Tag: A Book & A Beer

Posted on

A Book & A Beer – The Bullet Swallower by Elizabeth Gonzalez James

If you have the actual Specter of Death in your book, you better make the most of the character and Elizabeth Gonzalez James does in the time sprawling The Bullet Swallower.

There are two tracks in this book, one set in 1895 with Antonio Sonoro a restless bandido and the swallower of a bullet off to rob a train and then in 1964 with descendant Jaime Sonoro, a singing cowboy. And of course, death is along for the ride as well.

I have a hard time deciding if one half was better to me than the other. 1895 was very action-y but Antonio was not a super likable character to me as much as the people he encountered. Whereas 1964 was a slower pace but I truly liked the inquisitiveness of Jaime.

For beer pairing, I would suggest finding a brewery where past brewers have left to start their own breweries and having one from old and new. Or if you know of a brewer that has brewed at multiple stops, find beers from each stop. Then you can track changes and see which you prefer.

Posted on

In the Tap Lines for April 2024

Spring sprang a day early this year and SoCal has been getting actual weather with slight variations instead of 80 degrees and dry as hell, so time to celebrate the season and bottom left corner of the country.

~ e-visits to (3) breweries from San Diego

~ special featured reviews of Spring beers

~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 Bullet Swallower by Elizabeth Gonzales James

~ A Podcast & A Beer listens to A Crispr Bite

~ Sports & A Beer returns with

~ 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.

Posted on

A Book & A Beer – The Trees by Percival Everett

I have been reading a lot of Percival Everett lately. Dr. No, Erasure, So Much Blue, his latest James. But today it is The Trees.

The trees are referencing hangings. Lynching of black men. Right away there is a heaviness and sadness and anger surrounding this tale. Ostensibly, it is a murder mystery set in Money, Mississippi but Everett is extremely skilled in both humor and sarcasm which you can see by the names chosen for various characters (Junior Junior / Red Jetty) and also by the slapstick plot point and buddy cop banter throughout.

When I hear that a book is funny, most of the time, that is an exaggeration to me. But this book is funny, sad and violent and has a history lesson too. I read one synopsis that had Tarantino films as a comp. I agree with that.

One passage (of many) that struck a chord is the following between the two detectives on the case:

Ed said. “Here we are. The Lorraine Motel. There on that corner of that balcony. I was ten. That’s why I’m a cop.”

“It’s a museum now,” Jim said.

“And it shouldn’t be,” Ed said.

“Why not?” Quip asked.

“It’s just a motel. That’s what it is. That’s all it is,” Ed said. “People should rent out that very room and sleep in that very bed and step through that very door and stand on that balcony and realize what happened there. People should know, understand that not all Thursdays are the same.”

excerpt from The Trees

This is a novel that will stick with you and keep you thinking.

For beer, keep your thinking cap on. Get to researching minority owned breweries and buy their most complicated beers. The ones with the most added ingredients. The aged beers. The beers that are decocted. The beers with history about them.

Posted on

In the Tap Lines for March 2024

Springtime in SoCal as we move into what I jokingly call “early summer”. Hoping to find some bock beers, either strong or dopple would be nice plus the following features this month….

~ e-visits to (3) breweries from the newer cities in the NWSL

~ special featured reviews of a potpourri of beers

~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 Trees by Percival Everett

~ A Podcast & A Beer listens to Heritage Mezcal

~ Sports & A Beer returns with Thoughts on March Madness

~ 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.

Posted on

A Book & A Beer – Black AF History by Michael Harriot

I have said it before and I will probably say it a million more times but there is so much more to history than the boring incantations of specific dates and the cookie cutter history written by the victors.

I wish that Michael Harriot’s book Black AF History had been on my history class reading list because I would have been well entertained while also learning.

Harriot is funny but underneath that funny are some cutting remarks and bringing some well known historical figures down a peg as you can see from the cover of the book. But this history is more about giving time in the spotlight to people from history that you should go and Google right now like Juan Garrido, Musa I and Ida B. Wells. And you need to go over the study questions at the end of each chapter. It is a clever way the author reinforces points made. If you want to study American History, this had better be part of the curriculum.

No weird style or new trendy beer for this book. Go out and buy a 4-pack from a local black-owned brewery. Here in Los Angeles it would be Crowns & Hops but a quick (second) Google search will find one in your local area or one that you can buy from further away.

Posted on

In the Tap Lines for February 2024

Another trip around the sun for this here beer blogger. Time to celebrate with an extra day and some extra special beers along with the usual posts such as….

~ e-visits to (3) breweries from Washington State in honor of George’s birthday that he shares with me

~ special featured review my chosen birthday beer

~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 Black AF History by Michael Harriot

~ A Podcast & A Beer listens to True Detective – Night Country

~ Sports & A Beer returns with What are sports now anyway?

~ 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.

Posted on

A Book & A Beer – Roughhouse Friday by Jaed Coffin

We start with a memoir, which are not usually a style I delve into but Roughhouse Friday covers the topic of growing up and understanding your parents in a fresh way.

Part of that is due to the narrative thrust that is learning about yourself through boxing, also not normally a topic I choose to read about, and the setting in Alaska, which makes me shiver in cold just thinking about it.

Coffin made a few young man mistakes, some I recognize that I made, but he does not stray into “Lad” territory where you cringe at the worse aspects of masculinity. You can see as he gains boxing experience, he is gaining life experience outside the ring.

Alaska looms large in this book and the main beer that the “south” will know of and have tasted would be Alaskan Brewing Co. and might as well start with Juneau Juice Hazy IPA or Icy Bay IPA to get the bitterness of youth rolling. You could also pay homage to his mother’s Thai heritage with a Singha, Chang or BeerLao, whichever you can find. Those might be good to quaff after hitting the punching bag.

Posted on

In the Tap Lines for January 2024

We are back around the calendar horn. A whole beer year stretches before us. All sorts of new brews and new news are waiting for us craft beer fans. Starting with…..

~ e-visits to (3) breweries from Craft Beer & Brewing’s Best of 2023 Canadian picks.

~ special featured reviews of beers of ciders from 2 Towns Ciderhouse

~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 Roughhouse Friday by Jaed Coffin

~ A Podcast & A Beer listens to The Food Programme from the BBC

~ Sports & A Beer returns with Streaming Sports

~ 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.

Posted on

A Book & A Beer – Going Infinite by Michael Lewis

It seems a bad idea to have an author who can dissect complex issues and have them made into movies follow you around. The Big Short laid bare the housing fiasco, Moneyball traced the Oakland A’s baseball club who have tried but not gained full success and will try again in Las Vegas. But Sam Bankman-Fried allowed Michael Lewis access and the reader reaps the reward as long as they didn’t buy bitcoin.

I am no financial guru but even I could smell the stink of Bitcoin from a mile off. And this book along with Easy Money by Ben McKenzie paints a damning portrait of Scam Bankrupt-Fraud as a weird and damaged human with basically a half-formed idea and no moral compass.

The Lewis book starts trepidatiously, too much so for my taste but as the evidence builds, you just start shaking your head at the fact that people threw scads of money at this guy when we have actual, real problems to solve. He basically drug both effective altruism and digital coins into the trash and doesn’t seem super fazed by it.

Now I don’t want to be too mean but I see a beer correlation in the few breweries and gypsy brewers who make super limited quantity barrel-aged, high adjunct beers that normal beer fans will never see because they do not make it to a shelf. So if you have a $20.00 + bottle stashed away or a $30.00 + bottle, then crack that open while you read.

Posted on

In the Tap Lines for December 2023

It is the end of the road for 2023. 31 more days until 2024 starts smacking us around. It has been a doozy. Strikes. Indictments. Wars. Inflation. And we are probably gonna run it back again. But, before you say we are doomed, we still have great craft beer and Christmas beers!

~ e-visits to (3) breweries from Craft Beer & Brewing’s Best of 2023

~ special featured reviews of beers if I find room amongst the seasonal beers.

~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 Going Infinite by Michael Lewis

~ A Podcast & A Beer listens to NPR’s Book of the Day

~ Sports & A Beer returns with Where are all the Good QB’s?

~ 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.