Dead and Gone: The 9th book in the Sookie Stackhouse Series

From Wikipedia:

Sookie Stackhouse is the main character in The Southern Vampire Mysteries, a series of nine books written by author Charlaine Harris that was first published in 2001. The series is a first-person account of Sookie's life as a barmaid and telepath in the fictional town of Bon Temps, Louisiana. The first book in the series, Dead Until Dark, won the Anthony Award for Best Paperback Mystery in 2001.

There is also a Sookie Stackhouse Website. Peruse it at your pleasure. Or if you are a Sookie fan, check it daily for the latest buzz!

Sookie (who is not a vampire, BTW) lives in Bon Temps, Louisiana and works for Sam (he owns a bar named Merlotte's) when the shape shifters (you know, the humans who can become wolves, dogs, panthers, etc..) decide to come out of the kennel. And why does this matter? Well, Sam is a shifter.

First the vampires revealed themselves, now the "weres" are going public.

Life, as the population of Bon Temps knew it, is definitely changing.

The book was an easy read. The characters were easy to keep in order. Not too many subplots to make things confusing. Just enough to keep one guessing. I also enjoyed getting to know more about Sookie's fairy heritage, too. (Sookie has a fairy assigned to watch over her, by the way.)

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I only had one problem, the Sookie that used to live in my imagination was gone! Sookie did not look like Anna Paquin in the earlier books before the HBO series True Blood came out. The Sookie I pictured was more petite and curvy. Kind of like a petite Barbie doll. Her hair was definitely bigger, too.

Now, whenever Sookie opened her mouth or her mind, all I could see was Anna Paquin's Sookie. That is not a bad thing, it was just disconcerting for me.

I love the Sookie character. Sookie is "different", yes. Even though she is attractive and loving, the "normal" people in her life treat her differently. They know there is something strange about her. But, she adapted and learned to co-exist with those "normal" ones out there. She even found things about her "gift" to make her smile. What else could she do? Only the "supes" treated her with respect and admiration for who she was. What she is is telepathic -- she can read minds.

I admire Sookie because she speaks her mind and tries to be true to herself. She accepts who she is and takes no "guff" from anyone! She asserts her right to live her life as she chooses and is right proud of it!