Sookie Stackhouse Book 10

I now own a Sookie Stackhouse Book 10 - Dead In The Family by Charlaine Harris! After I've finished with Book 9 earlier this year, I went to the stores every month to check on the paperback version of Book 10, but since it was and still IS considerably new in this part of the world, there were none. The hardcover copies were plenty but they're double the price. Too expensive. Anyways, months after and still no signs of paperback version, my patience was running thin, and finally I paid RM65.90 and got the 10th edition of the series of books I love so much!

Every Sookie Stackhouse(SS) fan would agree that the books are addictive. They JUST are. Once you start on one, you want more of it, much like how V addicts are projected in the TV serie True Blood, which is also based on the SS books. V refers to vamp blood and it works like the E pills. There were times when I felt a little lost in between books (while waiting for the next one to arrive). It's like having withdrawal syndromes. I tell ya, only a fan would know.

I started reading the books when I was introduced to True Blood by the DVD shop dude at Phileo Damansara (I). Skeptical at first, I bought the first season anyway because it was an Alan Ball production. Yes,Ball - the guy who created Six Feet Under, another TV show I love so well. Weeks later, I got my first seven SS books (bookset) from the US, courtesy of a friend, because there were none at the Malaysian book stores. The 8th book was a gift from Michele and I finally paid for books 9 and 10.  

For all vamp and supernatural non-believers, just so you know, the SS serie is not your typical Anne Rice material, nor it is like the Twilight saga (although I've read all four books) crap. Bella is annoying both in the books and movies! Sookie Stackhouse, on the other hand, maybe a small town waitress but she has a strong head on her shoulders and she is more human in her ups and downs (of life) than Bella could ever be!

Sookie is the protagonist of the story, and the books depict her everyday life as she matures and leaves her sheltered life in small town Louisiana. A telepath by nature, Sookie reads all minds except those of vamps (and some supes), and so her love life centres mostly around vamps and supes.

Well, yes. The story is pretty much the same in every book. Sookie gets a bad feeling about something, a mystery occurs in Bon Temps (her hometown), she is absorbed into helping out and eventually gets tangled up in the underworld of vamps. Some action, magic, drama, bloodshed, deaths, love and sex later, she survives the book. There are also werewolves, fairies, witches and demons over the books.

Despite that, I love the books majorly because I can relate to the Sookie character in some ways. Harris' writing style helps as well - engaging, keeps you curious about turn of events, and most of all, she is consistent in portrayal of Sookie throughout the books.

The TV show is a little different from the books as some characters are amplified and explored deeper. I am grateful for having Lafayette extended in the show (he suffers a premature death in the book) although I can live without his annoying cousin Tara (who is big in the show but not in the book). Spicing up the show is also Jason Stackhouse (Sookie's brother), who doesn't get much attention in the books. Both leading vamps Bill Compton and Eric Northman get almost equal attention in both book and show. However I feel, you get more of Eric's charming personality through the books. He is undeniably a major yum factor :) 

I wouldn't review Book 10 because it's like watching another episode of Everybody Loves Raymond, knowing that you would love it anyway !