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Released at the BC in DC holiday party in Ballston Mall. I don't know who this went home with...

I picked this up at the recent BCinDC meetup in Ballston and didn't get around to journaling it until just now because I am a lazy sack of crap. I've been meaning to give this series a try for a while, so this will be a good opportunity. Thanks!

On the spine of my copy, this book is categorized as "fantasy/mystery." Which is only partially true. I mean, sure, there are a few murders to be solved but mostly it's about what it's like to date a vampire. Sookie is a telepathic waitress with the reputation of being crazy because she has trouble blocking out the continual chatter of other people's thoughts. I appreciated this little detail, actually - usually telepathic characters have to actively read people's thoughts, as opposed to being constantly bombarded by them. Her life is turned upside down when a sexy vampire shows up in her tiny town and acquaintances start turning up dead. It's a quick and mostly entertaining read, and while I am mildly curious about the vampire politics only hinted at in this volume, I feel no desire to continue on with the series. It didn't draw me in enough: I wasn't emotionally invested enough in the characters to care who committed the murders, and I'm honestly not all that interested in Sookie's love life. But I can still see the appeal to fans of "paranormal romance" and "romantic suspense", and it's always nice to expand my pop culture lexicon a little bit.

Side note: this book is about a psychic woman who falls in love with a vampire and/because his are the only thoughts she cannot hear. Twilight is about a psychic vampire who falls in love with a human woman and/because hers are the only thoughts he cannot hear. Both include love triangles involving shapeshifters. Both have protagonists who lose their virginity to vampires. I'm not accusing anyone of plagiarism; it's just a weird set of coincidences.

Once again, BCinDC will have a table full of free books available at the 2014 Day of the Book festival in Kensington, Maryland. This book will be among them.

I picked up this book from a table of free books in Kensington, Maryland. I enjoyed this book and had no idea that the series True Blood (which I've never seen) was based on these books. I think I know someone who will enjoy reading it, so I'm going to pass it along to her.