Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

I'd been waiting for the vampire for years when he walked into the bar.

Ever since vampires came out of the coffin (as they laughingly put it) two years ago, I'd hoped one would come to Bon Temps. We had all the other minorities in our little town - why not the newest, the legally recognized undead? But rural northern Louisiana wasn't too tempting to vampires, apparently; on the other hand, New Orleans was a real center for them - the whole Anne Rice thing, right?

It's not that long a drive from Bon Temps to New Orleans, and everyone who came into the bar said that if you threw a rock on a street corner you'd hit one. Though you better not.

But I was waiting for my own vampire.

-Dead Until Dark

I can say right off that your appreciation of Dead Until Dark is absolutely reliant on your tolerance for silliness. For instance, that joke about coming out of the coffin: corny or cringeworthy? If you cringed, this is not the book for you.

Dead Until Dark is the story of Sookie Sackhouse, a telepathic waitress with a charmingly outdated sense of style and quite a bit of moxie. She's the one who's been waiting on a vampire; the one who finally arrives is Bill Compton. He's handsome (if a bit pale), a former military man - the Civil War, naturally. The stop-start relationship that develops between the two is one of the most engaging parts of the story, and largely the reason that disc one of True Blood (based on the Sookie Stackhouse novels) is on its way to me from Netflix.

The twosome must contend with prejudiced locals as well as vampires who are less inclined than Bill to make nice with humans. All the while, the town is terrorized by a serial killer who seems to be preying on women who consort with vampires. So: Is the killer a vampire? Is Sookie the next victim? You get the idea.

The plot is easy to follow, but still got in some good twists. It doesn't take itself too seriously, which is perhaps one of its greatest assets (ahem, Twilight*). I enjoyed the Louisiana setting, which allowed for some snazzy Cajun names and a good number of people being called "cher." And although, like I said, it has its dorky moments (synthetic blood in bars, anyone?), it was totally a fun read and I am looking forward to the sequels. They would definitely provide welcome entertainment on a plane or at the beach, but since I don't have plans that involve either of those things in the forseeable future, I may make due with park/subway.

Up next: I was feeling patriotic after the 4th, so I've started Burr. I also bought Bleak House at Barnes and Noble with almost-the-last of my gift card, and I am psyched for my upcoming reread. Killer book.

*I feel like I am being rather good by not putting in about four million digs at Twilight, but actually, other than the female human/male vampire relationship, the two books really don't have much in common.