Jayson’s Reviews > The Complete Sookie Stackhouse Stories > Status Update
Jayson
is on page 47 of 368
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!
(Continued in comments)
— Jul 13, 2026 10:30PM
(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!
(Continued in comments)
4 likes · Like flag
Jayson’s Previous Updates
Jayson
is on page 103 of 368
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.
(Continued in comments)
— 6 hours, 14 min ago
(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.
(Continued in comments)
Jayson
is on page 73 of 368
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.
(Continued in comments)
— Jul 16, 2026 07:45PM
(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.
(Continued in comments)
Jayson
is on page 23 of 368
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.
— Jul 04, 2026 12:00AM
(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.
Jayson
is on page 23 of 368
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?
(Continued in comments)
— Jan 20, 2026 09:45AM
(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?
(Continued in comments)
Jayson
is starting
Introduction:
(1) Goodreads really needs to take into account front matter (Roman-numeral) pagination for progress updates.
- Just going by the official page numbers, it looks like I haven't read anything at all!
(2) Correction: "A Touch of Dead" makes up a third of this, not half as I stated before.
- My mistake was comparing the page count for each book, not accounting for font differences.
(Continued in comments)
— Jan 18, 2026 01:00AM
(1) Goodreads really needs to take into account front matter (Roman-numeral) pagination for progress updates.
- Just going by the official page numbers, it looks like I haven't read anything at all!
(2) Correction: "A Touch of Dead" makes up a third of this, not half as I stated before.
- My mistake was comparing the page count for each book, not accounting for font differences.
(Continued in comments)
Jayson
is starting
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!
— Jan 10, 2026 11:00AM
(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!
(2) "This was something to be savored. I carefully pulled out the stiff, folded paper and opened it. Something fluttered into my lap: an enclosed sheet of tissue. Without absorbing the revealed words, I ran my finger over the embossing. Wow."
- Can tissue paper be embossed? I know they do it with toilet tissue, so I suppose so. Though they're clearly not the same thing... or are they?
- I'm not saying Sookie's easily impressed, but she's practically going gaga over fancy stationery, calligraphy and italic font.
- I mean, it's not exactly Hogwarts she's being invited to... albeit vampires are magical creatures.
(3) "I'd wear my hair down, and my gran's pearl earrings, and some silver heels that were also on major sale."
- I assume she means silver-colored, though I can't help but think actual silver heels could be used for effective self-defense—it's basically a souped-up stake! Though, that'd probably be tantamount to carrying in a loaded firearm and maybe not so welcome in vampire circles.
(4) Do vampires celebrate birthdays on the date they were born human or the date they were turned vampire?
(5) "When DJ Duke of Death took over, the music changed to something with a beat."
- I wonder if it's bad form to have someone called Duke perform at Count Dracula's birthday? I mean, dukes outrank counts, Dracula might be touchy about that sort of stuff.
- I would have thought Eric wouldn't take the chance, given how desperate he is for Dracula to show up.
(6) "Yes, I went to the library after you told me about the original Dracula, and I Googled him."
- Kids these days may not understand how way back when, if you wanted to look something up, you had to physically go to the library and find a book or some specialty encyclopedia.
- She "Googled him"? Wow! Who's the fancy one now?
(7) I guess any of Eric's fanboy reverence and caution died when Milos tried to eat Sookie.
- Frankly, I can't remember at what points in this series Sookie's been claimed by which vampire lover as "theirs."
- This takes place after Dead to the World, so it could be that despite his amnesia, Eric feels some subconscious or residual claim over Sookie.
- Also, it's hard to take Milos seriously. Harris does her best to make him come off as ridiculous as possible, I presume to make some commentary on the folly and irrationality of hero worship.
(8) In sum: ultimately, this isn't so much a bona fide story as it is a means for fleshing out character and personality.
- Particularly Eric and Pam.