True Blood, Alan Ball’s critically acclaimed television adaptation of Charlaine Harris’ bestselling Southern Vampire mysteries, is HBO’s most-watched show since The Sopranos, averaging over 12 million viewers an episode in its second season. Thanks to its large, dedicated fanbase, it won the People’s Choice “Favorite TV Obsession” award in early 2010.

A Taste of True Blood: The Fangbanger’s Guide gives those fans something to savor between episodes—and whets their appetite for more. Covering the show’s first two seasons and released just in time for the third (with real-time online updates from the book’s contributors throughout season three), the book includes pieces on:

• Vampire Bill’s season 2 slide from hot to not
• Sookie’s mind-reading talents as a critique of our oversharing Facebook culture
• What a Louisiana setting adds to the traditional vampire myth
• Why the television series had to differ from the books (co-written by the Southern Vampire mysteries’ editor Ginjer Buchanan)
• And much more, from shapeshifters to maenads to Merlotte’s

A Taste of True Blood also includes a quick reference guide to the show’s first two seasons.

Contributors: Peg Aloi, Bruce and Karen Bethke, Philippa Ballantine, Jacob Clifton, Daniel Kimmel, Alisa Kwitney, Maria Lima, Peter B. Lloyd, Nick Mamatas, Joseph McCabe, Vera Nazarian, Paula Rogers, Bev Katz Rosenbaum, Jonna Rubin, Kirsty Walker