Lean, mean, reading machine!

That is what I am.

I love reading. Like totally love it. Since I was a pre-teen. I was one of those geeks that would bring books to school to read during her spare time. (I so cannot believe that I am admitting this on the Internet.) I had all of the books that Judy Blume ever wrote in a boxed set when I was 13. I had all the Baby Sitters Club books. I waited patiently for the Special Edition ones that they put out because they were longer than the regular books=more to read.

Then when I became an adult I read Oprah's book club, and then I started getting depressed, because that girl only picks depressing books! (Anyone else notice that?!) Now I mostly read Chick Lit (otherwise known as fluff). It's entertaining, it's quick, easy, not too complicated. Unlike real life. A couple of my favourite authors are Jennifer Weiner, Sophie Kinsella, Lauren Weisberger. I do read "real" books too. I could go on and on, but I won't bore all of you all while I still have some people that haven't switched to another blog on their reader.

Over the last year though I found myself in a slump. I couldn't find anything that held my interest. I would read for the sake of reading any book that my friends would loan me, but I would find myself just reading, but not really enjoying it. I was searching for the book that would get me out of my slump. Enter my friend Tracy. Tracy is in love with all things supernatural. She loves stories about Vampires, Ware wolves, Witches, you name it. The more steamy, racy and sexy they are the better. I got me thinking about a couple books that I read years ago while I was bedridden on muscle relaxers as a result of a back injury. (yeah, I know, the irony of a massage therapist with a back injury!) "Bitten" and "Stolen" were the first fantasy-esque sort of books I ever read. The best part was they were by a Canadian author, Kelley Armstrong. The books dealt with a woman who was bitten by a ware wolf, thus becoming the first female ware wolf. Good books.

Fast forward to present day. My friend Tracy had read this series of books "The Southern Vampire" series (I would make this clicky, but it's late). Lo and behold years later this series of books would be made into my one of my favourite shows, True Blood. I went online, read some reviews, and bought the first book, Dead until Dark (by Charlaine Harris), which was the basis for the first season. I was hooked! The day I finished that book I went online to order the rest, and ended up ordering the boxed set of the first 7 books on sale.

I have to admit that I was wary of ordering a series of Vampire books. I have to be one of the only women on the face of the planet that has not picked up a Twilight book. I haven't even seen the movie. Yeah, I know, you can wipe that look of shock off your face. Every person that I have talked to, even the ones that are obsessed with all things Twilight talk about how bad the books are. They talk about how slow the books are (hello, how could you read a series when the couple in love don't do the nasty for like three books?????), how repetitious the writing is, etc, etc. So I was a little skeptical about this Southern Vampire Series.

It so did not disappoint. The books aren't difficult or complex by any stretch of the imagination, but they are witty, have a plot (!), have great character development, and what I love about the story, is that they are focused on the main characters, and don't delve into sub-plots like some mystery/suspense novels can. I whizzed through the first seven books of the series over the last two weeks, and I have books 8 and 9 on order through Indigo as we speak.

As with any book that is used as a basis for a movie or television show, the story changes, and they have changed the story quite a bit, but I was totally expecting that. I think it helps that I started watching the show before reading the books. So I wasn't critiquing the plot changes while watching the first season.

So for anyone that is looking for something a little bit different to read this summer, I totally recommend this series to you!