Book Review: Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris


Sookie Stackhouse is just a small-time cocktail waitress in small-town Louisiana. Until the vampire of her dreams walks into her life-and one of her coworkers checks out….

Maybe having a vampire for a boyfriend isn’t such a bright idea.


I read this book a few months ago, but health kept me from making the Review Post. So here we go:

I had friends who were constantly talking about True Blood. But knowing that the show was based on the books I couldn’t let myself watch the show without at least reading the first book. Hubbys nagging to get to watch the show my friend sent on DVD made me read it. But I am very GLAD I did.

Dead until Dark is a very well written book that harkens back to your more traditional styled Vampires. Blood Hungry, day sleepers who don’t sparkle and can only come out at night. While she has tossed in the new synthetic blood so those who wish to be Good Vampires can drink that rather than human blood, the core of her Vampires are the traditional kind.

There is a love story involved, with undercurrents of dark sensuality that will make you shiver a bit. This is very much an adult book. With a cast of characters that may make you think of some backwoods rednecks but in essence they are. I have not decided if I like Sookie yet, she is slightly annoying to my minds eye. But they have given her a strong group around here. The Vampire Bill is mysterious as he is slightly off putting and yet romantic. Jason Stackhouse just needs to be neutered, but we love him anyways.

The book lays down a solid foundation for the series. With its own murder mystery along with the forbidden love and the promise of more to come. If you’re an Adult Vampire fan I highly recommend you read this book.

Booking Through Thursday-It’s all about Me

Which do you prefer? Biographies written about someone? Or Autobiographies written by the actual person (and/or ghost-writer)?

This is a tough one to say. I like both for different reasons. You generally get a more honest and all around look when you read a Biography. But you learn some deeper things, and are closer to the story when you read an Autobiography. So I guess my answer is on the fence. Both!

Wicked Wednesday #12


Wicked Wednesday a place to be wicked to other book readers and make them get those TBR piles growing. The concept is simple. Pick a book or two and tell s about them. If its one you read tell us what you liked. If its one you found tell us about that to. Than leave a comment to let us know where to find your Wicked Wednesday titles. Make sure to link back in your posts for other people to follow Wicked Wednesday.

Journey to dazzling seventeenth-century Hindustan, where the reigning emperor, consumed with grief over the tragic death of his beloved wife, commissions the building of the Taj Mahal as a testament to the marvel of their love. Princess Jahanara, their courageous daughter, recounts their mesmerizing tale, while sharing her own parallel tale of forbidden love with the celebrated architect of the Taj Mahal. This impressive novel sweeps readers away to a historical Hindustan brimming with action and intrigue in an era when, alongside the brutalities of war and oppression, architecture and the art of love and passion reached a pinnacle of perfection.

Sookie Stackhouse Challenge


I have started the process of choseing my 2010 Challenges and let’s hope I do better in 2010 than I did in 2009. The first one I have picked is the Sookie Stackhouse Challenge. It tech started in June 2009 which works out since I read my first Sookie Stackhouse book in Aug. (I need to put the review up still) So here we go:


From Beth Fish Reads:

Here’s your chance to catch up on Sookie and all her friends — living and undead, fully human and not.

It’s easy, it’s fun, it’s for you! And you have an entire year to complete the challenge.

The Rules:

1. Between July 1, 2009, and June 30, 2010, catch up on Charlaine Harris’s Southern Vampire series. No matter if you’re starting with book 1 or book 8, you have a year to read all about Sookie. Read Sookie in print, listen to the audio, read an eBook — format is not an issue.

2. Sign up using Mr. Linky. Put your name in the top box. For the bottom box, please use the URL that links specifically to your blog post about this challenge, not to your blog’s home page.

3. After July 4, I’ll create a post with another Mr. Linky where you can link your reviews so everyone can read them track your progress.

4. If you don’t have a blog and want to join in, sign up in the comments here. Later, let us know about your progress by leaving comments on the review link page.

EDIT: You can join any time during the course of the challenge.

The Books:

Dead Until Dark Completed 8/20/2009
Living Dead in Dallas
Club Dead
Dead to the World
Dead as a Doornail
Definitely Dead
All Together Dead
From Dead to Worse
Dead and Gone




Teaser Tuesday #25

TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to: Grab your current read.Let the book fall open to a random page.Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!Please avoid spoilers!

Richard of Glouchester was aloft!Time stilled and for an eternity his body was balanced, his shield upon the tip of Lord Roger’s lance. ~ Pg 81 To The Tower Born by Robin Maxwell

Musing Monday #25


Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about social reading…

How much of your reading do you share with others (outside of blogging?) Do you belong to a book or library club? Do you trade books with friends? Do you tell others what you’re reading?

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own Musing Mondays post, or share your opinion in a comment here (if you don’t have a blog). Thanks.

I do share my reading. I belong to two book groups from Paperback Swap, and even though I Haven’t been able to meet with them lately because of my health I do belong. I have looked for book clubs to join locally but have not yet found any of those. Although I have also looked into some other online ones be-sides Paperback swap.

I own one book of the month club myself and plan on promoting it more soon (as soon as I can anyways) and I Have considered making it into a blog, but I am not sure. It’s still in the thinking process. I want it to be interactive. So maybe a message board that works with the email group would be better than a blog. But blogs are so fun.

Quotable Sunday #14

Mothers Day Gift Ideas
Allan K. Chalmers:
The Grand essentials of happiness are: something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.

Amartya Sen:
Reasoning is a robust source of hope in a world darkened by murky deeds.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery:
If you want to build a ship, don’t herd people together to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.

Arundhati Roy:
Not only is another world possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.

Barack Obama:
We’ve been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope. But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope.

Barack Obama:
Hope is what led a band of colonists to rise up against an empire; what led the greatest of generations to free a continent and heal a nation; what led young women and young men to sit at lunch counters and brave fire hoses and march through Selma and Montgomery for freedom’s cause. Hope is what led me here today — with a father from Kenya, a mother from Kansas; and a story that could only happen in the United States of America. Hope is the bedrock of this nation; the belief that our destiny will not be written for us, but by us; by all those men and women who are not content to settle for the world as it is; who have courage to remake the world as it should be. [January 3, 2008]
Charlotte Perkins Gilman:
However, one cannot put a quart in a pint cup.

Christopher Reeve:
Once you choose hope, anything’s possible.

Dale Carnegie:
Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.

Don Quixote:
Sanity may be madness but the maddest of all is to see life as it is and not as it should be.

Dorothy Thompson:
Fear grows in darkness; if you think there’s a bogeyman around, turn on the light.

Dorothy Thompson:
Courage, it would seem, is nothing less than the power to overcome danger, misfortune, fear, injustice, while continuing to affirm inwardly that life with all its sorrows is good; that everything is meaningful even if in a sense beyond our understanding; and that there is always tomorrow

The Sunday Salon #5

The Sunday Salon.com
So I am back to blogging. And I thought the Sunday Salon would be a good way to start off again making my weekly Meme’s especially since it’s also the first of the month. Nice and fresh and ready to go. I am happy to say I am back into the swing of reading again. I am going to finish up revelations later today which will be great. It’s a good book and I look forward to putting a review up.

Sadly though I won’t make my challenge goal of 125 books this year. I fell off the reading wagon for to long, being sick and all. But that’s okay I have accepted it. And have decided instead to finish as many as I can finish for my challenges. (Doing the best I can anyways) and leave it at that. After all there is a new year coming soon. And so shocking that it’s coming so fast too! And with a new year will come new challenges. And this year I am going to meet them dang it.

Although I think I will scale back my main goal slightly and go for 100 books in 2010 that will give me a little more breathing room on how many books I have to read each month. So that is that. The other big thing this week I did was work on one of my fears. My fear of needles. I managed to get a Tattoo. It’s one for me and means a lot. It’s simple, tasteful and well I am proud of myself for getting it. Really I am. The artist was great to work with. And I think it won’t be to long and I will be getting a second one. Just too even things out a little bit on the shoulder sense. Like Feng Shuei for the shoulders. It will also have meaning. The second tat I am thinking of would be an Ankh, the Egyptian symbol for Life and a good showing of one of my historical passions.

Honestly I really was surprised that it didn’t hurt too much. It was uncomfortable yes, but I had ramped up and expected it to really hurt like bone breaking bad. But it wasn’t bad at all. I did have to stop twice during the process because my body ramped my adrenaline up so much that my temperature went up and made me feel like vomiting. The artist was very nice stopped when I needed it asked if I was okay and in general was just a very nice guy. And me I was proud of myself for getting the ink and overcoming a fear. I was sure I was going to chicken out. And I almost did. But in the end I sucked it up. Yay me! I go to have it checked over and possibly touched up after the healing is done in 1 month. When I do that I may just bite the bullet so to speak and get my Ankh. I think I will do one in purple like my ribbon. You know so they match.

Anyone Like to Write?

Some Shameless Self Promotion.

Now recasting: The group is going through some growing pains having lost a few writers. But we are eager (at least this list mom is) continue. We are looking for quality writers. We have cannon’s open including, Edward, Jacob, Emmett and Rosalie. We do allow OC’s but right now you would be required to also take a Cannon before your OC would be approved. We are adult themed, and allow the content when properly marked. Come on over and join us.

http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/TwilightAdultRPG/

Alternative creative version of the book. Bella has chosen her friendship and love of Jacob over that of Edward, changing one supernatural for another. And leaving Edward to nurse is own pain of what that choice means. But there is someone else out there, maybe if things can work in their own way. At the very least Forks, and everyone will know there is another pocket of Vegetarian Vampires, or at least one.

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