Selena Blake: Fangs, Fur and Mistletoe

Christmas reads are fun. I usually read them one year in advance for you (at Christmas though) and expect absolutely nothing of them since they are free and I'm just killing time between various chores connected to this time. So I need a no-brainer which wouldn't let me think and which I wouldn't have problems abandoning at any time when someone needed me in the kitchen or around the house.

That's why this short story from a festive time on a mysterious island where only supernaturals can go was the right choice. Once sworn enemies who couldn't kill each other in a war one hundred years ago and who didn't forget each other though they spent only a brief moment together, a vampiress (is it word already?) and a werewolf, meet on this island where supernaturals go only to scratch an itch.

Will it be like that for them or will they develop some feelings despite being labeled as enemies even in the time of peace, and against the vampiress's coven's prejudiced opinion of werewoles?

The story is short so it doesn't really explain a lot of stuff that happened between vampires and werewolves (which I'd appreciate) but then again, it's not a saga about that. It's a hot read which is supposed to make you feel good because the love at first sight exist.

GENRE: hot romance

FANGS OUT: it's a holiday read, okay?
FANGS RETRACTING: it's not innovative enough and the characters' behaviour needs more background
TOTAL SCORE:

Robin McKinley: Sunshine

A girl living in the maybe not so far future where the humankind knows about the creatures of the night and then some meets a guy who happens to be a vampire (her enemy in general) but their common enemy unites them and they start bonding. How is it it different from the gazillion books with the same topic I've (and I bet even YOU HAVE) read?
The writitng style - is absolutely excellent and it reads fast and leaves you craving for more. It's entertaining and funny.
The protagonist - even though the "hidden prodigy" theme is here, she's so normal. She failed at school, winded up in a bakery, fights with her mom constantly, has moods etc. And all she asks of life is to feed people. And to be in as much sun as possible (her nickname is, after all, Sunshine).
The romance - is very subtle and well executed. Sunshine has a cool biker boyfriend who might be threatened by the arrival of the "other" one but you don't really want her to pick sides or leave one for another. It's not even complicated. Just almost nonexistent.
The universe - oh boy, I absolutely adored the setting after the Voodoo Wars with bad spots where nothing could thrive, those living protection tattoos, the charms and wards and all those inanimate objects with life and all those people with some demon or were blood in them.
All in all, it's dark and thrilling, those who like sarcasm here and there will find it, those of you who like action will see it, those of you who like supernatural elements will be surprised and those of you who like romantic element will probably have to go somewhere else since it's a different kind of romance (I'm saying this because the blurbs on the cover describe it as romantic). If I think of it, I've read books like this but none of them was so good. All these clichés which are in every vampire book well so well-balanced in here that it made a perfect story.

GENRE: dark tale of believable characters

FANGS OUT: the story reads so well
FANGS RETRACTING: let's not retract them, okay?
TOTAL SCORE:

Grandma's Bundt Cake

I'm not sure if any other cake evokes more emotions than bábovka (bundt cake). Every family has its own recipe which is, of course, THE recipe. 

I actually dislike the typical bundt cake because it's too dry. But for the old time's sake (hey, grandma!) and because I got a new cool bundt cake form, I decided to make the old school dry cake which must be eaten while sipping some hot beverage. 

Ingredients:

•  4 eggs (separated)
• 150ml sunflower oil
• 100ml water
• 250g sugar
• 250g flour
• 4 tea spoons cocoa powder

1) Mix the egg yolks and sugar till the mixture pales.

2) Slowly add water, oil and flour.

3) Beat the egg whites till stiff peaks (some people need a pinch of salt to make it happen but if you have a clean bowl, they will do the trick on their own) form.

4) SLOWLY! fold the whites in the mixture. As you can see, there is no baking soda or anything to help you. If you fold in the whites gently, the air bubbles will stay in the cake, help it rise and be more sponge-y. That's actually what makes this cake magical.

5) Divide the mixture into two bowls and add the cocoa powder in one of them. Sloooowly. ;-)=

6) Either butter your pan or spray it with some oil and pour in the mixtures as you want. 

7) Put it in a preheated oven and bake for about 50 minutes at 180°C.

Antony J. Stanton: Twice Bitten, Twice Die

Okay, let's take a deep breath and plunge right in. You knew it was coming. Those who follow me on certain social media or read my blog know I can't but give it five vampire kisses. Why? If you are an unsuspecting person, then I'm gonna keep you in the dark. But let's say I have my selfish reasons to promote this book. Just joking, I'm gonna spill it out. I won a contest a few months ago and became a character in this book. Yeah, I'm still living from that. You, who have never become a character, can't probably understand the feeling (I don't mean it in some snobbish way, it's a genuine thing) but whoa! It's better that drugs. I think. I don't do drugs.
This book is a last piece of a trilogy (I guess, the word "series" on the cover probably gives the author open doors should he ever feel like writing more) and we finally get to see who of our favourite characters gets to live and how it all turns out for those rare few in the zombie-infested world.
Meanwhile, in the vampire camp things don't go smoothly either and authorities are questioned and deaths occur even in the immortal world. But at least the humans already know for sure the blood-suckers exist and can stop questioning their own sanity and start acting. Because vampires are just another threat since they have a very specific diet, right? Or can they help with the zombies? Should humans eliminate one enemy at a time or kill them all at once?

The author's writing skill is amazing, too. I know that some people hate adjectives but those are exactly what gives the reader the right description of stuff. I could really imagine the characters and scenes in the book. Just perfection :-)=
It's a roller-coaster ride without seatbelts since so many die but hey that's what the apocalypse is about. I advise you not to get attached to characters much. :-)=

GENRE: postapocalypse now

FANGS OUT: thrilling, well-built
FANGS RETRACTING: keep them out
TOTAL SCORE:

Antony J. Stanton: Once Bitten, Twice Live

In the first book, the apocalypse was introduced to the world and a couple of survivors had to come to terms with it - and with the fact that their beloveds may have turned into hungry zombies and they might actually need to kill them.
This book picks up where the first one left off, of course. So we see our survivors again, we see their attempts at making some kind of order in chaotic world and we also develop feelings for some because only times of trouble show who your friends are.
Aaaaaand the vampires! Finally! They were in the first book, too, but only a little bit for my taste. Here, however, they finally take up more space and start interacting and interfering. Within the clan two fractions appear and no one knows which stand to take. Oh, the decisions. Enslave the humanity and treat them like cattle or keep hidden in the shadows..
Except some of them haven't got the "we are not decided, do not act now" memo and showed their true nature to some survivors. So not only are the survivors scavenging for supplies and walking on tiptoes so that they don't wake up the zombies, now they have to face the fact that they're going crazy because surely vampires... that's too much for this crooked world, right?
This book is just as thrilling and adventurous as the first one. It develops the characters more and brings cruel plot twists so it's definitely a wild ride.

GENRE: postapocalyptic-thriller ride

FANGS OUT: vampires are finally out in the open
FANGS RETRACTING: not so many important things happened plot-wise (I mean, a lot of people died but you kinda get used to that)
TOTAL SCORE:

Robert Tomoguchi: The Scribbled Victims

I'm getting Anne Rice vibe here and I'm not mad. On the contrary. I haven't read a book about morality of vampire life in a while. Way to go Rice lovers, I wish there were more of you to pick up her tradition.
I got this book from the author to write a review and I'm always happy (because free books, duh!) as well as scared of this because the authors who send me their stuff are so enthusiastic that they can get their books out there in the world and have people talking about them but, honestly, I dread the day I get a shitty piece and have to write about it. For them, the books are like children. Try to tell them their beloved child they put so much effort in sucks. But fortunately today is not the day.
The story follows Yelena, a beautiful immortal, who is plagued by guilt and often starves herself. She kills in order to sustain her own life but she feels bad because she doesn't see people as cattle. And before you ask, no, there are no sparkly vampires in here so feeding off animal blood is a no go. One day, she meets a child cancer patient who can see evil in people through her scribbles. That cheers Yelena up a little now that she can kill criminals who do horrible things to others.
But many questions arise - how long till the girl dies? Can she even start contemplating turning a child and doom her to an eternal life in a small body? Can she replace the love of a lover gone with that for a child? Isn't she making the child a murderer when she takes the scribbles from her? And way more. I loved the philosophical aspect of the story. It was thought-provoking and refreshing.
It's true that the story is centred on Yelena but other vampires with different life views are introduced to contrast what she feels and to show the reader what the average vampire looks like.
All in all, it was great! If you like to think a little while reading, this is it - your next vampire read. ;-)=

GENRE: personal horror story

FANGS OUT: Rice's tradition is very prominent
FANGS RETRACTING: out the fangs go
TOTAL SCORE:

Silvia Moreno-Garcia: Certain Dark Things

In an alternative world, where all kinds of vampires exist (basically all folklore myths apply here), many countries decided to get rid of them. That's how Mexico became a host for these creatures and how they got their hands on the drug trade. And when two drug lords fight for their turf, it's always messy.
The story follows a young vampire Atl who wasn't supposed to get into the mess. Her women-oriented family put effort into her older sister who was supposed to get the hang of things since she was the better and older warrior. Alt was ever the care-free party girl. But somehow Atl finds herself on the run and tries to hide in a vampire-free zone Mexico City where an old ally should reside. But that's where it gets worse. It is another drug territory so once she is spotted, she must be eliminated. With the help of a naive boy (of almost her age *eyeroll*) from the streets she tries to evade her not so pretty future.
I loved the variety in vampires- there were vampires from old European myths, there were the ones from Americas and so on. And each subspecies had qualities from the particular place of their origin. I personally find that "counting" trait very funny in vampires though this book is anything but funny. It's adventurous, it's dark and it's full of blood... and other body parts.
Oh, and one more thing - there were glimpses of Renfields' lives - those are the people who serve or are controlled by vampires. It was nice seeing what happens to the or how they feel. If it weren't for the general lack of je ne sais quoi, it would be a five-star read.

GENRE: drug-lord's noir future

FANGS OUT: the folklore mix
FANGS RETRACTING: not action-packed enough
TOTAL SCORE:

James Fahy: Crescent Moon

You guys know how much I love vampires. And you know I love postapocalyptic worlds. And if we add dystopia, what do we get? Heaven for our eyeballs and minds? Yup!

This is a second book in Phoebe Harkness series and I must say that the author has outdone himself. The book number one was very good but oh my goodness the places we go in the second one!

The wallflower-ish doctor from a paratoxilogy lab, who wants nothing more than to be left alone with her research, gets tangled up in some GO politics and instead of doing her regular job, she kinda has to work as a bridge between the species of New Oxford. Ever heard of not shooting the messenger? Well, you are probably among the rare few ;-)=

Phoebe is a very realistic character and is very easy to like immediately but what I found surprising, however, was the positive feelings I developed towards Cloves - she's one tough cookie with a sailor mouth who does everything for her personal gain only yet I grew fond of her. She works for the story really well.

Furthermore, the humour of the book is amazing and the allusions to our pop culture as well as to classic pieces of art are woven into the text seamlessly so that you start cracking up in the least likely situations and you even start googling stuff because you're sure you've already heard of the Voynich Manuscript before but was it in the supernatural context? *headscratch* (see, it will effortlessly make you smarter).

But don't get the idea that this is a funny book. Or a romantic one (as in, ohhh, the vampire is having a shower right behind this wall, those suds sliding down.... *headshake* hello reality!) Far from it - it's actually as scary as hell. As I mentioned in the review of the first book, the bonewalkers are terrifying and I'm not going to change my opinion. Give me an angry shape-shifter or a creepy faceless girl any day but those robed masked weirdos supposedly doing everyone's bidding are the most suspicious crowd.

The book doesn't end on a cliffhanger so you can choose if you continue reading the books or not but I sure want to because something far bigger is coming and I can't wait to see it!

GENRE: postapocalyptic dystopian horror goodness with fun as a cherry on top

FANGS OUT: dark and clever
FANGS RETRACTING: keep them out, you'll need them
TOTAL SCORE:

Portugal 2016

I somehow don't have time to post stuff these days. That's why you are reading about my trip to Portugal from September now when it's not even the same year. But better late than never, right? On the bright side, I won't remember as much as if I was writing it right after coming home, so I'm going to keep it short.

Good thing I managed to save my Instagram stories, otherwise I would have no pictures to show you. I mean I would have but they would bore you to death since they are just azulejos or gargoyles and grotesques. We could call it a selfie story because I'm in an unhealthy amount of pictures. :-)=

So here is me being bored at the airport on the left (yes, my love of avocados is endless and if you say 'cados are tastless boring fruit, I'll fight you to death). And on the left you can see Lisbon at night. Pretty, huh?!

Our first steps (apart from finding our hotel) weren't in Lisbon, however. I managed to persuade my colleagues we all needed to see Coimbra - a picturesque university town. I heard no complaints so that made me happy - it was all just my scheme to see one of the coolest libraries in the world. And that I did. It has its own bats! And on the left you can see a pic I managed to take while the security was busy telling other people not to take pictures. Apart from the unique library we walked around the university complex (more tiles for me, yay) and we enjoyed almost getting lost in the little streets surrounding the university. Unfortunately our time was running out and we didn't visit the botanical gardens which is a shame but the train timetables are what they are. 

Oh, that reminds me - the public transport - from the centre to the station looks like it exists but the times written on the noticeboard are just for fun and for tourists to have something to complain about (not just in Coimbra, everywhere we went) and don't have to apply for the particular bus stop - we were sitting at one but the scheduled bus was leaving from a stop 50m up the road so that we barely managed to get on our train to Lisbon.

What's this? Sorcery? :-)=

Anyway, we got back to Lisbon and went for a walk through the streets (more azulejos, yay!) and got to eat some really delicious food (basically everything I ate in Portugal was fish or sea monsters so naturally I had difficulties getting in my pants on my way back home).

Selfie with a giant. Let's count my chins.

The next day we were picked up by our Portuguese colleagues and basically went round Lisbon from one restaurant to another while staring at sites (so we saw the main stuff

and I even waited in a looooong line to get to a tiny elevator to walk narrow steps where two fat people can get stuck while passing each other by to get to the feet of JESUS! 

As I learned he was built later than the one in Brazil so that was a bummer but I pride myself on the fact that I'm the only one of our group who is not claustrophobic or isn't afraid of heights so yeah. I went. They didn't. More food followed, I feel bad knowing some of the species I ate are on the brink of extinction but how can I not eat them?!

Anyway, the next day we were taken on a tour round the coastline (which is very dramatic and full of rocks and the beaches are good for surfers but the normal swimmers might die there.

Yes, I have a sushi sweatshirt and I'm an adult.

Before I went to Portugal, I had been instructed at home not to swim in the sea since the end of September is already too cold for swimming. 

Well, maybe for the natives but not for us... but as a joker I am I was dragging winter clothes with me all day so that I could send some pictures home, saying no one should worry, I have winter clothes for swimming with me :-D= . I must admit I was a sight putting on gloves and a hat wherever we went. Everybody laughed at me. And on one beach, there was a guard because the waves were too high but I needed a pic with my feet in the water and they kept whistling at me to get out of there. So I did. After a big wave came to my unsuspecting self and kissed my butt. Yup, my dress was wet that far up.

It was a good thing that we then went to Cabo da Roca where it was windy and my dress got dry. But I had to hold it down al the time.

Sintra followed. The downtown was packed with tourists even at this time of the year and we soon went up the castle. Now that was something. It looks like a weird hybrid of sorts. Each part is a different colour and there are so many azulejos! And wind :-)=

The days which followed were work-based so I don't really want to show pictures from our meetings and pubs though as I was getting bored at one restaurant, I acquired all the shells around me and started building a tower from them. The waiter looked horrified when he saw it, took it away and then I saw him taking a picture of it. I hope I didn't commit a crime or anything.

Pena Palace

A view from Sintra Castle (Pena Palace)

This also reminds me-one night our hosts took us to a different town to have supper. One of them borrowed that 8-passenger vehicle from a local basketball team and took us there. Since the South isn't famous for people's driving skills, everybody was afraid to sit next to the driver (in Czech we call it a Seat of Death BTW) so I had to sit there and witness it all from the front seat. But the drive to the town was uneventful. What was full of events, however, was the time when we entered the town and our driver got a call that not everything was ready so he had to make the ride longer. He proceeded by entering the oldest part of the town despite all those road signs prohibiting vehicles to go there. It was up the hill to the casle and the streets very soon became unbelievably narrow. We reached a place where it was impossible to turn left or right because the street was made even narrower by scaffolding on a house. So our driver started to go in reverse down the steep hill. He scratched and dented one side of the car because he didn't hear my scream warning him of steps on the right, he hit a flowerpot right after and so he decided he had to go up the hill again. We were desperate to get out of the car but he had none of it and somehow managed to turn left around the scaffolding and get to a place where he could turn the car. Needless to say we all jumped out of the car and never wanted to go with him again.
We walked around the castle for a while and then he got a call to get us to the restaurant but he said he needed to go for one of his friends first so we were left at such a small square where we decided to hide and give him some trouble for our suffering. We hid behind a stone wall and waited. There was an old man sitting on a bench a observing everything with interest so we made a "psst" sign not to tell on us. Soon we heard a car and José asking the man but the man didn't tell him. Of course, we had to get out of our hiding after a while because we didn't want to be left alone in a foreign town but it was funny how eight absolutely mature (or at least adult by age) women can have childish joy from this.

Tejo River boat trip

Afterwards, we were greeted by gin and tonic picnic (that's why we had to drive around and almost die) - that was super awesome and I think we all got a little tipsy from the stress. But that's how our hosts were - full of mysteries and cool surprises.

Oh, and one more thing apart from my expanding waistline, I learnt to eat olives! I hated them till Portugal but as they were fresh or were pickled in a better way, I realised I loved the black ones. The green ones are still not a hot thing for me but I'm getting there :-)=

Pumpkin Bundt Cake

Uh oh. Someone has forgotten to post her creation while it was seasonal. But hey, pumpkins are still in the shops so you can make it even in winter. Though the taste won't be as good as in autumn. So you should probably wait. Sorry.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups shredded pumpkin
• 2 cups flour
• 5 spoons honey
• 1 cup sunflower oil
• 2 handfuls chopped walnuts
•  2 eggs (separated)
• salt
• juice from 1/2 lemon
• 2 tea spoons baking powder

1)  Use the egg whites with a pinch of salt and beat them till soft peaks form.

2) Mix all other ingredients and then slowly fold into the egg whites.

3) If you don't have a non-stick bundt mold, use butter and flour to coat the entire surface (inside of course) of it and then pour the mixture in it.

4) At first, bake it at 200°C for 10 minutes. Then lower the temperature to 170°C and bake for about 50 more minutes.

Beverley Lee: The Making of Gabriel Davenport

Instagram ruined me. I've ever read books. We already know that. But my research of what to read next always included google. Now? I log in and the barrage of pictures attacks my feed and there's just everything. To say nothing of the bookstagram-friendly authors who actually communicate with their followers. Without this particular social medium I'd never know they even exist! This book was an instabuy. Yup, even vampire-friendly authors don't shy away from bookstagram community.

This was bloody brilliant (oh, the puns) for a debut novel - writing this in the middle of snowy winter I regret reading it in the fall. Because it's so atmospheric and had I read it in winter, I would have been more spooked. That's the only regret I have. Because even thought the book spans many years, the main twists and deadly things happen during winter or very cold weather conditions. So I recommend you read that in winter to get the right feeling. And by that I mean get ready for a fright.

Ever since Pandora people know to avoid opening mysterious boxes. I guess someone in Britain didn't get the memo and ruined many a life because of it because somehow something very dark, ancient, and incorporeal got its hands on freedom and wants a human child.

I can't tell you much more without spoilers because it's quite short and powerful read. And the vampires? Well, the story isn't primarily focused on them so they play a small (yet important) role. And I believe the sequel will explain more about their nature.

So if you want to read a good winter horror with an occasional fang, I suggest you grab this. Before the tables turn and it grabs you.

GENRE: horror

FANGS OUT: dark and gloomy
FANGS RETRACTING: need more info about vamps
TOTAL SCORE: