Sookie Stackhouse or Southern Vampires or Brain Candy

I mentioned earlier (see last post) that I'd found a new form of brain candy. I had taken an obsessive jump into the Sookie Stackhouse series. I should have posted this right after that, but Thanksgiving and family took over, so book reviews were slid onto the back burner for  a bit.

Title: Living Dead in Dallas ~ Book 1 of the Southern Vampire series

I read this one quite a while ago. Had a great time with it, loved the light and fluffy tone it had, but couldn't get the others from the library....it was too popular and the wait line was so long I forgot for a while that I wanted them. Book one introduces us to Sookie and her world...the small southern town of Bon Temps. This town is chalk full of interesting characters, some of whom are also paranormals - vampires and shapeshifters. Sookie herself is an outcast for her special mind reading abilities.

Title: Dead Until Dark ~ Book 2 of the Southern Vampire series

This one was a bit different. I had read this one previously, but decided to reread as a review and to get my brain back into thinking about the series as books. You see, somewhere between the time I first read books one and two, I watched the first couple seasons of True Blood. Love it! But wow, talk about chopping up story lines and combining them in new and interesting ways. I spent most of my review time making mental comparisons between the books and the tv series. Book two leads into the key set-up for most of these books. Every story line is going to have a twist. There will be some huge thing that needs to be overcome, and in the process it may twist Sookie's world into a knot. Honestly, I don't remember if the Manead is in this one or if this is the book where Sookie faces off against the Fellowship of the Sun. One and two went so fast they have sort of mushed together in my brain to make one continual story. I still had fun reading it and it definitely got me back into the right mind set for the other books.

Title: Club Dead ~ Book 3 of the Southern Vampire series

Book three leads us into a place we haven't been before with Sookie. Willing romance with a shape shifter. Bill and Sookie are on the outs and through a series of events and requirements a la the vamps Sookie teams up with a werewolf Alcide. He's awesome! Romantic, sweet, honorable, and reliable. I love Alcide! Normally, I'm all for the vampires, but in this one it's Alcide all the way! I really hope there is a way for Alcide to play a large part in the tv series too!

Title: Dead to the World ~ Book 4 of the Southern Vampire series

I'm having a love / hate feeling about this novel. On the love side, this one is all about Eric. He is the vampire, in this series, that does it for me. So much more than Bill. Bill is too broody and posessive.  On the hate side, even though this novel is about Eric it isn't the true Eric. He's under a spell which is causing amnesia. This Eric is sweet and caring, but not the playboy that Eric traditionally is. I'm happy to have an Eric novel, but dislike that it has to happen by amnesia.  Amnesia always just feels like a cop-out to me. It leads to all sorts of dilemmas and arguements along the lines of "Is this Eric's true nature?" or "Does he remember anything that has happened?" and "Will he ever let on if he does?" In all it is frustrating and either a really good way to keep them entangled or it's a really bad way to get them together temporarily.


Overall:  Love this series! There is really no way to compare the book series to the tv series. They are two parts of the same whole...the characters you know and love from the books in a new and wonderful way.  These are quick reads full of fun, paranormals, and just a touch of intrigue. Yummy!

*All novels are by Charlaine Harris, of the paranormal romance genre, and were checked out from the library.*

** I read all four as part of the Sookie Stackhouse challenge.**