Tag: A Book & A Beer

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A Book & A Beer – Death Comes at Christmas

There is a grand tradition of the macabre and mystery at Christmas which is why I picked up Death Comes at Christmas, a collection of stories edited by Marie O’Regan and Paul Kane.

There are upsides and downsides to a short story collection. There will always be great stories, ok stories and a few real clunkers. This yuletide themed book has that as well. But let’s focus on the nice list this year since there is more than enough naughty in the world.

What She Left Me by Tina Baker had a really great twist at the end that comes out of nowhere with a punch.

The Wrong Party by Claire McGowan had a nice sliding doors meets spy thriller vibe that plays on the employee Christmas party trope.

Indian Winter by Vaseem Khan had a unique murder delivery that would have bedeviled the great Sherlock Holmes but that locked room aficionados will enjoy.

And for you to drink as you puzzle out the who-dunits, I would suggest finding a Mexican Hot Chocolate Stout if you can locate one in your area or a nice pepper stout so that you can get your blood racing and your tastebuds too.

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In the Tap Lines for December 2025

Congratulations for making it 11 months. That is no joke. If you are still around and not checked into an asylum then you are doing well ’cause it is weird out there right now. To help get you through this hectic month, here is what you will find in December….

~ e-visits to (3) breweries from wherever Kris Kringle flies

~ special featured reviews of random beers from the ‘fridge as well as a Winter Ale or two

~Heads-Up on Los Angeles Beer Events

~ Three suggested beers to buy this month. One light, one medium and one dark

~ A Book & A Beer reads Death Comes at Christmas

~ A Podcast & A Beer listens to The Official Welcome to Derry Podcast

~ Sports & A Beer returns with sports at Sphere and Cosm

~ New Beer Releases and Best Beers of the Month

~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world.

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A Book & A Beer – Metallic Realms

Well, this is tough. I like Sci-Fi both Star Trek and Wars. I like meta-fiction. I like unreliable narrators and yet Metallic Realms by Lincoln Michel is just a wreck. The narrator in question, Michael Lincoln (get it) is just odious. Though the book pisses on fantasy, the character is straight out of Tolkien. Very Grima Wormtongue. After a few chapters, I was hoping that one of the other characters would narrate for a bit.

If that were the only fault in these stars, a decent book could still be there, but zero of the Orb 4 writing group was much better. I couldn’t stand a one of them. And even worse, the so call Star Rot Chronicles that the narrator continually gushes over were way short and way thin. The world created had to be believable as something that a reader could obsess over and for the life of me, I found it dull and tedious like a spec Star Trek script that is ignored.

For beer, see if you can find a four way collaborative beer or if there is not one out there. Look for a three-way collab and see if you can tease out the house flavors of the three breweries. And then find individual beers from them and see which brewery is best for your tastebuds.

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In the Tap Lines for November 2025

We are heading into the silly season of American holidays from the just completed Halloween to Thanksgiving and then the grandaddy of them all, Christmas. As per protocol, once Thanksgiving has been given its proper due, we will start in on the Christmas seasonal beer celebrations.

~ e-visits to (3) breweries from GABF Medal Winning breweries

~ special featured reviews of random beers from the ‘fridge as well as a Winter Ale or two

~Heads-Up on Los Angeles Beer Events

~ Three suggested beers to buy this month. One light, one medium and one dark

~ A Book & A Beer reads, well, still deciding which to pick from the TBR pile

~ A Podcast & A Beer listens to Doctor Who – The Missing Episodes

~ Sports & A Beer returns with underwhelming Premier League teams

~ New Beer Releases and Best Beers of the Month

~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world.

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A Book & A Beer – The Paris Express by Emma Donoghue

Take a jaunt by train in France with a dramatic end on The Paris Express by Emma Donoghue.

It is an interesting concept for a book. Start with a famous photograph and work back from there. Then instead of just doing a straight non-fiction book people the train cars with real people who were on it, some who could have been on it and then a dash of fully fictional characters.

I enjoyed the book once I realized the famous photo of the train hanging off a building that it had just burst through was merely the end of the book and not what the book was about. Instead it is about people in a certain time as if stuck in a static photograph.

The portions with the train itself as a character were my only complaint and they did not unduly halt the proceedings unlike the air brakes on the train. I would have also liked to see the train in diagram or in a photograph to have something to picture as the characters weaved through it.

Overall, a pleasing bit of historical fiction that gives the backstory plus some fun to an event of history.

There is much talk of cider in the book and that seems an appropriate drink especially if you can get yourself some French Cider like Aval, Galipette and Cidre Bouche. Or if you have a local ciderhouse, see if they have a French-Styled offering.

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In the Tap Lines for October 2025

We are heading into back-to-back-to back holidays until the end of the year and we are heading into the same for craft beer. From Oktoberfest to Fresh Hop to Winter Ales, which should not be on shelves, Lookin’ at You, Deschutes.

~ e-visits to (3) breweries from Baseball Playoff Cities

~ special featured reviews of two drastically different choices from Sierra Nevada Brewing

~Heads-Up on Los Angeles Beer Events

~ Three suggested beers to buy this month. One light, one medium and one dark

~ A Book & A Beer reads The Paris Express by Emma Donoghue

~ A Podcast & A Beer listens to The Water Road

~ Sports & A Beer returns with NFL teams that have Regressed

~ New Beer Releases and Best Beers of the Month

~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world.

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A Book & A Beer – The End of the World As We Know It

I love me a good short story collection and I was so psyched when I saw that there was a new book of short stories in The Stand Universe. The End of the World as We Know It is an ode to the Stephen King book that has been made into not one but two mini-series.

Spearheaded by Christopher Golden and Brian Keene and with some great writers like S.A. Cosby, Paul Temblay and Chuck Wendig, I was so excited to dive into the nooks and crannies of Captain Trips.

Man, was I disappointed. I eventually started putting the 30+ stories into tiers and not good tiers either….

downright mean – Room 24, Every Dog, Make Your Own Way, Milagros, The Legion of Swine, The Boat Man

kernel of an idea – Across the Pond, Grace, The Story I Tell, The Mosque at the End of the World, Came the Last Night of Sadness, The Devil’s Children,

why – In a Pigs Eye, Lenora, The Hope Boat, Prey Instinct, Moving Day, La Mala Hora, The African Painted Dog, Mermaid Story, Keep the Devil Down, Hunted to Extinction, SuperLawyer, Trick Baby

good in comparison – The Tripps, Bright Light City, Lockdown, I Love the Dead, Awaiting Orders in Flaggston, Grand Junction

better by comparison – Wrong Fucking Place, Kovach’s Last Case, Abigail’s Gethsemane, He’s a Righteous Man

I was hoping to see back stories of smaller characters like the Judge or Dana. Or find out more about the government installation where the superflu started, or the recording session for Can You Dig Your Man. What I got was a bushel of apocalyptic stories with very similar structures and outcomes. Person survives, meets another, other people attack. Even the ones set outside the U.S. were boring when it could have used a local flavor to inject new life.

Wish that I could find some positives but there just wasn’t anything close to the original King.

As an antidote to this unrelenting grimness, go buy yourself a few bottles of Maine Beer Co. beers and you will quickly feel good because the beers are so great and it is a strong moral company that even Mother Abigail would approve of.

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In the Tap Lines for September 2025

September when one turns away from Oktoberfest beers because it is now Christmas season according to all the stores and because all the Festbiers came out early in August and are now kaput. But it is also the time for…..

~ e-visits to (3) breweries from Baltimore

~ special featured reviews of a bevy of hoppy beers from the likes of Russian River and Stone

~Heads-Up on Los Angeles Beer Events

~ Three suggested beers to buy this month. One light, one medium and one dark

~ A Book & A Beer reads some Stephen King

~ A Podcast & A Beer listens to Hard Knocks

~ Sports & A Beer returns with the Portland Trailblazers have been sold!

~ New Beer Releases and Best Beers of the Month

~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world.

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A Book & A Beer – The Murderbot Diaries – Volume 1

Murderbot Month! Two novellas make up Volume 1 of the Murderbot Diaries. All Systems Red which is what season 1 of the Apple TV show is based on and Artificial Condition which may (?) be season 2.

This is right up my introvert alley. Except that I do not have guns and security training. I do like to binge watch shows and to not interact with people though which is more to the point.

Wells quickly creates a new universe for all sorts of people to be a part of that still echoes all the quotidian and scary bits and the technology that both helps and plagues us today. Murderbot is a great narrator to adjust us to this space while it does as well.

In the book, Murderbot is not specifically gendered so it is open to the reader to picture. Both of the two stories have tight, compact plots that still allow the characters to become three-dimensional while also leaving room to grow in the series.

I am definitely hooked and have requested all the books (to date) in the series from the library. Support your library by the way.

For beer, let’s pay attention to the introvert side of Murderbot and look for softer beers. English milds or a low ABV pub ale. Beers that take skill to make since there is no big flavors to hide behind. Perhaps find a nice and simple blonde ale that matches Alexander Sarsgard’s hair in the series.

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In the Tap Lines for August 2025

California is now entering the 3rd of three months of hot weather, sure, there have been some June Gloom mornings and it hasn’t be triple digits hot but it does wear on you and it does challenge one to find beers that don’t lead directly to naps. BSP will endeavor to help you chart a fun course through the sunny days to just the right beer(s).

~ e-visits to (3) breweries from Riverside, California

~ special featured reviews of a bevy of beer styles

~Heads-Up on Los Angeles Beer Events

~ Three suggested beers to buy this month. One light, one medium and one dark

~ A Book & A Beer reads The Murderbot Diaries

~ A Podcast & A Beer listens to All Systems Read

~ Sports & A Beer returns with the Premier League Kick Off

~ New Beer Releases and Best Beers of the Month

~ I will tap the Firkin and give my no holds barred opinion on the craft beer world.