Sookie Sock it to me!

Well, I'm hooked. Yet another book series. After finishing up Twilight (well, not really since I'm now reading the books aloud to the babe), I found myself talking "vampires" with my hygienist. She told me that S. Meyer, the author of the Twili.ght series, read a set of books before she wrote her own. The series is the Sooki.e Stackhous.e series by Cha.rlaine Harris. I ordered the complete set from Amazon and started in almost immediately. I didn't even realize the Tru.e Blood series on HBO was based on these books. Now, I'm itching for the release on DVD (nope...no HBO at su casa). These are fast reads and not as heavy on description as the Twiligh.t books (although, Cha.rlaine gives ample description...she's just not as wordy) and the dialogue is terrific! She's also an "adult" writer, where Stephanie is writing for young adults. This is very evident with all the "F" bombs dropped in Charl.aine's book.

I'm really enjoying the characters, the background stories and the locations. There are loads of similarities and it's a wonder there isn't copyright infringment; however, they handle things so differently, I'm sure that's enough to make the stories unique.

1. Sooki.e is an "every man" character who has nothing exceptional going for her. (like Bella) She's attractive, not a supermodel, but she knows she cleans up well. Whether by insecurity or lack of confidence, Bella does not consider herself attractive at all, but the other characters remark on her looks all the time.

2. Sook.e has a "disability" that she can use on everyone except Bill. She considers her ability a hinderance, until midway into the first novel. Ed.ward has this same ability, considers it a part of who he is and uses it at will. Unfortunately, he cannot use it on Bella.

3. Vampires live among us, they are hot, have the ability to fool us into doing things we wouldn't normally do and generally don't have to worry about money.

4. Vampires are still killers, despite the fact that they want to be "mainstream".

There are more but I don't want to give away too much of the stories, especially if you haven't read them. One of the differences that I appreciate with the Sook.ie series is that the relationship seems plausible and real. The Twiligh.t relationship is sureal and fantastic. Both are enjoyable to read about, even though they are so different. Check it out of if you're looking for a good read. Neither are too violent and there's a detective series feel in the latter. Enjoy!