I felt like a slacker when it comes to finishing the reading challenges I had signed up for the year. Anyway, I am happy to say I have completed the 2010 Young Adult Reading Challenge, hosted by Home Girl's Book Blog (previously known as J. Kaye's Bookblog).

And here's the part where I failed when it comes to Sookie Stackhouse Reading Challenge which is hosted by the lovely Candace of Beth Fish Reads.

Living Dead in Dallas is the second book of the Southern Vampire series by Charlaine Harris and I was delighted to do a buddy-read with Alice.

I was eager to read more about cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse after reading the first instalment, after all she has telepathy ability and on top of that she's got moxie; she is never intimidated by her own strength and I enjoy seeing the sparks continue to fly between her and her vampire lover, Bill, who I think oozes charisma enough to charm any woman on earth.

This story began when one of Sookie's coworkers is murdered. As if that is not enough to cause a ripple in her life, Eric, the head of the local Louisiana vampire nest, needs Sookie's telepathy to help locate a missing vampire from Dallas, who happened to be the "brother" of the local vampire leader, Stan. Sookie agrees since she owes him a favour, and on a condition that Bill is to follow her along and that any human involved will be entrust to the human law enforcement instead of the vampires'. But things do not turn smoothly for her, as she is first attacked by a maenad and her wounds nearly took her life.

Sookie soon learn of a cult named "The Fellowship of the Sun" which she think might be linked with the disappearance and this is where the story becomes interesting and exciting. I will not go into details but let's just say it is fun to see Sookie is back into action as she meets more vampires, werewolves and other shapeshifters in this book. Charlaine Harris has once again crafted a fun and entertaining read in this second instalment, and I enjoyed reading the adventures Sookie encountered, as well as her relationship with her vampire lover, Bill. The fact that she could not read into his mind makes the relationship sounds more intense and interesting. However, though I enjoyed reading this book, I can't say I loved it. I think it has mainly got to do with the plot; I had anticipated to read more about the murder case but instead it went into another direction - the vampire's disappearance and the cult. That said, there is nothing wrong with those but is more to do with my personal expectations.

Have you read this? What do you think of it?

(Click here to find out what other readers have said about this book.)

All right... I told myself I won't be joining any more reading challenges but I just couldn't turn this one down, and not to mention I got a little nudge from Alice who told me it would be fun if we are to read this series together! How can I say no? ;-P

Anyway, I'm in and here are the rules:

1. Between July 1, 2009, and June 30, 2010, catch up on Charlaine Harris's Southern Vampire series. No matter if you're starting with book 1 or book 8, you have a year to read all about Sookie. Read Sookie in print, listen to the audio, read an eBook -- format is not an issue.

2. Sign up using Mr. Linky. Put your name in the top box. For the bottom box, please use the URL that links specifically to your blog post about this challenge, not to your blog's home page.

3. After July 4, I'll create a post with another Mr. Linky where you can link your reviews so everyone can read them track your progress.

4. If you don't have a blog and want to join in, sign up in the comments here. Later, let us know about your progress by leaving comments on the review link page.

The Books:

Dead Until Dark (Already read before this challenge)
Living Dead in Dallas
Club Dead
Dead to the World
Dead as a Doornail
Definitely Dead
All Together Dead
From Dead to Worse
Dead and Gone

Please visit Beth's blog if you are interested in joining this challenge!