How close to the Sookie Stackhouse books is True Blood?

I know there
are a lot of IP's out there that start in different media(Game of Thrones, The Walking
Dead, etc) when they switch to TV that they try to follow the source material, in this
case the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlene Harris, faithfully but eventually take a
turn away. My question is how far into the series do you need to watch before the switch
actually occurs?

itemprop="text">

class="normal">Answer

One of the biggest (I
consider) is right at the end of Season 1. Lafayette is still
alive. He dies in the first book towards the end and is actually the body
they find in Andy's car at the end of the season (Which isn't revealed until the second
book).

Also, there is the lack of the addition of the
Brain Damaged Vampire Bubba who is actually Elvis in
Vampire form who was damaged due to an overzealous vampire fan of his, working as a
morgue attendant.

---

While the series
itself keeps a bit of the overall plot elements of the book it is on (currently, we are
on book 5), they have detracted a lot from the book at this
point.

For example, Maryann, the other antagonist for the
second season, was played up much more than she was in the book,
where the whole plot revolved around the disappearance of Godric. Upon returning to Bon
Temps, they find the sex party has gotten out of control (headed by Castillo, renamed to
Maryann) and Bill and Eric have to clean up her mess and she leaves. There is only a
hint of her relationship with Sam and he is
not the main focus of her deeds in the town. This is also the same
events that kill Lafayette, as I mention earlier.

/>

The list goes on but I think I have made my
point.