The Kari AnnAlysis

Archive for October, 2009

Meet Sookie Stackhouse. She’s a plain ole’ country girl from Louisiana. She’s a bar maid who lives with her grandma and lives a pretty normal life. Except for the fact that she can read minds.

She can read almost every one’s mind, except for vampires. And when she meets Bill Compton, she realizes she loves the fact that every time she’s with him, she gets peace and quiet!

But once she and Bill get close, a number of girls start dying. They are all blue collar workers who like them a little vampire loving every now and then. Hopefully Sookie can use her special talent to keep her brother from behind bars and herself alive.

I had heard A LOT about this book and I’m hoping the series gets better as I continue reading. I got the first in 8 in the series.

I liked it, but didn’t love it. There were some pretty cute sayings, like vampires “coming out of the coffin” and “fang bangers”. I’m just not sure what I expected.

This book was different from any other vampire books I’ve read. When a lot of people, including myself think, of vampires, they think of glitz and glam. This book is very down to earth and simple, and well, country. Even though in Twilight, they didn’t live in a glam place, everything else was dull and the Cullens were magnificent. I know that Bill, in Sookie’s eyes, is a dream boat. I just don’t see the beauty in this as in other vampire novels. Honestly, I kind of like it though. It’s more “normal” than regular books.

But there are some similiarities – the vampires are pale and cold, they drink blood, they can only be out during the night. There’s also a similarity here with Twilight. We have ourselves another shapeshifter! It’s not EXACTLY the same as the werewolves, but I don’t want to spoil anything for you… you’ll have to read to find out!

I love how vampires are mainstream. People know they are around and the bars even stock up with blood for them.

I really liked Harris’ explanation of vampire habits. They use prostitutes to get strong. They suck their blood, not necessarily have sex. At one point, Sookie and Bill talk about Bill’s facial hair. He said he was lucky he shaved right before he turned. I guess I never thought about them not growing hair. Lucky Bill

One thing I REALLY liked about this book was that I didn’t know who the killer was until it was revealed. I know that sounds silly, but I’ve read so many books and watched so many movies, I normally know who the killer was. On the other side of this, the killer isn’t revealed until the last few pages, and I wasn’t even sure if we were going to learn the killer in this book, or if she was going to wait until the next one.

I am optimistic about this book because I am really liking a few of the characters. I will start by giving this series 3 stars, plenty of room to move up!

Sookie Stackhouse Series
1. Dead Until Dark

Doing tonight’s Musing Monday from my work computer. Ours broke and we aren’t getting a new one until Thursday.

Today’s topic is the 24 Hour Read-a-thon. Are you planning on participating? Have you made any preparations for the event? Veterans, are there any tips you’d like to share with the newbies?

I just found out about this a couple of weeks ago, and any other weekend, I would probably take full advantage of it. This weekend however is my husband’s 30th birthday. I think he may get up and go hunting for a while, so I may dedicate my morning to it, but I will most likely spend some time with my mom and get some pictures developed at Wal-Mart.

I do, however, fully intend to take part in the next one and I’ve been checking out other lists so I can know what books I should put on my list for when I participate!

When’s the last time you weeded out your library? Do you regularly keep it pared down to your reading essentials? OR does it blossom into something out of control the minute you turn your back like a garden after a spring rain?

Or, do you simply not get rid of books? At all?

When you DO weed out books from your collection, what do you do with them? Thrown them away? Donate them to a charity or used bookstore? Sell them to a used bookstore? Trade them?

*I am not a fan of getting rid of books. AT ALL! What if I want to go back and read it? I did just recently give away the first book in the Gossip Girl series. I didn’t love it, so I decided if someone else would, might as well give it a good home. I do have a few more books I plan on doing this with, but it’s hard for me to part. I like for my bookshelf to look diversified

If I did a giveaway and no one wanted the book, I would probably sell it to a book store. I know there are a couple around here, just haven’t taken advantage yet.

I would NEVER… NEVER throw a book away. I still have ALL the books I had when I was little. My dad has them all in the book shelf in the attic for me to pass on one day.

What about you?

Congratulations Jennifer for winning a signed copy of Bart Harper’s The Gentleman in Room 205. I will be contacting you to get your address so we can get your book to you!

Thanks for playing!

I saw this quiz over at Well Mannered Frivolty, who found it at HelloQuizzy. I am a sucker for these. I love grammar, even though I’m not an expert, as you’ll soon see with my results. But, I am a nerd and asked for two grammar books for my birthday. Maybe I should start reading them

And the results are……

Beginner: 100%
Intermediate: 100%
Advanced: 87%
Expert: 60%

“You have an extremely good understanding of beginner, intermediate, and advanced level commonly confused English words, getting at least 75% of each of these three levels’ questions correct. This is an exceptional score. Remember, these are commonly confused English words, which means most people don’t use them properly. You got an extremely respectable score. ”

Have you taken this? What were your results?