kgbooklog

Charlaine Harris, "Gift Wrap"
Ace (2008) ISBN: 978-0-441-01633-4
Score: -2

Sookie gets sex with a complete stranger for Christmas.

Charlaine Harris, From Dead to Worse
Ace (2008) ISBN: 978-0-441-01589-4
Score: 2

Eighth Southern Vampire novel, in which all sorts of stuff continues to happen to Sookie. Her family gets a little bigger, several powerful characters put themselves in her debt, and she gets mixed up in several conflicts (some of them neither violent nor political). There wasn't really a plot, just a bunch of things happening in a short period of time. And since there are no longer any expendable named characters in Bon Temps, the author is now finishing killing off the ones in New Orleans and starting on Shreveport.

Next Book: Simon R. Green, Something From the Nightside

Charlaine Harris, An Ice Cold Grave
Berkley (2007) ISBN: 978-0-425-21729-0
Score: 2

The third Harper Connelly mystery, in which she is hired to help find a serial killer in a small mountain town. Some of the plot twists were telegraphed well in advance, and I'm getting really tired of murderers are caught when they try to kill the heroine (or someone she cares about) in front of witnesses.

Next Book: Naomi Novik, Empire of Ivory

Charlaine Harris, Dracula Night
Ace (2007) ISBN: 978-0-441-01522-1
Score: 1

A Sookie is invited to celebrate Dracula's birthday. Set between Dead to the World and Dead as a Doornail.

Next Book: C.E. Murphy, Coyote Dreams

Charlaine Harris, All Together Dead
Ace (2007) ISBN: 978-0-441-01494-1
Score: 2

Seventh Southern Vampire novel, in which Sookie goes to a vampire summit in Illinois and is nearly killed as usual. Two rather sudden weddings are shown and several others talked about, and we see Barry from Dallas again. It's set five years after the vampires went public and one month after Katrina which I found very jarring (she should have at least changed the name of the hurricane). Also, a couple things were painfully obvious right from the first hint, yet none of the characters noticed in time (not even the ones being paid to look for stuff like that). But I still really like the setting and characters.

Next Book: Austin Grossman, Soon I Will Be Invincible

Charlaine Harris, Grave Surprise
Berkley (2006) ISBN: 0-425-21203-3
Score: 1.5

Second Harper Connelly paranormal mystery, in which she gets a little help from a psychic and a ghost. Which is good, since the murderer deliberately involved her. Unfortunately, I can't make any sense of the murderer's methods given the stated motive.

Next Book: Drew Bowling, The Tower of Shadows

Charlaine Harris, "Tacky"
St. Martin's (2006) ISBN: 0-312-34360-4
Score: 1

Another story from My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding, set in the Southern Vampire series (though I didn't recognize any of the characters' names). Fairly predictable story about a wedding between a werewolf and a vampire.

Next Book: Kage Baker, The Machine's Child

Charlaine Harris, Definitely Dead
Ace (2006) 0-441-01400-3
Score: 2.5

The sixth Southern Vampire book, in which Sookie starts dating someone new, solves a crime, goes to New Orleans[1], and is nearly killed several times. On the plus side, this may be the last we'll see of the Pelt family, and we're starting to get hints that there's a reason why Sookie is the focus of everyone and everything.

[1] One reason she's there is to sort through the belongings of her cousin, whose death was reported in "One Word Answer" (in the anthology Bite). Reading it first would be helpful, but not necessary.

Next Book: Jane Lindskold, Wolf's Head, Wolf's Heart

Charlaine Harris, Grave Sight
Berkley (2005) ISBN: 0-425-20568-1
Score: 2

First book about Harper Connelly, yet another amateur detective who's constantly finding corpses. The difference here is that she's getting paid for it. As a teenager she was struck by lightning, giving her the ability to sense corpses and, if she gets close enough, tell what exactly they died of (the exact info she gets varies depending on the plot). Aside from this talent, and its affect on her private life, this is a fairly typical amateur detective story. I'll read the next one to see where the series is headed from here.

3-27-05
Charlaine Harris, Shakespeare's Landlord
St.Martin's (1996) ISBN: 0-312-14415-6
Score: 1.5

This is the beginning of an amateur detective series set in the small town of Shakespeare, Arkansas. A fun, quick, read though not much of a mystery. It does not leave any loose ends, so there's no particular reason to keep reading.