Have you finished book one in the Sookie Stackhouse series yet? If not come back, the discussion will still be here whenever you are ready.

One of the reasons I love mysteries is that the language is usually very blunt. You don’t often find purple prose in a whodunit novel. Charlane Harris is no exception and even though a big part of this book revolved around Sookie’s personal life (or lack thereof) there was no pussy-footing around the point.

A killer is on the loose in Bon Temps, L.A. a killer who strangles women who have a relationship to vampires. As a mind reading waitress, you’d thing Sookie would have caught on to the killer’s identity long before the climax, but I’ll admit I didn’t put it together until at least 2/3rds of the way through the book.
When did you figure it out? Was the a major clue or did you put all the pieces together at a random spot.

I don’t know about you, but I bought into this world right away, That vampires came out of the coffin and were now a part of everyday reality. They were petitioning for civil rights in the good old US of A, promising that since the invention of synthetic blood, they no longer needed to feed on humans.

But turn the tables and the humans are draining them as their immortal blood is the new drug of choice. Something about vampires as victims, took awhile for that picture to gel for me. What was your impression of the Vamps, both mainstreaming ones and the ones in the nest and at Fangtasisa?

I loved Sookie right from the start, she’s so hyper aware of everything around her with just enough self-loathing at her “disability” to make her buyable. What was your take on her?

Let’s talk Sam. I had a hunch, somewhere around the attack on Sookie by the Ratarays that Sam was other. Ms. Harris even pointed out a growling sound. I was thinking werewolf probably because in almost every paranormal I’ve ever read, where there’s smoke there’s fire and when you have vampires, werewolves are probably lurking nearby.

The death of Sookie’s grandmother really caught me off guard. Sookie too, I’d imagine. When looking back,I see that it was necessary for Sookie to grow as a character, which she really did.

Coming of age was definitely a prevalent theme through this story, probably one of the most interesting ones I’ve ever read. from the truth about vampires to way too much info on her brother’s sexual preferences, no matter which way poor Sookie turns, the blinders are being ripped off. Bill is the catalyst for all this and Sookie knows it because she hears in his matter of fact tone “deal with it.”

She knows she must change, wants to go from being the barmaid who hordes interesting tidbits to total overwhelm. I feel for her, even if she’s blonde and built.

Your thoughts?

P.S. I want someone else to run the discussion on Hag 1 next Friday.  Conflict of interest and all that. Let us know if you’re willing.  If you don’t have a copy, message me on facebook and we’ll get you set up.

Sorry I haven’t been up on this gang, I have no excuse, other than the common complaint of not enough time. 

So yeah, mystery. 

Here are the choices.

The Red House Mystery –Amazon Freebe

The Misadventures of the Laundry Hag: Skeletons in the Closet –That’s right, my baby’s on here.  Found out yesterday Maggie is in the top 100 recommended reads on Goodreads, so I don’t even feel like a shameless pimp.  I can’t send it to your ereader but I can give out a few ebook copies.  All I ask in return are reviews. And you need to be part of the group on facebook for me to send it to you.

Dead Until Dark – I think it’s my mission in life to get as many people as possible hooked on these books.  In case you haven’t heard, this is the first in the series of books Alan Ball based his show True Blood off of and no, you can’t just watch season one. (Though I do recommend both) There are distinct differences. I’m going to reread it for the pure joy of it because the next book in the series is due out in early May.

One For the Money The start to the Stephanie Plum series.  Seriously, Katherine Hiegl?  Has she ever even been to Jersey? Can’t find this one free anywhere but I guarentee you library will have several (dozen) copies.

Check up on ‘em and then vote!

I have to be honest, this is my second read of this book and it still amazes me that I made it through the first time!

Harrison pretty much drop kicked us into her alternate world, that of the Hollows and left the reader to sink or swim on her own. There were times I really thought I was going to sink.

First off, our main protagonist, Rachel. Did you like her from the get go? I sure didn’t. She was a little too cool for school, calling humans “snacks” and her coworker “cookie”. I was almost glad when the IS set up a death threat on her, though I knew it wouldn’t end there, since the narrative was from her POV.

The back story with the turn, IMHO, super cool. While steampunk and cyberpunk are common, I’ve yet to read another spin-off where man doesn’t go to the moon. The world building is what kept me going.

Like I said, didn’t sympathize with Rachel at all, not until she started surviving on her own. Between Ivy, the vampire nanny goat and Jenks (Who I adored from the first) she really seemed to be along for the ride in her own life. The old witch across the street saved her bacon more than one.

Two things happened to turn the book around for me. One was Trent. Oh so deliciously low! I love when evil wears a handsome veneer. the fact that he was dabbling with death and biodrugs and is of an unknown species, gimme more!

The other was nick, who, is an idiot. Yes, so by the end he’s kinda sorta Rachel’s boyfriend (They deserve one another!) but he’s also a sneaky SOB. Takes one to know one, right? I did like how he trapped the demon, he definitely has layers but it was pretty obvious to me that he lied about many things to Rachel and she chose to ignore them.

So this pick was supposed to be romance, which in this case, there are many possibilities.
1.) Ivy –yeah, I have little to say on this one. Obviously the attraction goes both ways. I kind of felt sorry for Ivy, though I’m not sure why.

2.) Kisten– though he only made a cameo, I definitely saw some sparks there. Again the vamp obstacle thing, what with Rachel’s fear of becoming a shadow.
(By the way, totally loved the vamp dating guide angle, sheer brilliance! Especially with all the vamp groupies giving her tips. This is why I don’t take the bus!)

3.) Trent– Yum. Total bad boy. The rat fight thing was a little too far over the line–death so hinders romance –but still.

4.) Nick –by the end of the book he was, at least in Rachel’s mind, the safe choice. Although I couldn’t stomach when he called her “Ray-Ray,” Gack. At least with Trent, you see the evil up front, but Nick is a sneaky little worm.

So what did you like/ dislike about the book? Did I miss anything important? Feel free to argue with me on any of this!

Our pick for March is Dead Witch Walking

Discussion of Dead Witch Walking will begin on April 1st. Have your questions and comments ready to go, I have tons I want to ask all of you! And please, when voting on the genre poll, leave some title suggestions for the genre you pick?

Happy reading!

What genre for April?
(polls)

And here are your selections for the month.

1.Dead Witch Walking

2.Bitten

3.Operation Sheba: Super Agent series book 1

4.Hide in Plain Sight

Read up on them and then vote on the poll for which you want to read this month. We’ll pick on Monday the 15th so we have two weeks to read. Note: All but Bitten are free downloads on Amazon Kindle Store. You can download and read off the computer if like me you are sans Kindle.

Which Romance Book For March?
(polls)

I really want to read a Steampunk novel, and am seeking recommendations for a good one to cut my teeth on. Suggestions?

So, I want to know what you want as far as format for this round. Should we do print, ebook or pick a selection that’s offered in both?
If we do decide on print, I think it’s best we pick an older book, something available in most libraries, to make it easy access for everyone.

Do you prefer print or ebooks?
(polls)

What genre are we reading this month?
(polls)

You can pick two answers and we’ll go with simple majority for now. After we vote on genre, we’ll decide on sub genre and format (ebook or print.) Votes will be counted one week from today. March 10th.