Brunner's Bar

Slither I took a little break from this series but I'm ready to finish and find out what happens to Tom, Alice, and the Spook. This is listed as the 11th book in the series but really it doesn't fit in the story line. Like the 9th book, Grimalkin the Witch Assassin , this is a stand alone story. It almost seems like the this was a different project that was rolled into the series to draw it out a bit. This story has very little to do with Tom and his quest. It takes place in a different realm where they have never heard of Spooks.  This book is about a creature who lives off the blood of others and makes a deal with a local farmer. He will leave the farmer and his family alone if he will allow Slither to feed from the animals from time to time. Something happens tot he farmer and we learn that as long as Slither gets his two youngest daughters to safety then he can have the oldest.  There are a few references to Spooks and we have a pop in from one of the bigger

Bout of Books 12 It's that time again and I am excited to be able to participate in this round of  Bout of Books . I have had my slumps this year because of one thing or another, but this is a great opportunity to catch up. I have fallen behind on my Graphic novel challenge this year so I'm hoping to start off 2015 with a bang. In case you don’t know what Bout of Books is all about here is a little blurb: The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @  On a Book Bender  and Kelly @  Reading the Paranormal . It is a weeklong read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 12th and runs through Sunday, May 18th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 10 information and updates, be sure to visit the  Bout of Books blog . - From the Bout o

Merry Christmas to all!!! Now I'm not so single minded to think that everyone celebrates Christmas and for those that read my blog I really hope you all have a very Happy Holidays. I do celebrate Christmas in my family'e life it lasts a little over a week. That's a long story I won't bore you with but we try to get as much out of this holiday as possible. Our kids are getting older and we do our very best to give them the best Christmas possible. Things are a little better this year for them thanks to my great job I got back in July. So we put up the tree and the lights and our Elf on the Shelf came for a visit. Have you heard of the Elf on the Shelf. It is a cute idea but really a pain in the butt. Every year our elf Neighbor. My Son named him, comes on Thanksgiving night with breakfast fixings. Every day he is in a new spot in the house to watch the kiddos and report back to Santa every night if they have been good or bad. This worked great last year but thi

Graphic Novel Challenge 2015 I love this challenge. Comics are something that I have never grown out of and since my library carries a huge catalog of graphic novels I read more of them as an adult. The Other thing I love about this challenge is that it lasts all year round. I am always working towards my goals and planning what books I want to catch up on.  Like last year there are three levels to aim for this coming year.  Levels Modern Age : read and review 12 books during the year (that's only 1 book a month) Bronze Age : read and review 24 books during the year (Can you handle 2 books a month.) Silver Age : read and review 52 books during the year (Are you up to a book a week!) Last year I decided to go all in for the Silver Age challenge. I fell short with a total of 40 Graphic novels read at the time I posted this. I might be able to get one or two more in before the end of this year. I had some great things happen this year with my new job that I love but

The Night Eternal Well, I'm finished with the trilogy and I'm glad it's over. I wanted to like this series but by the time I got about a quarter of the way through this one I wanted to pack it in and move on. My stubbornness won out and since I had already read the first two I had to know how this was going to end.   My biggest complaint with this book other than it was just dull, was the fact that a few chapters in I hated all of the characters in this book. I like our little survivor team of Fet, and Eph, and Nora, but in this book things personalities change and I really didn't like the turn they had taken. I was amazad at how quickly Guillermo Del Toro made me hate characters I grew to like in the first two books. That kind of put me off the whole book fright from the start and I was only a few chapters in.  Unlike book two, The Fall , this once doesn't pick up right where the previous left off. This book begins 2 years later. A lot can happen in

Nightwing Vol 5 I did things a little backwards. I have only read Vol 1 of the New 52 reboot, but when this became available through Edelweiss as an Advanced reader copy I jumped at the chance to put my name in the ring. I was fortunate enough to be granted a copy from DC Comics and I am very grateful. Nightwing is one of my favorite superheroes. I always loved the lighter side Dick Greyson brought as Robin to the Dynamic Duo. When he left the cave to become his own man as Nightwing I was hooked. I always enjoyed the stories that he came back into to, and then when he was rebooted the first time with the new black and blue suit I collected every single issue till Battle For the Cowl when Nightwing's series ended.  I really liked this Vol even if I was a little lost at times. I have heard from friends what all is going on with Dick in his series so I wasn't spoiled by anything, but still a little lost. This book is a collection of stories from Dick's past. Startin

The Fall The Show the Strain was really good this first season. It renewed my interest in this trilogy. The first book wasn't as good as the television series in my opinion but I wanted to see where the story was going. This is definitely a middle book. Nothing really happens in this book until the very end and it really feels like that was just setting up the final chapter in this story.  So here comes the warning. I am going to mention some things that happened at the very end of the last book/show so if you don't wan't SPOILERS then I would stop here. If you have seen the show or read the first book you will be fine. If you don't care to read these and are curious to find out what O have to say then keep reading. I'd love the company. This book picks up right where the last leaves off. The Master has escaped and looks like an over cooked turkey. The sun may have burned him but it didn't kill him like it does the underlings. The Vampires have be

  Batman/Superman Vol 2 I was fortunate enough to be granted a review copy of this from DC Comics through Netgalley. I have enjoyed this series and wished it was a little better at the same time. The thing I really like about this series is the back and forth between Batman and Superman, but not the dialog but the internal thoughts of these characters. Batman will think something like Clark is a Boy Scout, and then the next text box is Superman thinking something like "I'm sure Bruce thinks I'm a Boy Scout". This non verbal back and forth shows just how close the friendship between these characters is.  The one thing I am not a big fan of is the cross over between our universe and the Earth 2 universe. I get confused as to which Batman I'm reading about, the younger one who has little experience or the older one that has this family and is not what Batman is about at all. The story in this was pretty interesting. It starts out with Mogul and his son whi

The Burning Girl I got this email from Netgalley offering two novellas from Lisa Unger. The premise for these two books was to not judge a book by its cover so there wasn't one when these came available on Netgalley for request. I really liked this idea. I must admit that a really good cover can make me want to read a book or on the flip side make me avoid a book at all costs no matter how interesting it might sound. I threw my name in for these and was fortunate enough to be selected to review this and the other book.  I was intrigued by the idea of a psychic who is finding out dark secrets about her past while trying to figure out the mystery behind the burning girl she keeps seeing.  I didn't realize it at the time I started this but this is the second book in the Whispers series. I read these two a little out of sequence but to be honest I didn't feel like I was missing out on anything. This book reads like a single story and I didn't feel like there was

The Son of Neptune I'm not sure I know what to say about this book that I haven't already said in my review for The Lost Hero . I still felt like I have read this book before because of the parallels between the Percy Jackson series and of course the first book of this series. I know the two books in this series are supposed to be parallels but I again felt myself letting my mind wander away from the story. One thing I did like about this book was the fact that we are back with Percy Jackson. He is paired with new Demi Gods and in this case they are from the Roman version of Camp Half Blood. The constant bouncing between Greek and Roman references was dizzying at times. It was hard to keeo straight what gods they were talking about. It has been quite awhile since I have studied Greek and Roman Mythology in school so I was a little rusty. I feel like these book seem to be missing the level of action that was in the previous series. There is a lot of talking and not

The Lost Hero I really enjoyed the Percy Jackson series and both my wife and a friend of mine raved about this series. They liked this series better than the Percy Jackson one so I had high hopes. Well, I wasn't all that impressed. I knew going into this that it isn't going to be all about Percy Jackson but I really didn't care for the new characters. I also felt like I had read this book already. This one was so similar to The Lightening Thief  I could predict everything that was going to happen. To top it off this book opens yet again with a class field trip where property is damaged by some evil mythological creature.  I spent most of this book kind of bored as I just stumbled through. There were times that I thought I would just move on but decided to stick it out. In this book we have a new Demigod wake up with no memory and he is thrown into a new life with the kids of Camp Half Blood. Jason has to adjust to Leo and Piper who have fake memories of being fri

War Cry I have been on a bit of a comic book hiatus since I binge read the Walking Dead books. I happened to get an email for new Comics from NetGalley and this was in it. I love the Dresden File books that I have read and the comics are a lot of fun. I had to grab this as soon as I could. Thank you Netgalley.  I have missed a lot apparently since the last graphic novel I read. This book finds Dresden as a Warden of the White council. His first mission is to take a bunch of newly appointed Wardens who are young and inexperienced to the middle of nowhere and rescue a few mortals. These regular humans have been targeted by the Red Court of Vampires and it is Harry's Job to get them and keep them safe.  The story was really good and it made me want to catch up on all of the books and Graphic novels I have missed. I love the Dresden files novels but I have only read about 5 of them. I wish I had more time to sit down and read because I would be able to catch up on these.

Teen Titans: Earth One I really like these Earth One Books. It is a little hard to adjust to the change of origin stories but at the same time I really like seeing what the writers come up with. This book has an interesting twist on the origin on the Teen Titans and it definitely raised more questions than it answered in this book. I'm hooked and anxiously awaiting Vol 2.  In this book our heroes all start out as ordinary high school kids with a hidden past. All at once they begin to go through changes and are drawn to one place. One person is calling for help and these teens are the only ones who know she needs help. We get to see these characters grow and begin to find out who they really are.  I don't want to give to much away because this is such a great story. A little slow to get started but the overall plot was really good. It also left me wanting even more so I am looking forward to the next volume. So many questions and so many ways this story could go. T

For those that visit my blog regularly might have noticed my usual three post a week have been missing. At best I think I might have put out one a week. I have to admit that I really haven't felt like blogging much. I haven't really been in much of a mood to read either. The whole family has been since the last week and a half so that has been fun and left all of us pretty run down. I have also been really busy with work so when I get home I just want to chill. The computer hasn't been out all week and my iPad was pretty much used for a few games and checking email.  With things being crazy busy at work and feeling a bit more stressed than usual I have skipped listening to books at work because I can't afford my attention to be divided and had a lot of great music playing instead. This has caused my nice stock pile of reviews to thin out to nothing. I have one or two reviews to write and one that will post Tuesday because I had to wait till release day to pos

The Strain I read this book in 2011 long before I knew this was going to be a television show. When the show started I was really curious to see how they were going to do the special effects. The trailer for it looked awesome so my wife and I decided we were going to watch this. I was hooked on the show right from the start.  The show was great, the book however was not my favorite. The idea is terrifying, a plan lands and everyone on it is dead. Later the bodies begin to get up and infect the rest of the city spreading quickly. When I read the book and reviewed it the first time I only gave it 2 stars. It was hard to keep my focus on the book and I was getting really bored. Since I love the show I decided to give this book one more try.  I liked it a little more but it was still really boring for about half of the book. The story seemed to drag on and on before anything really interesting happened. A lot of CDC talk and bodies in cold storage. The show doesn't

Big Hero 6 I did something I haven't done in years. I saw a movie in the theaters on opening day. I haven't done anything like that since my wife and I were dating and that was a long long time ago. Friday the 7th was my son's 5th birthday. I took off work and we made a big day out of his birthday one more time before he starts next year. We have taken him to movies before but it is usually the dollar show because it stings less if we have to leave mid movie. This was the first movie in the bog theater that he has gone to and aside from getting up several times to go to the bathroom he was great. He loved it and so did I.  Leave it to Disney to make a happy kids movie heart wrenching and sad before it picks you up. I won't go into details because I don't want to ruin anything. This movie is about a genius teenager who has this healing robot. Baymax is this squishy health robot that will heal burns and make you feel better when you are down. Check out the

Alpha and Omega I finally got to finish this series and I am both elated and really sad that it is over. I was granted this by Netgalley as an Advanced reader copy a long time ago before it was published. I had a problem with my Bluefire Reader app and I lost everything I had downloaded. By that time this had been archived and I couldn't get it back. I have been waiting for my library to get this one as part of its stock. I loved this series but this book is my favorite out of them all.  A few of the books were a little on the slow side but they helped build one heck of a story. Each book introduced new keys and what they did. These keys don't just open doors but they can control armies and open your mind and all sort of cool things. The house, and town have secrets that are slowly revealed through these books. Most of the time these book raise more questions than answers, but everything comes to fruition in this book.  This book starts out a little confusing at

The Green Mile I saw the movie right after it came to video. Not usually something I would have watched when I was younger but I really liked it. It has always stuck with me and the reason is because of the characters. I have read some pretty disappointing books in the last month so I wanted something I knew would be a good one. I don't usually do this but there are so many things I want to talk about this book so there will be SPOILERS in this review. If you haven't seen the movie or read the book this is where we shall part. Beyond this point there is a change that something might get ruined for you.  I haven't read this book until right now. It stayed very close to the book but of course there were little things that are in the book that are cut out of the movie. These little pieces help fill in gaps and keeps the story moving. The one thing I didn't care for much is after the second part we get these interludes with Boss Paul in a retirement home and we f

Sadly another Halloween has come and gone. I had a blast this year and I really hate to have it behind me. I did feel like I needed a few days before I wrote this post so I could recoup from everything and really put thought into this post. I've got nothing.  Where I live the weather is always against us. Last year it was raining and this yes the temp was 37 degrees Fahrenheit and the wind was unforgiving. It really brought back those memories from my child hood where the only thing you could see of your costume was your mask because you were bundled under layers and coats. My son was lucky enough because he was Spider-Man we were able to put his costume on over his clothes, then a jacket and then his Spider-man hoodie over that so you still got to see his costume. He is 4 so we were only out trick-or-treating for maybe a half hour but he wanted to eat some candy right away. My poor daughter is 1 and she was going to be Bat-Girl but it was so cold we bundled her up and was

Halloween 1978 There isn't a better movie to end my Halloween week than this one. Halloween Night is the night young Michael Myers snaps and kills his family. Decades later Michael is a patient at an asylum and finds breaks out. He returns home to finish the killing spree he started as a kid. Halloween night is when he returns to Haddonfield. Like Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Friday the 13th, Michael Myers is a giant hulking silent killer. Sure Leatherface does some grunting and  occasional scream he doesn't say anything. Nothing can stop Michael when he sets his mind to something.  I did mention in my Friday the 13th review that it is a lot of fun seeing these big actors when they were first starting out. This wasn't Jamie Lee Curtis's first role but it was very early in her career. She has come a long way since this movie. The was the movie that gave her the moniker of Scream Queen. The thing about Michael Myers is the mask. This is the thing that m

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) This movie has one of the scariest premises ever. As kids do you remember when you would get really scared you would jump into bed and pull the covers over you because if the scary thing can't see you you are safe. I know I did, I felt like nothing could touch me under those covers and when I would gather my courage to peak out, whatever scared me was gone. Not in Nightmare on Elm Street. In this movie a child molester named Freddy Krueger is killed in an abandoned building by the parents of Elm Street. Burned to death his face is horribly disfigured and his evil soul has found a new life. Freddy comes after you in your dreams. The only good thing about a nightmare is that you can wake up and it is gone. What if you couldn't wake up and your nightmare could kill you and you never wake up from it. This movie terrified me as a kid. I remember watching this on my little black and white TV in my room late at night when my parents thought

The Evil Dead This wouldn't be part of my Halloween Week if it wasn't one of my favorites, but I really love these movies. All of these including the Re-Make are ones I watch over and over again. The first of these that I saw was Evil Dead. 2. That one is my favorite and I might just have to review that  in the future or maybe for next years Halloween Week. After seeing that one I had to find this one and watch it too. I ended up finding it at my local Blockbuster (yes I am dating myself since they have been closed for I don't know how long now). My wife and I were just friends then and we would hang out sometimes. I ordered Pizza and and we watched this together. We were huge fans of all horror movies back then and saw everyone we could. I still am a big fan of horror movies but now that we have kids it is tougher and tougher to find time to watch them.  This is the pinnacle of low budget horror movies. Again we have a group of College aged kids heading out to t

Friday the 13th When you think of Friday the 13th do you immediately go to Jason Voorhees? Jason is the star of this franchise but not actually in this movie. Well, he is in a scene or two at the very end but not as the Jason we are familiar with. Jason actually doesn't start his killing spree till the second movie and it is the 3rd or 4th where he finally picks up the Hockey mask. This movie does set up the whole story of the iconic psychopath. Jason is a deformed little boy just hanging out at the summer camp his mother works at. The kids are cruel and he gets pushed into the lake. Normally he would be rescued by a life guard but the camp counselors who should be watching are off having sex, so Jason drowns. This movie wastes no time getting to the hack and slash. In less that five minutes the counselors who should have been watching are killed while fooling around. The difference between this scene in 1980 and the same scene now is the fact that the over the top gore i

Texas Chainsaw Massacre Horror movies have really changed over the years. Long ago horror movies were more about what you don't see. They gave you an idea of what is going on but you had to picture it for yourself. Even the slasher movies were not overly gory. In 1974 this probably was equivalent to Hostel, but your imagination can still be much worse than what you actually see in this movie.  Today movies Like this one are cheesy, horribly acted, and just goofy, but I love them. This is one of several Classic horror movies that I just love. Every year I watch this or the remake in the month of October. It gets me in the Halloween spirit. Just take a look at how different this is from movies today. So here is the low down on this movie. It opens with a decomposed corpse that we are led to believe has been part of a grave robbery. The background news report voice over helps bring a creepy factor. Then the credits begin to roll with this spilled blood look that is