Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris still # 5 on New York Times bestseller list

New York Times bestsellers: hardcover fiction
Posted: 06/20/2010 12:00:00 AM PDT

HARDCOVER FICTION
1. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson (Knopf, $27.95). Third and final volume in crime series about a Swedish hacker and a journalist.
2. Bullet by Laurell K. Hamilton (Berkley, $26.95). Anita Blake, vampire hunter, is menaced by the Mother of All Darkness.
3. The Spy by Clive Cussler and Justin Scott (Putnam, $27.95). In 1908, a murder leads a detective to investigate international spies.
4. The Help by Kathryn Stockett (Amy Einhorn/Putnam, $24.95). A young white woman and two black maids in 1960s Mississippi.
5. Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris (Ace, $25.95). Sookie Stackhouse is exhausted in the aftermath of a Faery war.
6. 61 Hours by Lee Child (Delacorte, $28). Jack Reacher helps police in a South Dakota town protect a witness in a drug trial.
7. The Burning Wire by Jeffery Deaver (Simon & Schuster, $26.99). A forensic detective investigates a series of murderous electrical explosions and tracks the killer to Mexico.
8. Storm Prey by John Sandford (Putnam, $27.95). Lucas Davenport's wife is a witness to a botched robbery and murder.
9. The Bourne Objective by Eric Van Lustbade (Grand Central, $27). Jason Bourne matches wits with a vicious Russian mercenary.
10. Innocent by Scott Turow (Grand Central, $27.99). When Rusty Sabich's wife is found dead, Tommy Molto accuses him of murder.

Charlaine Harris | Dead in the Family: A Sookie Stackhouse Novel Q&A session audio Philadelphia May 2010

Charlaine Harris | Dead in the Family: A Sookie Stackhouse Novel
Recorded 5/5/2010
Listen to MP3 audio

Dead in the Family is book 10 of Charlaine Harris's no. 1 New York Times bestselling Sookie Stackhouse series. The basis for the hit HBO series True Blood, the novels follow telepathic barmaid Sookie Stackhouse as she navigates a southern Louisiana world full of vampires, werewolves, shape shifters, and fairies. The books have garnered an Agatha Award nomination and an Anthony Award for best paperback original; the television series has won Golden Globe, People's Choice, and Emmy awards. Harris is the author of three more mystery series (Aurora Teagarden, Lily Bard, and Harper Connelly), as well as the stand-alone mysteries, Sweet and Deadly and A Secret Rage. 

Review: Dead in the Family by C. Harris

Nice review ...

The tenth book in Charlaine Harris’ Southern Vampire Mysteries (aka Sookie Stackhouse), Dead in the Family brings a lot of change to the inhabitants of Bon Temps. While it was definitely different from previous novels, I have to say I truly enjoyed it.

After enduring torture and the loss of loved ones during the brief but deadly Faery War, Sookie Stackhouse is hurt and she’s angry. Just about the only bright spot in her life is the love she thinks she feels for vampire Eric Northman. But he’s under scrutiny by the new Vampire King because of their relationship. And as the political implications of the Shifters coming out are beginning to be felt, Sookie’s connection to the Shreveport pack draws her into the debate. Worst of all, though the door to Faery has been closed, there are still some Fae on the human side-and one of them is angry at Sookie. Very, very angry…

Dead in the Family totally kept my attention all day. There wasn’t a huge plot or conflict that Sookie was knee deep in, but there was enough going on that it wasn’t boring. Honestly, Dead in the Family really reminds me of Buffy’s fourth season finale – the one where Buffy gets caught up in a dream with the “first”. Sookie has had so much going on in her life that she needed this downtime, something easy and eye opening. A lot of threads were tied up, and yet, there were plenty more that began. In my opinion, the Fae have been dealt with. I can’t see them coming back. We’re definitely going to see more vampires in the future, but instead of Eric going along with his queen’s wishes, I think we’re going to see his rebellious side come out. Plus, with the weres recent “coming out”, legislation is going to occur and we really didn’t see much of it for the vampires. Dead in the Family opens a lot of possibilities of what we’ll be seeing and I kind of like it.

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Dead in the Family Signed Book Giveaway from Once UponTwilight blog

Dead in the Family Signed Book Giveaway
Dead in the family (signed copy)
Author: Charlaine Harris

Click here to enter and for Dead-in-family-book-review

Giveaway ends: June 11 at Midnight

Charlaine Harris Book Signing Dallas Photos : Dead in the Family Tour May 16th 2010

"To be or not to be" Shakespeare in the Sookie verse

I'm sure you all noticed in the latest Sookie Stackhouse book "Dead in the Family" that Shakespeare opens the books and closes the book, not only Shakespeare but particularly the play, Hamlet.

On page 10 we read ....
“There’s the rub,” Eric said. Somewhere along the line, my Viking honey had read Shakespeare.
Pg 10
The quote was fromShakespeare's Hamlet. "To sleep--perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub."

Then on the last few pages..

“This is positively Shakespearean,” I said, looking around at the remains and the blood soaking into the ground. Pg 217

“You were right,” Eric said, still in that very slow voice. “This is just like the end of one of Shakespeare’s plays.”
“We’re the people left standing. Yay for us.” Pg 218

And in the play, Hamlet that scene reads like this .....

Horatio says at the end of hamlet amidst the carnage
And let me speak to the yet unknowing world
380 How these things came about. So shall you hear
381 Of carnal, bloody, and unnatural acts,
382 Of accidental judgments, casual slaughters,
383 Of deaths put on by cunning and forced cause,
384 And, in this upshot, purposes mistook
385 Fall'n on the inventors' heads: all this can I
386 Truly deliver.
Good night sweet prince

There is only a few additional Shakespearean reference in the Sookie books:

Club Dead
Eric began to grin. "You offed Lorena?" He had a good grasp of the vernacular, for a very old vampire. It was hard to interpret Bill's expression. "Sookie staked her," he said. "It was a fair kill." "She killed Lorena in a fight?" Eric's grin grew even broader. He was as proud as if he'd heard his firstborn reciting Shakespeare. "Very short fight," I said, not wanting to take any credit that was not due me. If you could term it credit.

Dead and Gone
I was standing out in my backyard hosing down fairy blood and making melodramatic statements all to myself. Next I’d be doing the Hamlet soliloquy that I’d had to memorize in high school.
This afternoon had brought me down hard, to a real bad place.

Talk Blood: "Dead in the Family" show tonight 9 pm central

Join us live TONIGHT ! (after the final episode of The Pacific) for our discussion of the latest Sookie Stackhouse book, Dead in the Family.
I will be joined by my lovely co-host @SookieBonTemps and Tina from the Sookieverse blog and our own BillOhBill / Mary Kay from the wiki and twitter.We want to hear from you !

Call-in Number: (646) 929-0825- 9pm central Sunday May 16th
Chat room opens at8:45 !

*** There was a little glitch at the beginning of the show ala Blogtalk Radio so be a little patient and keep listening the rest of the show is fine ! Thanks to everyone especially all the old gang from the HBO wiki !
Below is the chat room transcript ...


Blogtalk Dead in the Family Show May17 Chatroom transcript

Dead in the Family' book review from Tina of Sookieverse blog

My friend, Tina of the Sookieverse Blog will be joining @SookieBonTemps and I tonight on the 'Dead in the Family' Blogtalk Radio show ...

Please read Tina's excellent book review! Yes, she will be speaking for "the Sheriff", the lovely BillOhBill will join us for a take from the Bill side of the aisle !

DISCLAIMER: I’ve only read DITF through once, and I’m in the middle of a slower paced reread at the moment. The following started out as a review, and ended up being infiltrated with random bits of analysis and god knows what else. I conclude from this that I am too opinionated to write wanky book reviews, and also completely incapable of shutting myself up. So for better or worse, here’s what I’m thinking after my first read.

* * * * * * * * * *

The very first thing I need to say about Dead in the Family is that I liked it – alot. It was certainly a change of pace from the last few books, as we were told it would be. It was also a “transitional” book, but in saying that I don’t mean to call it series filler. Harris has finally decided to start addressing some long lingering issues that have become distracting. And she has also started to lay – very subtly – some groundwork for the ending of Sookie’s story. I cannot tell you how relieved I am about that.

Dead in the Family is very much a character driven book. Not since Dead to the World has this series seen an instalment focused so heavily on character development, and at this point in the story a closer examination of the characters was certainly due. By her own admission, Harris is much better at drawing characters than she is at keeping track of her numerous plot lines and after the upheaval of the last two books, I really didn’t mind that this one meandered plot wise a little more than usual.

SPOILERS AHEAD AND YOU MIGHT WANT TO GO PEE FIRST.

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Video Charlaine Harris " Dead in the Family" Q&A Dallas Visit May 15th 2010

You won't see her very well, but I tried to position myself near the speakers so you may hear her a little better !

Enjoy

** I'll have some photos up later but the real scoop is TOP SECRET - I'll share that tonight on the radio show! Join me tonight to hear more ...;-)

Charlaine Harris in Dallas "Dead in the Family" Book Event May 15th 2010

Charlaine Harris not done with Sookie Stackhouse yet

By JOY TIPPING / The Dallas Morning News
jtipping@dallasnews.com

You might think that author Charlaine Harris, flush with success from her Sookie Stackhouse "Southern Vampire" series, might be ready to hang up her literary fangs and retire to her home in Southwest Arkansas.

She's written 10 Sookie books – the inspiration for HBO's smash series True Blood, which returns for its third season on June 13 – including the recently released 10th in the series, Dead in the Family. She's also written three other mystery series and a whole slew of short stories.

At 58, though, she says she's got at least two more Sookie books to write and a comic-book series in the works, among other projects. We talked to her by phone in advance of her tour stop Saturday in Dallas.

What's going on in the new book? Sookie's recovering from the terrible events of the last book, which involved a Faery War. ... This book really deals with a lot of family issues, and different types of families – formed families, blood families.

Do you feel like you're living in two separate Sookie-verses now? People who're watching the series and reading the books know that HBO has kept to the books' plots in some ways, but in other ways the show is radically different, so there's no telling what'll happen on the show. ... But even when I'm writing now, as good as those actors are, I don't see them in my head. I still see the same people I've been seeing all along, way before the TV show started.

That Season 2 scene with Godrick exploding on top of the Adolphus Hotel was awesome. What did you think? Did they shoot that there? I didn't know that! I love the Adolphus. That's where I usually stay when I'm in Dallas.

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Charlaine Harris will discuss and sign Dead in the Family at 2 p.m. today at Borders, 10720 Preston Road at Royal Lane, Dallas. Wristbands for admission will be handed out starting at 9 a.m. this morning. 214-363-1977. www.borders.com.

Charlaine does Dallas: Know Your Sookie Books Before You Meet the Author

The author of the book series behind HBO's True Blood will be in Big D Saturday for a book signing.

Charlaine Harris will be at the Borders on Preston Road and Royal Lane to read from and sign the latest Sookie Stackhouse novel, Dead in the Family.

The book is the 10th in the best-selling, genre-transcending Southern Vampire Mysteries about a telepathic barmaid living in the small town of Bon Temps in northern Louisiana.

Not quite a romance, not quite a mystery, yet not quite a fantasy, the series follows Sookie's struggles with her "disability" (telepathy), her first love, her introduction to werewolves, witches and fairies and her tangles in vampire politics. Most of all, the Southern Vampire Mysteries is about a young woman coming into her own.

But don't write the books off as just one of the dreary, melodramatic vampire romances that are so in vogue these days -- these books are fun. Critics have described the Sookie Stackhouse books as "delightful" and "riotous."

If you're a True Blood fan who hasn't read the books but want to meet Sookie's creator anyway, we've got you covered.

Five Things to Know About the Series Behind “True Blood”

1. Yes, the TV show is based on a series of books.
The first book in the Southern Vampire Mysteries, Dead Until Dark, was published in 2001, far predating the HBO series. Charlaine Harris doesn't have direct involvement with "True Blood," but she says on her website that she is "delighted" with what showrunner Alan Ball has done with the show.

2. This ain't "True Blood."
Like any screen adaptation, True Blood deviates quite a bit in tone and style from its source material. While you probably don't want to watch episodes of the show on your laptop on an airplane, reading the books aloud in public won't make you blush. And unlike the show, the books are told in the first-person from Sookie's perspective. Her narration is part of what makes the books so humorous; even when she's down, Sookie never stops being amusing.

3. Be prepared for possible "True Blood" spoilers.
Just reading the book jacket for Dead in the Family is likely to give you hints to things that have yet to be introduced in the show. But on the bright side, while the first season of the show actually hewed fairly close to the plot of the first Sookie book, the second definitely went off in its own direction. There's no knowing how much of the books' mythology Alan Ball will leave off the writing table.

4. Look for the short stories for a complete picture of the Sookieverse.
Sookie and a few other characters are featured in short stories that were published in various anthologies. Harris' website lists all of them, along with ISBN numbers. While they aren't all essential, the novella about Sookie's cousin, Hadley, does add quite a bit of backstory to the main series.

5. There is backstory ahoy in this series.
Let's be honest: Harris is on book 10 now. While she is good about trying to include exposition at the beginnings of her books, it's probably not going to be enough to catch you up if you have only seen the television series. Sookie's world in Dead in the Family is completely different from how her life was in the first few books. A lot has happened, and characters have arrived and left Sookie's life. And the books aren't episodic -- they all flow into one another, and that's part of the series' charm. This is definitely not a series where "the more things change, the more they stay the same."

Book Signing:
2 p.m. Saturday
Borders
10720 Preston Road, Suite 1018
Dallas, Texas 75230
214-363-1977

http://www.nbcdfw.com/around-town/events/Know-Your-Sookie-Books-Before-You-Meet-the-Author-93745289.html

Talk Blood Radio Returns ! Dead in the Family Show

Join us live Sunday night (after the final episode of The Pacific) for our discussion of the latest Sookie Stackhouse book, Dead in the Family.
I will be joined by my lovely co-host @SookieBonTemps and other special guests for the discussion-- but we want to hear from you !

Call-in Number: (646) 929-0825- 9pm central Sunday May 16th

Vampires, werewolves and … ducks. A chat with Charlaine Harris

Vampires are alive and well (er, dead and well) and skulking about Louisiana, as any fan of HBO’s “True Blood” knows. But what they might not know is that the creator of Sookie Stackhouse and the series of books on which the show is based is a Mississippi native with a very large collection of ducks. Alison Stewart spoke with bestselling author Charlaine Harris about some of the odd moments in the life of a vampire storyteller.

Alison Stewart: Charlaine, true or false? You had vampire teeth made.

Charlaine Harris: I did. (Laughs.) … It seems kind of cheesy to me now, but about 10 years ago I had a really beautiful set made … from my teeth impression and everything.

Stewart: Just wore them around the house, or …?

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Giveaway signed copy fo 'Dead in the Family'

The newest installment of Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse series is currently #1 on the bestseller list! I was able to have Ms. Harris sign a copy of the book for me, so I am now passing this wonderful treasure on to one of you!

Open to US and Canada only(sorry)

From Julie at Reading with Restraint

Charlaine Harris event last night in Portland blog and video

Boy oh boy, did I have so much fun tonight! I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the Charlaine Harris Tour & Book Signing tonight in Portland, OR. I live just across the river in Vancouver, WA so I thought it would definitely be worth the trip to hear what this wonderful author had to say!

This is the very first author appearance and book signing I have ever attended, so I wasn't really sure what to expect. Whatever I had anticipated was surpassed by how interesting the event was. Charlaine was a very funny and engaging speaker and she was extremely casual and laid-back. She did not stand up on stage and lecture about what a great author she was, etc., etc. Rather, the entire appearance was dedicated to answering questions from everyone in the audience. Her only caveat was that no one could ask about future events for her characters--we would have to wait and read book 11 once it was released. I have included some of the questions and answers that struck a chord with me below:

1. How does she write? Is she very thought out and methodical? No! Charlaine described herself as a "pantser"; she writes by the seat of her pants and writes whatever strikes her fancy at the time.


2. How does she feel about people comparing the Sookie series with the Twilight series? She said that she is weary of hearing that comparison. That some Twilight fans (not Stephanie Meyer herself) have accused her of stealing Twilight's story idea. She went on to explain with a laugh that her books were published five years before Twilight ever hit the shelves.

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parts 2-4 here

Charlaine Harris reading in Seattle Thursday night : Interview with a Vampire (Writer): Charlaine Harris

Charlaine Harris will be reading from her latest novel Dead in the Family at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 13, at Town Hall Seattle. Tickets are $5.

Whether you've read her books, or know her name primarily from the HBO hit series True Blood, Charlaine Harris has been feeding thousands of blood-thirsty fans with her Sookie Stackhouse Series of vampires, shape shifters, and the supernatural for almost a decade now. Some may consider Harris' "Sookieverse" to be the crack Twilight for adults, but regardless, Harris was dead on in thinking her readers may just need some vampires in their lives--before Meyer (who's plagued our rainforest with pilgrims) and the many others that have followed, trying to feed off of the current vampire sensation.

If you love True Blood but are yet to have read Harris' books, be prepared--you've got about a summer's worth (or more) of catching up to do--Dead in the Family is the 10th book in the Sookie Stackhouse Series and the show is still working from the third book in the upcoming season.

Having had her novels described as "cozies with teeth," Harris has seen almost all of her fantastical books soar to the top of the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists and with the help of True Blood, her fan base is only growing larger. And honestly, like many others, we just can't seem to get enough of it all. For us, it's almost like a newer take on the Southern Grotesque genre that we love so dearly--this time only with vampires, more blood and guts, and the supernatural replacing a time of Calvinism, lynchings, and Jim Crow.

So Dead in The Family is the 10th book in the Southern Vampire/Sookie Stackhouse Series. What do you think about the latest book? Where is Sookie at in her life right now?

What do I think about the book? I think I'm glad it's finished! Yes, I have been busy the past few years, and I don't see it letting up much. Sookie, as always, is facing new challenges as the characters of the people around her become more and more clear under the stress and strain of the politics of the supernatural world.

Can fans look forward to more "Sookie" books in the future? Do you have an idea of how many more will be included in the series, or do you have a particular ending in sight?

I've signed for 13 books total, but I may extend that. I do know how the series will end.

The Sookie Stackhouse Series is set primarily in the South, where you are from as well. Did you plan on having the series take place in Louisiana because of your knowledge of the area or was it rather because you felt that the area fit the characters best?

A combination of those, plus Anne Rice had done such a great job with southern Louisiana, I felt it was time to give northern Louisiana its day in the sun. Or under the moon.

Much of your work as a genre writer revolves around mystery and fantasy. Do you primarily identify most with being a mystery writer?

Yes, I still think of myself as a mystery writer, because those are my roots. But I'm probably more of an urban fantasy writer now, though I actually write rural fantasy.

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Reading with Charlaine Harris- Portland Tonight !

Reading with Charlaine Harris
Bagdad Theater
3702 SE Hawthorne Blvd.
Tonight, 7 p.m.
$26, includes admission and copy of Dead in the Family

Charlaine Harris, No. 1 New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, will be visiting the Bagdad Theater tonight to talk about the latest installment of the Sookie Stackhouse book series Dead in the Family. The book is the 10th book in the series, and the basis for the hit HBO television show True Blood.

Dead in the Family, which was released last Tuesday, continues the story of Sookie Stackhouse, a waitress in a small Louisiana town called Bon Temps. In the latest book, Sookie is learning to deal with the effects of a war that changed her family and the world she lives in.

It wasn't just any war though, and the town of Bon Temps isn't any old regular southern town. In fact, Sookie isn't just a regular girl, either.

Bon Temps is a place where the immortal live among the mortal. Vampires interact and live among humans—in part because of an invention of synthetic blood that replaces the vampires' need for human blood.

Sookie is mortal, but not without her own powers. She's telepathic, and is misunderstood by her fellow mortals in the community. Because of her powers, she finds it easier to be around vampires, since for some reason she can't read their minds. Her past boyfriends, as well as Eric Northman—her boyfriend in Dead in the Family—are vampires.

Vampire and human relations are generally looked down upon in this fictional world, and in the latest installment, we see the problems this causes for not only Eric, but for Sookie, too.

We hear about Sookie's complicated family history that was explained in the previous books, and the repercussions of the Fae War that she has to deal with now.

Don't be mistaken—the Sookie Stackhouse series isn't your run-of-the-mill vampire novel—there's more to the story than you might expect. Throughout the series we see new and interesting dynamics of an untapped supernatural world with elements of sex, crime and humor.

Harris, who grew up and lives in the south herself—in Arkansas—has been publishing novels for the last 25 years. Harris wrote most of those novels all while raising her three children.

Harris primarily wrote mystery books until she shifted into the booming market of supernatural literature—vampires in particular. Her books are known to cross genre lines though, infusing romance, adventure, supernatural, mystery and science fiction.

Season three of True Blood is expected to continue this summer, and Harris has said there will be at least three more books in the series that will eventually be released.

Whether you're a True Blood fan, a Charlaine Harris fan or a vampire fan, many have found the novels and the TV show positively entertaining. Her visit to the Bagdad will surely be a fun event for all ages.

A 'Sookie Stackhouse' junkie comes clean

It was my Summer of Sookie.

That would be Sookie Stackhouse, big-hearted, telepathic waitress from Bon Temps, La., torn between two vampire lovers.

In June 2009, I couldn't wait for Season 2 of "True Blood" to hurry up and start on HBO. I was fully caught up with Season 1, having just consumed all 12 episodes in an On Demand feeding frenzy.

By "True Blood's" Season 2 finale last September, I had also devoured all nine books in Charlaine Harris' "Sookie Stackhouse," aka "Southern Vampire," series, which inspired the TV show.

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'Dead in the Family' Sookie Book #10 Recipes: Fried Green Tomatoes

Prep: 15 min., Fry: 6 min. per batch.

Yield: Makes 6 to 8 servings
Ingredients

* 4 large green tomatoes
* 2 teaspoons salt
* 1 teaspoon pepper
* 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
* 1 cup plain white cornmeal
* 1 tablespoon Creole seasoning
* 2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
* Vegetable or peanut oil

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 200°. Cut tomatoes into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Sprinkle both sides of tomatoes evenly with salt and pepper.

2. Pour buttermilk into a shallow dish or pie plate. Stir together cornmeal, Creole seasoning, and 1 cup flour in another shallow dish or pie plate.

3. Dredge tomatoes in remaining 1 cup flour. Dip tomatoes in buttermilk, and dredge in cornmeal mixture.

4. Pour oil to a depth of 2 inches in a large cast-iron skillet; heat over medium heat to 350°. Fry tomatoes, in batches, 2 to 3 minutes on each side or until golden. Drain on paper towels. Transfer to a wire rack; keep warm in a 200° oven until ready to serve. Sprinkle with salt to taste. Serve.

Post your "Dead in the Family" 6 words stories !

What 6 words best describes Dead in Family Sookie book 10 ?

Post your story in comments....

A little background on 6 word stories horcruxhunter has the gist

In the 1920s, Ernest Hemingway’s colleagues bet him that he couldn’t write a complete story in just six words. They paid up. Hemingway is said to have considered it his best work.
"For sale: baby shoes, never used."