Fantastic Sales:

• For the best sales on the web check out our new article Girlawhirl Goodies!

 

In theaters this Friday:

• Body of Lies—R—Roger Ferris (Leonardo DiCaprio) is one of the best intelligence operatives the US has anywhere on the ground. As his operations take him around the world, his life often depends on the voice at the other end of a secure phone line – CIA veteran Ed Hoffman (Russell Crowe). Waging war from a laptop in the suburbs, Hoffman is on the trail of an emerging terrorist leader who has orchestrated a series of bombings. To lure the terrorist out in the open, Ferris will have to infiltrate his murky world. But the closer he gets to the target, the more he realizes that trust is both a dangerous commodity and the only one that will get him out alive.

• The Express—PG—Based on a true story of college football hero Ernie Davis (Rob Brown), the first African-American to win the Heisman Trophy. Raised in poverty in Pennsylvania coal-mining country, Davis overcame social and economic obstacles in the 1960s to become one of the greatest running backs in college football history. Under the guidance of legendary Syracuse coach Ben Schwartzwalder (Dennis Quaid), he became a hero who set records that stand to this day.

• City of Ember—PG—The City of Ember was built as an underground refuge for humanity. But it's powered by a massive generator that was only built to last for 200 years. Now that generator is failing. When Lina, a young messenger, finds an old metal box in a closet at her house, her grandmother is sure the contents of the box are of the utmost importance but she can't remember why. Lina pries open the lock and finds some cryptic papers inside. She enlists her friend Doon to help decipher them and they realize the information could help them save their city.

 

New DVD releases:

• The Happening—The newest thriller from director M. Night Shyamalan is about a family on the run from an inexplicable and unstoppable event that threatens humankind. It comes with no warning – within minutes episodes of strange, chilling deaths that defy reason erupt in major American cities. No one knows what's causing it. Is it a terrorist attack, an experiment gone wrong, a toxic weapon, an out of control virus? Philadelphia high school science teacher Elliot Moore (Mark Wahlberg), his wife Alma (Zooey Deschanel), their friend Julian (John Leguizamo) and his 8-year old daughter all hit the road, heading for the Pennsylvania farmlands where they hope they'll be able to escape the attacks. But it soon becomes clear that no one, and nowhere, is safe.

• The Visitor—Walter Vale is a disillusioned 62-year old college professor in Connecticut who has lost his passion for teaching and writing. When his school sends him to Manhattan to attend a conference, Walter is surprised to find a young couple has been living in his city apartment. Victims of a real estate scam, Tarek, a Syrian man, and Zainab, his Senegalese girlfriend, have nowhere else to go so Walter reluctantly allows them to stay with him. Touched by his kindness, Tarek teaches Walter to play the African drum – something that begins to reawaken the aging professor's spirit. Then one day Tarek is stopped by police in the subway and arrested as an undocumented citizen and held for deportation. Walter finds himself compelled to help his new friend, and when Tarek's mother arrives, the professor's commitment develops into an unlikely romance.

• You Don't Mess with the Zohan—Adam Sandler stars as Zohan, an Israeli Commando who fakes his own death so he can move to New York City and pursue his dream of becoming a hairstylist.

• And don't miss all of your favorite TV shows released on DVD this week:

      Season 2: 30 Rock; Brotherhood

     Season 3: How I Met Your Mother; Robot Chicken

     Season 4: Ghost Hunters, Part 1

     Season 11: The Simpsons

     The Munsters – The Complete Series

     Disney's Sleeping Beauty

 

New CD releases:

• Break Up the Concrete – The Pretenders

• Big & Rich's Super Galactic Fan Pak, Vol. 2 – Big & Rich

• Christmasville – Mannheim Steamroller

• Elephants – Rachael Yamagata

• Hallelujah Junction: A Nonesuch Retrospective – John Adams

• My Kind of Holiday – Elliott Yamin

• The Bootleg Series Vol. 8: Tell Tale Signs - Rare and Unreleased 1989-2006 – Bob Dylan

• Dig Out Your Soul – Oasis

• The Ultimate Christmas Collection – Brian Setzer

 

New Book releases:

• A Most Wanted Man by John le Carre — A mysterious, and half starved Russian man named Issa is smuggled into Hamburg in the dead of night. Questions surround him and his past. He claims to be a devout Muslim. But is he? An idealistic German civil rights attorney named Annabel is determined to keep Issa in the country. Her quest to protect him soon puts her career, and life, in jeopardy. Trying to figure out Issa's past, Annabel encounters Tommy Brue, a 60-yer-old scion of a failing British bank in Hamburg. The trio forms an unlikely bond. All the while, rival German, English and American spies are closing in on the surefire “War on Terror” kill.

• Lulu in Marrakech by Diane Johnson — Lulu Sawyer arrives in Marrakech, Morocco, hoping to rekindle her romance with worldly Englishman, Ian Drumm. Or so she says. In fact it's the perfect cover to her CIA mission. By day she lounges pool-side and mixes with the socialite crowd of expatriates hanging at the hot spots. At night she attends dinner parties hosted by the same elite. She observes the delicate balance and coexistence of the locals and Europeans. But below the high-brow surface lies a dangerous world filled with double standards and double agents as she navigates the land mines of the Islam world clashing with the West in this dangerous setting.

• Grace by Richard Paul Evans — Reading “The Little Match” girl to his grandchildren one Christmas day brings back a flood of memories for the hero in Richard Paul Evan's newest release Grace. Stirred by the memory of his first love – the runaway match girl –that disappeared from his life many years ago, the aging man decides it's time to share the story that is hidden deep within him, and tell of how when she left, she took his innocence too.

 

Girlawhirl found all of the new CD, DVD and book releases in her online shopping mall at barnesandnoble.com

 

And as always Girlawhirl has great things to share in this week's Girlawhirl Giveaway.

 

This week's Girlawhirl Giveaway includes:

• Burt's Bees T-shirt

• Burt's Bees Naturally Nourishing Milk & Honey lotion

• Plus great additional goodies courtesy of Girlawhirl

 

Plus Girlawhirl always has super special treats in her mega-monthly giveaway!