Dead as a Doornail / Charlaine Harris

4 out of 5 stars

Small-town cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse has had more than her share of experience with the supernatural—but now it’s really hitting close to home. When Sookie sees her brother Jason’s eyes start to change, she knows he’s about to turn into a were-panther for the first time—a transformation he embraces more readily than most shapeshifters she knows. But her concern becomes cold fear when a sniper sets his deadly sights on the local changeling population, and Jason’s new panther brethren suspect he may be the shooter. Now, Sookie has until the next full moon to find out who’s behind the attacks—unless the killer decides to find her first…

2019 Re-Read

Just as telepath Sookie enjoys resting her mind around Vampire Bill, whose thoughts she can’t hear, I enjoy resting myself in this series that I’ve read and enjoyed before.

I’ve been consuming this series at a furious rate, seeing details that I just didn’t see on my first pass through. I believe that this is the volume where the private investigators show up to question Sookie, and we get an intersection between this series and Harris’ Lily Bard series. When I first read this book, I hadn’t been introduced to Lily yet, so this was a fun little detail. [It may have been the previous volume—I’m sucking back 2 books per evening right now and they are getting a bit blended in my memory].

However, on my first reading I certainly did see the assumptions of the men in Sookie’s life—they assume that she’s going to be open & interested in them, that they can easily manipulate her, and that when they speak she has to listen. And, as women, when we resist these assumptions, we are labelled as bitches. (Now I’m going to recommend a non-fiction book to you, The Gift of Fear: Survival Signals That Protect Us from Violence—I think every woman should read it and every man who has a woman in his life who he cares about should too just to know what it’s like to be female in our world.)

They say when one door shuts, another one opens. But they haven’t been living at my house. Most of the doors I open seem to have something scary crouched behind them, anyway.

Innkeeper Chronicles / Ilona Andrews

March 2019 Re-Read

When life is getting me down, I turn to Ilona Andrews.  I powered through the Hidden Legacy series and still needed an infusion of light-hearted fun and fantasy.  Enter the Innkeeper Chronicles.  I debated long and hard before I sank my cash into these volumes, but I’m so glad that I did.  There’s nothing like Dina, Caldenia, Sean, and Arland to make me smile and feel better.  I am so relating to Dina missing her parents right now—my mother’s last sibling passed away at the end of January and I am missing her, my parents and all the other aunts & uncles.  Spending time in Red Deer, Texas, helps me feel a little less lonely.

So yes, I’m avoiding life right now and re-reading old favourites.  I’m not sure when this tendency will end, but I’m enjoying my vacation from reality.

Hidden Legacy Series / Ilona Andrews

 March 2019 Re-Read

When life is getting me down, I turn to Ilona Andrews. Particularly the Hidden Legacy series. There’s some strange alchemy in this series which just makes me feel better. The closeness of the Baylor family when I’m missing my family dreadfully. Nevada’s dedication to her company when my work situation is feeling less than ideal. The relationship between Nevada and Rogan when I haven’t seen my guy for longer than usual. Sometimes I’m stunned at how much I enjoy the extreme violence in the books, but that also seems to be a peaceful way for me to purge my own desire to punch people.

I love this fantasy world—the magic, the Houses, the dialog, Nevada’s internal commentary, the Baylor family, all of it. I’m so glad that the Andrews decided to continue on with a Catalina series, which I am awaiting impatiently.

So yes, I’m avoiding life right now and re-reading old favourites. I’m not sure when this tendency will end, but I’m enjoying my vacation from reality.