be Connor O'Shea, a man who had came to America to work as a carpenter for Master Benson for seven years without wages in exchange for his four brothers passage from Ireland. The work was hard, but the thought of being reunited with his family kept him going. However, things don't go as planned when Master Benson dies and Connor is put up on the auction block. This is when he meets Isabella, who buys him at the auction. In exchange for rebuilding the Breeze Hill Plantation, Isabella promises him her family will pay for his brothers' passage to America.

Thanks to the fire that almost destroyed the plantation, the Bartholomew family is in dire need of money. They are barely scrapping by as it is when Connor takes it upon himself to hire a man, his pregnant wife, and their many many children. Despite not being able to give them anything but a roof over the heads and a little food, Isabella's father approves of the decision, as the man and his children can help in the fields.

Isabella must find a way to save Breeze Hill Plantation, but it's a little difficult to do when someone is threatening them. And this someone might be responsible for starting the fire that took her brother's life.


Final Thoughts