From the cover: Sookie Stackhouse is a small-time cocktail waitress in small-town Louisiana. She's quiet, keeps to herself, and doesn't get out much. Not because she's not pretty. She is. It's just that, well, Sookie has this sort of "disability." She can read minds. And that doesn't make her too dateable. And then along comes Bill. He's tall, dark, handsome -- and Sookie can't hear a word he's thinking. He's exactly the type of guy she's been waiting for all her life...

But Bill has a disability of his own: He's a vampire with a bad reputation. He hands with a seriously creepy crowd, all suspected of -- big surprise -- murder. And when one of Sookie's coworkes is killed, she fears she's next...

I've had this book for quite awhile on my TBR. When my husband said he wanted to watch True Blood, the tv series based on these books, I figured I'd better get in gear and get a couple read.

This was completely enjoyable. A fast and easy read that is helpful because even though it is summer, things are high stress right now and I need books that are easy reads to pick up at odd moments. I only have the first 3 books in this series and I will probably have them done by the end of this week!

Sookie is a completely likable character. There are aspects of the novel that remind me of Anita Blake, but these are better written, less graphic and gory. I'm not much of a mystery fan, which is probably why these stayed on my TBR shelf for so long. I had the murderer pinned pretty quick, which I'm never sure if that is the intention in mysteries or not. I prefer the few mysteries that keep me guessing until the end. However, the mystery portion aside, I loved the rest of the story. Going to go get Living Dead in Dallas off my bookshelf to read right now.

Thank you for joining this spiral. Each book has a different shipping order, based on who requested it. Please journal each book as you receive it and check who to ship it to. When the book has left it’s current person, the next book will be shipped.

This book is shipped in the following order:
Galleycat [CA, USA]
Thegoaliegirl [USA]
Ellissamay [NY, USA]
Adrienne10 [NE, USA]
Vilda [Sweden]
Ythan [UK]
rainbow3 [UK]
Esme-weatherwax [Ireland]

Some guidelines to help the book on its journey:

1 On receiving the book write a journal entry so we can all keep track of where it is.
2 I will note people who already have had the book and its current location in colored type.
3 The person with the book PM's the next one on the list for their address.

Thank you so much for participating!

The book arrived today. Thank you, adrienne10, for including me in your spiral. Looking forward to my first bite out of a Sookie Stackhouse book. Should finish up the book I'm reading now in a few days. This one's next.

Had a great time with the book. It was the perfect book to come home to after some long, trying days at work lately ... easy to get into, easy to stick with, fun characters, good writing.

And as it turned out, I was reading the book at the same time I was watching the first few episodes of Season One of True Blood on a DVD. An odd experience. (smile)

Thanks, adrienne10, for letting me read the book. I'll mail it forward Saturday. Hope everyone enjoys it as much as I did.

On its way to thegoaliegirl. Enjoy! (Thanks, adrienne10, for letting me read your book. You rock.)

The book arrived on Saturday and my curiousity got the better of me and I ended up reading it before I journaled it. I figured I'd start and journal that day. Instead I couldn't put it down and am journaling the day after, now that I've finished it. I wasn't sure if I would like it or not. I really like the Anita Blake series and I can see how this series has been compared to that one, but this is a lot less graphic than that one, which is kind of a nice change. Looking forward to reading the next in the series.

Will send to Ellissamay once I have an address

Sent off today to Ellissamay today. Sorry for the delay, personal life got in the way.

Book arrived in the mail today... excited to see what all the buzz is about! Thanks!

A fun read (especially in conjunction with the TV show)... on its way back to adrienne10 for more adventures today.

Received a couple days ago in the mail. I have messaged Vilda for an address and will send this on this week. Because Vilda is the last one in the spiral for this book, she may do with it what she will. Happy Bookcrossing!

Thank you so much! I am looking forward to reading this one!

I enjoyed this book a lot! Thank you for the opportunity. I think it translated well into the TV-series. But of course the book gives more nuances and I warmed more for Sookie in her less perfect book state.

Now it travels to UK. Enjoy!

Arrived safe and sound, thank you. :)

Think your post office needs to change the date on their stamp, it says it was posted on 31.12.10, some people just can't accept that we are now in 2011.

I enjoyed the book, i found the characters easier to imagine after watching the tv series first. Not a fan of the large chapter sizes, I think 20 pages per chapter is enough, some of them were close to 40 pages.

I've just finished watching the third series of True Blood, FX said they will be showing True Blood from the beginning, so that'll help me remember to see if all the characters in the book are actually in the tv series or not.

This book is now reserved for rainbow3, will pass it on to her on her next trip up to Aberdeen.

Taking to the Aberdeen meetup to pass on to rainbow3.

Yahoo - been wanting to read these in order for years as I had read a few but, out of sequence and with many months and even the odd year, in between. Then the TV show came out and though I don't have a TV the few episodes I caught at friends had me thinking... hey, hold on, some of this is much altered from the books. Is'nt it? So I decided to collect the lot and start from the beginning.

Ythan kindly suggested she could stick me on the end of some of these spiral loops, and also I am keeping a look out on charity shop bookshelves. Thanks, rainbow3

Having spent most of the summer away from home I finally, in August, sat to read this book spiral, well those I have, books one to five. I've now promised to pass the spiral along further so it's high time I got the reviews written. So here's book 1. Dead Until Dark, covered...

BOOK COVER: Welcome to Bon Temps. It's just your average sleepy backwater town. You know the sort of place...a dime store, a trailer park, a diner and a gang of newly 'out of the coffin' undead.

Sookie Stackhouse is a small-time cocktail waitress in small-town Louisiana. She's quiet, keeps to herself and doesn’t get out much. Not because she's not pretty. She is. It's just that, well, Sookie has this sort of 'disability' - she can read minds. And that doesn’t make her too dateable. But then along comes Bill. He's tall, dark, handsome - and Sookie can't hear a word he's thinking. He's exactly the type of guy she's been waiting for all her life.
But Bill has a problem all his own: he's a vampire. With a bad reputation. He hangs with a seriously creepy crowd, all suspected of - big surprise - murder. And when one of Sookie's co-workers is killed, she fears she's next...
--------------------------------

Can't say it enough, what I like about mysteries is the why, done it rather than the who. In Harris's Vampire world, the why done it issues are involving, the politics are complex, and the characters drive the plot. Happily these characters are vivid; bouncy yet grounded Sookie; devastating Bill; scary Eric; charismatic Jason, cheery and loyal Sam, reassuring and supportive Gran and a whole lot more. Sookie’s first intimate relationship getting underway makes for mesmerising reading especially because of the careful negotiations setting and re-setting boundaries due to the difference of their states and abilities. Loved this!

into the post tomorrow - oops it's really late so that's into the post later today [not as it were tomorrow] but Thu 15 Dec 2011. Yippee - at last this book spiral will be moving again.

Added later: delayed JE from next participant who had if I understand it had un-boxed this after a sudden house move?

got it today thanks rainbow for sending it over and adrienne for hosting it. I look forward to reading the series.