Sookie Stackhouse Books in Order: How to read the True Blood series in order?

Also known as The Southern Vampire Mysteries or The True Blood Novels, The Sookie Stackhouse Novels is a horror fantasy romance series for adults written by Charlaine Harris. It’s about Sookie Stackhouse, a waitress who is also a telepath. She lives in the town of Bon Temps in northwestern Louisiana.

Vampires and other supernatural creatures are a reality in Sookie’s world. In fact, since the invention of synthetic blood (called Tru Blood), vampires have come out and now live peacefully with humans. One day, Sookie finally meets a vampire, a Civil War veteran named Bill Compton. That’s the beginning of their complicated relationship.

How to read the Sookie Stackhouse Series in Order?

The books in The Southern Vampire Mystery series follow Sookie as she navigates the dangerous and often unpredictable world of the supernatural. It is recommended to read them in order, but you can skip the novellas if you do not wish to read them.

1. Dead until Dark – Sookie Stackhouse is just a small-time cocktail waitress who can read minds. But she can’t hear a word that Bill Compton is thinking when he walks into her life – and then one of her coworkers is killed… Maybe having a vampire for a boyfriend isn’t such a bright idea.
2. Living Dead in Dallas – Even though Sookie has her own vampire to look out for her, when one of the local Undead asks the cocktail waitress for a favor, she feels like she owes them. Soon, Sookie’s in Dallas using her telepathic skills to search for a missing vampire.
3. Club Dead – Recently Bill Compton has been a little distant. His sinister boss Eric Northman tells Sookie where she might find him. Next thing she knows, she’s off to Jackson, Mississippi, to mingle with the under-underworld at Club Dead.

4. Dead to the World – Sookie finds a naked Eric Northman on the side of the road, and whoever took his memory now wants his life. Sookie’s investigation into why leads straight into a dangerous battle among witches, vampires, and werewolves.
5. Fairy Dust – A novella found in The Complete Sookie Stackhouse Stories. When Claudine comes into the bar with a request for help, Sookie agrees to provide it. They try to find out who murdered Claudine’s triplet, Claudette.
6. Dracula Night – Also found in The Complete Sookie Stackhouse Stories. Eric invites Sookie to celebrate Dracula Night at his nightclub, Fangtasia.
7. Dead as a Doornail – When Sookie sees her brother Jason’s eyes start to change, she knows he’s about to turn into a were-panther for the first time. But her concern becomes cold fear when a sniper sets his deadly sights on the local changeling population, and Jason’s new panther brethren suspect he may be the shooter. Now, Sookie has until the next full moon to find out who’s behind the attacks.
8. One Word Answer – Also found in The Complete Sookie Stackhouse Stories. Whilst Sookie is doing some evening yard work with Bubba the Vampire, visitors arrive in a fancy black limo. The passenger brings news of the death of Sookie’s cousin Hadley, and a legacy coming her way. But Sookie is interested in how her cousin met her end.
9. Definitely Dead – Since Sookie has so few living relatives, she hates to lose one – even her cousin Hadley, undead consort of the vampire queen of New Orleans. Hadley’s left everything she had to Sookie, but claiming that inheritance has a high risk factor. Some people don’t want her looking too deeply into Hadley’s past or Hadley’s possessions. And they’re prepared to do anything in their power to stop her.

10. All Together Dead – Sookie has her hands full with shapeshifter Quinn and the upcoming central U.S. Vampire Summit on the shores of Lake Michigan. Sookie’s job at the summit is to support Vampire Queen Sophie-Anne, whose power base was weakened by hurricane damage to New Orleans. But Sookie is about to discover just how dangerous that job can be, as she is drawn further and further into the vampire world.
11. Lucky – Also found in The Complete Sookie Stackhouse Stories. Sookie and her current house guest, Amelia Broadway, get a visit from Insurance agent, Greg Aubert. He’s worried that someone has been going through his files.
12. From Dead to Worse – After Hurricane Katrina and the vampire summit, Sookie Stackhouse is safe but dazed, yearning for things to get back to normal. But her boyfriend Quinn is missing. And things are changing, whether the Weres and vamps in her corner of Louisiana like it or not.
13. Gift Wrap – Also found in The Complete Sookie Stackhouse Stories. Alone on Christmas Eve, Sookie takes a walk in the woods behind her house, checking if there is any sign of what caused the noise that briefly woke her in the night. A naked and injured man is not what she expected to find, but unable to ignore someone in need, Sookie takes him back to her house.
14. Dead and Gone – The Weres and shifters have finally revealed their existence to the ordinary world, and the backlash may have claimed the life of someone Sookie knew. But her determination to find out who is responsible for the murder is put aside in the face of a far greater danger. A race of unhuman beings is preparing for war.

15. Two Blondes – Can be found in The Complete Sookie Stackhouse Stories. Sookie and her vampire friend Pam take a weekend getaway to Mississippi. When they end up in a shady gentleman’s club, to escape in one piece they need to do something that wasn’t on their itinerary.
16. Dead in the Family – After enduring torture and the loss of loved ones during the brief but deadly Fae War, Sookie is hurt and she’s mad. Just about the only bright spot in her life is the love she thinks she feels for vampire Eric Northman. But he’s under scrutiny by the new vampire king because of their relationship. And as the political implications of the shifters’ coming out are beginning to be felt, Sookie’s connection to one particular Were draws her into the dangerous debate.
17. Small Town Wedding – Can be found in The Complete Sookie Stackhouse Stories. Sookie and Sam head to Wright, Texas for the wedding of Sam’s brother, Craig. But feelings in the town about the Were/Shifter reveal are mixed, and it seems not everyone is willing to let this wedding proceed unhindered.
18. Dead Reckoning – Sookie witnesses the firebombing of Merlotte’s, the bar where she works. Since Sam Merlotte is now known to be two natured, suspicion falls immediately on the anti-shifters in the area. Sookie suspects otherwise, but her attention is divided when she realizes that her lover, Eric Northman, and Pam are plotting to kill the vampire who is now their master.
19. Deadlocked – Felipe de Castro, the vampire King of Louisiana, is in town. It’s the worst possible time for a human body to show up in Eric Northman’s front yard. Now it’s up to Sookie and Bill Compton, the official Area Five investigator, to solve the murder.

20. Dead Ever After – When a shocking murder rocks the small town of Bon Temps, Louisiana, Sookie learns that she has more than one enemy waiting to get vengeance for the past.
21. If I Had a Hammer – Can be found in The Complete Sookie Stackhouse Stories. Sookie, Sam, and Quiana are helping out Tara and JB du Rone to convert the large sunroom into a room for the twins. They soon find a bloody hammer between the walls. And now, there is a ghost in the house.
22. Playing Possum – Can be found in The Complete Sookie Stackhouse Stories. Sookie brings enough birthday cupcakes for her nephew’s entire class but finds she’s one short when the angry ex-boyfriend of the school secretary shows up.
23. In the Blue Hereafter – Can be found in The Complete Sookie Stackhouse Stories. Manfred Bernardo, following his psychic intuition, attends a minor-league baseball game in Bon Temps, LA, and meets Sookie, a local barmaid who just happens to be a very strong telepath. The two join forces to stop something bad from happening.
24. After Dead: What Came Next in the World of Sookie Stackhouse – With characters arranged alphabetically – from the Ancient Pythoness to Bethany Zanelli – Charlaine Harris takes readers into the future of the residents of Bon Temps and environs.

If you like our article about reading the Sookie Stackhouse reading order, don’t forget to bookmark it! You may also like to read Patricia Briggs’ series.