Sookie Stackhouse Series by Charlaine Harris

I have been sucked into the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris! This multi-volume series served as the inspiration for HBO’s hit series, True Blood. I have come to think of the Sookie novels as Twilight for adults. Harris has combined vampires, werewolves, a Louisiana barmaid, and a healthy dose of romance for the perfect light, quick read in these frothy books.

-Amy E. Galante, Interlibrary Loan Supervisor

Check It Out!

Start with the first novel in the series, Dead Until Dark. Check our catalog to see if it’s available, or take a look at all of the Sookie books in our collection. Check out season one of the TV series, True Blood, from our Popular DVD collection.

Learn More

Spirit yourself over to the website of author Charlaine Harris.  Visit the HBO True Blood site.   Need to get your Tru Blood fix? Find out where you can buy the tasty vampire beverage here.

The Thirteenth Tale

Review
The Thirteenth Tale has been making its way around book clubs since its publication last fall. I found the writing to be richly detailed and vivid in its descriptions of the characters and the gothic setting. The story itself, narrated by a young woman named Margaret Lee, is highly imaginative and full of twists. A thoroughly enjoyable read, I’d highly recommend Diane Setterfield’s novel.

Synopsis from the Publisher
Biographer Margaret Lea returns one night to her apartment above her father’s antiquarian bookshop. On her steps she finds a letter. It is a hand-written request from one of Britain’s most prolific and well-loved novelists. Vida Winter, gravely ill, wants to recount her life story before it is too late, and she wants Margaret to be the one to capture her history. The request takes Margaret by surprise – she doesn’t know the author, nor has she read any of Miss Winter’s dozens of novels.

Late one night, while pondering whether to accept the task of recording Miss Winter’s personal story, Margaret begins to read her father’s rare copy of Miss Winter’s Thirteen Tales of Change and Desperation. She is spellbound by the stories and confused when she realizes the book only contains twelve stories. Where is the thirteenth tale? Intrigued, Margaret agrees to meet Miss Winter and act as her biographer.

As Vida Winter unfolds her story, she shares with Margaret the dark family secrets that she has long kept hidden as she remembers her days at Angelfield, the now burnt-out estate that was her childhood home. Margaret carefully records Miss Winter’s account and finds herself more and more deeply immersed in the strange and troubling story. In the end, both women have to confront their pasts and the weight of family secrets. As well as the ghosts that haunt them still.

Read and Explore

Check the catalog record for The Thirteenth Tale to see whether the library’s copy is available now. Already read the book? Visit the interactive companion website to The Thirteenth Tale to learn more about Setterfield and her book. Read interviews, listen to an audio clip, and even find related recipes!

Review by Colleen Mullally, reference librarian, Bentley College Library.