Grave Sight by Charlaine Harris

Here's the thing... I just might not be smart enough to read from the genre of mysteries~ at least without taking notes! Maybe mysteries are only for those who harber an inner sleuth. I'm more the type to read a book for merely the "ride" without caring to think too much about the whys and what fors of the whole story. All this said, I did enjoy GRACE SIGHT which is the first book in The Harper Connely mystery series written by Charlaine Harris. I just didn't put it all together until the author spelled it all out for me in the last chapter. Is that the way most people read mysteries? I don't know, but it's certainly THE WAY I READ THEM, but back to the book in question... The main character is a twenty-four year old woman named Harper who travels from job to job with her stepbrother, Tolliver. The job is finding dead people! Harper was struck by lightning when she was younger, and the effect was the odd gift of knowing excactly how a dead person died. It's a job she and her stepbrother and bestfriend make $5,000 a pop for doing. In this first novel they find themselves in a complicated situation though. After finding a body they were paid to find and explaining how the body spent it's last moments alive a series of murders begin and Harper and Tolliver are suspects.

Dead in the Family

I am in mourning at this very moment. I'm not sure a person can technically mourn the completion of a book series, but that's exactly what I'm doing! Dead in the Family is the 10th Sookie Stackhouse novel (a.k.a. sookie bookie), and I just finished it here at the beach! Thankfully, another book is scheduled to be released in February of 2011. Possible names for this 11th book: Dead Letters or Dead Reakoning. Anyway, back to Dead in the Family...Sookie meets Vampire Viking Sheriff Eric's maker (Appius) and his "brother" (Alexei), and she doesn't care for either one very much. Sookie helps Bill recover from silver poisoning. Sookie helps alleviate her fairy cousin Claude's lonliness. Sookie helps her cousin (Hunter) learn how to control his telepathy. You might just say that Sookie is very helpful! LOVED the book, loved the books, can't wait for #11. I LOVE YOU SOOKIE STACKHOUSE! I LOVE YOU SHERIFF ERIC. I LOVE YOU SHIFTER SAM. I LOVE YOU PITIFUL BILL. I LOVE YOU SILLY PAM. I LOVE YOU SEXY CLAUDE. I LOVE MY SOOKIE BOOKIES!!! In fact, I might just reread them all... right now!

Real Murders by C. Harris

Okay, so I'm totally hooked on Charlaine Harris these days. I decided to read the first in her "Aurora Teagarden Mysteries" when I couldn't get the last Sookie Bookie from the library. I'm not typically into mysteries (that is the ones without a supernatural element), but I did enjoy this book. Murders happened all around Roe Teagarden until she finds herself and her half-brother right in the middle of the action. If I were smarter I would have tried to figure out who done it before the end, but I enjoyed being surprised so I just sat back and read. I think there are 4 or 5 more in this series that Mrs. Harris says she's done with. I might get back to them, but for now I've got the 10th Sookie Stackhouse novel!

The 9th Sookie Bookie... "Dead & Gone"

The 9th book in the Southern Vampire fantasy / mystery series wasn't exactly what I expected, but it was great. A couple highlights include: Sookie is finally Viking Sheriff Eric's girlfriend and wife (that's a long story) and the FBI is questioning Sookie because they believe her powers could be of use to them! Sookie finds herself in this book right in the middle of a Fairie War. Her great-grandfather in trying to get to know her and help her has put her into a great deal of danger. This makes the 9th Sookie Bookie a little more dark and forboding than the others. I think it was good for Mrs. Harris to shake things up a bit though. I think book #10 (which I refuse to pay $25.99 for in hardcover so I'm listening to the cd's from the library) will find Sookie having a hard time dealing with all that happened to her as a result of being in a war with supernatural beings. We'll see, and I'll let you all know!

From Dead to Worse by C. Harris

The 8th Sookie Bookie was excellent. Sookie's boyfriend / weretiger is missing. When he's found she wishes he were still missing! Sookie finds out she has a grandfather is full FAIRIE and that she is 1/8 fairy! Sookie finds herself assistant to enemy werewolves as they fight a third party who is trying to move in the territory. She also finds herself trapped in her home with Viking Vampire Sheriff Erik, Vampire Bill, a witch and a weretiger's sister. Never a dull moment!!! Can't wait for book #9!

I am totally amazed with the ideas that Charlaine Harris (the author of the Sookie Stackhouse novels) continues to come up with. Every book in the series introduces new and interesting characters and leaves me wanting to read more. In books 1-6 Sookie was introduced to vampires, shape shifters, werewolves, other were animals, witches, fairies and demons. In this book, the author successfully introduces "aliens" who are from another dimension! Amazing! In the 7th" Sookie Bookie" (as I've come to call them), Sookie finds herself in the role of paid telepath for the Queen of Louisiana at an undead summit or convention of sorts. Some highlights include: a vampire trial & execution, a vampire wedding, a Dr. Pepper bomb, romantic interludes with Quinn the weretiger boyfriend, mind discussions with Barry Bellboy (fellow telepath), an important blood exchange, a narrow escape on the back of Viking Vampire Eric, and much more! Loved it!

Definitely Dead

I liked "Definitely Dead" the 6th Sookie Stackhouse novel alot, b/c honestly, what could be better than a very tall, very muscular bald man who calls you babe and turns into a tiger? Hmmm... EXACTLY! Note worthy things that happen in the 6th Sookie Stackhouse book: Sookie tells Vampire Bill to get lost, Sookie's cousin dies & she goes to clean out her apartment, Sookie meets the Vampire Queen of Louisiana, Sookie is attacked by a one-of-a-king werewolf vampire, Sookie becomes close friends with a witch who accidentally turns her boyfriend into a cat, Sookie botches the Vampire King of Arkansas' plan to kill the Queen of Louisiana and SO MUCH MORE! Very exciting, indeed!

September's Book Club Party

We had a great time celebrating villians at our "A Series of Unfortunate Events: A Bad Beginning" Book Club Party. Many came dressed as villians in honor of the ultimate villian, Count Olaf. I was Doctor Psychosis! We even had Count Olaf among our numbers along with one of his very creepy white faced ladies! We started the party with a game against Team Violet, Team Klaus and Team Sunny. Team members answered questions from the book, explained life lessons as per Lemony Snicket and defined difficult vocabulary! Team Sunny ended up winning, and their prize was nothing more than the satisfaction of knowing they won!!! We then shared EYE ART and guessed who drew which piece of art. Nikkita Gibson won top of show for her eye art. I personally liked my eye best, but that's o.kay Nikkita... you crazy cat lady! After all the excitement of our art presentations we ate from a huge pan of "Not Roastbeef" otherwise known as Pasta Putanesca. Dessert was pudding. All and all it was a fun party.

Dead as a Doornail by C. Harris

"Dead as a Doornail" is the 5th Sookie Stackhouse novel. The Sookie Stackhouse books have all been very entertaining, but this is the first of the 5 I've read that I would feel comfortable allowing my 16 year old to read. Most go a little too far in the "romance department"... yeah, that's a good way of saying it! Anyway, I like the books very much. They are easy to read, and each chapter leaves you NEEDING to know more! In this volume Sookie (a telepathic barmaid at Merlotte's Bar) is saved by her fairy godmother (REALLY!) from her burning home, finds herself involved with a pack of werewolves and in the middle of the election of a new pack leader, is shot while leaving the library, is landlord to a vampire pirate who is filling in at Merlotte's as bartender, is warned by Bubba (who was Elvis in his post-dead vampire state) that she is in danger and strikes a deal with Eric (the vampire sheriff of District 5) to save her friend, Tara, from an abusive vampire named Mickey! Sookie Stackhouse leads a full life, you might say!!!

Dead to the World

I guess this is my favorite of the first 4 Sookie Stackhouse books. This is the book #4 and in this volume, Sookie finds herself taking care of Eric, the Vampire Sheriff of District 5, who has amnesia. He's a much more agreeable vamp when he's under the curse of a witch named Hallow!!! Vampire Bill is absent much of the book (which is fine with me) b/c he's in Peru doing something for the Queen of Louisiana. Sookie's brother, Jason, is also mysteriously missing. This book is packed with action. Were-wolfs, vampires and even one shape-shifter along side Sookie fight a coven of were-witches who drink vampire blood!!! So, they are super-duper mean and powerful witches! Bubba, the vampire, is also in this book, again. He is one of my favorite characters! You'd just have to read the books to know why!

Living Dead in Dallas

Just finished the 2nd Sookie Stackhouse novel Living Dead in Dallas, and it was pretty good. I like the books because they are fast-paced and full of action. Every chapter ends with a cliffhanger! This book really even had two plots running at the same time. In this volume, Sookie finds herself forced to go to Dallas and use her telepathic skills to look for a missing vampire. She finds herself prisoner of "The Fellowship of the Sun", a kind of church whose members want to "do away" with all the vampires of world! All this after Sookie is attacked by a maenad and almost killed. I know if you're like me, you are wondering what a maenad is, so I will grace you with my knowledge... straight from wikipedia! Maenads were the female followers of Dionysus, the most significant members of the Thiasus, the retinue of Dionysus. Their name literally translates as "raving ones". Often the maenads were portrayed as inspired by him into a state of ecstatic frenzy, through a combination of dancing and drunken intoxication. In this state, they would lose all self-control, begin shouting excitedly, engage in uncontrolled behaviors, and ritualistically hunt down and tear animals (and sometimes men and children) to pieces, devouring the raw flesh. During these rites, the maenads would dress in fawn skins and carry a thyrsus, a long stick wrapped in ivy or vine leaves and tipped by a cluster of leaves; they would weave ivy-wreaths around their heads, and often handle or wear snakes. Pretty darn scary, huh? Well, this book was a quick one to read and fun but not for kids. Ms. Harris could have left out about 3 pages, and it would have been fine. Guess there must be a market out there for those 3 pages!

"Dead Until Dark" by Charlaine Harris

Dead Until Dark is the first novel in the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris. I got the first six paperbacks at a steal last year, and Kaylie decided to read the first one. She was also into reading another series at the time, so she got behind... THANKFULLY! Dead until Dark & all the other Sookie bookies are NOT for kids & teens. The story is inventive, exciting and fast paced. It is also slightly provocative. I wish authors wouldn't ruin perfectly good stories with text that is better left to the imagination! That said, I enjoyed the book. I enjoyed it enough that I plan to read the other five paperbacks I have. I won't be allowing Kaylie to read them though, unless I rip out several pages!!! Sorry, Kaylie-Bird. You've been censored.

I finished it!

Mockingjay is full of twists and turns from beginning to end as the story of Katniss Everdeen continues. The people from Districts 1 through 12 (including Katniss & Gale) along with the mysterious District 13 form "the rebels." They fight against the the capitol city of Panem for their freedom. This book is by far the bloodiest of the three books, and unfortunately there is little time for romance! Overall, Suzanne Collins does a great job of tying up loose ends while creating a whole new story where Katniss is still a token in a game she doesn't want to play but finds she must.

TRUE BLOOD on hold...

I've had to put True Blood by C. Harris on the bookshelf until I finish Mockingjay. Of course, I have to hurry so I can find out what happens to Sookie Stackhouse, the mind-reading waitress who has fallen in love with a vampire. SHOCKING! The story takes place in Bon Temps, Louisiana. Vampires (who basically have a virus) are fighting for equal rights amoung humans. Sounds reasonable, right? Of course, there are good vampires and bad...very bad ones. Sookie doesn't know if she should trust Vampire Bill because innocent girls in her small town are being found murdered!!! Of course, I know what happens (because I saw season I of the series on HBO) but I find the books are much better! I will everyone know when I get back to Sookie and Bill's story!

Mockingjay Came Out TODAY!!!

It's finally here... book three of the trilogy that started with The Hunger Games and followed up with Catching Fire. I for one was very excited to hit Barnes and Noble TODAY for my copy, but thanks to my good friend Kaye it didn't work out. Well, that might not be fair, but she did in fact send me a link for a 30% off coupon on the book that my printer refused to print. So, in a round about way it's all Kaye's fault that I'm not reading Mockingjay right now and preparing for our November book club party. I simply couldn't buy the book at regular price when the coupon was right there on my computer screen!!! Well, anyway, If you haven't read the first two books, then you simply MUST before you read Mockingjay. You'll be beyond lost if you don't read them in order. As for the books, they are smart, exciting, and unique. The story is simply a GREAT story! Don't be fooled like I was years ago thinking the books would be too graphic; you will know what I'm talking about when you read the description of The Hunger Games. I don't know how Suzanne Collins wrote such a story in a tasteful way, but she did. For anyone who thinks they can read the book by Tuesday, August 31st you might want to check out the online book club discussion at shelf-life.ew.com. I guess I will continue reading A Series of Unfortunate Events and Dead Until Dark until Frank can get home and print that coupon out. Bad Kaye, Bad!

August's Book Club Party

Our August Book Club Party was a success even with only 17 in attendance! We all just lead such exciting lives, it's hard to get our books finished! Becca Broome and Renee Biddy certainly deserve mention for going all out with their "monster attire." Really great job, guys! Also, I'd like to welcome William who came with the Gibson Family! We hope you'll come back in September.
We covered a little about character analysis and everyone was able to share why they choose a certain character from the book. Thanks goes out to Kaylie who when asked why she choose Fire as her character, she said, "because she's pretty." I'm so proud of my college bound teen! During the party, I was able to show off my brilliance with a character matching sheet (boy, there were too many characters in this book) and a crossword puzzle. There will be NO mutilation of worksheets next book club party! You guys should be taking these sheets home and studying them, and No, I'm not kidding!
Our meal consisted of MONSTER drinks and monster raptor meat which was pretty yummy, if I do say so myself. I was determined to find something for my vegan friend but failed totally! Thankfully Reba made Clara's carrot cake which was vegan friendly! Thanks, Reba. It was very tasty.
So, tell me what you thought of the party. I'm already working on our September party for A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning. It should be a fun one!