Brunner's Bar

Batman: Arkham Unleashed Vol 2 I was incredibly fortunate to win this in a Goodreads Giveaway. I usually never win those, so I couldn’t be more excited. I’ve wanted to play the Batman Arkham games since the first one was released, but I don’t have a PS3 or an XBOX. Other things are more important, so my video game days had to take a hiatus. This book is based on those games which makes the artwork unique and the story a direct tie in. This book collects issues 6-10 and apparently fills in gaps with the games’ stories. The game stays close to the Batman mythos when it comes to characters and Gotham city. This was actually very refreshing because a lot of times people will do a tie in graphic novel and it’s nothing like what you would expect. The one thing I really liked was seeing Tim Drake back in the Robin suit. The game hasn’t kept up with changes in the Batman books fully so this was a nice surprise. I always loved Tim Drake as Robin. I always felt bad as to how they pushed

Day of the Night Crawlers In case you haven’t read my All About Me  post, I am the proud father of two amazing kids. My son is 3 almost 4, and my Daughter is only 3 months old. Because of these kiddos I read a lot of children’s books. This means that from time to time I will have some reviews of those books on my blog. I love to read and write so I will be posting these reviews to possibly help other parents decide on new books for their kids. I really enjoy reading to my son. When my daughter gets older I will read to the both of them, but for now reading is special Father/Son time, or Mother/Son time when my wife takes a turn. We both try to read to him equally because we both are avid readers and we want to teach the importance of books. My son loves Superheroes, cars, tools, and monsters. This book was perfect to read to him. The publisher suggests this is for ages 5-7, and when it comes to reading level I would say that's about right. However, there is nothing i

Feature Follow is the day of the week that we get to know each other and make some new friends. This is graciously put on by our hosts Parajunkee and Alison Can Read . Each week there is one blog featured by each host and a question to help us break the ice and open discussion. Since I am new to blogging I don't currently have a preference as to how you follow me. Feel free to follow through bloglovin, email, or GFC. I'm not picky just happy to have the company. This weeks question is: If you could have ONE- one book- for the rest of your life. What would it be? Wow! How on earth am I going to choose? This is like asking me to pick which of my children is my favorite. The answer is both of them are. In different ways I love both of them equally, and I'm not just saying that. I would figure out a way to smuggle both of them, so my kids could stay with me forever. It is the same way for this challenge. My favorite book is The Bone Collector by Jeffe

Storm Front Let me start this review, since it is the first Castle book I've reviewed for my blog, by saying that Richard Castle is not real. Gasp!!! I know. He is a fictional character on the television show Castle on ABC. He is played by Nathan Fillion. Richard Castle is portrayed as a real flesh and blood writer. There is even a website dedicated to him like any other author and a bio of him on the dust jacket. A very clever and well done marketing scheme, because I enjoy the ruse. In the beginning of his fictional career Richard Castle wrote a series of books that revolved around the character Derrick Storm. Getting bored with the character, he kills him off and is looking for a new muse. This is where the show begins. Castle begins to shadow an NYPD Detective named Kate Beckett, and she becomes the character Nikki Heat. Sounds like real life doesn't it. Since the show has begun there is a series of Nikki Heat books that he writes during the course of a season and

I just found out about this reading challenge and this is perfect for me!!! R.I.P. is known as Readers Imbibing Peril, and it is a challenge to read Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, Dark Fantasy, Gothic, Horror, and Supernatural. This challenge is put on by  Stainless Steel Droppings , and if you are like me and have just now found out about this, head over to his blog and check it out. This challenge officially runs from September 1st to October 31st but I am starting right now because I am so excited. This is such a cool challenge, and since this is a category I mainly read anyway I am taking the plunge. I am going to pledge to be part of:    Peril the First means I will be reading four books, any length, that I feel fit into this challenge. Since I am already reading a Sherlock Holmes collection of stories and just started Stephen King's Joyland, I am already half way to my first goal once these are finished and reviewed. I also have several other books lined u

  Iron Man 3 Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly book meme hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine. This day allows us to  share news on upcoming releases that have us on the edge of our seats in anticipation. So I am going to do something a little different. I know this is for booksbut I get just as anxious when it comes to movies too. I want to talk about movies from time to time on my blog and I figure this would be a great opportunity.  Here is the little blurb about this from amazon for the Blu-Ray release The studio that brought you Marvel’s The Avengers unleashes the best Iron Man adventure yet with this must-own, global phenomenon starring Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow. When Tony Stark/Iron Man finds his entire world reduced to rubble, he must use all his ingenuity to survive, destroy his enemy and somehow protect those he loves. But a soul-searching question haunts him: Does the man make the suit… or does the suit make the man? Featuring spectacular spe

Feature Follow is the day of the week that we get to know each other and make some new friends. This is graciously put on by our hosts Parajunkee and Alison Can Read. Each week there is one blog featured by each host and a question to help us break the ice and open discussion. Since I am new to blogging I don't currently have a preference as to how you follow me. Feel free to follow through bloglovin, email, or GFC. I'm not picky just happy to have the company. This week was actually an activity. Take a self portrait with your current reads. Well, here it is.  I feel my smile is a little goofy and I just don't pose for pictures well. The important thing is what I'm reading. Yes, I am reading three different books. I'm listening to Storm Front by Richard Castle, and I've got an ARC ebook of Sons of Moriarty and More Stories of Sherlock Holmes by Loren D Estelman. I just got Garment of Shadows by Laurie R King, and I'm looking forward

On one of the blogs I follow I saw this and thought it sounded like a lot of fun. I decided to follow the link to the A-Z Meme . I also decided to check out the blog this came from and really liked it. What kind of blogger would I be if I didn't give credit where it is due? This is from The Perpetual Page-Turner , and her blog is pretty cool. So here are her questions and my answers. A uthor you’ve read the most books from: Jeffery Deaver is the author that I have read the most books from. If you checked out my all about me post you would know that his books are the reason I am the avid reader I am. Michael Connelly and Steven King would be a close second. Still have a lot of King to read.   B est Sequel Ever:  What a good question. Currently the only one I can think of is the Lord of the Rings Tow Towers. That is my favorite book of the series. C urrently Reading: Currently I am listening to Storm Fron by Richard Castle, and reading Sons of Moriarty and More St

  Bones of the Lost by Kathy Reichs  Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly book meme hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine. This day allows us to  share news on upcoming releases that have us on the edge of our seats in anticipation. This week I am looking forward to the release of the next chapter in the Temperance Brennan series, Bones of the Lost. Here is the Goodreads description.  When Charlotte police discover the body of a teenage girl along a desolate stretch of two-lane highway, Temperance Brennan fears the worst. The girl’s body shows signs of foul play. Inside her purse police find the ID card of a prominent local businessman, John-Henry Story, who died in a horrific flea market fire months earlier. Was the girl an illegal immigrant turning tricks? Was she murdered? The medical examiner has also asked Tempe to examine a bundle of Peruvian dog mummies confiscated by U.S. Customs. A Desert Storm veteran named Dominick Rockett stands accused of smuggl

Warm Bodies: A Novel    I have been curious about this book since I fist saw the movie trailer. Finally I got some time to read this book and there was one thing that kept running through my mind the whole time. "My boyfriends back and your gonna be in trouble", the song from the Angels, just kept playing in my head. It took all my strength to A: not laugh out loud constantly as I read, and B: not go completely insane. Does anyone remember that terrible movie from the early 90's where the boyfriend dies in an accident and comes back as a zombie? Thinking about this movie while reading this book kind of made me want to go out and rent it. Now that I have finished reading Warm Bodies I want to see the movie. I always enjoy comparing the two to see what was changed by Hollywood and if it was a good move. Who knows, I might even do a movie review for Warm Bodies as a post and see what all is different. That might be overkill, two posts about the same book.  Th

Green Lantern: Rise of the Third Army   I’m blown away!!! I really don’t know what to say so I guess I will ramble on about how awesome this book is and hope it makes sense. I was chosen by DC Comics through NetGalley to read this prior to release and review it. What a story. I have been catching up on the reboots from DC and just read the first 2 volumes of Green Lantern Corps. This book collects issues from every Green Lantern title out there and meshes them seamlessly. Rise of the Third Army stretches through Green Lantern, Green Lantern Corps, New Guardians, Red Lanterns, and two annual issues. Each section had some great story telling,  and I loved seeing what was going on with each Lantern. I hadn’t seen much of Kyle Rayner in what I have been reading so I had wondered what he was up to. This book filled me in perfectly. Kyle, the fifth of the earth Lanterns, is on a mission to master each color of the emotional spectrum. Trying to master each emotion was a difficult

Feature Follow is the day of the week that we get to know each other and make some new friends. This is graciously put on by our hosts Parajunkee and Alison Can Read. Each week there is one blog featured by each host and a question to help us break the ice and open discussion. Since I am new to blogging I don't currently have a preference as to how you follow me. Feel free to follow through bloglovin, email, or GFC. I'm not picky just happy to have the company. This weeks question is: Share something you've learned about book blogging or just blogging in general in the last month. Wow, where do I start??? I haven't had my blog up for a full month yet so I have learned a ton of stuff. The easy stuff I have learned so far is how to include a picture in my blog, or a hyper link to Amazon or Goodreads pages. I have also learned some formatting stuff. I have learned all this with the help from some great friends. Angie and Merin, you have been lifesavers

  Dead Sleep    This is my fist experience reading Greg Iles. Dead Sleep was recommended to me by a friend who also likes mystery and suspense novels. When I read the little blurb about the book I thought this was going to be quite the ride. Here is the Goodreads description: An intricate and emotionally resonant story from one of the most versatile thriller writers at work today. Jordan Glass, a photojournalist on a well-earned vacation, wanders into a Hong Kong art museum and is puzzled to find fellow patrons eying her with curiosity. Minutes later, she stumbles upon a gallery containing a one-artist exhibition called "The Sleeping Women," a mysterious series of paintings that has caused a sensation in the world of modern art. Collectors have come to believe that the canvases depict female nudes not in sleep but in death, and they command millions at auction. When Jordan approaches the last work in the series, she freezes. The face in the painting seems to be her o

Talon, Vol. 1: Scourge of the Owls (The New 52) Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly book meme hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine. This day allows us to  share news on upcoming releases that have us on the edge of our seats in anticipation. I am really intrigued by this comic series. I loved the Batman: Court of Owls books and when I saw this I had to see what it is all about. Here is the Goodreads blurb: As a young performer with Haly's Circus, young Calvin Rose was secretly being raised to be a master assassin--a killing machine called a Talon. The Talons have always served the mysterious Court of Owls, a group of wealthy individuals who will stop at nothing to maintain their grip on power in Gotham City.  When Rose defects from the Talon's ranks, he is marked for death and spends the next few years using all his training to hide from his former masters. After years on the run, Rose finally returns to Gotham City following the horrors of "

Well, Bout of Books is almost here so it is time I set some goals for myself. I haven't really been in much of a reading mood lately but I have been finishing graphic novels like crazy. Those short reads are just what I need to continue reading. Since this is my first time taking part in Bout of Books I am going to try to be as realistic as possible. Goals So for my reading goals I am going to try to listen to an audio book at work everyday, and try to work in some reading of my regular books each day. I may not finish all of the books I have listed here but this is what I am shooting for. I want to try to listen to Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion, and I know I wont finish it but I am hoping to start reading Garment of Shadows by Laurie R. King. I also plan on reading Green Lantern Vol 3: The End by Geoff Johns. Books to Read I will be posting updates as I go. I will try to add them daily but if there isn't anything to report I wont. Check back to this

Unseen: A Novel I really like Karin Slaughter. I have been a fan for only a few years now and I have a good bit of her early work to catch up on, but when ever she puts out a new book I have to read it. The first book I read of hers was Fallen , and I have read each new book in order as they come out. While doing that I am also reading her books from the beginning to catch up.  Karin Slaughter is an amazing character writer. I have been a fan of Dr Sara Linton since the very first book. I love reading all the adventures and turmoil in her fictional life. When I read Fallen I was introduced to her and Will Trent.  Will’s character has so much depth and hidden secrets I still learn something new about him with each book. I have yet to read the beginning of his series, but I am really looking forward to it. When it comes to her characters I almost enjoy what’s happening between each character more than the main plot. Sara and Will’s relationship is tested in this book and sa

Wonder Woman Vol. 3: Iron (The New 52) This book was graciously given to me by DC Comics through NetGalley for an honest review. I am more than happy to review DC’s books because when it comes to comic books I am clearly a DC fan. I have enjoyed quite a few books by other publishers and I don’t limit myself, DC just seems to have the best writing and art work in my opinion. All of my favorite superheroes are DC characters and I enjoy reading all the different stories and crossover events. Wonder Woman may not be on the top of my list but I have really liked reading her story in the past. This is actually my first time reading Wonder Woman since the New 52 started, so I might be missing some information. Still this book is pretty good at telling a story and I didn’t feel left out or confused. I was able to enjoy this even though I am just starting out.   This book opens up with an old style story of Wonder Woman as a teenager. She is desperate to be the best Amazon warr

Feature Follow is the day of the week that we get to know each other and make some new friends. This is graciously put on by our hosts Parajunkee and Alison Can Read. Each week there is one blog featured by each host and a question to help us break the ice and open discussion. Since I am new to blogging I don't currently have a preference as to how you follow me. Feel free to follow through bloglovin, email, or GFC. I'm not picky just happy to have the company. This weeks question is: Back to School time! Create a reading list for the imaginary English Lit class you'll be teaching this semester.  This is very interesting, and I struggled a lot with what to choose. There are so many books by so many different authors that I would love to share. I would love to teach Bone Collector by Jeffery Deaver or IT by Stephen King, but other than just being great books I couldn't really find an academic reason for studying these. So after a lot of thought I t

Doctor Sleep: A Novel Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly book meme hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine, where we have the chance to  share news on upcoming releases that have us on the edge of our seats in anticipation. For this week my pick is the long awaited Doctor Sleep by Stephen King. This book will be released on September 24, 2013. This past January I read the Shining for the first time. I really enjoyed it and when I heard that Doctor Sleep was originally going to be released in January I couldn't wait to see what Danny is up to these days. Sadly the release date got pushed and all it has done is build my excitement. Here is the description: On highways across America, a tribe of people called The True Knot travel in search of sustenance. They look harmless—mostly old, lots of polyester, and married to their RVs. But as Dan Torrance knows, and spunky twelve-year-old Abra Stone learns, The True Knot are quasi-immortal, living off the “steam” that