Living Dead in Dallas

In Living Dead in Dallas, the second novel in the Sookie Stackhouse/Southern Vampire Mysteries series by Charlaine Harris, the heroine (as in female hero, not the drug--that's heroin) Sookie Stackhouse is still struggling to be normal and not get super-involved in vampire affairs, but her "disability" (she's telepathic) makes her desireable to powerful vampires and she has promised to help the leader of her region, Eric Northman, as long as the humans involved are sent to the police instead of killed. Eric has "loaned" Sookie to a leader in Dallas, Texas, where a vampire has gone missing and an anti-vampire group that operates under the guise of a religious organization, Fellowship of the Sun, is suspected of the kidnapping. Sookie, along with her vampire boyfriend Bill Compton, go to Dallas to uncover the mystery. Was it the Fellowship of the Sun, another vampire looking for some kind of revenge, Drainers, or some other group or person? You have to read to find out.
This book is like the book version of comfort food. Sookie can be a bit naive and sometimes takes the "I am an independent woman" thing too far, but it's a fun, light read full of action, romance, and a bit of humor. Definitely a good book

Son of a Witch: Volume Two in the Wicked Years

Son of a Witch: Volume Two in the Wicked Years by Gregory Maguire is the second book in the Wicked Years series. The novel follows Liir, the son of Elphaba (this is subtly mentioned a few times in Wicked, but Liir is unaware of his parentage). For much of the book Liir is actually in a coma and we see his journey through his memories: his search for Nor, his life as a soldier, and much else. Glinda makes a few appearances and so does Shell, Elphaba's younger brother. This book is not as good as Wicked, but it is good. This book has love, political corruption, betrayal, and more. Liir meets many interesting and sometimes dangerous people during the approximately ten years this book covers. If you loved Wicked, you must read Son of a Witch.

Dead Until Dark

Dead Until Dark, the first book Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse series, is a vampire romance book; however do not go into this book thinking it will be like Twilight. There are similarities, but not many. A vampire and a human fall in love, there's some mind-reading (but from the human, not the vampire) and she can't hear her lover's thoughts (she can't hear ANY vampires' thoughts). That's as far as the similarities go, though; not everyone in Twilight's audience should read these books. There is no abstinence message to speak of and there's language some readers might find offensive. Sookie can be a little annoying at times because she is 50% bratty teenager and 50% old-fashioned grandma, so her views of things can seem a tad bizarre.
Here's a little bit of what Dead Until Dark is about: Sookie Stackhouse is a barmaid at Merlotte's in Bon Temps, LA. She's single because of a problematic "disability" she's had since she was young: she can read minds. Ever since they "came out of the coffin", she has wanted to meet a vampire. Enter Bill Compton, vampire. She knows there's something different about Bill from the moment he walks in; for one thing, she can't read his mind. They fall in love after she saves him from nearly being killed permanently. But then a co-worker is killed and several other women after that; could it be Bill? You'll have to read to find out.
These books are more realistic than Twilight in my opinion, but I wouldn't call them better. They're just different--okay, maybe they're a little better. If you don't mind tastefully-written sex (it's not very descriptive of the act itself, mostly how she feels during it) and a little foul language and you like vampire books, you should read these.

Wide Awake

I usually only review actual books, but this fanfiction SHOULD be a book, so it has earned a review. It's called Wide Awake by AngstGoddess003 (link to her LiveJournal page). The chapters to Wide Awake are on the sidebar on her main page--just click "1. Gingerbread Zombies" for the first chapter (the title of this post is also a link to the first chapter). It is an AMAZING story. It's for mature audiences only due to some lemons and limes (fanfiction terms meaning sexually explicit and near-sexual content) and dark themes. The lemons and limes are done in a tasteful manner, it's not SWP (smut--another fanfiction term meaning the same thing as lemons--without plot); even the smuttake (another fanfiction term for smut outtake) is done in a non-vulgar manner. It's a Twilight fanfiction. It's my opinon that AngstGoddes003 should change the names in this story (but keep Edward's first name the same--I like to call him Darkward) and get it published. As I said, this story is very dark. It's categorized OOC (out of character--the personalities aren't the same as they are in Twilight), but I think this is incorrect--I believe the characters in Twilight would act this way if they were in the same situation. It's a AU-All Human (an alternate universe and all the characters are human, even the ones that are vampires in Twilight) fanfiction. I suggest you read this when you have spare time because you will not want to quit once you've begun.