Review - Hounded by Kevin Hearne

Right now I am bouncing between various authors within my preferred genre.  I'm reading series by Rob Thurman, Rob Cornell, Devon Monk and Jim Butcher.  So it's beyond me as to why I picked up another Urban Fantasy series.  But I do have another author/stalker on Twitter now!!  WOOT!

Kevin Hearne is the author of the Iron Druid Chronicles.  The first book in this series, Hounded, was a fun read with different fantasy characters.  Oh, there were still vampires and werewolves but there were also fir bolgs and ancient Celtic gods, not to mention a hot druid hero with cool tattoos and a kick-ass magical sword.  It might help that I'm obsessed with Celtic lore but a different kind of magic and a sound foundation in actual Irish/Welsh mythology was refreshing.

The writing was solid even if it didn't have depth. There wasn't much thinking involved to keep up with the plot.  Still, the writing was smooth and the action moved well.  The characters were sometimes shallow and it was hard to keep up with all the werewolf names but the storyline was highly entertaining.  And this book had laugh out loud moments.  It's not drop on the floor laughing but it did deliver several good one liners.

My hope is that there will be more character development in the next few installments.  That said, I'm definitely hooked regardless.  I finished Hounded this afternoon and went to B&N this evening to pick up Hexed and Hammered, the next two books in the series.  I'm pretty stoked that Thor might be a main player in the Hammered title.

Hearne & Hounded get a solid A- on the Brewed scale.  An easy read that is extremely entertaining, it's a must read for Urban Fantasy readers.

Review - Ophelia by Lisa Klein

Barnes & Noble link

During one of my recent book buying escapades, I ran across a book about my favorite Shakespearean female.  Ophelia, by Lisa Klein, is a fictional story about the tragic heroine.  I was stoked about a Hamlet storyline told from Ophelia's point of view.  So I picked up the book without reading the first few pages or knowing anything about the author.  Besides, it was on sale. O.o

I love Ophelia; her passion and depth of love creates a strong character out of just a few pages of text.  Her tragic end makes her memorable.  She is timeless, romantic, beautiful, complex - all the things expected from a Shakespearean woman.  And unrealistically, I stepped into the book Ophelia expecting the same literary strength and depth - a high bar I should not have set; there is only one Shakespeare.

This book was flat and disappointing.  All the female characters were so  stereo-typical it was almost insulting.  And Ophelia herself was trivial; there was no strength in her re-envisioned character.  Hamlet was a prat; Horatio was meek.  The writing was dull and lacked any type of depth and realism.  Everything fell way short in my opinion.  The ending was horrific - I won't even go there.  Nothing was developed, the take on the females themselves was too modern, and the love story aspect was shallow.

I did my research after finishing this book; I had to know why it was so bad and how anyone could have butchered a perfectly wonderful character like Ophelia in the first place.  Apparently, this was a debut book for Klein and it was intended to be a Young Adult book.  I can get behind a younger audience but only if it is targeted at girls who do not enjoy Shakespeare in general and Hamlet in particular.

I would not recommend this book and it receives a Brewed B FAIL.  Maybe I expected too much given my love for the character but even as on overall read it was slow, predictable, and boring. Sad Shakespearean panda.

A Day of Thanks

Who doesn't love a day full of food, friends, family and being thankful for it all!  Hello Thanksgiving; I'm glad you are a holiday. ^_^

Here at Brewed Bohemian we had a wonderful day.  There were pies, of course.  Buttermilk, chocolate and lemon meringue. YUM.

But in my pie excitement, I've gotten ahead of myself.  First there was breakfast with cinnamon rolls, English muffins, and mimosas.  Again, YUM.

After a very filling brunch with great friends, we headed out to the real event - lunch with the family. SO. MUCH. FOOD.  It was all excellent.  And being with family in the Texas sunshine made it a perfect afternoon.  I did make some non-pie related foods.  There was a pumpkin pomegranate salad, mini yam tarts, squash & pear soup, bread and roasted butternut squash.  I had several requests for the roasted squash recipe so here it goes.  No laughing at the simplicity!

Roasted Butternut Squash and Goat Cheese

• 2-4 medium squash
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• Dash of olive oil
• 4-8 Tbs goat cheese or other tangy soft cheese (mmmm Mango Tango!)

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F
2. Wash and dry the squash.  
3. Cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds.  
4. Place the squash cut side up in an oven proof dish.  
5. Sprinkle each half with salt, pepper, and sugar.
6. Splash a small amount of olive oil on top of the squash
7. Place in the oven and bake for 45 minutes to an hour
8. Carefully remove from the oven and fill the seed section with a spoonful of cheese
9. Place back in the oven and broil for 5 minutes
10. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly before serving

We added fresh green onions to the cheese for a nice pop of flavor to contrast the sweet and tangy.

Now I'm off to fill myself with leftovers.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING from Brewed B!

Bookclub Update

I know, I know.  The word you are looking for is S.L.A.C.K.E.R.  I admit it, I have just fallen victim to my own laziness.  I spent most of the day trying to think up cute, funny little quips about why I haven't posted in several weeks.  Yeah, you can see the comedic genius of my material... <queue the crickets>

So even though I failed to post it this past weekend, we did meet for bookclub.  It was a small crowd.  It seems the upcoming holidays have everyone busy.  But it was still a good conversation with yummy food.  We'll start with the food. ^_^

We either read The Paris Wife by Paula McLain or A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway (or both).  This means we tried French style food again.  Our two ambitious cooks were absent so the main dish food was limited to an assortment of meats and cheeses along with an artichoke dip.  Think aperitifs without the cocktails.

All items were very tasty, though.  We also had a pear tart,

and a beautiful pound cake.

All this food posting makes me wish there was another club meeting this week.  Ah well.

Our main discussion was around The Paris Wife.

This was everyone's favorite book so far.  The writing was smooth and the story was captivating.  The best part of this book was its ability to seem real; it was easy to forget this was a fictional story.  And those who read A Moveable Feast felt Hemingway's story lent credibility to McLain's story.

Hadley was very relatable even though she was very different from the women of the age.  One comment about her character was how she didn't seem to have her own self or know what to do without Hemingway.  She wasn't a classically strong female lead but in the end her strength was more visible than his.

Another interesting section of the story was the loss of Hemingway's manuscripts.  His reaction was calmer than expected but he did seem to carry the loss for a while.  It was fun to muse on how things might have turned out for him and modern literature if Hadley hadn't lost everything.  Starting over brings change whether it is intentional or not.

We were all glad to see names and characters in both reads that had been presented in last month's book.  It made things a little more real and kindled the desire to read more from this time in history.  All in all, both McLain and Hemingway were considered good reads.

We are going to skip a December meeting due to the holidays.  And since it will be two months until we meet again, we chose TWO books. ^_^

The Best of Me by Nicholas Sparks

The Oath by Frank Peretti

We have not picked a date or place for the next meeting.  I will send out a note the beginning of January to get everyone's availability.

Until then Happy Reading!

Review - Darker Things by Rob Cornell

Twitter is an amazing thing.  It's the perfect place to stalk celebrities like your favorite authors (holla to @longshotauthor and @rob_thurman).  And because I stalk authors, I get other authors following me like Rob Cornell.  It's a brilliant marketing scheme - find users following writers in the same genre and then plug in to an instant audience.  Luckily for me, Mr. Cornell had this great idea.  I now have a new fantasy writer to stalk. O.o

 

 

Barnes & Noble link

After the Twitter follow, I did a little research, read a few synopsis-es (I have no idea what the correct plural should be here) and finally settled on Cornell's e-book Darker Things.  I like dark plots so it sounded right up my alley.

Cornell's writing is solid.  The sentence structure is smooth and the plot has a good flow.  I did run into a few typos and grammar irks but nothing that distracted from the storyline.  The characters are believable and the take on fantasy elements is creative.  There are no sparkly vampires here. ^_^

Darker Things is a fast read and works well with an e-reader.  There is enough action to keep the pages turning and there isn't much of a drag anywhere in the story.  I wasn't too keen on the tidy ending and I felt the story was slightly predictable.  It's a personal opinion but I don't like my stories wrapped up neatly; life is messy, my stories should be as well.  There are also some elements I wanted to delve deeper into but since this is the first in a series I'm sure the hint of more depth is a hook to get me excited about the second installment.  It's a good ploy because I will be buying the next book in the series. 

This is a good book for Urban Fantasy readers and Cornell is a good writer.  It is a very enjoyable read and ranks a high B+ on the Brewed scale.

Happy Reading!

Local Loves - The Cupcake Cottage

A few weeks ago, I posted about a new favorite eatery here in Cowtown.  And since I love promoting local business, I thought I would include a Local Loves post at least once a month (if not more often).  This month it's all about the cake! ^_^

I am a huge lover of cupcakes.  Small little celebrations wrapped in pretty colors - a cupcake is happiness in my hand.  AND I don't have to share or feel guilty for eating the whole thing.  Win-Win!  But of course, being the total Type-A personality that I am means I'm extremely particular about my small sweets.

Enter The Cupcake Cottage.  This little gem of a bakery is within biking distance from my house and features a creative assortment of flavors each day.  They use fresh ingredients resulting in moist cake and wonderful fluffy frosting.  I'm not usually a big fan of frosting but theirs melts in my mouth.  No naked cupcakes for me now!

Every year for my birthday, the Hubby and I head down for a little cake celebration.  It's one of my favorite parts of the day.  I have recently discovered a really bad work day is set right with a bit of cakery love too. 

This year we had cookies-n-cream yumminess set with Halloween fun.

Hello party in my mouth!  Another perk that makes it a party every time is the pretty pink box my cupcakes travel home in; it's better than a blue Tiffany's box.  Well almost.

The owners are extremely friendly and remember you from cupcake to cupcake.  If you're on the bricks of Camp Bowie, make sure to check them out.  They open at 10AM and stay until the last cupcake is sold!

And we're back...

First there was an Internet outage.  Then there was a work thing.  And finally there was a vacation.  After the Internet frustration and the work thing craziness, I unplugged.  From everything.  I didn't even read blogs from my phone or tweet.  So the vacation was truly a vacation even though we didn't go anywhere special.  What we did accomplish...

Finally getting a household TARDIS.  I have the coolest mother-in-law EVER folks. ^_^

Celebrating 5 years of marriage.

Celebrating a birthday followed by

Figuring out I'm too old for bar hopping and shots.

Visiting a goat dairy.

Passing out treats on the trails.

What's next?  A few book reviews, a few recipes, and a ton of writing.  November is National Novel Writing month so I will be busy with blog posts and novel-ing.  It should be a fun time for all.