Lit & Liquor

Those who don't write…criticize those who do. In our defense, we also give a few compliments this week too. Pull up a chair to Lit and Liquor’s first wine night, featuring Kim Crawford’s Sauvignon Blanc as our liquor of the week. Our challenge this week was to each pick one book we felt was famous but didn't deserve the hype, and one that actually deserves the spot. Our authors range from John Green to Cinda Williams Chima to Terry Brooks to Kiera Cass, spanning several genres of fiction and fantasy. Who ranked where? You’ll have to listen to find out. Next week join us as we do a second book to movie--Introducing Sam to the Harry Potter series for the first time! Visit us at www.litandliquor.com to find all our social media links and drink pictures or recipes!

Local breweries, local festivals. This week we kept it all in Arkansas, looking to Rock Town Distillery of Little Rock for the liquor to our lit. After hitting up the Author, Author! event of the annual Arkansas Literary Festival, held every April by the Arkansas Central Library, the L&L crew each chose a book by one of the attending authors, ranging from gothic paranormal to historical romance to nonfiction history. While not all the books were to our liking, the Rock Town bourbon and moonshine in our Ginger Snap and Lemonade Mint Julep gathered a five shot rating all around, and a Strawberry Gin Fizz made the perfect dessert drink to shut down this episode. Check out all our drink recipes on our Pinterest page, Lit & Liquor, and visit our Facebook, Instagram, or website for pictures of our drinks and books. Next week join us as we each pick two books that we feel are over— and underrated and discuss why all the hype!

This week we didn’t even bother with the lit and just focused on our liquor! Judge us if you must, but we each created a drink that we feel reflects our personality. The Samtastic is a layered, brightly colored cocktail, Kassandra made a Salted Caramel martini with a crushed pretzel rim (and featuring our Liquor of the Week, Smirnoff’s Kissed Caramel Vodka) and Ashley’s drink was a turquoise Key Lime Sunshine cocktail. You can draw your own conclusions of what they say about our true selves. Laugh hysterically along with us as we drink and discuss some strange “would you rather” questions and have some awkward moments—it’s Lit & Liquor, what else were you expecting?!Join us next week as we discuss over- and underrated books, and their reasons behind their success or lack of it. Check out our Lit & Liquor Pinterest page for all drink recipes!

We tried to be classy this week. It didn’t take. Our liquor of the week was Grey Goose vodka, used in a classic martini that was not to our taste—don’t let our profile picture fool you. However, our fun sugared rim matched the cover of “Survive the Night” by Danielle Vega perfectly, along with the vodka giving us the same gasping sensation experienced by the characters as they run, trapped, through the subway tunnels. Too claustrophobic? Jump into the roomier mega-box retailer of “The Store” as written by Bentley Little, and step right up to grab a drink. We’ve featured our own mix called The Night Manager, a spin on the classic White Russian. If none of these sound appealing, we have plenty of villainous creatures to take you somewhere a little more comfortable, like to drown in subway tunnels or get chopped to pieces in the basement temple. Cheers!Find all our drink recipes on our Lit & Liquor Pinterest page!

Hungry yet? Us too. Dish up a bowl of berry crumble from the cookbook Run Fast, Eat Slow—ice cream not optional, of course—and join us for a viewing of Lloyd Alexander’s The Black Cauldron. Have a second bowl—also not optional—while you read the book in order to join us for our first book-to-movie comparison. If delicious, warm, berry and granola aren’t your thing (you monster) how about a Munchings and Crunchings Apple shot or a Dead Budgie, featuring our liquor of the week, 99 Bananas. Not hungry or thirsty? We’ll take you anyway, because we just like people who listen to us talk. Find all our drink recipes on our Lit & Liquor Pinterest page and join us next week for Danielle Vega's "Survive the Night" and "The Store" by Bentley Little.

Arendelle. Persia. France. Burgess. So many places to visit this week…and so many drinks to drink! Abandoning the world of “classic” literature, the L&L team jumps feet first into fanfiction. Don’t worry, they didn’t abandon the angst—and what’s more angsty than the Phantom of the Opera? Take your pick of our two cocktails, the Ruby Rose or a Shimmering Cherry Martini—made with our liquor of the week, Tito’s Handmade Vodka—and discover just how angsty in “The Angel of Persia” by FantomPhan33. If you prefer a lighter tale, we have that too with “Frostbitten” by Arialene, a crossover involving Jack Frost and Elsa from Frozen. Feel that chill in the air? It’s probably from our Jack Frost Cocktail or Royal Blue, both of which are guaranteed not to warm you up a bit. A peek at next weeks agenda, you ask? We’ll be doing our first book-to-movie comparison with Lloyd Alexander’s The Black Cauldron. Read the book, watch the movie, and come thirsty! Find all our drink recipes on our Lit & Liquor Pinterest page

Hold tight to those martini glasses as we take a time machine to 1890’s Chicago via the pages of “Devil in the White City” by Eric Larson. Lost your glass on the way? No problem. We’ll pour you a Prescription Julep as we read about the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893—as well as the sinister acts of H.H. Holmes, falsely hailed as America’s First Serial Killer. And because we can’t get enough of murder and gore, we’ll force you to stick around for a Red Wine Gin Sour and a reading of the short story, “Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper” by Robert Bloch. Looking to get a jump on next week? Check out fanfiction.net and search for “Angel of Persia” and “Frostbitten” to join us as Sam and Kassandra explore fanfiction for the first time! Find all our drink recipes on our Lit & Liquor Pinterest page!

After several weeks of let-downs, the L&L crew finally finds a pair of books in which to sink their teeth and not cringe at the aftertaste. Come on a journey to Tortall with "Alanna: The First Adventure" by Tamora Pierce in one hand and an Abita Purple Haze in the other. But hold on tight because our visit is brief before we fly off to Kristen Britain's land of Sacoridia, a place teeming with magic both good and bad, and of course the elusive group known as the Green Riders. And what better to go with this story than a Green Demon?Next week Ashley will be introducing Kassandra and Sam to fan fiction for the first time, join us for a Phantom of the Opera and Elsa/Jack Frost fan fiction night!

Join us for our first “challenge” episode! The criteria was to find a book set in the Wild West about revenge and involving a gun. Turns out, it wasn’t so challenging—apparently, the criteria for writing a book about the Wild West demands both revenge and guns in plenty. Regardless, muddle yourself a Blackberry Bramble to drink while reading Erin Bowman’s “Vengeance Road” or perhaps “Death Rides a Chestnut Mare”—and a Honey Peach Fizz—is more up your alley. Too boozy? Class it up with a glass of Dark Horse Sauvignon Blanc to pair with “Hombre” by Elmore Leonard.Next week join us for a fantasy episode featuring Alanna: The First Adventure and Green Rider by Tamora Pierce and Kristen Britain. Find all our drink recipes on our Lit & Liquor Pinterest page!

Enigmatic billionaire with a kinky red room or tortured vampire stuck in the midst of teenage woes? Grab a Red Room of Pain or Washington Apple and join us to debate. We all survived the hype around “Twilight” (Stephanie Meyer) and more recently, “50 Shades of Grey.” (E.L James) But lesser known are the claims that 50 Shades had its humble beginnings as a fanfiction of Twilight, causing Twi-Hards everywhere to cry in outrage at its success. Join us as we put Christian Grey against Edward Cullen, Isabella Swan versus Anastasia Steele, to explore any and all parallels between the two. In our next episode we present a new challenge: you must choose any book involving the following: a Wild West story involving revenge and a gun. Join us for a discussion of what we’ve found!

In an episode more liquor than lit, hear the story of how our threesome came to be and whole lot of other firsts, including but not limited to first book that got you into reading, first time drinking far too much, first friend, and a whole lot of other stories you may or may not have cared to know about us. If none of this sounds appealing, we have every confidence that our Almond Joy Martini, Meyer Lemon and Sage Sour, or Blackberry and Meyer Lemon Gin & Tonic will do the trick where our tales have failed. Next week, we explore the kinks, crimes, and horrors within “50 Shades of Grey” by E.L. James and “Twilight” by Stephanie Meyer.

Come along for a night of culinary delight and Old South superstition as we travel to New Orleans for Mardi Gras. This week we discuss a disappointing book with a great title, “A Sheetcake Named Desire” by Jacklyn Brady, while drinking a decidedly un-disappointing NOLA classic, the Brandy Milk Punch. Then we mix up a potent vodka-based Witch’s Brew and delve into Anne Rice’s “The Witching Hour,” fascinated by also deeply disturbed by the story of the Mayfair witches. Cheers to keeping it all in the family!Next week get acquainted us a little more in a multiple-part Getting-To-Know-You episode. The following week we’ll explore the parallels of “50 Shades of Grey” and “Twilight.”

The circus arrives sometime after midnight—bringing with it a tempting combination of Godiva chocolate and red wine. This week we explore the ever-changing line between good and evil in two Circus-based books: Ray Bradbury’s “Something Wicked This Way Comes” and “The Night Circus” by Erin Morgenstern. Over chocolate martinis and an Apothic Dark Red Blend, our trio discuss the call of the calliope, what is good without evil, and the struggles of eating hardened Godiva chocolate off a martini glass.Join us next week for a Mardi Gras/New Orleans episode, reading A Sheetcake Named Desire by Jacklyn Brady and The Witching Hour by Anne Rice.

Our debut episode, in which we take Sam's romance novel virginity, discussing Cathy Maxwell's "Temptation of a Proper Governess" and Danielle Steele's "Summer's End"--the first romance novels Ashley and Kassandra read at far too young an age.Drinks: Lover's Revenge shot and Pomegranate Sex on the Beach. Check out the Lit & Liquor Pinterest board for recipes!Join us next week for Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury and The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern!