Jayson’s Reviews > The Complete Sookie Stackhouse Stories > Status Update

Notes:
(1) This came after A Touch of Dead, meaning I've not read it before.
- Which is a weird feeling, you know, considering (between prose and audiobooks) I'm on my second round with the novels and my third with the short stories hitherto—this book makes three.
(2) In the intro, Harris says this is her "favorite Sookie story, hands down."
- I wonder if that also includes the novels?

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Notes:
(1) The one thing that stuck with me about this story, from the first time I read it, is that it's morally questionable. Lo and behold, Charlaine Harris uses the exact words "morally questionable" in her story introduction.
- At least she's self-aware about how it's not exactly kosher.
- She also uses the words "pretty creepy"... though to me it's more about people being pretty creeps.

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Notes:
(1) "He was trying real hard to keep his eyes off my tank top. I would have put on a bra if I'd known we were going to have company."
- Couldn't she just excuse herself and put on a bra then?
- Is it a more awkward situation or less to reappear with a bra vs. having a whole visit where being braless is a distraction?
- If only Greg had accepted refreshments, she'd have reason to leave.

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Notes:
(1) I remember when I first read this series: I was so confused, thinking I'd accidentally skipped a book or otherwise missed something when, in fact, the critical events referenced were actually in this short story.
- Charlaine Harris addresses exactly this in her story introduction. Apparently, mine is the prevailing experience.
- Good on her for acknowledging how much she messed up.

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Notes:
(1) "I'm around five foot six, and Sam tops me by maybe three inches. He's not a big guy, but he's much stronger than a plain human his size, since Sam's a shapeshifter."
- Once again, Sam's introduced with Sookie talking about how short he is.
- Geez, even in short stories, poor guy can't catch a break!
- Well, if anything, Charlaine Harris is wildly consistent—her memory never fails!

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Addendum:
(1) Okay, elephant in the room: it's been over six months since I last picked this up—or revisited this series at all.
- Normally that wouldn't matter for a book of ostensibly-standalone short stories, except that my updates hitherto have been really informed and reference heavy.
- So, sorry to say, if you're expecting the same depth of commentary, the series is no longer as fresh to me and ripe for recall.

Notes:
(1) "I hate it when fairies come into the bar. They don't tip you worth a toot—not because they're stingy, but because they just forget."
- I'll give them a break, they likely don't observe the custom in whatever dimension they're from.
- Frankly, the vast majority of cultures in our own dimension neither tip nor expect tips. Could be Claudine lived a while in Scandinavia or East Asia?

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Notes:
(1) My first time through the series, I read "A Touch of Dead," subtitled "Sookie Stackhouse, The Complete Stories."
- Premature, it turns out, since that amounts to little-more-than half of what's in this "Complete Stories."
- I don't know why they didn't just come out with a "Part 2." Instead, now I have to re-read the "A Touch of Dead" stories for the third time—my current audiobook re-read included!