Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris

I finally read book #4 in the Sookie Stackhouse series, Dead to the World. I would probably have read the entire series by now if I had them all on my Nook. Unfortunately, I borrowed the books for the rest of the series in paperback, and I keep forgetting that I have them. When I finish a book on my Nook, I tend to start another one right away...so the rest of this series may have to wait a bit. The good news is that it's only going to be a a few more months before True Blood is back on TV! That alone will encourage me to keep reading!

So I enjoyed this book, mostly because I already know that Sookie doesn't end up with Bill, so I was happy to see her and Eric finally connect. I had been forewarned by my friends that this book was one of their favorites because of the sex scenes between Sookie and Eric. Now if you're looking for a lengthy, explicit sex scene, you need to find a romance novel. Charlaine Harris gets the job done with few words and even fewer details. It works though, and the scenes in this book are no exception. I really hope to see a few of them play out in the TV series though. Alan Ball has the ability to give readers what they were missing in the books.

Aside from the short, vague love scenes, I feel like Harris leaves a lot of other stuff out of this book too. It is in this book that we meet witches for the first time, and I don't feel like she gave us enough description and background. That part of the book lacked depth and I really think the book could have been better if she had gone deeper with those characters and that plot line. I'm guessing that she kept it to a minimum to keep the book at a similar length to the previous books. I would have been much happier with a longer book that did a little more explaining.

That said, I did enjoy this book and look forward to book #5!

Club Dead by Charlaine Harris

The 3rd book in the Sookie Stackhouse series is just as good as the first 2, and it's even more different from the show, True Blood, than the first 2 were.

What I like most about this book is Bubba, the vampire Elvis. It's totally cheesy, and funny at the same time. Supposedly he wasn't quite dead  when he went to the morgue the night he "died," and the vampire on duty turned him. Unfortunately, the massive amount of drugs in his system made him a less than intelligent vampire, and he is traded between Areas to prevent him from returning to Graceland and causing a "sighting." They call him Bubba so he isn't constantly reminded of his human life.

In this book, Bubba is commissioned to protect Sookie, and he does just that. In the process, he kills a Were and hides him in the apartment where Sookie is staying, forcing her to hide the corpse. Like I said, it's a bit much, but it's kind of funny.

The other thing I love about this book is the way Sookie begins to move away from Bill, both emotionally and physically. While she still loves Bill, Sookie experiments with letting herself think about and feel for Alcide and Eric. She makes out with Alcide and fantasizes about going further, and then to third base with Eric! I like the way Harris wrote those scenes, but hope we'll see a little more description in later scenes.

Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris

Book 2 of the Sookie Stackhouse series was just as good as the first, but not what I was expecting. I hate to compare it to the HBO series True Blood, because I know the show is only loosely based on the books, but because I've seen seasons 1-3, I have no choice.

From the show, I expected the second book to be a lot more about the maenad, and the Fellowship of the Sun, but there was shockingly little about that in the book. I can finally see why my best friend gets so worked up about how much the show deviates from the books! Regardless, I still like the books, and the show, but for different reasons.

One of the things that I actually liked about this book is that you get to see the depth of Sookie's love for Bill. I know that for people that have read the entire series, that isn't necessarily a good thing. I know she ends up with Eric, but I like that she and Bill have a real relationship (as real as it can be between a vampire and a human).

Another thing that I liked is that Sookie's brother, Jason isn't involved with the Fellowship of the Sun. I always found that storyline kind of weird in the show.  I was surprised how minimal Jason's role has been in the books so far. Similarly, I didn't like that the character of Godric/Godfrey was so minimalized in the book, and he was made out to be such an evil vampire. Now I'm curious if he will be explored in more detail in subsequent books, or if what we see of him in True Blood is all fabricated for the show.

This book was a good, fast read, and it made me want to read the next book in the series, Club Dead. It's already downloaded to my Nook, and is ready to go, after I finish Slacker Girl, by Alexandra Koslow.

Dead Until Dark

This is the first book in the Sookie Stackhouse series. I've already watched season 1 of True Blood which was loosely based on this book. I think it was actually pretty close to the book with a few character exceptions, and of course the sex scenes that were added for the TV audience.

I started reading this book long before I had watched even one episode of True Blood. For some reason I wasn't immediately taken in. It sat in my room for months, untouched. This time I was determined, and actually excited to read it. I really enjoyed it, and didn't put it down much for a few days!  I now see why everyone reads the whole series. The books aren't complete in and of themselves. They lead you to the next one with a non-ending. So now I'm waiting not-so-patiently until I can get a hold of the next book in the series. I don't even know what it's called, but I'm sure my best friend still has a copy!

On a side note, I don't know what it is about vampires, but I am hooked! I have read the entire Twilight Saga, and now I'm getting into this series. I watch The Vampire Diaries and True Blood on TV, and I own Twilight and New Moon on DVD. Seriously...it's getting a bit excessive. My husband makes fun of me, but I don't care! It's not like I'm the only one. Most of my friends are the same way! We're even making plans to get Eclipse on DVD at Midnight on December 4th.

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner

This book was so short that I read it in one day, within a few hours. Having read all of the other Stephenie Meyer books it just made sense to read this one as well! It fills in the gaps where the newborn vampires of Eclipse are concerned. Bree's existence is only known for about 5 minutes in Eclipse, but the reader never knows how she came to be and the life that she and the other newborns lived prior to the attack on the Cullens.

I have to be honest...this book was a quick and easy read, but it didn't provide any earth shattering insights. The most important bit of information taken from this book was the fact that the Volturi were aware of Victoria's plan and they were on board. Other than that, it's really only about 50 normal pages (regular sized print and margins) of story and it's only marginally interesting.

I'm also reading The Perfect 10 Diet  this week. If you'd like to follow my health overhaul visit my other blog, Musings of a Cul-de-Sac Mom.