Recent Reads: Knee Bar Us Nights

This is gut-wrenching and depressing as Hell, but it needed to be said.  People should read this.  I like books that provoke a reaction, and this one certainly did.

Lovely idea, but the author just didn't pull it off.  Too academic and too many arcane details for it to be as much fun as it should have been.

Very good, very timely, although once you've read this, you'll no longer need to read Friedman's columns in the NYT.

I wanted to like this, really... The main character just didn't work for me.  I had to force myself to finish it.  I kept hoping it would get better and that I'd grow to like the protagonist, but...

Launch Parties and Booze

At my first launch party, for Blood and Groom, there was a wedding theme (albeit a rather macabreone).  Given the love and marriage backdrop, it seemed fitting that we did a champagne toast after the reading.

At the launch party for Dead Light District, we did a toast with tequila.  One of the main characters in Cazadores is one of my favourite brands.
this book is a Mexican hooker, hence the tequila.  That's good, because I actually do like tequila (no doubt influenced by having lived in Mexico) and

The third book, The Lies Have It, will be out in November, and I'm busy now planning the launch party.  Goldschlager for this launch.  Visually and in terms of the flavour and style of the drink, it fits well with the plot, which this time around centres on the fetish world and politics.
Unlike the other two books where the choice of libation was obvious, this one was a bit of a challenge.  I like the launch parties to reflect the mood and tone of the books, and that includes everything from decor to music to food and drink.  I've decided to go with

Cocktails in Blood and Groom

Well, like the hardboiled dicks of yore, booze plays a part in Blood and Groom. However, unlike the old sleuth who pulled a fifth of scotch from his desk drawer, Sasha imbibes with friends at funky bars around town.

Sasha's tastes in alcohol are varied; it all depends on her mood, the setting and the company. On a hot summer day, she'll have a fruity drink with an umbrella, and on a cold winter day, she'll pour a coffee with Bailey's.

Sasha and Lindsey knock back a few martinis when they have dinner at Shane's restaurant; they get into the Jagermeister when they go on a tear along Queen West; Sasha hoists a pint of Creemore while at the Wheat Sheaf; and - of course - she enjoys the odd glass of wine... just so long as it doesn't get thrown in her face.