The Sookie Stackhouse Companion

I really enjoyed this book. It was nice having an overview of the previous books just to refresh the memory ;) and the map was really neat to have. Also, the food receipies were neat to have as well. I loved this book. Thanks~!~

I read the series of books awhile ago and liked them so much I am reading them again since the first time thru I read them so fast just to see the endings. I am a big fan of Eric and would like to see Eric and Sookie together in the end but I do not think it is going to happen

This book was not what I expected. I was hoping for several short stories, instead it had only one short story and summeries with timelines of the past books from the series. I already read all the books out so far, so I was not interested in reading summeries of them, I found the "in-between" dialog between Erich and Bill boring and a little pointless. The good part of the book was the short story Small-Town Wedding. It answered my question about what happened to Quinn after his and Bill's big fight. I also liked the great southern recipes included in the book.

I am a big Sookie Stackhouse and Charlaine Harris fan so I hope I am not biased. I found it delightful. It starts with a novella where Sookie accompanies Sam to a family wedding after the shifters have come out.

Then you get a cultural view of the South with some recipes mentioned in the book listed. They sound delicious, especially the famous chocolate cake.

There are interviews with Charlaine Harris and the producers of True Blood, which have given me an insiders look at the series. Buy the book and read it. You will love it.

Thank you for shipping The Sookie Stackhouse Companion so quickly. It was in excellent condition. I have read all the Stookie Stackhouse novels and am waiting for book 12. This will help me to know and understand all the characters and the settings better.

I love the Sookie Stackhouse series, but these filler books are a waste. Don't bother purchasing this one. I would recommend getting it from the library or a friend. I never even finished reading it. The short story in the beginning was good, but the rest stunk. If you're collecting the series this one isn't worth adding to your collection. I will probably donate mine to a book donation site.

I loved the book and this format (being the first time I read a kindle book) you can highlight the parts you like, easy lo look for any fragment you want to re-read :) .... Although I would like that the map of bon temps was bigger, is too little for this format and can't be expanded so you can see it clearly :(

I have read all of Charlaine Harris' books on Sookie Stackhouse.. It's a book I have to read to the end.. I can't wait to read her next Sookie Stackhouse book.. If you enjoy True Blood you will enjoy reading the books..

I am obsessed with the Sookie books, and this one is just awesome. In this book you'll find a super cute short story involving Sookie & Sam, but in addition to that there is a timeline of events, an index of people/terms used in the books, a map of Bon Temps, recipes (I can't wait to make the fried pickles!), an interview with Alan Ball, Q&A with Charlaine Harris, and more!

A previous reviewer said its not worth the money since the majority of the book is "recap", but I completely disagree! I'm constantly looking back through books (or searching online) to try to see what/who/when/which book something happened in. Its totally awesome to have it all in one place now!

If you're a die-hard fan like me, you can't miss this book.

One would think that based on the amount of money the Sookie books and have earned and the royalties that she has been paid from True Blood, Charlaine Harris would not find it necessary to sucker additional money from her fans by peddling junk like this. I'm glad I didn't pay $30 for the hard cover addition.

This book contains:
one very nice novella
some diagrams that are unreadable on a kindle
and a bunch of second rate content authored by third parties or sycophants that appears to have been rehashed from fan magazines, wikipedia, or which could have originally appeared as a FAQs on a fan fiction website.

The author should be embarrassed to have her name on this travesty and should personally send a 80% refund to each and every purchaser for the quantity of content in this book that she didn't originate.

Charlaine, I hope you read this and are very ashamed.

Save your money, don't buy this book. Get it from the library and read the novella. You can forget the rest.

Like most fans I have read every Sookie Stackhouse novel and short story, and religiously watch True Blood every Sunday. I kept my own list on the order of the novels and short stories, and had lots of questions on how Charlaine Harris created the Sookie Universe and its characters. This book answered all my questions and then some.

First and foremost, I want to give a special shout out to Beverly Battillo and Victoria Koski who both appear to have provided a lot of information to make this companion a keeper.

Here is a quick rundown of what is in the book based on the Kindle version:

1) A map of Bon Temps (which is microscopic in the Kindle version.)

2) A four chapter short story called Small Town Wedding by Charlaine Harris

3) Life in Bon Temps by Victoria Koski - great timeline and recap of all the books (this is a really fun read)

4) Sookie Short Stories and Related Material - Charlaine Harris explains how and why she created the short stories, etc.

5) Vampires, Two Natured and Fairies Oh My! - Charlaine Harris as Sookie discusses all the creatures she has met and there is a Sookie Stackhouse Family Tree (microscopic on Kindle)

6) Sookie Stackhouse Trivia created by Beverly Battillo and Victoria Koski (another fun read)

7) What's Cooking in Bon Temps - lots of yummy recipes from the books

8) Inside True Blood - Alan Ball is brutally honest as he answers questions about the differences between the books and the show, and his love for all things Bill and Sookie on True Blood

9) Mystery to Mayham - All the works of Charlaine Harris are listed - I thought this should have been placed last since it includes all her other works

10) Recollections around the Duckpond - Fans of Charlaine Harris and their experiences are discussed

11) Charlaine Harris Interview - the author answers questions from fans

12) World of Sookie Stackhouse - by Victoria Koski is an excellent guide to every character and term used in the books. Sort of like a Sookie Universe encyclopedia

My only quibbles are that the illustrations (maps, family tree, etc.) are microscopic on a Kindle and Beverly Battillo and Victoria Koski should have been listed as contributing editors/authors.

Other than that, Sookie Stackhouse novel fans will find this book a wonderful edition to their library.

This book is a collection of odds and ends relating to the series of Sookie Stackhouse novels. It contains a map, a novella relating to the series written by the author, a synopsis of the yet incomplete series by Victoria Koski, brief comments on the related short stories and the creatures in the series by the author, Sookie's family tree, a short section of trivia questions about the series by Beverly Battillo and Victoria Koski, some recipes, an interview of Alan Ball regarding the as yet unfinished True Blood series on HBO, a brief overview of other books by Charlaine Harris, an article about the Charlaine Harris fan club, an interview with the author, and a lengthy guide to the characters by Victoria Koski.

The novella, "Small Town Wedding" supposedly impacts the course of the series. It is not a bad story, revolving around the wedding of the brother of Sookie's boss Sam. What should be a simple happy excursion becomes a potentially violent challenge. I enjoyed reading it.

The map, family tree, interviews, trivia questions, and recipes were momentarily diverting but ultimately probably not worth buying the book.

The synopsis of the series and character guide by Victoria Koski puzzled me. The information was accurate to a point but was written from a shockingly biased point of view. Rather than simply reviewing the series, she often inserts her own interpretations of events, dwells on some happenings, and completely omits mention of other events. She frequently makes use of emotionally loaded descriptions, apparently in an attempt to persuade the reader to accept a particular interpretation. I found this quite troubling because the entire book is apparently sanctioned by the author, and I am at a loss to explain why she might do this. It strikes me as a crude way to try to get readers of the series to perhaps reinterpret what they have read, and as a reader I find this quite insulting. It is also puzzling that a synopsis and detailed character guide of a series be published before the series is complete.

Overall I would not recommend this book even though the novella might be worth reading. The rest of the material ranged from minimally interesting to intrusively annoying.

Great companion book to the Sookie Stackhouse series. Loved the short stories and the fill in information on the characters. Am sad to see the end of the series is in sight. I have read some of Charlaine Harris' other books but not impressed. Love Sookie, Bill and Eric and will miss them.

This book has been a long time in the making, and unfortunately, it did not live up to my expectations at all. The biggest problem, from my perspective, is the lack of Harris' direct involvement. Her contributions to the book are so minimal that I really have to question the judgment of the publisher in declaring the book to have been "edited by Charlaine Harris." I have read numerous "unofficial companions" to the Harry Potter series, mostly written by fans. I own, but have not yet read, the Companion to Meyer's Twilight series, and I thoroughly enjoyed Diana Gabaldon's Outlander Companion (though it is now quite dated). So, I'm not unfamiliar with this general concept, and I was very disappointed by the overall product in terms of the direct involvement of the author. If this was mainly an effort by selected fans, it should have been marketed as a fan-created tribute.

The short story/novella about Sookie's journey with Sam to attend his brother's wedding is mildly entertaining. I could not immediately discern that the events in this short story will have much of an effect on the series as a whole. Harris does not really excel in the short story format in my opinion, and like others, I am somewhat annoyed that some critical information is allegedly being imparted in these short stories. I am not a huge fan of the short story in general though, so I am perfectly willing to cut some slack on this front.

However, when I bought the Companion, I did not expect that the bulk of it was the work of several moderators on Harris' fan-page boards. If Harris did actually edit and approve Koski's summaries of the books, I am extremely disappointed in her artistic integrity. The summaries are blatantly biased, and I'm happy to see I'm not the only reviewer thus far to note the issues. If Koski had written neutral summaries of the books in the series, I wouldn't necessarily quibble about the lack of the author's direct hand in that section. However, the summaries are so over-the-top slanted in perspective as to boggle the mind. Koski is well-known in the "fandom" as a Quinn-lover. Unfortunately, her summaries have unjustifiably elevated Quinn's importance to the series (he is on the whole a very minor character), while simultaneously villainizing/diminishing/neutralizing the importance of Eric, and to a lesser extent, Bill. The Eric scenes are summarized in a flat, dispassionate manner that is often in fact misleading about the actual events being summarized. Certainly many key events don't make it into Koski's summaries if Eric is involved in the action. By contrast, Quinn's scenes are summarized in a lively, emotive, active prose that conflates his actual importance in the overall storyline.

I am also flabbergasted that Harris allowed the Bill-Eric email exchanges to be included in this Companion, when those exchanges are so clearly fanfiction. Unlike some other prominent authors, Harris has not been directly antagonistic to the fanfic community. However, she is purportedly puzzled by the conceptual basis of fanfiction and is not known to be supportive in any way. To include Koski's fanfiction contributions seems very counter to her publicly stated positions on fanfiction. Again, Koski seems to be, in a somewhat subtle way, villainizing Eric or at the very least downplaying his positive character attributes as evidenced in the actual novels. If Harris has, through her reviews of Koski's email exchanges, revised her position on the positive contributions of fanfiction, it would be an excellent idea for her to publicly make that statement. As a longstanding fan of fanfiction (and as a fanfic author), I would welcome her support. However, I still maintain that these email exchanges are so substantively biased that they don't truly qualify as proper fanfiction. If she had published these exchanges on a fanfic site, Koski would have received numerous reviews telling her that she had crossed the OOC line.

I did enjoy the interviews with both Harris and Alan Ball. I was happily surprised to see that the author/editor/publisher did not squelch the "hard" questions. Alan Ball, in particular, should have much to consider based on the questions that were posed to him for this book.

The novella, the interviews with Ball and Harris, the map of Bon Temps, the recipes, and the great attempt to re-create a believable timeline for the series are all very valuable contributions to the fans' understanding of this series. Unfortunately, the overall minimal contributions by Harris herself and the significant amount of biased material contributed by Victoria Koski make this Companion far less enjoyable than it could have been. I would have much preferred to see Harris herself take the time, after completion of the series, to do a really thorough Companion of her own. This Companion should definitely have been billed as a fan effort, with a novella contributed by Harris.

I was a little hesitant about getting this book figuring it would be all big font and wide margins just to fill up the pages, but when it arrived I was impressed with how dense it is. There seems to be more packed into this book than the novels themselves, and I was pleasantly surprised with how much there was to it.

That said, the majority is not new material. The bulk is devoted to recapping the existing novels (which are worth reading for all the sex euphemisms alone and include new conversations between Bill and Eric that range from mundane to adorable) and providing an in-depth list and explanation of all the novels' characters. The other highlights include a 76-page novella, Q&A with Charlaine Harris and Alan Ball, a word from the fan club and some Sookieverse-inspired recipes.

Despite being mostly rehashed information, this is a handy guide for fans of the series who have trouble keeping all the facts straight from year to year as new books are released. It will be especially useful to peruse just before the next novel comes out to brush up on the preceding eleven books.

I enjoyed the new story about Sam and Sookie going to his brother's wedding. The map of Bon Temps was almost like I had imagined it, with lots of extra interesting detail. If you are a Charlaine Harris fan, you need this book!

I read the reviews of this book before I purchased it. I knew what to expect and bought it anyway. The short story about Sam's brother's wedding was interesting enough. The rest, I just skimmed. I have enjoyed the S.S. series very much. Lately, though, all entries have lacked the spark and excitement of the first seven or so in the series. That's a shame.
Buy it used or check it out from the library.

I am super pleased to be able to read a recap of all of the Sookie books as I have forgotten alot of the little things in the 11 books- I don't understand what some others are so upset about and literally have there nickers in a twist- tons of writers do this type thing- especially when they have several books released over a span of time. It was also nice to have a good length short story that was riveting- unlike the one in home improvements- did not care for that one at all. I really think this book is worth reading if you have been a fan of the series for years- if you have just gotten into it and have recently read all the books- the recap section may seem like too much- but the rest of the book is worth it...the novella with Sookie and Sam going to his hometown for his brother's wedding, the interviews with Charlaine Harris and Allan Ball and the trivia questions that are just fun :)

I was so exited about this book and waited so long, then when I get it it its nothing like what was advertised. The novella was ok. Everything else seemed unnecessary. This was hard to get through and a waste of my money.

Very disappointed. The novella was great but I expected more not a recap of the books I've already read. I, also, thought that the short stories were actually in this book not what other books I could find them in. Felt ripped off and I'm usually delighted by the Sookie Stackhouse books. Not this time.

I love the Sookie Stackhouse books and the series True Blood! Pre-Ordered this early. Wish I had noticed it was "edited" by Charlaine Harris - not written by. The new short story was great! The list of all characters boring! Just alot of rehashed/rewritten material. I am disappointed in the over all content.
This said - cannot wait for the next sookie book from Charlaine and already going into True Blood withdrawal - as sunday is the last episode of season 4.

The short story at the beginning of book was really good, however 80% of the rest is a recap of entire series. Since I own the series I could have saved $15 and reread the books. In my opinion the description is misleading. I've never wanted my money back on a download,this time Im quite disappointed .

I'm really upset about this book. I had pre-ordered it, b/c I'm a huge fan of the series and have the book of short stories. This has 1 short story and that's the only thing I read. I'm not into all that other stuff. I don't care about it at all. I'm really upset and will only buy the actual books from now on. I will NEVER waste my money like this again. If I had purchased the book instead of the kindle edition I would have already returned it, I'm upset that I can't return it on my kindle. I would not recommend this at all

The Sookie Stackhouse Companion is filled to the covers with interesting and important Sookie information. It has a map of Bon Temps, Sookie’s family tree, and Harris explains the chronology of the short stories and novellas, also where other stories in the Sookieverse fit in. There’s a Q&A from Harris to fans, also a Q&A from TrueBlood creator, producer and writer, Alan Ball to fans. Sookie herself discusses creatures she’s met, there are trivia quizzes and over 30 pages of Down-Home Southern Recipes.

Over 200 pages of this book is a piece called Life in Bon Temps by Victoria Koski which comprehensively summarises events in each of the first eleven novels, and includes transcripts of secret dialogue between Bill and Eric (or Pam) at the end of each one; this, and Koski’s “Guide to the World of Sookie Stackhouse”, a 150 page detailed alphabetical listing of characters are, no doubt, best read after the books themselves as they are filled with spoilers. Harris’s other works are discussed, and there’s a short story, Small Town Wedding, in which……

Sookie and Sam head to Wright, Texas for the wedding of Sam’s brother, Craig. But feelings in the town about the Were/Shifter reveal are mixed, and it seems not everyone is willing to let this wedding proceed unhindered. But is the level of protest spontaneous? A certain were-tiger makes an appearance, as do several shifters, and a character is introduced whose existence is significant in Harris’s Midnight, Texas series. Sookie discovers her savage side. Probably essential reading for the die-hard Sookie fan.

"Small Town Wedding" is a short story in the Sookie Stackhouse series and, per Charlaine Harris, falls between Dead in the Family (Sookie Stackhouse/True Blood, #10), and Dead Reckoning (Sookie Stackhouse/True Blood, #11), making it 10.5.

My Take
The short story, "Small Town Wedding", was sweet. Family coming together, backing each other up. I loved the party after the wedding! I did not figure out how Sookie knew to head down to the pound.

Ooh, Quinn meets his "doom"! LOL, and so does Sarah Newlin...yes!

That takes care of the first 79 pages. After that, there's a huge chunk devoted to providing readers with a timeline of every Sookie Stackhouse book in the series, and it reads like an outline in summary format. Harris also provides a timeline for the short stories, although I still disagree about the chronology for "If I Had a Hammer". I know, the cheek of me! It's just that it wasn't until Dead Ever After, 13, that Tara started talking about needing to expand the house.

Oh, man, then there are the recipes!! Yummy!!

Questions from her fan club are answered. There's a guide to the characters in each story and a visit with Alan Bell who created the television series True Blood based on the Sookie Stackhouse series.

On the whole, I enjoyed the short story, and the majority of this is ideal for the Sookie Stackhouse fan who wants a bible of the series.

The Short Story
Sookie Stackhouse is heading out of town to Wright, Texas, with Sam Merlotte to go to his brother's, Craig's, wedding to Deidra Lisle. (His sister Mindy is already married to Doke Ballinger and they have two kids: Mason and Bonnie.)

It's already fraught as the shifters came out a short time ago, and Don shot Bernie, Sam's mom, when she changed in front of him, and now Deidra's parents have put off the wedding several times, worried about her marrying an animal!

But, hey, the townspeople have known the Merlottes for years, what could happen?

Other Characters include:
Eric Northman is her boyfriend; Bill Compton is her vampire neighbor still recovering from the silver poisoning. Victor Madden is Eric's boss. Tara is her pregnant friend and not due for three more months. Cousin Claude and Great-Uncle Dermot plan to stay at Claude's house while she's gone. Sam is dating Jannalyn, the enforcer for the Shreveport pack, but Sam had invited Sookie before he started dating Jannalyn. Thank god!

In Wright
Jim Collins is the Merlottes' miserable neighbor. Quinn is a weretiger whom Sookie once dated. He's with Trish Pulaski and Togo Olympio, worried about Sookie. Sister Mendoza and Rafe are sheriff's deputies in Wright and Sam's friends. Pastor Bart Arrowsmith has issues with which he'll need to deal; Nathan Arrowsmith is his son, the one holding the stink bomb. Jared Lisle is Deidra's brother in the service; he'll take a stand with them around the church. Porter Carpenter is one of the unhelpful cops.

More twoeys who show up to help include:
Brenda Sue, a trauma nurse; Luna Garza; and, Tijgerin, a weretigress with whom Quinn mates.

Sarah Newlin from the Fellowship of the Sun church organized the riot; and gets herself arrested after she shoots Jim Collins, her cohort in crime.

The Cover
The cover is, as usual, fun with Sam the collie hanging his head out the window of a red truck which is silhouetted against a sparkly full moon while Sookie drives, glancing back in fear at the bats flying around them.

The title is what it is: The Sookie Stackhouse Companion as it indexes the entire series.

My wife and I are great fans of the Sookie Stackhouse series of books. We have listened to every one of them on audio CD and enjoyed not only the stories but the narrator who is Johanna Parker. We have come to think of her voice as that of Sookie Stackhouse herself and her reading style is just wonderful and entertaining. When we had the opportunity to get a copy of the Sookie Stackhouse Companion on CD we couldn't wait. One of our favorite authors, a new story and read by Joanna Parker, a perfect combination.

Unfortunately the CD was not really outstanding. There is a short story in the book actually written by Charlaine Harris and read by Joanna Parker and we liked it a lot. The balance of the book though is a Cliff Notes review of the Sookie Stackhouse novels in chronological order and read by other narrators in a dry tone that was not that enjoyable. Since both my wife and I had listened to the other novels and I had also read several of them I did not need a summary of all the stories. The CD was mostly a massive review of the past stories and not really well read or enjoyable. Joanna Parker also comes back at the end and does some other reviews of the supernatural side of world and it was interesting.

Unfortunately we expected more new material and more of Joanna Parker being the narrator and the book was just too much repetition of storylines that we already knew. Based on our experience it is just and average book and not really worth our time listening to it. We were looking for something new and fresh and felt that 75% of the book was just rehashed stories.

If you are a real fan and want a review of all of the books that you may have read a long time ago then this might be ideal for you. For us the stories were still too fresh in our minds and not worth the time to review them.

This book includes many things: short stories, a map, information on the books and on the tv series, recipes... As a fan, I think it's a great addition, and I particularly liked "Small town wedding", as I felt gave a great interaction where we could see much more of just the two of them, before the final entry in the book. Personally, it made me see their relationship as a much more balanced one (instead of his just pining for her), and it was a good development.
If you're a fan, get it! I know that some have been complaining that the Kindle edition isn't good because of the map, but the hardcover is great (although I know it's more expensive).

Most of my review score comes from the included novella, Small-Town Wedding. This story finds Sookie accompanying Sam to his hometown for his brother's wedding. This event has been mentioned in both Dead and Gone: A Sookie Stackhouse Novel (Sookie Stackhouse/True Blood) and Dead in the Family (Sookie Stackhouse, Book 10), so it's nice to finally see it happen. The story also closes up a few loose ends that have been dangling from Living Dead in Dallas (Sookie Stackhouse/True Blood), including the return of two characters from that book, plus a couple others.

Overall this is a great story. It doesn't suffer from the unfocused rambling that plagued the two books mentioned above. It really explores Sookie and Sam's relationship, something that often gets pushed to the side. I always want Sam to be more of a major character in the books because I feel he is the best match for Sookie.

I like when Sookie goes traveling in the books, because you get the sense of exploration that you don't get in Bon Temps. Even just exploring a podunk, no-Wal-Mart town like Wright, TX. The consequences of the Weres' coming out also gets explored more than it has been in the full-length books. The added length keeps Small-Town Wedding from feeling half-baked like a lot of the short stories.

As Sookie evolves I like her more. She wants to hurt those who have hurt her, and I think that's an interesting progression for the character. It's fun to watch her grow and change.

The rest of the book is cool too. It's exactly what you'd expect it to be if you've done 2 seconds of research. It has a map of Bon Temps. How can you not like a map? It has recaps of all the books. These are great because there are so many small plot points that are easy to forget. There are also bonus behind-the-scenes conversations between Bill and Eric. The recipes seem bland, but who cares. The interviews are not too in-depth, but oh well. The quizzes are great fun, really plucking out some strange and obscure humorous details in the books. I also like the character index, because with all the bland two-dimensional characters running around Bon Temps and its environs, it's easy to figure out who's who.

Great novella about Sam and Sookie going to his home town for his brother's wedding.

Lots of interesting unknown communication between Eric and Bill is shared for each book.

Bon Temps Recipes, and so much more, as well as a question and answer session by the TV series creator.

I have to be honest this made me miss Sookie's friend and her world.

I enjoyed the novella at the start and this book is a great reference if you've forgotten what happened along the way, or to bring yourself up to speed before reading a new instalment, but it's not a necessity to buy or read this. I'm looking forward to trying out some of the recipes, which were an interesting addition to the book.

Be aware that a great deal of this book is reference only and, bar the novella and a few interviews, there is little new to be gleaned from it.

Note: I also posted this review on Goodreads.

I usually don't read companion's, but since I am a huge Sookie Stackhouse Series fan, I decided to borrow it from my local library. It is a companion with a little twist. I did find myself skipping some of the book, due to the fact that I already knew the information. I did however love reading the short story at the beginning of the book about Sam's brothers wedding, the secret dialogues/e-mails between Eric and Bill (the ones where in the books they step out of the room to take a call), the recipes and finding out the order in which the short stories take place. If you are a true Sookie fan, I would recommend this book, but I would check to see if it is at your local library before buying. You have to remember that it is a companion and keep that in mind when you read it.

Most of my review score comes from the included novella, Small-Town Wedding. This story finds Sookie accompanying Sam to his hometown for his brother's wedding. This event has been mentioned in both Dead and Gone: A Sookie Stackhouse Novel (Sookie Stackhouse/True Blood) and Dead in the Family (Sookie Stackhouse, Book 10), so it's nice to finally see it happen. The story also closes up a few loose ends that have been dangling from Living Dead in Dallas (Sookie Stackhouse/True Blood), including the return of two characters from that book, plus a couple others.

Overall this is a great story. It doesn't suffer from the unfocused rambling that plagued the two books mentioned above. It really explores Sookie and Sam's relationship, something that often gets pushed to the side. I always want Sam to be more of a major character in the books because I feel he is the best match for Sookie.

I like when Sookie goes traveling in the books, because you get the sense of exploration that you don't get in Bon Temps. Even just exploring a podunk, no-Wal-Mart town like Wright, TX. The consequences of the Weres' coming out also gets explored more than it has been in the full-length books. The added length keeps Small-Town Wedding from feeling half-baked like a lot of the short stories.

As Sookie evolves I like her more. She wants to hurt those who have hurt her, and I think that's an interesting progression for the character. It's fun to watch her grow and change.

The rest of the book is cool too. It's exactly what you'd expect it to be if you've done 2 seconds of research. It has a map of Bon Temps. How can you not like a map? It has recaps of all the books. These are great because there are so many small plot points that are easy to forget. There are also bonus behind-the-scenes conversations between Bill and Eric. The recipes seem bland, but who cares. The interviews are not too in-depth, but oh well. The quizzes are great fun, really plucking out some strange and obscure humorous details in the books. I also like the character index, because with all the bland two-dimensional characters running around Bon Temps and its environs, it's easy to figure out who's who.

Great novella about Sam and Sookie going to his home town for his brother's wedding.

Lots of interesting unknown communication between Eric and Bill is shared for each book.

Bon Temps Recipes, and so much more, as well as a question and answer session by the TV series creator.

I have to be honest this made me miss Sookie's friend and her world.

I enjoyed the novella at the start and this book is a great reference if you've forgotten what happened along the way, or to bring yourself up to speed before reading a new instalment, but it's not a necessity to buy or read this. I'm looking forward to trying out some of the recipes, which were an interesting addition to the book.

Be aware that a great deal of this book is reference only and, bar the novella and a few interviews, there is little new to be gleaned from it.

Note: I also posted this review on Goodreads.

I usually don't read companion's, but since I am a huge Sookie Stackhouse Series fan, I decided to borrow it from my local library. It is a companion with a little twist. I did find myself skipping some of the book, due to the fact that I already knew the information. I did however love reading the short story at the beginning of the book about Sam's brothers wedding, the secret dialogues/e-mails between Eric and Bill (the ones where in the books they step out of the room to take a call), the recipes and finding out the order in which the short stories take place. If you are a true Sookie fan, I would recommend this book, but I would check to see if it is at your local library before buying. You have to remember that it is a companion and keep that in mind when you read it.

The included novella, Small-Town Wedding, was one of my favorites in the Sookie-verse but the rest of the book was just so-so. The companion included overviews of each book, recipes, Q & A's with Charlaine Harris and Alan Ball, and a character dictionary. I skimmed most of the content, but I could see it coming in handy while reading one of the novels and needing to look up a name or specific incident. As a cover to cover read, it wasn't that engaging but I don't think that's what it was meant to be.

I couldn't wait to get my copy. I am a huge fan and have read all of the Sookie Stackhouse books but I was very disappointed. The short story about Sookie & Sam going to Sam's brother's wedding was great but after that the rest of the book just recaps all of the Sookie books that I've already read. What really bugged me was that the wording leads you to believe the book contains other Sookie Short stories but it just tells you what other books you can find them in.

I hope Ms. Harris gets the next book in the Sookie series out soon. We're all anxious to know what's going to happen in the ongoing saga of Sookie Stackhouse.

This will come in handy when discussing the series, or trying to remember details from the series. It summarizes each book in order with a timeline, there is a family tree, explanations on the different supes, map, etc. I love the character profiles in alpha order! Very useful. The Q&A was interesting, but not anything I haven't seen answered before!

This ESSENTIAL book of "references" and fan questions answered is so great! Every word I devoured with pleasure! I highly recommend this book to all Sookie fans, all True Blood fans and anyone else who likes well written info on the Southern Vampire Mysteries !!

The short story "Small Town Wedding" is wonderful! Like the early Sookie stories, it has that blend of ironic (and other) humor with supernatural mysteries, which is mixed with down-home folks. I love it when the author writes like this. The rest of the book is truly a reference companion. I read most of it to remind myself about what happened to whom and when. Whatever you do, read the short story at least. You'll be glad.

I am a fan, but not this much of a fan. With the exception of the novella in the beginning (and I'll comment on that later), the rest of the content is something you'd expect to find on a Sookie Stackhouse website - i.e. you'd get it for free.

The novella I found plodding. The idea behind the story was good, but the description of Sam's hometown was too drawn out. Where is the lightness, the humor that you'd find interjected into a Sookie story which made it so delightful? It's as though the "True Blood" series which I'm not a fan of, has brought a darkness into the books.

For future Sookie reading, I'll wait for it to come out in the library rather than shell out the money.

The Sookie short story is only three stars, but the companion portion of the book is outstanding! Excellent recaps of the previous books along with a helpful timeline. And the character bios are fantastic. A great reference for any fan of the series.

I've read every Sookie story b/c I just love her...But this one seemed kind of a rip off to me. It has a brand new story so any TB fan will want to read it but the rest is just fluff. I recommend you pick this one up on pb or used as I made the mistake of buying it new on hb. Don't waste your money. If you can check out in the library, even better. I hope book 12 will be better than the last few Harris has pumped out b/c I'm not enjoying the stories anymore.

I was practically drooling to get my hands on this book because anything about Sookie Stackouse has to be good, right? Wrong. This badly put together "companion" is anything but. The included novella is boring and does not include one vampire. I almost fell asleep reading it. There are "secret communications" between Eric and Bill that are clearly fake and not the least bit in character. A large portion of the book is a timeline that just rehashes what we already know so I skipped it. The guide to the characters was somewhat interesting but overall when I finished reading the book I sat it down and thought "What the heck?" This was a poorly conceived volume that didn't, in my opinion, clarify or add anything to the Sookie Stackhouse novels. Don't waste your time.

I really enjoyed this book so much. From a new short story to recipes that you can try (Caroline Bellefleur's Chocolate Cake!), I think that this book is a fun addition to the Sookie series and makes you feel a little closer to Bon Temps...

I LOVE Charlaine Harris & I am a HUGE Sookie Stackhouse series fan, but this was a BIG DISAPPOINTMENT (especially for the cost, just to get to read the short story novella: Small Town Wedding)! Small Town Wedding in of itself was good, but it dragged a bit, as if desperately floundering to find enough words for filler to stretch out the story. The rest of the book (interviews with various people, recipes, etc.) was not necessary & b-O-ring. I felt a sincere sense of let down [as if to say, "Is that all?"] ...

I also want to get up on my soapbox now: I am finding a displeasing trend (not just with this author) of short stories being published in multi-author books ~ stories that have essental, need to know info in them, which hard-core readers really, really to have to understand the overall plot of the series {the who's & what's & why's for reasons certain things happen in later books, or rationale for specific relationship developments between characters}.

It's not fair that a die-hard reader should have to shell out the cost for a full price book (for numerous books) to get to read each short story as it is published, just to know the full details of the overall storyline as a whole. Each book usually contains only the one author that I am interested in reading, and if I can't afford to keep buying them, then I am out of luck (still worse ~ if you don't even know of another short stories existance, then you miss out big time ... hence: If I Had a Hammer).

I think that if short stories are going to be published (please don't misunderstand me ~ I think they are great & there is nothing wrong with this concept) then PLEASE, please do your hard-core fans a favor & put them all together in one compendum, as you did once before (cash is tight lately!).

My first time reading this book and it had some good information and explanations. Wish I knew about the guide in which order to read the books and short stories before I started reading the series the second time.

When I saw the price of this Kindle book on the store, I decided it would be better to borrow it than to buy. If I liked it, then I would buy it to add to my collection of Sookie books. I am SO glad, that I didn't waste the money. The only thing worth reading in the book was the short story about the wedding. Everything else should have been free (if you just want to kill some time and some brain cells).

I didn't read everything in this book, I didn't feel I needed to. While I enjoyed the novella & the conversations between Eric & Bill, I didn't feel anything else was really of interest. I didn't need the synopsis of the stories, I have all the books, I don't need to hear about things from a fans point of view, & there have been plenty of interviews with Alan Ball. I would have been just as happy if I had waited for the paperback & saved money.

I am also a little confused about the timing of this book. CH has said that there will only be 2 more Sookie Stackhouse books, so why publish this now? Why wouldn't they wait until all the books are done so that they could include them all in the companion? Unless they plan on reissuing this with the other stories added in the hope that we'll buy the same book again. All in all, this was kind of disappointing.

I was pretty disappointed with this book. While I enjoyed the short story (Small Town Wedding) and the interview with Alan Ball, 3/4 of the book was just a synopsis of all the other books, with some dates thrown in. From some of the other reviews I've read, some people liked that, I personally did not. I feel like I've already spent over $100 on all the books so far, I don't need to spend another $17 for someone to condense the stories for me.

If you're a big fan of the books I definitely recommend it (there's a short story in it), but some of the things in the book I found to be boring, i. e. the section written by the head of the fan club.

I love Sookie Stackhouse! So glad to find out more info on other books not available on Kindle. Will have to make a list and start buying them.
I put all the seasons of "true blood" on my wish list, hope I will get them for Christmas

I absolutely love the series but this book was horrible. I like the little mini story with Sookie going to her boss's brother's wedding but I skimmed through the rest and did not even finish the book. It was a waste of my money.

I feel sorry for anyone who wasted money on this junk. Obviously a ploy to make more money, there certainly is almost no value here. Got this at the library, thank goodness. One very short novella is the entire value. All the rest is useless nonsense. If she gave this away free with one of the books, it would be worth it. Otherwise, don't bother.

What complete and utter crap this "book" is. How great to see that Harris has continued her "let's release as much garbage as possible, as quickly as possible" campaign that she's been on since Book 10. I've lost all hope for a decent ending to what started out as a wonderful series. I'm just really too disgusted to comment any further at the moment.