Sookie Stackhouse Love

I have been reading the Sookie Stackhouse/Southern Vampire series in and out of all the other books I've been reading since around the end of December.  I finally finished the last available book in the series a few weeks ago and am now feeling that frustration of falling in love with a series and getting to the point where you then have to wait for your next piece of it.  Of course there are many others who have been waiting far longer than I will have to - the next book comes out this spring.

Those girls/women who were devoted fans of this series originally piqued my interest many months ago at (of course) the bookstore.  Many people came in either because they already knew the series and knew what they were looking for, or they had started watching True Blood and wanted to try the books.  From conversations with all these different people I had an image formed of the series and what it would be like - same as hearing a lot about someone you haven't met yet.  But I still thought 'vampires aren't really my thing' and brushed it off.  I should know better by now.

Because of that same vague anti-vampire resentment (fueled by watching all these teens come in everyday looking for nothing but vampire junk novels) I hadn't watched any of the True Blood tv series despite many people going on an on about it the past few years it's been out.  That all changed one night when I stopped in at my friend Tasha's place one afternoon in the fall.  I meant to visit for a few hours and ended up getting home around 3am.  I woke up on the couch the next morning to a disastrous hangover and the effort it took to find my glasses convinced me I wouldn't be going too far from the couch that day.  I should add that it wasn't a typical event for me.  It turned out that Adam and Tash had loaned me the first season of True Blood.  These friends work in the film industry and are always good for a recommendation, but I probably would never had ended up watching the series if I hadn't had such a good time with Tasha that night.  Watched half the first season that day.  And I knew I'd have to read the books.

When I went to hockey one Wednesday night just after Christmas I noticed my girlfriend was almost finished reading the first book, Dead Until Dark. I asked to borrow it and to my pleasure she finished the last few pages and handed it to me.  I was hooked right away.  There's so much to love about these novels.  I was consistently surprised as I worked my way through the series to find so much depth and realism to the story.  It reads almost like an alternate history; an America where vampires and shapeshifters have 'come out' to the general public and are now carefully orchestrating their assimilation into mainstream society.  Certainly a complicated task.

Ms Charlaine Harris has created some fabulous commentary on many issues that have plagued society probably for as long as we have been living in societies.  She breathes life into these characters and truly makes them walk.  Sookie Stackhouse is a wonderful everywoman kind of heroine.  The reader feels for her as she tries to navigate her job,  the never-ending work of home ownership, the currents that come with living in a small town, and a dating life complicated by the fact that all her beaus are supernaturals.

All of this is further complicated by her 'disability,' her telepathy.  Instead of this fantasy skill being jarring in contrast to the rest of her very normal-girl character, it seems to work in harmony with it and she comes across even more clearly as the regular girl next door. The way Sookie struggles with the problems created by her telepathy (like everyone who knows her thinking she's kind of slow/crazy, for example) somehow makes her come across in ever more vivid colour. This trick of Harris'; of taking something extraordinary and using it with such deft ability as to make it blend in realistically with the blandness of our familiar everyday lives is a huge factor in the success of her writing.

I would never have anticipated loving these books so much.  I love being surprised like that.  They are great for reading that's clear, fast, pulls you in but has depth to it.  They're full of action and mystery, but also hot and sexy -- and often completely hilarious.  Basically they've got it all, and then some.  Loved this little jaunt through Charlaine Harris' supernatural imagination and can't wait for the next book.

A Few Other Thoughts
- I originally thought the illustrated covers were strange, unattractive and childish.....knowing the plots of the books changes everything; they are perfect and they fit perfectly with the fairy-tale feel that underlies the series.  Sookie Stackhouse is a modern girl in a modern fairy tale - the girl who lives alone in an old house in the middle of a thick, dark wood, with all manner of creatures coming up to her front porch at night. I loved the sort of dark traditional touches that brush through in some places.
- I was impressed by Charlaine Harris' website (http://www.charlaineharris.com/) which is really well maintained and full of information.  At some point I'd really like to try her Grave Sight novels; they are now definitely on my list. She's also written tons of short stories set in the Sookie Stackhouse world; I'm going to try a few of those at some point too.  I liked that her dedications and acknowledgments always came across as very carefully thought out as well as heartfelt.
- Finally, these books have ruined the series for me.  Even my boyfriend had gotten into True Blood and we'd watched ourselves up to date but now I couldn't care less for the next season.  They've veered so far off the track laid out by the plots of the novels I know I'll just be frustrated when I watch again.  I hate when that happens.  They could have easily followed everything very closely and still had a great tv season without making up wild storylines. They've caught the characters very well but the situations they are in are very different.

The Sisters Brothers - Patrick DeWitt

I have some mixed feelings about this book. They may partly be due to the fact that it was so long between first coming across this book and actually getting to read it - a buildup of hype in my mind that overwhelmed the novel itself.  Or it might just be one of those ones that doesn't completely ring the bell for you.

The cover drew me in.  It first caught my eye the week it came out, sitting on a table in the fiction section in the store where I was working.  Bright, bold, intriguing - I picked it up again and again, touching it, reading the jacket, showing it to people. But for whatever reason, I didn't read it.  Then it was nominated for and won a whole bunch of awards.  Then I left the bookstore and moved to Newmarket.  Then I saw it was on my booklist, that tattered thing, and looked it up in the local library catalog.  There was one copy and fourteen people in the waiting list.  I added myself to that list and somewhat forgot about it.

Until I went in a few days ago, and the librarian told me my hold was in. YES!! I read it the next day in almost one sitting but still haven't taken it back for the next person (feeling guilty about that as it's here by my elbow as I write this).

Part of my initial intrigue about this book was my love of westerns.  My boyfriend introduced me to the western when we started dating, and now movies like Young Guns and the original Butch Cassidy are big favorites.  I had never read a western novel, though I'd planned on reading True Grit one day.  So this was a first in that way - and I found the book interpretation of the genre as satisfying as the movie versions.

The Sisters Brothers really stands out.  It is full of startling things and interesting contrasts.  The narrator has a unique voice, an oddly formal one that contrasts with his own depiction of his life and profession.  He is complex, compelling and rich.  His thoughts and narrative are peppered with startling bits of philosophy, poetry and love.  At the same time, his actions are unpredictable and there's no way to map them.  I was so engrossed with being in his head while he told the story.  

The book itself is unpredictable; characters appear fully formed for only a few minutes, their stories remarkable and their role intact.  Each page might bring sudden graphic violence or surprising affection.  The plot is meandering, taking its time, twisting like a river, bumping up over the rocks beneath the surface.  I loved the setting; the brothers are trekking through 1850s America.  They visit and somewhat take part in the beginning of the gold rush in California.  The settings are vividly drawn and the brothers move perfectly against them - this would make a great movie.

I said I had mixed feelings because when I finished the book I felt a little bit like nothing had actually happened.  Of course things happen, but as I say, the book kind of moves along at it's own pace, dropping startling moments/characters/events throughout and keeping you reading.  Siblings appear in various ways throughout the book and form a strong theme that is really at the heart of what gives the book such substance and has certainly earned it all those awards.  I think it's ability to startle the reader is a big factor in it's uniqueness. You can be completely unprepared for whatever happens next - whether it's making you just laugh (it can be very, very funny) or cringe at the sudden outburst of violence.

I think it just wasn't what I expected.  At the same time, I really, really enjoyed it.  I can definitely appreciate a book that surprises me and can keep doing it.  I also like the all-encompassing kind of story it is - a journey, dysfunctional family, secrets, greed, violence, love.....settings so vivid you can almost feel the dust coating your throat....

Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

Ever since I started reading Jane Austen's books, I think that each newest book I've read is the best one.  I started reading them just maybe two years ago, beginning with Mansfield Park.  My roommate had the film and we both watched it all the time.  Then I read Emma and thought I liked that one best.  Then Sense and Sensibility.  Now Pride and Prejudice.  I completely understand why so many hundreds of thousands of people over now hundreds of years have been reading and loving these books.  


I picked this up at the library for the Florida trip because I've somehow gotten into the habit of reading classics on vacation and I'd recently watched the movie version with Keira Knightly which had increased my wanting to read it.  I saved it for last, and didn't start reading it til we had begun the drive back home.  I took my time finishing it, too, taking breaks and reading other books, drawing it out.  Can't understate my instant love and affection for this book.  How crazy is it to talk about being affectionate about a book?  But that's how I feel.


During the time I was reading it I went into the local used book store I've been frequenting since I moved here and happened to take a look at what they had.  I'd been checking when I was in, because there are some books I know I'm going to buy and I'm just waiting for the right cover - I know I'll eventually have all the Jane Austens so I've been just picking them up over the years.  Anyway, they had this simply beautiful copy there of Pride and Prejudice and I took it home for $5.  So I'd started reading the library copy and finished with my own. 


Pride and Prejudice hardly bears description, and I'm going to just go on for a second about some of the things I love about it: Jane Austen's wit. Her tongue-in-cheek humour.  The Bennet family dynamic.  The luxurious settings of Pemberly and Netherfield Park.  Elizabeth Bennet's sharp intelligence.  Her controlled tongue she can wield like a knife.  Her blindness.  MR DARCY.  The sheer and utter delicious romance of this book. 


On Ms Austen herself: I did some reading after finishing Pride and Prejudice (with a satisfied sigh) and I was disappointed to find that the life of Jane Austen herself seems so sad in many ways.  It's tragic to think of how many of her letters have been burned and lost forever - I can't help wondering if they were burnt to protect her secrets or those confided in her - probably both.  Worse still is the fact that to our remote view her own life seems completely devoid of the kind of romance she writes about with such passion.  I am still full of curiosity about her and will have to find a good biography at some point in the future.


For now I'm drawing out the rest of my reading....I'm aware of having the one-time-only experience of being able to read a fantastic book for the first time.  It's different every time you read it after that, in a good way, but still never the same as the first time.  So I'll wait a while before reading Persuasion or Northanger Abbey.  Save them for later. 

A note on bookmarks: 

I used to fold the corners down, and collect but never use bookmarks.  When I started university I always had tons of postcard ads for various theatre productions I was working on or thinking about seeing, and I started using them as bookmarks.  Now I've progressed to the point where I have a manilla envelope full of stuff I've saved (tickets, postcards, birthday cards) or collected (cool business cards, drawings, whatever, oragami).  When I read a book for the first time and it doesn't have a bookmark I dig through my envelope and find one that fits with the book somehow (in my mind).  In this way I'm slowly working through my personal library and every book is getting a page marker.  It's turning out to be a cool way to save and give a purpose to all that little paper ephemera I like or want to keep.  The picture below is the bookmark I gave to Pride and Prejudice (it fits well folded up).  I still fold down corners; when I come across a line in a book that just hits my soul I turn down the bottom corner of the page.