Samplers

As I have been reading so many samplers lately, I thought I'd post my thoughts on a few of them.

The Truth and Lies of Ella Black by Emily Barr
The descriptions I've read do not really do this book justice. There is so much more to it, just from the couple of chapters you get in the sampler. Though I have to say it is quite a substantial start to the book, some samplers are so short you don't have time to really get into the story, not so with this one.

Sorrow by Melinda Salisbury
The chapter here seems to be more of a prologue to the book so it is hard to guess what it will be like but I really enjoyed it. I believe 'Sorrow' is just a working title. I've heard it will be quite a long book so I am really looking forward to getting into it. If it is even half as good and the 'Sin Eater's Daughter' trilogy I will love it.

The Book of Dust by Phillip Pullman
I'm quite nostalgic for the days when I got to read His Dark Materials so it is great to get into that world again. This time going back to when Lyra was just a baby. This is a short sampler but still enough to know that I want to read the rest of the book... as if I didn't already know that.

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
The cover and title drew me to this one but while I did enjoy the sampler, it didn't really entice me to read the rest of the book. I've heard good things about it though so I might be persuaded in future.

Floored by 7 authors including Melinda Salisbury, Non Pratt and Holly Bourne
I am really enjoying reading the scenes from each different character's point of view. I think I already have a favourite, Kaitlyn, and I look forward to seeing if that will continue when I read the rest of the book. I haven't read all the authors before so I don't have a clue who wrote what but I am curious to find out.

Here are some quick recipes for short and sweet cocktail shots to go with the short reads.

Tequila sunrise shot - fill a shot glass 1/3 with tequila, top up with orange juice, then slowly pour some grenadine in. It should sink to the bottom of the glass, giving a nice sunrise effect.

Pornstar martini - half fill a shot glass with vanilla vodka and add a squeeze of lemon and sugar syrup. Fill to 3/4 with Passoa and finish with cranberry juice.

Long Island Ice Tea - 3/4 fill a shot glass with equal measures of gin, vodka, tequila, triple sec and rum. Add a little sugar syrup and a squeeze of lime juice. Top with cola.