The Southern Vampire Mysteries and why I Love Them

Hey everyone! I hope you had a great holiday weekend! I know I did. Sorry for the lack of posting, but I had a ton to do this weekend, including; bridal showers, car washing, thank you note writing, lawn mowing,  UFC watching... You know, important stuff...

Last week, I purchased the newest book in the Southern Vampire Mysteries book series, "Dead Reckoning". The rest of you may know this series as "The Sookie Stackhouse books" AKA the books the TV show TrueBlood are based on. The series is by far the best series I've ever read, and I highly recommend it to anyone out there who is looking for a fun Summer read.

I began reading the series before TrueBlood was picked up as a show. I've always liked vampire stories, and this one doesn't disappoint. The thing I like about HBO doing the show, is that the show and the book series are different enough to throw off people who read the books. The story lines are similar, but characters and events are changed, so that if you've read the series, you won't know all of the outcomes.

I love the series because it's unlike a lot of other supernatural book series out there. The books main character, Sookie, could not be more different than her angsty, teenage counterpart, Bella Swan of "Twilight". Sookie is a waitress, who has had her own hardships in life, and is not about to let a man, or a vampire tell her what to do. You don't see Sookie begging to become a vampire, or only limiting herself to one guy. She's a self-sufficient, no bullshit kind of gal, and I love that about her.

Also, unlike it's teenage counterparts of "Twilight" and "The Vampire Diaries", you don't get that totally creeped out feeling when you're reading it. Like "um, this vampire is 150 years old, and openly hitting on a 17 year old....". Sookie is 25 when the series begins, and although the vampire who are trying to court her are quite a bit older, the creep factor is much lower, especially since she's out of high school and can legally vote.

The author of the series, Charlaine Harris, is an amazing writer with an amazing sense of humor. There are so many different types of "supes" in the world that she has created (which I won't get into, because I don't want to spoil anything for people watching the show). At one point while reading thee books, I almost though to myself "Oh shit, Charlaine, you've jumped the shark on this one", but she manages to pull it back in, and make it all make sense.

There are currently eleven books in the series (with at LEAST two more to go), and I highly suggest them to anyone who is looking for something to take on vacation, or just read at the office this Summer. I managed to get through the most recent book in less than three days, because it's just that hard to put down. Oh, and if you haven't gotten on the TrueBlood TV show wagon, it's a MUST.