The Longest Post Ever

Ok, so I'll admit it. I judge books by their covers. I browse the library and bookstores and if a cover catches my eye I'll pick it up. I'm generally really good with my randomness, but I suppose there are times when I'll pass up a book because the cover isn't very interesting. Charlaine Harris's books fell into that sinkhole.

I started watching True Blood and I think I'm the only person who doesn't like Sookie or Bill the Vampire. I think the show's kind of corny & the first season was really just supernatural themed porn, but it's decent TV to watch when there's not much else on. A friend in one of my book groups couldn't believe I hadn't read the Southern Vampire series. She said it was right up my alley with, you know, the vampires and all. So I picked up the first SV book Dead Until Dark and was horribly, horribly bored. The first season of True Blood did NOT stray far from the book so reading the book was like a replay of what I'd already seen thanks to HBO.

But I thought I'd give it another chance. Since I was only halfway through the second season of True Blood I thought maybe the second book wouldn't be bad. It wasn't, but I still wasn't in love with the series. I kept reading and somewhere discovered that I LOVED the series. I love the direction Charlaine Harris has taken the books so far and I've only gotten through 7 of the books. I can't wait to see where Sookie goes next.

I still don't like Bill the Vampire (I'm Team Eric all the way), but Sookie in the book has grown on me.

So I thought I'd try out Charlaine Harris's others series. I started with Lily Bard in Shakespeare's Trollop and set aside Sookie until I finished all 5 in the series. Lily Bard is one of my favorite characters. Surviving a vicious kidnapping and rape Lily moves to Shakespeare, Arkansas to live a quiet life alone. She stumbles across the body of her landlord and finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation. I loved how I could literally watch Lily change throughout the series. I'm sad that she ended the series, but I felt like it ended on a good note.

Next up was Harper Connelly in Grave Sight. More good stuff. After being struck by lightning Harper has the ability to see the dead in their last few moments of life. She and her stepbrother travel around helping people find the bodies of loved ones missing and how they came to their end.

I just started the Aurora Teagarden series last week, reading Real Murders and ran to the library as soon as I could to pick up the next book. Aurora is a librarian who spends her free time studying up about famous murders throughout history. The group she belongs to who shares her interests finds themselves the victims and suspects of a series of real murders (hence the title).

I found that Harper, Lily and Sookie are all very similar but different enough to keep it interesting. My goal next month is to finish the last of the Sookie books, but I will be sad when I've come to the end. I heard she's writing one or two more in that series and then she'll move on.

That'll suck.

Seriously people. Team Eric.