Happy Halloween!

Creatures of the Night

The amazing Kat also known as Katytastic on YouTube created this lovely Tag and what better day to post it than on Halloween.

Vampire
My all-time favorite vampire is Lord Akeldama from Gail Carriger's Parasol Protectorate series. He's an excentric rove who knows everyone and everything. He is Alexia's best friend and one of few who know about her abilities. Lord Akeldama is a softie and a vampire with a really big heart who will always help his friends.


Werewolf
Sticking with Gail Carriger's Parasol Protectorate series - Lord Conall Maccon is just the best werewolf. He is the Earl of Woolsey and Alpha of the Woolsey pack. Conall is an old werewolf and nothing can shock him but the moment he falls in love not even his wolfish insticts can help him. Even though it hurts him to do so, he is willing to grovel to show his love-interest how important she is to him. Lord Maccon is a werewolf willing to be the underdog in his relationship and a funny and sarcastic Scotsman. He's just the perfect werewolf.

 
Zombie
Wow, it took me a long time to come up with a Zombie. I don't have many books with a Zombie character but after some hours of starring at my bookshelves and a broad definition of Zombie, I think I came up with a good one. Vincent Delacroix from the Revenant series by Amy Plum. Vincent is a revenant, which means he can die and after three days he wakes up again and lives just like before. That makes him kind of a Zombie, right? Alive but also a little bit dead?



Ghost
My favorite ghost in all of my books is Xemerius the gargoyle demon from the Ruby Red trilogy by Kerstin Gier. He can only be seen by Gwen and helps her in every possible way. Xemerius is such a great guy. I would love to have a little loyal guy like him help me in my everyday life. Unfortunately I can't see ghosts but everytime I pass a Ghotic church I'm looking up at the gargoyles to see if Xemerius is up there waving at me. 

Witch or Warlock or Spellcaster
There is no better witch in the multiverse than Nanny Ogg from Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels. Nanny Ogg is a loving mother, famous inventor of the Hedgehog song and such great fun to be around. She can drink like no other and her letters are entertaining to read. I adore her and her little coven. If I got to choose a place from a book I want to see "in real life" I would definitely pick the Discworld because there are so many amazing places to see and "people" to meet and Nanny Ogg is at the top of my list.


Fairy or Fae
I have no read any books focusing on Fairies or Fae. I couldn't even come up with a book feturing a fairy but last night it hit me - I once met the not really nice Fairy Queen in Cassandra Clare's City of Ashes. She wasn't nice and tried to trick people but she's the only fairy - aside from Tinkerbell - I could think of.


Demon
My favorite demon is Bartimaeus from Jonathan Stroud's Bartimaeus series. He is witty and sarcastic and not happy when he is summoned by a boy. He tries to trick him and get him to release him again but the boy is cleverer than Bartimaeus thought. He looses himself in stories from his past sometimes and tries to convince everyone that he is the worst demon that ever was on earth but deep down he is a good guy but not really loyal. Demons, you can't live with them but you can't live without.....well, maybe you can live without them.


Angel
Hands down - Akiva from the Daughter of Smoke and Bone series by Laini Taylor. I only read the first book but it did something to my heart that I cannot describe. Even 6 months after reading it, I still cannot tell you much more about it. Just go read it if you haven't.


Alien
Hello Daemon Black! He is the hot alien guy in Jennifer L. Armentrout's Lux series. Badass, bad boy, forbiddenly handsome and extraterrestrial. Daemon is such an unfriendly bastard for so long that you don't really know how to hate him but you manage. He tries really hard to protect his sister and therefor tries to get rid of anyone who looks like a distraction to her. Yes, Daemon is incredibly annoying but my favorite alien.


Human with Superpowers
This is such a cool category because I immediately knew which character to pick - Finley Jayne from Kady Cross' Steampunk Chronicles. The good and evil sides of her character often work against each other and she gets into trouble because of that but Finley is uber-strong and a kick-ass heroine. She is brave and always has her friends backs but sometimes she gets herself in danger because she tries to protect her friends. Finley is slowly learning to control her powers and to trust people and that makes her characters really believable and loveable.

I will leave you with Kat's original video and a very Happy Halloween!

...Blogmas

Day 19

Welcome to Blogmas!

Every day from December first til Christmas Eve I will post one Christmas related post, giving you gift ideas, tips, recipes, etc. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. 

 

Winter Wonderland Book Tag

This Tag goes around YouTube at the moment, I saw it on Charley Reads channel at the end of November and felt like it would fit perfectly into my Blogmas plan. The Tag was originally created by Jack Eats Books. Feel free to answer the questions either on your blog or on your YouTube channel but if you do, please leave a link in the comments so that I can go and check it out.

What book is so happy and sweet that it warms your heart?

My choice for the happy, heartwarming and sweet book is a bit strange. I pick One for the Money by Janet Evanovich.

Yes, it's a mystery novel and I still picked it. One for the Money tells the story of Stephanie Plum who blackmails her cousin Vinnie in giving her a job at his bond office and she wouldn't be Steph if chaos and drama wouldn't follow her. It is the first book in a series and the beginning of Stephanie's story. She finds new friends, a mentor and starts a new life – Stephanie picking herself up and managing her life with only a little drama is the part that affects me and warms my heart every time I read it.

What is your favorite book with a white cover?

I don't have very many books with a fully white cover. Most of mine have a white spine and a colorful cover which made it a bit difficult to find one. I finally picked two – one that has a white cover and is one of my favorite books and with the second I need you all to not look too closely because the cover is more light blue than white but it is one of my favorite books ever.

Christmas at Lucky Harbour by Jill Shalvis which includes Simply Irresistible and The Sweetest Thing the first two books in the Lucky Harbour series

Breakfast at Darcy's by Ali McNamara. I adore Ali's writing and from the four books she published Breakfast at Darcy's is my absolutely favorite.

You're sitting in a nice comfy chair, wearing a onesie, with a lovely warm hot chocolate but what Monster read are you reading?

Since this Tag is called the Winter Wonderland Tag I won't pick one monster book I associate with summer and Australia but I will pick a book from the Infernal Devices series. They are all quite chunky and addicting so I would either pick one of those or maybe one of Monica McInerney's books. They are all monster books too but I have to be in the right mood to read one of her family stories. They are always amazing novels but they usually deal with family drama and can be really emotional. I remember crying on the plane from Western Australia back to Austria. Whoopsy!

It started snowing so you decided to have a snowball fight! What fictional character would you love to have the snowball fight with?

I would love to have a snowball fight with Joe Morelli from Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series. Joe is a Jersey cop and is always described as fit and handsome. He can also take jokes and be super sarcastic, which is something that appeals to me. And don't forget that after the snowball fight, when we're both cold and our clothes are wet we could enjoy a cup of hot cocoa before the fire ;)

Sadly, your fire is beginning to go out. So what book would you tear the last few chapters out to throw into the fire?

Tolstoy and the Purple Chair; My Year of Magical Reading by Nina Sankovitch would be my pick to keep me warm. From the back cover it sounded like a book about books, telling the story of Nina who turns to books after her sister's death at the age of 46 but I couldn't finish it since it also deals with the second world war which is something I have tremendous difficulties. I find reading about war extremely hard and I'm trying to avoid it as much as I can. So sacrificing this book would not be too difficult for me.

What book is so close to your heart that you would gift to someone this Christmas who hasn't read before but wants to get into reading?

This question is pretty hard!

If the person who wants to get into reading is looking for a YA book I would definitely recommend The Infernal Devices aka Clockwork Angel, Clockwork Prince and Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare. The world building, the characters, the storyline ….

If the person want to get into reading adult books I would force Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella on them. I adore the characters and storyline of Twenties Girl. I loved all of Sophie Kinsella's stand-alone novels but Twenties Girl is my absolute favorite.

5 Days Till Christmas Eve

...in books

Literary Dinner Tag 

created by Renee  

(NehomaS2 on YouTube)  

Last week I found the Literary Dinner Tag created by Renee on YouTube and thought it was an awesome idea. I don’t have a YouTube channel so I decided to just bring it to my blog as a regular post.

The idea behind the Literary Dinner is that you get to invite 10 characters of your favorite books to a dinner party to your house which is a fabulous idea. So here are the rules for you if you want to create a crowd for you Literary Dinner Party too (Please link back to Renee’s YouTube channel and my blog).

The Rules

You must invite 11 guests, and there must be:
1. One character who can cook/likes to cook

2. One character who has money to fund the party

3. One character who might cause a scene

4. One character who is funny/amusing

5. One character who is super social/popular

6. One villain

7. One couple - doesn't have to be romantic

8. One hero/heroine

9. One underappreciated character

10. One character of your own choosing

One character who can cook/likes to cook

I will pick Maura Carmody from Monica McInerney’s wonderful novel A Taste for It.

One character who has money to fund the party

I am sure that Maura will cook an amazing dinner so I need a lot of money to fund the party so I will invite Griffin King from Kady Cross’ The Girl in the Steel Corset.

One character who might cause a scene

I found the perfect person who might cause a scene and I am pretty sure everyone who read Cassandra Clare’s The Mortal Instruments will think of him – Jace Wayland.

One character who is funny/amusing

My funny person will be Nanny Ogg from Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels. She is an old witch who is incredibly entertaining and she is the only person who can sing the famous Hedgehog song. Her only flaw is that she also loves to drink so Griffin might need to buy a bit more beer than without Nanny Ogg present.

One character who is super social/popular

My super social person is Alexia Tarabotti from Gail Carriger’s Parasol Protectorate series. She is beloved by werewolves and vampires equally and can entertain a huge group of “people” in Woolsey Castle (her home). So by inviting her I would also have a pretty fancy castle to host the party in.

One villain

It was really hard to come up with the perfect villain for this party but after a lot of thinking I finally came up with a good villain. I would invite Umberto from Anne Fortier’s Juliet. He really is a villain but he has a soft spot for the two girls, which he saw growing up, in Juliet.

One couple - doesn't have to be romantic

Stephanie Plum and Joe Morelli – the wonderful on and off couple from Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series is my choice for a (romantic) couple. These two are hilarious and super entertaining and I always wanted to meet Stephie and Joe is super handsome so I wouldn’t mind watching him during the whole dinner.

One hero/heroine

As a girl I had to pick a heroine – Finely Jayne from Kady Cross’ The Girl in the Steel Corset would be my choice because she is just plain awesome. Finely is incredibly clever, entertaining and it is always good to have a girl by your side who is also strong as hell Hulk.

One underappreciated character

I am not sure if Claire Cosy from Cleo Coyle’s Coffeehouse Mysteries really is an underappreciated character but she definitely is one who isn’t as well known as I would like her to be. Claire is the owner of a New York coffee house so there would be great coffee after dinner and she is witty and sweet and I would love to meet her.

One character of your own choosing

Okay, I have to admit that I chose this person because I think he is so super handsome and really great. I would also invite Jax Cullen from Jill Shalvis’ novel Simply Irresistible. I’m pretty sure he would entertain the whole dinner crowd, he owns a bar (Cocktails before dinner) and he definitely is amazing to look at (a bit shallow, I know).