Book Review: Sookie Stackhouse book 1

Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

Synopsis:

Sookie Stackhouse is a small time cocktail waitress in Bon Temps, Louisiana. She’s quite, keeps to herself, and doesn’t get out much. Not because she’s not pretty. She is. It’s just that, well, Sookie has this sort of “disability.” She can read minds. And that doesn’t make her too datable. Then along comes Bill. He’s tall, dark, handsome - and Sookie can’t hear a word he’s thinking. He’s exactly the type of guy she’s been waiting for all her life...

But Bill has a disability of his own: he’s a vampire with a bad reputation. But he is an interesting addition to the town, and Sookie can’t help but listen to what everyone else thinks about Bill...especially since she’s starting to fall for the buff bloodsucker. But when a string of murders hits town - along with a gang of truly nasty vampires looking for Bill - Sookie wonders if having an undead boyfriend is such a bright idea.

And when one of her coworkers is killed. Sookie realizes that Bill and his friends may have some special plans for a woman who can read minds...

Review:

The summer of 2009 was when I first heard about Sookie Stackhouse. I was watching TV with my parents and my mom turned on True Blood. I stayed for a little, and then decided that it bit off Twilight and left to watch TV in my room. Well, I am happy to say, I was wrong. Maybe if I started watching the series at the beginning, or if I heard of the books before the series came on, I would have felt different. Yes both Twilight and Dead Until Dark deal with vampires, but Charlaine Harris took the normal approach to vampires. What I mean by this is that she went with vampires not being able to be out in the day, and how vampires can be killed with a silver stake and so forth. But what I think makes this book good, is that Sookie is special. I think her “disability” gives this book something that most vampire books don’t have. I just feel like there is something more magical about it, and yet there are no wizards or witches involved, go figure.

So what I really liked about the book was the conversations about Sookie and Bill. Reading them I thought it was so easy going, I felt like Sookie was comfortable around Bill in the normal human way, but nervous in the girl liking guy way (does that make sense to any of you?) I just thought it was sweet. I also really liked how Sookie felt like she needed to protect Bill from the people in her town and yet Bill thought he was protecting Sookie. I just really felt like this book was a great read. I think Charlaine Harris did a great job writing it, and I cannot wait to read the rest of the series. 

Cover: 9/10

Beginning: 5/5

Ending:         5/5

Plot: 10/10

Characters: 10/10

Satisfaction: 10/10

Grade:          49/50 = A+

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Wish I Read as a Kid

Top 10 Books I wish I’d Read as a Kid

1. More Judy Blume anything-I read Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, at least I am pretty positive I did, but I feel like everyone I know has read a bunch of Judy Blume books when they were little, but I read the Boxcar Children and Sweet Vally High. Even back then I loved book series way too much.
2. Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift- I think I read parts of this in school, and I just recently saw the new movie with Jack Black. But I wish I read the whole thing when I was younger. It’s on my list now, so I guess better late than never.
3. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carol- When I was younger, I didn’t like the movie. I also had no idea that the movie came from a book (wow naive much?) I wish I saw that there was a book before the lovely cartoon that Disney made, then maybe I would have been more into it. Like Gulliver’s Travels it’s on my list, so maybe I will read it soon.
4. Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie- This is a big one for me. I am a Peter Pan fanatic, always have been. I remember trying to read the book with my mom, but we never finished. Probably because I was always jealous of Wendy. When I was little and scared of growing up, my mom told me I could fly to Never Land with Peter Pan and live happily ever after. But Wendy is such a big part of the book, I mean her name is in the Title, and I am just going with my jealousy being the reason I never finished it.
5. Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli- I read this book in college for one of my education classes and I loved it. I read it within a couple of hours and I remember wondering why I never picked it up as a child. 
6. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone- This book came out when I was finishing up 5th grade. I think I really would have enjoyed it if I new about it before the movie. I still haven’t read it, I am hoping to this summer with the kids I babysit. 
7. Nancy Drew Series by Carolyn Keen- My sister owned a bunch of the books, I think we still have some of them, but for some reason I didn’t read them. My sister is older and when she was reading them I was reading the Boxcar Children. Then when I went to middle school I started reading Mary Higgins Clark, so I guess they just fell through the cracks. Maybe I can get the 9 year old I babysit to read these with me as well.
8. Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinny- I wish these books came out when I was in middle school or before, I would have loved to read them back then. I read the first one over the summer and loved it, I need to get the rest from the library and just read them all.
9. Percy Jackson Series by Rick Riordan- This is another one that I wish came out sooner. It came out after I finished high school and when I took a bunch of lit classes in my last year of college I heard about it and put it on my list. I finally bought them last year after the movie came out, but they are still all wrapped up waiting for me.
10. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl- I think I really would have enjoyed this book. I loved the movie, and when I had bad dreams my mom used to sit with me and rub my back and tell me to think of my own special garden where everything was candy and there was a root beer fountain (my favorite soda of all time). Maybe my mom could have gotten some more sleep if I read the book.