I felt the need for a prettier, image led post. After all words are my currency but sometimes its nice to just look at the pictures! The books I am currently reading or would like to read in June are:
And am also very excited about the new Christopher Paolini but there’s a bit of a wait yet!
Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris
The blurb: If you think your family relationships are complicated, think again: you haven’t seen anything like the ones in Bon Temps, Louisiana. Sookie Stackhouse is dealing with a whole host of family problems, ranging from her own kin (a non-human fairy and a telepathic second cousin) demanding a place in her life, to her lover Eric’s vampire sire, an ancient being, who arrives with Eric’s ‘brother’ in tow at a most inopportune moment. And Sookie’s tracking down a distant relation of her ailing neighbour (and ex), Vampire Bill Compton.
In addition to the multitude of family issues complicating her life, the werewolf pack of Shreveport has asked Sookie for a special favour, and since Sookie is an obliging young woman, she agrees. But this favour for the wolves has dire results for Sookie, who is still recovering from the trauma of her abduction during the Fairy War.
My review: *SPOILERS*
Dead in the Family is the tenth book in the Southern Vampire series and as such possibly not one to start with. I have loved Charlaine Harris’s creation from its beginnings and this is a worthy book for fans of Sookie and True Blood.
The end of book nine saw the most traumatic scenes in the series so far, torture, war and death. Sookie is no longer the same girl she once was with her sunny disposition – wishing to meet vampires and trying to find someone she can be herself around.
This Sookie is a different creature, angst ridden and needy, her relationship with Eric never seeming to quite satisfy her, she seems to have turned into the Carrie Bradshaw of Bon Temps. I was saddened by this change but needed to remind myself that her character has been through a hell of a lot! The harrowing scenes at the end of book nine have taken their toll and while I was keen to read more of Sookie and Eric’s chemistry, that area falls flat but with good reason. I implore Charlaine Harris to reignite their sparkle in the next book, Eric is probably the sexiest character ever written!
Don’t expect big things. This novel has a much subtler message. Emotional consequences to violent actions don’t often happen in fictional worlds and it’s a refreshing change that these are addressed. Sookie isn’t a superhero but someone much more relatable. Dead in the Family holds the ground work for some really interesting future developments. Not my favourite Stackhouse book but definitely not one to be left out in the cold.
7.5 stars out of 10! *******.5
(I havent reviewed all of the Southern Vampire books on this blog as I’m going for diversity but as a recommendation my favourites – the ten star entries are Dead to the World and Dead and Gone)
Thanks to the wonderful Liz at My Favourite Books I have managed to get my grubby hands on a proof copy of the new Sookie Stackhouse! Yes that’s right I’m whizzing through Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris as I write this and will be posting my review in time for its release. What an author, what a book and what a lovely blogger as well! This is why I love the book blogging community. Now I just have to wait for Season three of True Blood to air - come on June!
I’ll keep you posted!
So I have not posted anything for a whole month, for blogging standards thats pretty poor. All I can say is that Waterstones are to blame. I decided to purchase the Sookie Stackhouse boxset for the bargain price of £30 (RRP £40 although now its online for £20! Damn it!) from my local Waterstones. It was an impulse buy, I was in there looking for good Christmas presents and the boxset just looked really cool. I have always prefered the Harper Connelly series by Charlaine Harris but I was won over by the boxset. AND WHAT A SET!! It turns out her first book is nowhere near as good as some of the others! I am head over heals in love with the character Eric Northmann who is fantastically ruthless, cheeky and the sexiest fictional character I’ve ever come across! I am halfway through the eight books and seem to find that I am unable to read anything else! If you put one thing on your Santa list this year I heartily recommend this boxset, I give it 10 out of 10 stars, and I’d give Eric 12!!
Grave Sight by Charlaine Harris
The blurb: Harper Connelly had a lucky escape when she was hit by lightning: she didn’t die. But sometimes she wishes she had died, because the lightning strike left her with an unusual talent: she can find dead people – and that’s not always comfortable. Everyone wants to know how she does it: it’s a little like hearing a bee droning inside her head, or maybe the pop of a Geiger counter, a persistent, irregular noise that increases in strength as she gets closer. It’s almost electric: a buzzing all through her body, and the fresher the corpse, the more intense the buzz.
Harper and her brother Tolliver make their living from finding the dead, for desperate parents, worried friends . . . and police departments who have nowhere else to look. They may not believe in her abilities, but sometimes the proof is just too much for even the most sceptical of police chiefs to deny.
But it’s not always easy for someone like Harper, for the dead *want* to be found – and too often, finding the body doesn’t bring closure; it opens a whole new can of worms.
My Review: So I decided, after reading the first Sookie Stackhouse novel by Charlaine Harris, that I would refrain from reading the whole series and try her other books, the less famous Harper Connelly books. It turns out I made a cracking decision as I was completely hooked from page one.
Harper Connelly had the perfect life until her parents shrugged off responsibility got into drugs and threw their lives into chaos. Consequently Harper and her step-brother Tolliver had to grow up fast. Especially when, at the age of 15, Harper was struck by lightening giving her special gifts and weaknesses like the ability to find dead people but coupled with crippling side effects that no doctor is able to fix. Harper and Tolliver make their living by travelling around the country and helping desperate people, parents, relatives, the police find the missing people in their lives, when they’ve given up all hope of finding them alive.
Not surprisingly Harper is not always looked upon favourably in the towns she visits, but thanks partly to her upbringing and her strong relationship with Tolliver is capable enough to deal with other people’s prejudices. This was a great read, engaging, interesting, sad and funny. I was drawn into Harper’s world and found myself firmly planted on Harper and Tolliver’s side! Definitely worth reading, a refreshing change from the Vampires in the world!
Brilliant book! (and the cover’s pretty cool too!)
9 out of 10 stars *********
DEAD UNTIL DARK by Charlaine HarrisThe blurb:
Charlaine Harris’ deep south vampire series is a rare treat, it flows easily and is unassuming. If I am completely honest I came to the book after I had started watching the television series True Blood – I was intrigued by the product adverts in the states so tuned in to watch when it was screened in the UK. I am hooked on the show and am now very likely hooked on the books.
Review:
Sookie Stackhouse, our heroine, has the ability to read other peoples thoughts. It’s rather down played in the book which I think is a shame as it could go in so many different directions. (I’ll have to read the rest of the series to find out if its developed!) Her character has an appealing naiveté that’s not always found in this genre, she’s working class and proud, raised with good morals and a people first attitude. Bill Compton, her main love interest and somewhat dead partner has an old time gentlemanly way about him which makes them a pretty perfect coupling. True Blood, a synthetic blood drink, where the TV series got its name, means that Bill can ‘mainstream’ into human society however with any minority this is a difficult transition. The other potential love interest Sam Merlotte, is also a conscientious character with his own little secrets.
As a whole the book was pleasantly easy to read, there are some surprising twists and great characterisation. I really empathised with Sookie and read the whole thing in one sitting! A definite recommend for fans of Twilight, Harris has created a truly believable world in Bon Temps.
7 out of 10 stars! *******
Out now
