Book The First

Quest the First, Book 1! Club Dead by Charlaine Harris.

I actually finished Club Dead on Monday, but we had a lot of running around to do on Tuesday and Wednesday, so this is my first chance to give a quick review. In fact, I'm well on my way to reading my second book for the Quest!

I liked this book, and I like this series. This series has been around for a while, but the idea of a southern vampires just didn't do anything for me... and for some reason the name Sookie made me even more sure I didn't want to read this. LOL! Still, after HBO picked it up for a series and I kept seeing good reviews of the different books in the series, I decided to at least give the first book a try, and to my surprise, I really liked it.

Club Dead is the third book in the Sookie Stackhouse series (or the Southern Vampire Mysteries as they are also called), and I find myself more interested in the characters as the series progresses. Charlaine Harris has taken a barmaid in the deep south and given her a 'gift' and then added a mixed bag of supernaturals for Sookie to stumble across and pal around with. One of the advantages of coming to a series late is that I don't have to wait months or years for the next book in the series to become available. There are currently 9 published books in the series and this is only number 3. Woo Hoo!

Club Dead finds Sookie facing life without her Vampire boyfriend Bill. After being a little cold to Sookie, Bill turns up missing. Seems he has an old flame who may not be the nicest person in the world. Bill's Boss Eric asks for Sookie's help locating Bill using her 'gift' of being able to read 'normal' humans minds. With the help of some otherworldly friends, a little  luck, meeting some Vampire 'royalty', and maybe an Elvis sighting or two, Sookie locates Bill. But, should she rescue him or sharpen up a stake for him herself? You'll have to read this to find out.

As I stated earlier, I really liked this book and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it as a fun read. It works as a stand-alone book, but it is better if read as part of the series. While you would understand the story without any other background, knowing the players and their history together makes it an even more enjoyable read. The first two books in the series are Dead until Dark and Living Dead in Dallas. If you decide to try this series, I also enjoyed both of them as well.

If you want to join in the Challenge, pop over to Stainless Steel Droppings to see how it all works. Come on, join us, you know you want to!

A Challenge

To my chagrin I have to admit that I have always had a problem being a consistent blogger. Some people post a couple times a day or several times a week, but it always seems that if/when I get on a good blogging roll, real life would jump up and pop me up the side of the head. All of last year would be a good example of this phenomenon. Still, I love my little slice of cyberspace and, with the return of warm weather to my world,  I find myself looking around here and  thinking  about dusting off the (figurative) debris and seeing if I can be a little more consistent this year.

One of the things I would like to do is to participate more in some of the things happening around and about the blogging sphere. Last year I enjoyed reading everyone's posts about the Once Upon a Time II Challenge. Most of my reading is Sci-fi/Fantasy, and I found a lot of books that I added to my TBR pile from last years challenge reviews. This year I want to join in and play along!

Carl from Stainless Steel Droppings offers up the Once Upon a Time III Challenge. This challenge will include reading books from the categories of  fantasy, fairy tale, folklore, and mythology. And, it just so happens that I have been reading and have in my TBR pile several books that fit neatly into these categories. I plan to participate in:

In Carl's words:

This is really as simple as the name implies. It means you are participating, but not committing yourself to any specific number of books. All reading is a journey, perhaps none more so than reading fantastical fiction. By signing up for The Journey you are agreeing to at least read one book within one of the four categories during March 21st to June 20th period. Just one book. If you choose to read more, fantastic! If not, then we have still had the pleasure of your company during this three month reading journey and hopefully you have read a great book, met some interesting people, and enjoyed the various activities that occur during the challenge. It has always been of utmost importance to me that the challenges that I host be all about experiencing enjoyable literature and sharing it with others. I want you to participate. Hence, The Journey.

Read at least 5 books that fit somewhere within the Once Upon a Time III criteria. They might all be fantasy, or folklore, or fairy tales, or mythology…or your five books might be a combination from the four genres.

I had just begun reading Club Dead by Charlaine Harris the day before I saw the challenge go up. Sitting on the sidelines I have New Moon by Stephanie Meyer, and InkHeart by Cornelia Funke. I also noticed that the newest Dresden book has arrived at my local bookstore. I don't think finding 5 books in these categories to read will be a problem! I don't usually do book reviews here, but I think this will be fun, and I look forward to reading everyone else's reviews.

To join in the Challenge, stop over at Stainless Steel Droppings. To see a list of the reviews as they come in check out the dedicated Once Upon a Time III blog.

Come on, join in.... You know you want to.