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

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.

The Host

The Host, written by Stephenie Meyer, is a science fiction-romance novel. The narrator is an alien named Wanderer. These aliens call themselves "souls" and cannot survive for more than a few minutes without a host body. Once they have been inserted into the brain of their host, they stifle the pre-existing conciousness and claim the memories as their own; they use these memories to locate humans who have yet to have a soul inserted into them. They have colonized much of Earth, save for small bands of "wild" humans that are now in hiding, and Wanderer has been inserted into a girl named Melanie Stryder who refuses to relinquish her mind and fade away. Melanie bombardes Wanderer with memories of Jared Howe (while keeping some memories blocked from her), the man she loves who is still in hiding. This causes Wanderer to fall in love with him as well. She cannot use the memories she has limited control of to help the other souls find him and Melanie's brother Jamie. Circumstances arise that force Wanderer and Melanie to become allies, and together they try to find a shelter Melanie's uncle once told her he had.
This is a very good book. The souls have a tendency towards altruism in many ways: they won't raise their hand (well, their host's hand) to harm another (which is one reason the "Seekers" who search for and capture the humans are looked down upon for the violence their job intales) or even let another being be harmed by inaction, even to save their own life. They won't try to take over a planet unless they feel the current inhabitants are doing a poor job of taking care of themselves and the planet. This selfless attitude makes Wanderer's narrative a bit on the annoyingly self-effacing and self-sacrificing side sometimes. But it's very well-written and the characters seem to be developed very well.
This novel brings up some interesting questions: is there anything else out there; if there is, how would they perceive us and the way we treat our world? But it doesn't just bring up classic sci-fi questions, it also conjures questions about love: when you someone, what is it you love? Would you love them in a different body, would they love you if you were in a different body? Can you love someone, even if their not technically your species?
The writing in this book is much better than Twilight; of course the narrator is an alien whose lived on eight planets and live what would be human equivalent of thousands of years, so she's going to have a more mature narrative. I would recommend this book to almost anyone.

Twilight

Not the movie, the book. I've scoured the 'Net for opinions on this book and found many and varied opinions, ranging from utter disgust to irrevocably in love.
Twilight is about a 17-year-old girl named Isabella "Bella" Swan who moves to rainy Forks, WA, to live with her father so that her mother can move around with her new husband. She meets alot of new people, but one sticks out in her mind: Edward Cullen. He's absolutely gorgeous, like no one else she's ever seen. He seems to to have a strange aversion to her. And then she finds out why: Edward Cullen is a vampire and her the scent of her blood is like a drug to him. Despite his insistence he is dangerous to her and she should stay away from him, they fall in love. *Cue the evil villians bent on tearing their love apart.* Well, really only 2 out of 3 of the villians want to tear their love apart. The cat-and-mouse game begins and our herione narrowly escapes with her life.
This book is great. There are few problems in it, one being the conflict is not present until near the end of the book. It's like, "Oops, there's no conflict. Let me write these bloodthirsty vampires into the mix." And since the book is written from the point of view of a seventeen-year-old girl and not a wise, old English professor, it's not brilliantly-written, filled with words that require a dictionary to pronounce and comprehend and plot points that boggle the mind. But it's incredibly descriptive and you can't help but fall in love with the characters. I would definitely read this book again if I was in posession of my copy.