Dracula? Was he in the Sookie prequal?

Pride and Prejudice, Lord of the Rings, 1984, Dracula, Catcher in the Rye, Catch 22, Grapes of Wrath, Brave New World, Treasure Island, Moby Dick, In Cold Blood, Lord of the Flies, Last of the Mohicans, anything Hemmingway

Guess who hasn’t read any of those. Ding ding ding! That would be me. Sadly, I consider myself relatively well-read (I mean, I can make Of Mice and Men jokes and read Don Quixote in Spanish. I read…But still). Every time I’ve gotten a good break of time off from school I’ve decided I’m going to catch up on all the required reading I should have done a long time ago. Do I ever? Nope. So you’d think now that I’m back home I’d actually do something about it, right? I have a stack of books just waiting to be read: As I Lay Dying, Picture of Dorian Gray, Tis, Wolf at the Table, Ellen Burstyn’s biography. Ok…the last one is just for pure pleasure, but what have I spent my little “vacation” reading instead?

Sookie Stackhouse.

I got absolutely, completely and overwhelming obsessed with finishing this series. For those unfamiliar, Sookie’s a small-town Louisiana barmaid and telepath. The only minds she can’t read are vampires’. Oh yes. Another outlet for the recent vampire trend. But I’ve got to make sure you know these came out way before the Twilight series, and yep I read those too, but you can definitely see similarities between the two series (except there's no "change me into a vampire" nonsense and Harris' are the perfect length). It’s almost as if Stephanie Meyers read the Sookie books and thought “Huh. How could I rewrite this to make it lame and full of tweens? I’ll make the bar a school and replace the sex with a longing look and flared nostrils. Oh, and make it as long as Ulysses.” (*Zack Morris Time Out*: I read the Twilight books in about a week and thought they were pretty awesome. I got sucked in. I didn’t pick up on the ridiculous factor til I tried to read them again. Which I couldn’t. Oo just like pulling teeth. *Time In*)

I think one of the best parts about reading the Sookie books is HBO’s True Blood (based on the series). I actually read the first book over a year ago before the show came out, and I tell ya, being on the “I know how this storyline is going to turn out” bandwagon is awesome. And now that I’ve read all the books out I can honestly critique, pick apart and judge the show. The power that comes with knowing that a character would never “actually” do or say something from the show and then telling people about it is intoxicating. Example: Sam would never be interested in another girl besides Sookie and Bill would never propose! And I can say that with utmost authority. (*Time Out* Still love the show. It’s awesome. Catch up on the first two seasons, come chat with me and I’ll tell ya what should have happened. *Time In*)

The real problem is that Charlaine Harris hasn’t finished the series…Yay for more Sookie. Boo hiss boo for no closure. She’s got a book of Sookie short stories out now which I’m reading in bookstores when I get a chance. Because I’m poor and can’t afford new release hardback books…And they have comfy chairs.