My first introduction to Charlaine Harris' writing was through her Sookie Stackhouse series. A bar waitress who looks like the typical bimbo blonde but is very intelligent. Her problem is that she's continually bombarded with other people's thoughts. An empath, she really just wants a little peace and quiet. Her world is peopled by vampires...well...OK...it wasn't peopled by vampires until the first novel, when Bill walked into her bar and life. But...otherwise, it's peopled by vampires, weres (wolves and other shape-shifters), witches, elves and all sorts of other "supes" I gobbled these up, one each night until I finished the series. Then went on a Harris hunt and managed to find the rest of her books....her other series are more of the typical whodunit mysteries:
Aurora Teagarden, the librarian who stumbles onto dead people. Unless of course, they fall out of the sky and into her yard.
Harper Connelly the corpse-finder who was somewhat raised by drug-addicted parents. Not only was she hit by lightening, her full sister was snatched and never found. She and her step-brother Tolliver travel the country looking for dead people. For a fee. Her hope is that someday she will find her sister.
And...Lily Bard, who settled in Shakespeare, Arkansas and is still recovering from a very traumatic event that occured in her early 20s. THIS is my favorite Harris series! While whodunits are not my favorite genre (that would be romance!) I do enjoy exploring past baggage that makes characters behave the way they do. And Charlaine Harris does this with Lily's character. Her past makes Lily work on being strong. It makes her have trouble with trust. It causes her to choose cleaning as a career -- which enables Harris to bring in all sorts of random clues to solving the whodunit. But utmost, I love these novels because of the exploration of Lily's relationships with the other characters: The gym owner; the chief of police; her various clients; the PI who blows into town and just so many more. Whew...I managed to write a whole paragraph without a single spoiler! I encourage everyone to read these books!!!!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
So you like Bodice Busters, huh. Have you read anything by Sandy Hingston? She is a friend of mine who has about 17 books under her belt and Fabio on the covers. I have 2 of her books but I must admit I haven't read them. I have them because she signed them. :) You know, I think I just might give them a try. I'm not a big romance fan. I had my fill when Danielle Steel wrote 100 of the same book but the names and locations and time periods were changed. Sandy is also a managing editor of Philadelphia Magazine and a very funny colunist!
ReplyDeleteJoanie!!!! No, sorry...no Hingston. I don't read DS. I have read 1.5 of her books. But the problem with DS (besides writing the same book...other authors do that, too) is that she keeps reminding the reader what she's written 3 pages back over and over again. I can see where that would be important to those who read 3 pages every night before falling asleep. Or the (and I use the term loosely here) casual reader who reads 3 pages before going off to do something really important -- like feeding the cat tuna or solving the World Hunger crisis. But for a dedicated reader who reads a book in a sitting...nyet. I don't THINK so...I feel insulted! My CRS syndrome (can't remember stuff) isn't that far gone, yet!
ReplyDeleteI love the bodice ripper, though...has DS ever written a bodice ripper? But only if they're well-written and I can LIKE both characters...the rippee and the ripper. lol
TMI? I might even expand on that thought in a future post...or not!
have a good weekend!
Did you inspire someone out there? http://zoromski.blogspot.com/2009/01/blog-what-blog.html
ReplyDeleteMaybe, Michelle does stop by my blog occasionally.