Dead Reckoning

Charlaine Harris does it again.  A solid book. Funny thoughts from our girl Sookie. (I really think that is why I can not bear to see the TV show. I just love her inner dialog in the books.) And more trouble than you can shake a stick at.

If you haven't started these -- do it from the beginning. Sookie's life is a roller coaster ride and this title Dead Reckoning just keeps the crazy happening. I do not think that anyone could pick this one up and jump in. But I'm so entrenched in the Sookieverse, maybe I'm blind. 

This title is a 'filler" series title. What I mean by that, is that some longer plot lines are wrapped up, some seem to be just beginning, and of course all heck breaks loose at least once or twice. (Okay - my favorite part of this book  is Sookie planning a for a mjaor vampire fight and a baby shower at the same time!) And then there are those teases of plots that are yet to come... This title may not move the series and the characters along with leaps and bounds, but these books tend to have a lot buried in them that you notice later... We will see.

Great book. Great series. A fun frothy read!

Keeping Up With a Series - Part 1 - Dead in the Family

The latest book in the Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse series is Dead in the Family. And it proves that even vampires have issues with their relatives. Of course your relatives are not a centuries old vampire from ancient Rome and his latest "child" a haunted Russian boy of a very famous family. Yours might be worse. Or not.

Sookie is having family issues too. She's recovering from the fairy war her great grandfather finished and that she nearly died in. Supposedly the door to the fairy realm has been closed. But she has found out that some have remained behind. And have been on her land. Was it her cousin Claude? He claims not - but he asks to be her roommate for a while...

Lots of things going on in this book, and as in any good saga the reader tries to stay in touch with what has been going on in Sookie's world /community. Some items and scenes of note: Sookie spending time with her little cousin Hunter who hears voices just like she does. Eric trying to stay one step ahead of the latest intrigue in vampire politics. Is his sheriffdom going to last? And he's trying to keep things running smoothly while his "dad" is in town. Sam is having family problems of his own - after the shape shifters have come out to the rest of the world. Are the shape shifters really going to have to be registered with the government? Bill develops a relationship with his modern relatives. And Sookie discovers and finds his "sister" in order to help him recover from the last battle. And just how good has Sookie's and Eric's relationship been lately?

Yep - all this and more. It is a book packed with recovery from the last 'storm' in Sookie's life. And if you read between the lines - or is it just the way Harris is sending us, we can guess some of the major events that might happen in the future. Or not. Harris has a brilliant way of keeping us entertained while we are guessing. And that is one of the reason why this series is so dang good.

I throughly enjoyed my latest glimpse into Sookie's funky universe. And I am eagerly awaiting to see what happens next. But in the meantime I'll enjoy the scenes with Pam (one of my favorite vamps)and Sookie and try not to laugh to loudly. And I'll try to speculate what happens next. It was a very fun and frothy read!

For my other post on the Sookie Stackhouse books - try this link.

Never Thought I'd Join a Bandwagon, But Then I Read Charlaine Harris

Yep, the header says it all. I have fallen into obsession with Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse books. I started tentatively. Finally got a hold on the first one - Dead Until Dark - and read it straight through. I loved Sookie, loved her issues and her "disability" as she called it. Oh and there were vampires. I'm not a HUGE vampire fan and I was not sure quite what to expect. But in Harris' world, it seems normal and logical and matter of fact. That folks, is called good writing. She created a funky world with back story and a multitude of characters that continue to be fleshed out (no irony with that word) throughout the series.

As I have flown through the books (I admit I still have one more to go - but then there are NO more til a new one comes out and besides it is really interrupting my sleep and my grad student class), I have marvelled how creative this world is, and how Sookie is a sensitive person regardless of what happens to her. That delicacy of feeling that you find in the books makes me extremely vary of seeing the TV show made from her work (True Blood). I just don't think you can "act" that stuff.

So why am I so surprised that I like these books? These books have been hyped a lot lately, and if I had a dollar for every book that was hyped that I did not care for - well, I would be very well off indeed! But nope, I have been seduced into staying up til 2 in the morning and not caring. That my friends is what a book obsession is all about. Harris is a talented gal. I have read her other series before this and have enjoyed them as well. (I met her once at a mystery convention - very nice lady too!)

Sookie's just a waitress in a tiny town in Louisiana. People think she is stupid because she has trouble concentrating - well that's because she hears everyone's thoughts all the time. Kind of like non stop chatter in your head. When she meets her first vampire - Bill - she delightedly discovers that she can not hear his thoughts. And he and the other vampires discover there is more to her than what you just see on the surface. It is really a saga about discovering another world and being valued for the talents that others see in you. Join the adventures. Just make sure you start reading early so you can get to bed at a reasonable hour. Because you are not going to want to stop. Trust me. A very fun and good read. I can't wait to see what happens next!

Dead Until Dark (2001)
Living Dead in Dallas (2002)
Club Dead (2003)
Dead to the World (2004)
Dead as a Doornail (2005)
Definitely Dead (2006)
All Together Dead (2007)
From Dead to Worse (2008)
Dead and Gone (2009)

A Touch of Dead (2009) short stories