Brunner's Bar

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:   Reading Nook Tour, A tour of my favorite place to read. Well I honestly don't have a favorite place to read. My wife and I have a samll apartment with our two wonderful children, so you can imagine I have very little time to read. I read in bed when the kids are asleep (reading never lasts for long). I read on the floor and at work when it's slow. When we buy a house I plan on making the perfect reading spot in my very own library, so what am I going to shar

Sherlock Holmes: The Liverpool Demon I’m not sure what all to say except that I am really disappointed. I was fortunate enough to find this on Netgalley as an advanced reader edition. I loved the first book in the Sherlock Holmes graphic novels, so I figured this would be awesome to read. I was a bit wrong. The story wasn’t that great. Not that the writing was terrible, but the plot was dull, and there was a lot of awkward feeling dialog. I realize that certain characters had a cockney accent, and it is really hard to write how the words sound when spoken, but at times the whole sentence just felt like it should have been something else. There was so much potential in this story line that was never met. Sherlock Holmes just wasn’t the character I know him to be in this book. Now I do tend to get extra picky when it comes to Holmes being written by anyone who isn’t Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, but if I want new Holmes stories I have to play nice and go in with an open mind. Hol

The Joker: Death of the Family   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 have loved this story line so far. The Joker has returned after a year of being absent. Face in hand, he is out to find the Batman that once was. Joker feels Batman is to dependent on his family; Nightwing, Red Robin, Batgirl, and so on. He wants the dark brooding and lonely Batman that he remembers. The story line has taken some interesting twists and turns so far. Here is the Goodreads description: After having his face sliced off one year ago, The Joker makes his horrifying return in this new epic that features Batman's entire network of partners in crime fighting, including Batgirl, Catwoman, Nightwing, Robin, the Teen Titans and more. While The Joker threatens the very existence of Gotham City, these heroes --and villains--must find

Justice League Vol 1: Origins I'm a little behind on my New 52, but I finally got around to Justice League. I was blown away!!! Geoff Johns' writing with  Jim Lee doing the art made this perfect. Geoff Johns is my favorite comic writer. His stories are very well written, and the plot always grabs me right away and never lets up. Jim Lee is one of the greats when it comes to his art work. I put him in such high regard with Alex Ross. I was first introduced to Jim Lee's work when I read Batman: Hush . The way he draws Batman is better than I ever imagined him in my own imagination. These are just some examples of the artwork in this book to show just how gifted Jim Lee is. Now o n to the story. In past reboots of the Justice League the heroes already knew each other. Batman had worked with Superman and Green Lantern in other stories. Those books were just about them all coming together as a team. In this book we get to see the different heroes meet for th

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:   What were some of your favorite picture books as a kid? If you have kids, what are your favorites to read to them?  When I was a kid I really liked the Curious George books, but my favorite were the Berenstain Bears books. I loved these, and every time we would go to the book store I had to get a new one. My favorites of this series were:     My Wife and I read The Berenstain Bears' New Baby to my son when his sister was on the way this year. He is 3 a

I just stumbled across this challenge, and I am going to throw my name in.This sounds like a fun challenge that to be honest, I have already completed. Level 1 asks that you read 12 graphic novels this year or 1 a month. Level two is just double that so 24 Graphic novels this year. Currently I have read 26, and I have 3 more waiting to be read. I am a huge comic book fan, and this is a perfect opportunity to track how many titles I have read this year. This way I can set a higher goal next year and challenge myself more. Since I am so late in the game here I will not be taking part of the Advanced game which requires you read certain types of Graphic novels. Since I'm starting late I will only be doing the basic challenge. Maybe next year I will get more into it when the 2014 challenge starts. The challenge can be found at Graphic Novel Challenge 2013 , and it isn't to late to sign up if you want to join. I have been told that all reviews read this year will count. Here

Gods of Guilt 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 have been a big fan of Michael Connelly from very early on. There are very few early books that I need to catch up on. The Harry Bosch series is one of my favorite detective series. This book is another character who has his own series named Mickey Haller. I really like the detail that this series has pertaining to legal matters. I still get the courtroom drama of a John Grisham book but with some amazing action and twists. Here is the Goodreads description: Defense attorney Mickey Haller returns with a haunting case in the gripping new thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author Michael Connelly.  Mickey Haller gets the text, "Call me ASAP - 187," and the California penal code for murder immediately gets his attention. Murder cases have the highes

Richard Castle's Storm Season Normally I am strictly a DC Comics guy, but I am a big fan of the show Castle. These graphic novels are based off of the books Richard Castle wrote about Derrick Storm. This graphic novel follows right after the events in Deadly Storm . Derrick Storm is still a private detective, but now he is also a spy working for the CIA. After recently loosing his first CIA handler, he is trying to throw himself into his work. Helping a wealthy heiress get back the money she was conned out of, Storm comes across an African Freedom fighter. The Freedom fighter tracks Storm down and begs him to find his sister who is trapped in a human traffic ring. I thought this was a great plot especially for a comic book. There is quite a bit of action in this book, and the artwork is really well done. Like any spy novel there are gun fights, chases and beautiful women. One in particular make Storm think he has seen a ghost. This is the second graphic novel in the Derri

Joyland I really enjoyed this book. I was so excited to hear about it because I am a big Stephen King fan, and I love the old pulp or noir style detective stories. This isn't a detective story, but it still has a very intriguing mystery. Here is the description from Goodreads: "I love crime, I love mysteries, and I love ghosts," says Stephen King, who has combined these elements into a wonderful new story. Joyland is a whodunit noir crime novel and a haunting ghost story set in the world of an amusement park. It tells the story of the summer in which college student Devin Jones comes to work as a 'carny' in small-town North Carolina and has to confront the legacy of a vicious murder, the fate of a dying child, and the way both will change his life forever. It is also a wonderful coming-of-age novel about friendship, loss, and your first heartbreak. Who dares enter the funhouse of fear? There isn't a lot of fast paced action right from the get go, but

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 I was doing a Kickstarter campaign for my favorite book to be made into a movie, what would it be, and who would I cast.  Well since both of my favorite books have been made into movies (Bone Collector, and IT) I decided to pick a different book that I would love to see made into a movie. I chose ... Joyland by Stephen King. I chose this mainly because I am reading this now, and it is fresh in my mind. I am terrible at trying to decide who to cast in cer

Locke & Key Vol 5: Clockworks This is the book I have been waiting for in the Locke and Key series. The first four books were interesting but never really answered any of the questions I had. All the previous books did was introduce new keys and the magic they held. This book finally gives answers. In this book we get to see what the clockwork key does. This gives anyone who uses it the ability to travel in the past. Finally we get to see how the keys were forged, what the metal that makes them is and why the keys exist. I loved this story mainly because I finally got some answers. We also get to advance the story of the existing characters. Of course we have been following Dodge through the whole series, and now we get more info on his character. He was friends with Tyler’s father when they were teens. Somehow he is back as a teenager again and trying to find the Omega Key for his own personal gain. There is a little information dropped throughout the four books, but t

Justice League Vol 3: Throne of Atlantis 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. It's no secret that I am a huge fan of DC Comics. I love the different superheroes and when they are all mashed together in one book it doesn't get much better. Unless the person writing it is Geoff Johns. Of course I'm excited about a new Justice League book, but I just finished reading Aquaman Vol 1 and this is a direct tie in to that story line. I'm very excited to see what happens. Here is the Goodreads description: When Atlantis is struck by a U.S. Naval missile gone awry, Atlantis--led by Aquaman's brother Ocean Master--attacks the East Coast of the United States flooding its major cities such as Boston, Metropolis, Gotham City and several others. The Justice League comes together to help Aquaman turn back the ti

  Sinister (2012) Summer is coming to a close and Fall is just around the corner. This means it is time for me to watch as many Horror movies as I can before Halloween. This is may favorite time of year and Halloween is my favorite holiday. Every year I watch the same movies in preparation for Halloween. These are usually Nightmare on Elm St, Friday the 13th, Halloween (original and Rob Zombie remake), and Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I also try to catch up on recent movies I haven't seen. My wife used to be a big fan of horror movies before our son was born. Then her mom gene kicked in and she just doesn't enjoy them as much. Since going to the theaters is so expensive I can't justify it for just myself to see these Horror movies. Still, she does get in the mood to watch one every now and then and our library has a great movie section. So we watched this a few days ago and I wasn't as impressed as I had hoped. The trailer looked amazing, and this is one of those

  Sons of Moriarty and More Stories of Sherlock Holmes This is a collection of short stories written by several different authors all based on one of my favorite detectives, Sherlock Holmes. Being a fan of Conan Doyle's original work, I tend to be a bit critical of other authors who write stories with Holmes and Watson in them. I have been pleasantly surprised many times by authors who have done these characters justice, and I have also been really let down. This book has both good and bad stories in it, but mostly I didn't care for the short stories. The first one, The Infernal Machine , by John Lutz was pretty good, but that was it. The second story in this collection entitled The Adventure of the Double-bogey Man irritated me so much I almost couldn't get through it. The biggest issue I had with this was that the author, Robert L. Fish, changed the names of the characters. Instead of Sherlock and Watson it was Schlock and Watney. Also, this story has Holmes's

Evil Dead 2013 I'm a big fan of horror movies. The cheesier the better. Needless to say, the original Evil Dead and Evil Dead 2 are some of my very favorites. When I saw that there was going to be a remake of the original I was torn. I was elated to see a re-imaging of this cult classic and really concerned that it would be terrible. Whenever someone tries to redo a classic they tend to stray to far from the things I liked about the original. The original Evil Dead was made in 1981, and the production value was really bad. This was the movie where the great director Sam Rami and B movie actor Bruce Campbell started. The premise is five friends go to a remote cabin in the woods for a fun weekend. While there they stumble across the Book of the Dead. This book is bound in human flesh and inked in blood. The passages unleash the dead from their eternal prison. Slowly the dead begin to posses each person driving them all crazy in the secluded cabin in the woods. What is not to

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 is an activity; welcome to my bookshelf tour. Fitting considering my site is called Brunner's Bookshelf. Might as well see what I use to hold one of my obsessions.  Let me start by saying that I don't have a lot of space for furniture so I do with what I have. We have two bookshelves and this is the tall skinny one. This is the top three shelves. At one point we had our shelves arranged by Author's last name alphabetically but now it is a little loose. Let me point out a few h