I read these books because I love the HBO show True Blood to death. I expected that the show was only loosely based on the books, and it's true. This first book is the closest to the show in content, but it's still comparing apples to oranges. The show is much darker, and the books are very funny. They're quick, fun reads, and I love them just as much as the show.

I respect what Beecher was doing by writing this novel. It's remarkably admirable in its attempt to sway the pity of slave owners' wives, but let's not forget that her goal was not equality for blacks, but to have them sent back to Africa. Her black characters are stock stereotypes, and the only ones who don't border on the offensive have so little African blood that they can be mistaken for whites. I can't stand "sympathetic novels" and this one is no exception. Stowe was a pamphleteer, not a novelist. I would much rather read slave narratives in retrospect.

What's most impressive about Stephen Hawking is that he can make you laugh while telling you about thermodynamic arrows of time and superstrings. This book is AMAZING.

AMAZING. I've made so many cupcakes from this book, and they're all ludicrously delicious. Chai Tea Latte cupcakes and Carrot cupcakes are the biggest winners yet.

An excellent historical take on what the real Lady Macbeth would have been like. Using what very little information there is available on her, a believable and interesting literary character is formed in these pages. Recommended!

Capote's prose is languid but precise. He takes uncomfortable subject matter and reveals fascinating insights into the minds of cold-blooded killers.

I love Kirino's ability to change from voice to voice and create a group of believable female characters interacting yet at odds with one another. It's tragic and disturbing and absolutely fascinating.