Jayson’s Reviews > The Complete Sookie Stackhouse Stories > Status Update
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)
— Jul 19, 2026 06:50PM
(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)
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Jayson’s Previous Updates
Jayson
is on page 163 of 368
Notes:
(1) This came after A Touch of Dead, meaning I've not read it before.
- Which is a weird feeling, you know, considering (between prose and audiobooks) I'm on my second round with the novels and my third with the short stories hitherto—this book makes three.
(2) In the intro, Harris says this is her "favorite Sookie story, hands down."
- I wonder if that also includes the novels?
(Continued in comments)
— Jul 22, 2026 06:25PM
(1) This came after A Touch of Dead, meaning I've not read it before.
- Which is a weird feeling, you know, considering (between prose and audiobooks) I'm on my second round with the novels and my third with the short stories hitherto—this book makes three.
(2) In the intro, Harris says this is her "favorite Sookie story, hands down."
- I wonder if that also includes the novels?
(Continued in comments)
Jayson
is on page 127 of 368
Notes:
(1) The one thing that stuck with me about this story, from the first time I read it, is that it's morally questionable. Lo and behold, Charlaine Harris uses the exact words "morally questionable" in her story introduction.
- At least she's self-aware about how it's not exactly kosher.
- She also uses the words "pretty creepy"... though to me it's more about people being pretty creeps.
(Continued in comments)
— Jul 20, 2026 12:55PM
(1) The one thing that stuck with me about this story, from the first time I read it, is that it's morally questionable. Lo and behold, Charlaine Harris uses the exact words "morally questionable" in her story introduction.
- At least she's self-aware about how it's not exactly kosher.
- She also uses the words "pretty creepy"... though to me it's more about people being pretty creeps.
(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 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)
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!
- At least Sookie is understanding/realistic about the natural effect her boobs have on men... or else she's too jaded to take offense.
(2) Greg: "My son's about to go to Rhodes in Memphis, and it ain't cheap."
- I assumed, at first, that this was the same as the fictional Illinois city from All Together Dead and was confused about it being in Memphis. But, apparently, there's a Rhodes College there that's entirely non-fictional.
- What makes the confusion worse is that Harris states in her story introduction that "this should be read right after All Together Dead."
(3) "I had to endure a full-body scan from Little Greg, but that was par for the course, too. Guys can't help it."
- Underscoring my previous point, Sookie seems very it is what it is when it comes to ogling.
(4) "[Bill's] hands were clenched. 'Listen, boy, what's your name?'
'Dustin.' He'd even given Lindsay his real name."
- I mean, what vampire hasn't given out their real name? Certainly none of the main ones. Can't really blame Dustin.
- Bubba doesn't use his real name, but he's an outlier—his real name's a pain trigger.
- Perhaps Sookie is thinking purely in terms of standard criminal practice? But then, do vampires consider it criminal? They suck the unwilling and/or oblivious all the time. Possibly it's a thing vampires do with minors in case they tell their parents?
(5) "'Sookie, did you come to pick out a puppy?' Terry called ...
'I came to look,' I said. 'I brought my friend Amelia. She loves dogs.'
Amelia was thinking she'd like to slap me upside the head because she was definitely a cat person."
- Yes, just ask Bob how much of a cat person Amelia is... and Bob's literally a cat person.
(6) Sookie solves this case by maneuvering people into situations where the right thoughts bubble up for her to read.
- While not exactly Sherlock Holmes, it makes sense given her character.
- It's also a practical and fruitful investigative method, should she ever go pro with her sleuthing—almost like forcing people into mental checkmate.
- Certainly preferable over solving mysteries via funny feeling.
(7) In sum, this is the most detective story we've gotten out of this supposed mystery series—a very cozy, relatively PG, small town mystery.
- Previously, in "Fairy Dust," she was just brought in as a human lie detector. Here, she actually does some shoe-leather investigating.