I get around a lot.

But shockingly, there’s a lot out there I haven’t done.

First, I have never listened to an audiobook. Secondly, I have not yet read Charlaine Harris’ Sookie Stackhouse series. I know, I know!! Bear with me here.

Last month, I did something amazing. Something unbelievable. Something naughty. I signed up for Audible.com. The first thing I downloaded was Charlaine Harris’ Dead Until Dark. I got sucked in (haha, get it?). Now I got it bad, for both audiobooks and Ms. Harris alike.

But aren’t audiobooks just for listening while driving? Au contraire, dear readers! I thought that too, not so long ago. Dead Until Dark, a delightful 8 hours, kept me entertained while I:

• walked/played with the dog
• worked in the garden
• prepped and cooked dinner
• tried to fall asleep
• folded laundry
• prepared boring spreadsheets at work
• drove

Now, normally, I would never be able to read while doing some of these things. Many a time have I wished I could walk the pup while reading a book (though I have a feeling it would end in disaster). Of course, for safety, I walk with only one earbud in so I can still hear what is going on around me.

This has been a breakthrough. Of course, I knew audiobooks existed, but for some reason (mostly $$) I never really got into them. I am furious at myself now for not experimenting earlier! When I was in college, it was a 3 hour drive to get home to see my parents. The time wasted trying to figure out new radio stations when I could have been immersed in a book! While driving! Ugh. Well now I know better. Now, with a long distance wedding coming up next month, a lot of driving, and a dog that needs exercised, I couldn’t be happier about this choice.

Now. On to to Sookie. Did I mention I really enjoyed Dead Until Dark?

Charlaine Harris is both hilarious and deadly, in the same instant. Dead Until Dark tells the story of Sookie Stackhouse, a cocktail waitress in a small town in Louisiana. She has a certain “disability” (reading thoughts) that makes relationships very difficult. While Sookie’s world is similar to ours, hers includes vampires, who “came out of the coffin” several years prior. When vampire Bill Compton first sets foot in the bar where Sookie works, she only hears silence, as opposed to the yammering thoughts she has to continually block out. To her, this magical silence is a godsend, and she continues to see Bill, until women begin turning up dead. Women who have had previous relationships with vampires. In such a small town, Bill’s arrival and the coincidental timing with the murders sets tongues wagging, and it’s up to Sookie to figure what is going on, before she becomes one of the murderer’s next victims.

The book is at times terrifying and funny, and I found myself loving Charlaine’s writing. She goes from extreme to extreme with barely a thought, and reader has no choice but to haplessly follow along. There are laugh out loud scenes, steamy sex scenes, and utterly frightening scenes. She writes all with ease and then links them together for a thoroughly satisfying read.

What made this first time experience even better was the narrator. Listening to a book adds a fun new element–voice. The narrator was just as I would imagine Sookie–a honeyed southern accent that voiced all the other characters with ease.

If you loved library time in grade school, check out audiobooks. You won’t regret it.

Side Note: In this sense, the books are a little formulaic, but that’s what makes them so ‘comfortable’ to me– Someone comes to Harry for help. Big baddies come after Harry while he investigates. Help is going to take a lot more than Harry anticipated. Harry outsmarts/outlucks/outmaneuvers baddies. Harry saves the day.

Oh boy. I couldn’t have been more wrong *looks contrite*. Changes begins in the usual Dresden manner–fast, gritty, and in your face. You are left sputtering “Harry has a daughter????? With Susan???” (not a spoiler, it’s on the back cover!) and the book just keeps getting better from there.

The beginning of the aforementioned formula begins to weave itself together, and I can almost see Jim’s face while he says “Ha! Take that!!” while pulling out the rug from under the reader’s feet. Just when you begin to fall under plot’s hypnotic spell, everything Changes. The book title is significant in that Harry’s relationships with many supporting characters also undergo some form of Change. He learns that Mouse, while often a great help in a tight spot, has even more to offer. He finds out about his mother’s relationships and how they affect him and those in his care. He discovers Susan’s reasons for keeping such a life altering secret, and the list goes on.

Finally, there is a HELL of a cliffhanger ending that kept me reading right into the author’s note. I realized that Jim’s living arrangements and vicious guard dog have nothing to do with Harry’s story, and had to go back a few pages and reread. I simply kept on reading because I assumed there would be more!

I’ll end with that, as MORE is what I am left wanting. Maybe that will be the next title (Eh? Think about it, Jim!).

The first four chapters can be found on Jim Butcher’s site.

Long ago, Susan Rodriguez was Harry Dresden’s lover-until she was attacked by his enemies, leaving her torn between her own humanity and the bloodlust of the vampiric Red Court. Susan then disappeared to South America, where she could fight both her savage gift and those who cursed her with it.

Now Arianna Ortega, Duchess of the Red Court, has discovered a secret Susan has long kept, and she plans to use it-against Harry. To prevail this time, he may have no choice but to embrace the raging fury of his own untapped dark power. Because Harry’s not fighting to save the world…

He’s fighting to save his child.

You can check out the first few chapters on Jim Butcher’s site here!

In the tiny village of Rockabill, Maine, Jane True—26-year-old bookstore clerk and secret night swimmer—has no idea that her absent mother’s legacy is entry into a world populated by the origins of human myths and legends.  It is a world where nothing can be taken for granted: vampires are not quite what we think; dogs sometimes surprise us; and whatever you do, never—ever—rub the genie’s lamp.   For Jane, everything kicks off when she comes across a murder victim during her nightly clandestine swim in the freezing winter ocean.  This grisly discovery leads to the revelation of why she has such freakish abilities in the water: her mother was a Selkie and Jane is only half human. With this knowledge, Jane soon finds herself mingling with supernatural creatures alternately terrifying, beautiful, and deadly—all adjectives that quite handily describe her new friend Ryu.  When Ryu is sent to Rockabill to investigate the murder, he and Jane fall hard for each other even as they plummet into a world of intrigue threatening to engulf both supernatural and human societies.  For someone is killing half-humans like Jane.   The question is, are the murders the work of one rogue individual or part of a greater plot to purge the world of Halflings?

Jane True is a character that the reader begins to empathize with almost immediately. She is fun, sarcastic, and just a little unsure enough to make her downright lovable. Jane spends her days caring for her father and going through the same motions day in and day out, all the while never directly asking questions about her mother. In fact, the first few pages gave me sudden Twilight flashbacks (Bella cooking for her dad) but the comparison ends there (thank god).

Given that Rockabill, Maine, is such a small town, everyone remembers Jane’s mother, who showed up in the middle of town one day completely naked. Her father offered her a jacket, and the rest is history. Except her mother disappeared a year later, leaving her young daughter to fend for herself in a town that was more that happy to see their fears about ‘that woman’ confirmed.

Now, at 26, Jane is having a hard time moving on and starting her own life, since it’s hard to meet a good man that doesn’t already know your life history in Rockabill. However, after she finds a dead body, a new world is uncovered: Jane is part Selkie, thanks to her mother. She meets the very handsome Ryu, a vampire who is investigating the murder on behalf of the Court. Through Ryu, Jane is introduced to a whole new world and the beings that inhabit it.

I knew my swimming was the key to something, but it was that annoying, anonymous key that hung on every inherited key ring. The key that didn’t fit any door in the house, or any drawer in the office, or any suitcase in the attic. Swimming was my mystery key that constantly nagged me with its presence. But, no matter how many locks I tried, it never revealed anything about what it concealed.

“Selkies and other two-formeds can shift into the one alternative shape, but they have more power. Like you do when you swim, they can manipulate the elements”…Ryu’s casually telling me that I used some kind of magic when I swam was completely crazy at the same that it struck me as completely logical. It answered so many of my questions. Why I didn’t drown, or freeze. Why I was so strong in the water.

The thing that really made this book fun was the “new” supernatural take, not to mention the the quirky supporting characters. Selkies, kelpies, and gnomes abound– not the usual urban fantasy fare. Jane’s coworkers at the bookstore include a very much in love lesbian couple, one of whom (a former porn star named Dusty Nethers) gifts Jane with all sorts of naughty gifts. Jane herself is hilarious, talking to herself and swearing like a sailor.

My only nitpick is that Jane’s guilt over her ex boyfriend’s death is truly crippling and even the town won’t let her move on–dates are called off when men are told about “her history” and she is hounded and bullied–so much that a visit to a local bar prompts a scene where she is even called a ‘stupid cunt’. There’s a lot of buildup until Jane finally tells Ryu (and thus the reader) about Jason’s death, but I still didn’t understand the need for such hostility from the locals. I get that Jane is an outsider, and maybe that was to drive it home, but the personal persecution squad was a little overdone.

You may remember hearing about Tempest Rising from the cover controversy it generated on the web. I think the cover is a totally new and fresh, a perfect complement to the content. Well worth picking up, regardless of how you feel about the cover.

Read what I tell you: check out the first chapter here. Perfect for the urban fantasy fan who’s sick of hearing about sparkles.

Alexia is quite used to being ignored on the fringes of the ballroom, and often escapes to the library in avoidance of such social prejudices. However, things go from bad to worse when her sanctuary is disturbed by a vampire who attempts to bite her (without an introduction!!). In a combination of self defense and anger at her attacker’s advances, she smartly taps him with her trusty parasol, thus killing her attacker. When the arrogant Lord Maccon (who is also a werewolf) appears at the scene to investigate on behalf of the queen, Alexia isn’t sure which is worse: his bark or his bite. So she fakes a faint (but not before comfortably inserting a pillow between her and the floor). From then on, the relationship between Alexia and the insufferable Lord Maccon begins to get stickier than treacle tart. Further, werewolf loners and vampire roves all over London have been disappearing at a most alarming rate. To make Lord Maccon’s job even more difficult, Alexia begins to investigate on her own. Who is behind the disappearances? And where did Alexia last leave her trusty parasol?

Soulless is an absolutely delightful debut that combines “urbane” fantasy, romance, and a hint of steampunk. The world building is well done, and I expect it will be fleshed out even more in future books. Victorian era London houses vampires, ghosts, and werewolves, along with its high society. The characters were enjoyable–from a flamboyantly gay vampire who speaks in italics to Alexia’s stoic butler (inherited from her dead father) who quickly and efficiently ushers the “Young Miss” out the servant’s door during her escapades.

Soulless is a laugh out loud ride for the thrill seekers among us–full of  twists, turns, and werewolf fur. Just don’t spill your tea.

Gail Carriger’s Soulless will be released in the US September 29, 2009, though many copies were given out at this year’s BEA. Two more books are slated to be part of the Parasol Protectorate series, with Changeless (Book #2) coming out in April of 2010.