I have been so enjoying the Sookie books by Charlaine Harris that when I saw there was a collection of the short stories starring Sookie I just had to get it from the library.
A Touch of Dead (Sookie Stackhouse: The Complete Stories)
The stories in this collection are "Fairy Dust," "One Word Answer," "Dracula Night," "Lucky," and "Giftwrap."with a great little introduction from Charlaine Harris. I love introductions that talk right to the reader and lets them in on the process of writing, this one does just that.
There are other Sookieverse stories out there that are not included in this book which would be nice to have in a collection one day that is also in chronological order because for a person like me that came into the series late it is easy to get the full novels in order but a bit harder to find all the short stories in the right order. A collection one day that has ALL the short stories in order would be awesome but for now A Touch of Dead starring Sookie is a great read and a must read for anyone reading the Sookie series.
Book Review - A Touch of Dead by Charlaine Harris
Book Review - Dead and Gone by Charlanie Harris
I am so happy the series is back on track in Dead and Gone: A Sookie Stackhouse Novel
I usually look to the product information on Amazon to copy here in order to share a little of the story with you but this time both reviews were..well bad. The Pulisher's Weekly review thinks fans will be disappointed which I totally disagree with and the Booklist review gives away way too much information while at the same time calling Sookie a psychic. PSYCHIC!! have you never read the books? Sorry, for being upset about that but if you have read these books you know what I mean. How many times has Sookie had to say she isn't a psychic but in fact a telepath?
This one completes the official Sookie Stackhouse Reading Challenge. When it started there were only 9 books in the series now there are 10 which I am trying to get from the library but I am number 14 on the hold list and the challenge ends June 30th. Hopefully I will be able to finish the 10th by then but if not I am still happy to complete this challenge as it was originally written.
Story Review - Dracula Night by Charlaine Harris
In Many Bloody Returns
Product Description from Amazon:
From cakes to stakes, a celebration of everyone's favorite bloodsucking subculture by a baker's dozen of favorite authors. Each of these thirteen original stories offers a fresh and unique take on what birthdays mean to the undead. From Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse attending a birthday party for Dracula to Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden battling bloodsucking party crashers, these suspenseful, surprising, sometimes dark, sometimes humorous stories will ensure paranormal fans will never think of vampires or birthdays quite the same again.
Story Review - Tacky by Charlaine Harris
In My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding
So far I am just reading the Sookies stories in these collections but maybe after I finish all the Sookie books I will come back and read the rest of the stories in these collections.
Story Review - One Word Answer by Charlaine Harris
Now that I'm getting near the end of the Sookie Stackhouse series (only two more to go) I've started to pick up the short stories at my local library.
One Word Answer shows us how Sookie found out about her cousin's passing and when she first meets Mr. Cataliades. I kind of wish I had read these in chronological order but either way it's great to go back and relive parts of the story that are in the past, it keeps the whole storyline fresh in my head.
Product Description for Bite:
A never-before-published Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter story from New York Times bestselling author Laurell K. Hamilton. A brand-new story from New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris, featuring the much-loved Sookie Stackhouse.
A hot new novella from USA Today bestselling author MaryJanice Davidson, set in the world of Undead and Unwed's Betsy Taylor, the newly, and reluctantly,crowned Vampire Queen.Introduced in the collection Hot Blooded, and on the heels of the wildly successful Master of the Night, Angela Knight has created a fascinating universe of Arthurian Lore and erotic vampirsim. And a sexy original story from Vickie Taylor, a new addition to Berkley Sensation.
If you are loving the Sookie series don't neglect the short stories, they are great additions to the world Charlaine Harris has developed.
Book Review - From Dead to Worse by Charlaine Harris
I was a little afraid when I wasn't so in love with the last book that the series was going downhill but I am happy to say I was so wrong. From Dead to Worse (Southern Vampire Mysteries, Book 8)
The best part of this one came at the very end but every page was worth it just to get there. That's all I'm saying, now go read it for yourself. And dear God if you aren't reading this series please go, start, Now.
of course this knocks one off the Sookie Stackhouse Reading Challenge.
Book Review - Dead as a Doornail by Charlaine Harris
I grabbed Dead as a Doornail (Southern Vampire Mysteries, Book 5)
by Charlaine Harris at the local library just before we drove up to Johnson City, TN for two weeks. It lasted a bit longer than the other ones in the series because we were busy exploring the area and I didn't have as much time to read during the day but I did finish it while we were here which was my main goal because it's due back at the library the day we get home, no worries there though I've already got the next one on hold at the library so I am dying to get home and pick it up. As a matter of fact I briefly considered just going to the store to buy it but am refraining since I have other books to read and it would in a way be a "waste" of money since the library does have it available.
I finally found a good review that says enough without saying too much.
From Publisher's Weekly copied from Amazon:
Harris's rousing fifth Sookie Stackhouse fantasy-mystery (after 2004's Dead to the World) pits vampires, were-creatures, shifters and one fairy godmother against a sniper with an apparent aversion to nonhumans. If trying to discover who's behind the shootings isn't enough, the telepathic cocktail waitress from Bon Temps, La., has to cope with a few other distractions: her sexy "Were" friend, Alcide Herveaux, needs her help in his father's bid to become the next leader of the local werewolf pack; her boss, Sam Merlotte (a collie in his spare time), gets shot; her house partly burns down; and what's she to do about the handsome vampire bartender who dresses as a pirate at Sam's place? Between one mishap and another, Sookie is one busy gal. Harris does an admirable job of creating a heroine who's not only interesting but completely believable in a world of the strange and the different. Natural and humorous dialogue and a nicely paced plot that doesn't dwell so much on Sookie's old boyfriends help make this entry the best yet in the series.
True Blood isn't even close to this storyline but I am on the edge of my seat to find out how they approach it all. I liked this one a lot but honestly could have done with a little more lovin' which feels weird for me to say because I'm not one who loves romance novels but I guess I am learning that I do enjoy the vampire love. So, I am hoping for more of that in the next book but either way Dead as a Doornail was a page turner and as I said I can't wait to start the next one.
And it knocks off another one from the Sookie Stackhouse Reading Challenge, I am so excited for a while I thought I wouldn't finish this one in time
Book Review - Definately Dead by Charlaine Harris
I am loving this series and that can be seen by all the glowing reviews I give the book series and the TV show for that matter but to be honest this book is the weakest link so far. I just hope this isn't a sign of things to come.
That said things Definitely Dead (Southern Vampire Mysteries, Book 6)
I also have a hard time seeing this book translate into entertaining television. For some reason even though the writing and characters made want to keep up my reading pace the story and flow of it was a bit dry.
Book Review - Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris
So again I picked up the next in the Sookie Stackhouse series,Dead to the World (Southern Vampire Mysteries, Book 4)
Oh well it works out for me now because I am able to read them all so fast.
All I'm saying about this one is I want to be on Bill's side because you know he's the good guy and all but I think I'm on Eric's. Oh hell why can't they just all get along and do it together? I don't feel like threesomes are in the future of these books but if there is and it isn't between Sookie, Bill and Eric I am going to be disappointed.
Another good review with just enough but not too much given away.
From Amazon:
One of the best-known and best writers of the new American mythology is Charlaine Harris. Dead to the World is the fourth novel in her Anthony Award-winning Southern Vampire series. It continues the story of psychic waitress Sookie Stackhouse, who has fallen out with her undead lover, Bill. Bill has no sooner departed for Peru, than Sookie finds the head vampire, Eric, running naked and terrified through the rural night. She helps Eric, and discovers his memory has been destroyed by a coven of unscrupulous, astonishingly powerful witches, newly arrived in her small Louisiana town, and offering a huge reward for Eric. Sookie tries to hide Eric, but her brother sees him--and immediately disappears. And Sookie finds herself caught in a war among witches, vampires, and werewolves.
And it knocks off another one from the Sookie Stackhouse Reading Challenge
Book Review - Club Dead by Charlaine Harris
I picked up Club Dead (Southern Vampire Mysteries, Book 3)
I don't want to give a description because I don't want to give anything away and the description on Amazon gives away too much this time so again I will just say this, READ IT!
Also this knocks off another one in the Sookie Stackhouse Reading Challenge.
Book Review - Living Dead In Dallas by Charlaine Harris
I have been waiting for this book to come in to my library back in New Orleans since before Christmas I almost thought I wasn't going to be able to finish the Sookie Stackhouse Reading Challenge I signed up for and then I came to visit my Mom in Fort Myers, Florida. I can't sing the praises of the library system here enough. They have so many copies of this book I just walked in a picked it off the shelf, I had to finish it fast but it was easy because this series is just so damn entertaining.
by Charlaine Harris is wonderfully engrossing. I barely put it down from start to finish. This book veers wide from the plot of True Blood (the HBO series based on the books) which makes it all the more exciting. I love the TV show and I love the books so I can't wait to get the next in the book series to see where she takes it and I can't wait for the new season of the show to start to see what they use and what they don't and also what they fill in and change along the way. The show has been so well done up to this point that it can't be bad.Currently "Reading":
Book - The Adventures of Doctor Who. Omnibus comprising: Doctor Who and the Genesis of the Daleks; Doctor Who and the Revenge of the Cybermen; Doctor Who and the Loch Ness Monster
by Terrance DicksE-Book - The Man Upstairs & Other Stories - From the Manor Wodehouse Collection, a selection from the early works of P. G. Wodehouse
by P.G. WodehouseAudio - The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs
by Alexander McCall Smith Book Review - Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
Like everyone else, I didn't even know it was on TV until the buzz started. After a few episodes I started hearing about it and by the end of the first season, I had heard it was good but with the anticipation of the second season came the real test. People were waiting for True Blood to come back and that is when you know you've got something so we purchased the first season through iTunes and watched. We were hooked from the opening title sequence and the rest is history, the more I watch the more I wanted to watch and so I did until now I am waiting for the third season. What's great about this wait is I can read the books in between. When I first found out True Blood the tv show was based on those little Romance novels I had been blowing off for years I was surprised and then I reminded myself to never judge a book by it's cover or it's section in the bookstore, for that matter.
I thought about reading the Southern Vampire series right after I finished season two of the television show last fall but just didn't do it, then when I saw the Sookie Stackhouse Reading Challenge I knew it was the push I needed to get started.
I checked Dead Until Dark out of the library and couldn't put it down, with a 3 year old running around sometimes I had to but I didn't want to. If you've seen the tv show it's similer but at the same time totally different, it's worth the read to get deeper into the characters that you already know and love. There are things that happen in the book that give deeper meaning to things that are in the show and vice versa. I have never experienced a book/television (or movie) combo that worked together as well as this one does. As long as you accept that some things will be different you will see that they compliment each other perfectly.
Sookie Stackhouse Challenge
The Sookie Stackhouse Reading Challenge!
Between July 1, 2009, and June 30, 2010, catch up on Charlaine Harris's Southern Vampire series. No matter if you're starting with book 1 or book 8, you have a year to read all about Sookie. Read Sookie in print, listen to the audio, read an eBook -- format is not an issue.
Dead Until Dark
Living Dead in Dallas
Club Dead
Dead to the World
Dead as a Doornail
Definitely Dead
All Together Dead
From Dead to Worse
Dead and Gone
I will add links to the reviews of each as I finish them.
Currently "Reading":
Magazine - November issue of Good Housekeeping
Book - A Wife's Guide to In-laws: How to Gain Your Husband's Loyalty Without Killing His Parents
by Jenna D. BarryAudio - Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: The Classic Regency Romance - Now with Ultraviolent Zombie Mayhem!
by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith
