Dead Until Dark -- Charlaine Harris

This is a fun book. Not a heavy read - perfect for a fast weekend pickup.

Dead Until Dark is the first in the Southern Vampire Series and is of the horror/romance/mystery genre (if there is such a thing.)

The story takes place in Bon Temps, LA in a time after vampires have newly become a legal minority. It explains that they are actually victims of a virus and with the creation of artificial blood, they no longer are a danger to society. Some vampires begin "mainstreaming" and others are just nasty folks.

Sookie Stackhouse, a barmaid had "been waiting for the vampire for years when he walked into the bar," couldn't wait to meet her first vampire, but they didn't show up in her small town until Bill moved back to the family homestead with hope to find a home. Sookie, the storyteller in this book, has a "disability" of her own - she can read minds. She considers it a handicap and tries to keep it blocked at all times - this takes a lot of effort and people see her as different and even slow. In every other way, Sookie is average -though quite naive, a little sassy, very proper, and surprisingly brave. She is immediately taken by Bill because she can't read his mind - think about it, do you really want to know what the person you are kissing is thinking?

Shortly after Bill makes his appearance in Sookie's life, an old high school acquaintance dies. Then a coworker. Both of these women were "fang-bangers" or vampire groupies. Sookie tries to solve the murders because she's afraid Bill will be blamed. Though he's not off the hook, he earns some respect as he agrees to speak before the Daughters of the Glorious War and tell them what the Civil War was really like. The police attention quickly turns to Sookie's brother - quite the male slut - as it is uncovered that's he's been involved with both women. The murders continue and a vigilante group begins to form. Sookie tries opening herself up to others thoughts in order to solve the murder.

The sex scenes are a little odd, but not too graphic. Her meetings with the head vampire are definitely a little bloody, but nothing too horrific. The addition of a shape-shifter was unnecessary, but a little funny.

The best part of the book - by far - is the depictions of small town America. Harris completely captures small-town life - gossip, attitudes toward outsiders, generosity, and taking care of your neighbors. I will definitely be picking up #2 in the Southern Vampire Series.

Star of the Sea -- Joseph O'Connor

Wow! This book was not my usual fare!

Don't get me wrong, it was good . . . it was excellent. But I couldn't get over the feeling that I was back in college literature class. This book is not today's usual - it's literature.

The journey of the Star of the Sea is metaphor for the progression of the world at that time. On the ship is a microcosm of the world during the Irish Potato Famine as seen through the eyes of a few main characters.

Pius Mulvey and Mary Duane are Irish. They are, however, opposite sides of the same coin. Mulvey sees the injustice and hardship and learns to take what he wants. Friendship is a luxury to him and his selfishness leads way to maliciousness. It is decided by some of his countrymen that he needs to murder the perceived source of their misery. Mary sees the injustice and hardship and does whatever necessary to survive and possibly rise above it. She represents all immigrant women and seems to always be choosing between the lesser of two evils.

David Meredith is an English Lord that grew up seeing his father's tenants as friends. His father did not view his tenants kindly and, after losing his money in a bad investment, died, leaving it to his son to evict the tenants and sell the land. For his and his ancestors injuries to the tenants - David will die. David appears to have good intentions, but is seldom forceful enough to follow through. He represents the weakening aristocracy and, as such, can never make it in the New World. He has a problem with the drugs prescribed to help him sleep - but it isn't apparent whether the drugs weaken him to lapses of moral behavior or are just a part of his overall weakness.

Dixon, the narrator of the book, tells the story from the viewpoint of the lead male characters (himself included.) He's an American journalist - and represents the New World. He's very forward thinking for the time and gives voice to people with no voice.

The author uses captains logs and adds real people from the period to the character list, which ads a sense of realism. The listing of the newly deceased at the beginning of each of the Captain's entries keeps the tone melancholy. But, is it a novel or a history lesson? At one point, Meredith is quoted as saying "History happens in the first person but is written in the third. This is what makes history a completely useless art." O'Connor, by way of his alternating points of view - makes the telling of history in the first person and we are more enlightened for it.

Star of the Sea is a murder mystery - but not really. There is a murder (sort of, is it considered murder if it's really what the person wants to happen?) There is a mystery, but you don't realize what the mystery is until the very end of the book.

All in all, I am better for reading this book - but I'm not sure how quickly I'll pick up anything else by this author because it was quite a chore to get through.