Brunner's Bar

I'm going to step away from my usual topic because I have to talk about one of the most fun events I have done in awhile. Occasionally I will post personal things and I feel this is a great one to share. My birthday was August 11th and for my present from my Dad, he and I attended a Smoking 101 class at the Weber Grill Academy here in St Louis.  I am an avid reader but one of my other passions is cooking. I love to cook and grill when I'm not working, playing with the kids, or reading.  I thought I knew everything there is to know about grilling and smoking meats so I went into this as a fun activity for my Dad and I to bond over. You see, I was born on my Dad's birthday so we have always celebrated our birthday together. This year we didn't on the day because he hit the big 60 and had a big party Last Sunday We still found a way to have our Father/Son birthday time on Saturday last week. Anyway, I thought I knew everything and after this class I realized I kn

The Magicians This is the third book series I decided to read after watching the Television version first. It is also the only one I liked. I watched Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell  and liked the show but the book was a struggle to get through. It was so boring. The other series I watched before I read was Dexter. Again, I liked the show so much better than the books. This book was pretty good. There were quite a few differences from the show but I really enjoyed listening to this and looked forward to being able to read this even time I put it down.  This book is kind of a cross between Harry Potter and the Chronicles of Narnia. Our main character Quentin is someone who is really hard on himself, suffers from depression and feels he doesn't fit anywhere. Instead he looses himself in children's books about a family of children who go to a magical place called Fillory which is the Narnia parallel. Quentin wants so much for this place to be real because the real world

Injustice: Gods Among Us I finally got around to reading this. I have no idea why I put it off so long. I played the game on my iPhone and iPad as soon as it came out until I got bored with it an moved on. I also read Year 2 Vol 1  a long time ago because NetGally and DC Comics were kind enough to let me have an advanced reader copy. It was a little hard to read that book and not know what was going on in the first 2 volumes. I happened to be at my library and this was sitting there on the shelf so I picked it up and I'm so glad I did. This book is such a contradiction in a good way. This book is dark and light, full of pain and friendship while at the same time tearing it apart, and love and betrayal. This makes no sense at all and just typing that sentence seemed like I wasn't doing this justice. Pun not intended. If you played the game you will know that heroes fight each other and villains even turn against each other and side with the heroes. Reading this I can se

The Drawing of the Three I'm just going to say this right now. It is impossible to write these reviews without spoilers. I wont write anything to spoil this book in my review but I will refer to events in the first book. So if you haven't read these books and want to then I would suggest turning back now until your own journey to the tower can begin.  The man in Black has left a dried up corpse of himself behind and Roland is left wondering how much time has really passed in his Palaver. Now Roland can continue his journey to the Dark Tower and try to deal with the prophecy the Man in Black set forth before the end of their palaver. Roland will build his Ka-Tet in order to make it to the tower. A Ka-Tet is like a family made up of different people with the same goal. The prophecy mentions three that Roland will come across on his road. He will meet The Prisoner, The Lady of Shadows, and The Pusher. Roland wakes from a dream where he is the one who drowns and not Ja

The Fall of the Governor Part 2 Well this book picks up right where the last leaves off. You'd think this is obvious since it says Part 2, but I have read a lot of books that are continuation stories and yet they begin on a completely different plot before they swing back around. The Governor is out of commission trying to recoup from the attack that left him half a man in book one. He is subjected to battle field medicine since the doctor for Woodbury is now a zombie and the only person they have who might be able to help the Governor is the town drunk who was an army medic long long ago.  Since our main character is out for most of the book this story is really about Lilly again. Lilly is the kind of person who used to be skeptic and didn't trust the Governor. She felt there was something off with the man and the town was a little to perfect that it had to be hiding something. Well that takes a complete 180 turn in this book. This character goes from being a skepti

The Colorado Kid I have heard a lot about this book and knew that the show Haven was based off of this. This book is part of the Hard Case crime series which is comprised of books written by a bunch of different authors. I love that pulp crime style of story so I had high hopes for this book. So let me start off by saying this was a pretty good book but not what I was expecting.  This book is a story about two older newspaper men telling their old stories to the new young girl who writes a column and strives to be more. The setting is a lunch meeting with a big shot reporter from Boston. He cam to this tiny little coastal town to find out all the wierd unsolved cases the town might had for a piece he wants to write. These guys of course give the big city reporter all the stories you hear over and over in a small town. Mysterious poisoning at a church picnic, boat found with one dead body and 15 others missing. These were not what he was looking for so he heads home to Boston

The Fall of the Governor: Part 1 I have enjoyed this series but if I'm being honest the best books in the series are the ones that involve the Governor more. This makes no sense because it is part of the Governor series. Book one is all about the Governor and how he goes from the beginning of the Zombie Apocalypse to what he eventually becomes. Book two introduces us to a new character Lilly who finds her way into Woodbury. The bulk of the second book and the beginning of this one is all about Lilly. However, the second half of this book is all about the Governor and when he meets our heroes from the comics and and show.  In this book the Governor meets Rick, Michonne, and Glenn and immediately turns on them and attacks them, kidnaps them, and tortures them to get information on where they are located to either take it over, raid it, or wipe it out. What he puts these three through is hard to read but if you have read the comics you have already seen it. Don't get me