Ahh Sookie Sookie

Okay if you haven't jumped on the True Blood bandwagon it is time to take the leap. It is sort of like Twilight for Grown-ups! Charlaine Harris has created an incredible world in which Vampires exist in plain sight. The Sookie Stackhouse series has got it all - romance, adventure, mystery, magic, paranormal, sex, violence, and humor. You may have also heard it called "The Southern Vampire" Series. Harris has spun a web so intricate that you will get sucked in (pun intended) within the first few chapters of the first book. The first book - Dead Until Dark - starts with the public announcement that Vampires really do live among us. And with each new book in the series you are faced with a new and exciting adventure filled with twists and turns that you never see coming. There are power struggles, love affairs, murders, and just general weirdness throughout the books. You will soon find out that in Harris' reality - all those things that go bump in the night really exist too. She include Weres, Witches, Goblins, Telepaths and menagerie of other creatures that are all just living right next do to the rest of us. And all throughout the books are some incredibly delicious love scenes and quite the love triangle (or pentagon at one point!).
And to top it off the series has been turned into a Cable TV Show on HBO called True Blood! It is cleverly done - to not follow the books to the tee but rather used it as a guideline. And the casting department at HBO did a great job of capturing all the main characters (with the exception of Tara who is two very different people from book to screen). If you enjoy the paranormal romance genre you will love the Sookie Stackhouse Books by Charlaine Harris. It is certainly a staple for all of the paranormal fans.
Here are the books in reading order:

1. Dead Until Dark
2. Living Dead in Dallas
3. Club Dead
4. Dead to the World
5. Dead as a Doornail
6. Definitely Dead
7. All Together Dead
8. From Dead to Worse
9. Dead and Gone
10. Dead in the Family - Due out May 2010

And don't forget A Touch of Dead - a collection of all the Sookie Short Stories that have been in various Anthologies over the years. You can buy the first 8 books in a Boxed Set from Amazon.
You can learn more about Charlaine Harris and her other series' at http://www.charlaineharris.com/. So which Sookie Book is your favorite? Mine was Dead and Gone, I just can't wait till the next one comes out. And I am happy to report that Harris has confirmed that the Sookie Series is far from done!

Get your knitting needles out

FNKC starts out slow but really gains some steam once all of the characters are identified. It is a realistic story of a single-mother who starts her own business. The story follows her as she makes friends, learns who she is, and becomes hugely successful in life as well as business. I really liked that it's not all happiness and fluff but some real-life situations. There are also several side stories going on at once with each member of the Knitting Club. Jacobs does a great job of switching point of view without confusing the reader, as well as keeping the focus on the main characters, Walker and Daughter. The ages of the characters range from a 12 year-old girl to a 72 year old woman and there is a little something for everyone. I am really interested to read the second installment of this series. You can purchase this book on Amazon or put it on your wish list on Paperback Swap. And seriously, this book makes me consider learning how to knit - like I need another hobby! Have you read this book? What did you think?

All Hail Queen Betsy

A few days back I posted about the PaperBack Swap Website. It has been amazing. I have decided to request books that I have been unsure about purchasing since it is such a discount. So I decided to dive into the Queen Betsy Series by Mary Janice Davidson. The first in the series is called Undead and Unwed. It is literally laugh out loud funny. It follows a woman named Elizabeth Taylor - yes that's her name - from her mortal life into the immortal! I am currently half way through the second one and it is a great series. There are 8 books in the Series, and here is the reading order:

1. Undead and Unwed
2. Undead and Unemployed
3. Undead and Unappreciated
4. Undead and Unreturnable
5. Undead and Unpopular
6. Undead and Uneasy
7. Undead and Unworthy
8. Undead and Unwelcome
9. Undead and Unfinished

You can click on any of the titles to be linked to Amazon for purchase. These books are a breeze to read and a lot of fun. I will warn you that they are a little racy at times and there is a bit of foul language. But it is done in a realistic way, so only adds to the story. Have you read this series? What do you think?

Series Books Are My Favorite

So I have officially decided that Series Books are my favorite. I love the fact that you can "follow" a character or group of character through their journey for more then one book. Since I have an inability to re-read books for some reason I get bummed when I come to the end of book that has no sequel. So books that come in a series are a great cure for that. Plus I get the great excitement of anticipation waiting for the author to finish the next one!
Additionally I have just come across something even better then just a series but a Spin-off of sorts. I have read all of the Mercy Thompson Series by Patricia Briggs to day and sit in eager anticipation for the next one Silver Borne, due out early next year. I really enjoy Briggs' writing style and was looking for something to "tide me over" till the next Mercy book. So I picked up the first book in her Alpha and Omega Series and come to learn that it is based on the same main family although the main characters are vastly different and it focuses more on a different family member (the common factor is two brothers, one in each series). So if you have read either of these series' and not the other - go pick it up!!
What's your favorite series?