Off the Bookshelf: THE COMPLETE SOOKIE STACKHOUSE STORIES, by Charlaine Harris

 

Okay, let's be honest, I'm just not into vampire stories or vampire romance, or anything that paints bloodsuckers as heroes. Especially romantic heroes. Morning breath is bad enough, but morning breath with blood on it? Ewwwww!

That being said, I've heard enough praise for and enjoyment of the Sookie Stackhouse books, and the True Blood TV show, I was willing to give this collection of short stories and novellas a chance. Especially when I learned this is the author of my favorite murder-solving librarian, Aurora Teagarden. And yeah, I found the book at Ollie's ... what booklover can resist a sale price?

When I finally picked it up off my to-be-read-bookshelf and started reading ... I devoured it. Fun, well-written, thought-provoking in places. 

What I found especially enjoyable were the foreword pieces by the author, giving readers a solid marker for where each story fits into the long story arch of Sookie's adventures, and character and relationship development. One tough chick with a sense of irony and humor, who's still very human despite the company she keeps.

Did I mention I devoured this book? I mean, picked it up after dinner Wednesday night, and finished reading it 12:30am Friday ... yeah. Haven't done THAT in years. Thanks for the adventure!

Off the Bookshelf: OTHERKIN, Nina Berry

Dez already feels like a freak in school. Scoliosis requires she wear a back brace, so she's pretty sure any guy who ever tries to get close will be immediately repelled.

If only that were her biggest problem.

Frustration and fury and teen angst finally combine to trigger what the Tribunal (a brutal, arrogant, secretive organization) has been waiting for: Dez's first shift to her Otherkin form, and proof that she is indeed a dangerous, demonic creature. "Fortunately" (read sarcasm here) they're ready and waiting with a big old tranquilizer dart before she even knows what's happened to her.

As Dez learns from Caleb, the boy trapped in the cage next to hers, the other side of the story is very different from the self-righteous lies the Tribunal  operates under. (Why do the nasty jerks always try to blame God for their cruelty and stupidity?) There are many tribes of Otherkin out there in the world. Or at least there were. They don't work together, because the beastly forms the Otherkin take pretty much influence their personalities and their interactions. Wolves don't get along with rats don't get along with bears don't get along with tigers ... etc.

Except for the school Dez and Caleb flee to when they escape the Tribunal. There, an irritating, mysterious, secretive, frustrating old man trains Otherkin teens to survive, and understand their dangerous heritage. When Dez and Caleb arrive, the tension and danger go through the roof, but the tides might just be turning for the Otherkin in their slow side to extinction.

Fascinating angle on the teens-discovering-secret-magical-heritage trope. A keeper.

Off the Bookshelf: MANIPULATIONS, Shifters Book 1 by Audie Thacker

If you haven't picked up on it yet, I belong to ACFW -- American Christian Fiction Writers. I also belong to the Speculative group -- those of us who write outside the box of what you'd expect from faith-focused writers. Of course, we count C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkein among our forefathers, so ...

On the Speculative group, Audie Thacker announced his new book was free, and it had shapeshifters in it -- and you know I've got shapeshifters (the Hoveni) in my Commonwealth Universe --so yeah, I was interested!

This is an intricately wrought world, with clashing empires and elves and magic and evil schemes and revenge and long-range plots and feisty princesses and warriors with wounded souls and ... whew!

Make sure you have big chunks of time when you sit down to read, because this is one of those books where you want to take it in big gulps, not little nibbles. There are a lot of details and characters to keep track of -- gee, it feels like a real world. An impressive offering, and because it's Book 1, there's a lot more to come. If you like "this kind of stuff," then check it out! I got my copy from Amazon.