Twilight
Ok, so where do I start? It was a fun read. But it was just that. A fun read. It was not better than Harry Potter as I had heard, but really, Vampire romance in Washington state and pubescent wizardry in a fantasy Londonesque world just can’t parallel. So what is this Twilight thing? It’s the first book in Stephanie Meyer’s series, and the main character – Isabella “Bella” Swan – chooses to move back to her dad’s dreary, always raining Washington State hometown of Forks after her mother remairies a semi-pro ball player in Arizona. All of the typical small town plot lines are developed (small high school, everyone knows everyone, word spreads fast, etc.), but oddly enough, she ends up being extremely popular right from the start (something I find VERY hard to believe for a brooding, dorky, clumsy, inept, brainy, shy, non-talkative, pale 17 year old loner). Popular with everyone except for one group of “siblings” in the school who are inhumanly beautiful and keep to themselves. In fact, the youngest, Edward Cullen, seems to hate her from the beginning….that is, until he saves her life by stopping a car (that’s about to crush her) with his bare hands. There’s such a powerful draw between the both of them, but the more they are drawn to each other, the more he warns her how dangerous their relationship is. Why dangerous? He won’t say. But the urge to be together is just far too powerful. She finally pieces together who they are, and gets to meet the entire vampire family like any normal girlfriend would. Only thing is, they’re vampires. Good “vegetarian” vampires, but vampires nonetheless.
Even worse, the draw Edward feels is because her blood smells so good and he “vants to sock her vlood”. :::rolls eyes:::: It only gets worse (as in worse for her) from there as a “bad” vampire tracker discovers her one day during a game of vampire baseball (I guess it’s their version of quiddich?) – and it’s up to Edward and his family to keep her safe.
Bad vampires vs. good vampires, vampires who could go out in the sun without melting, vampires who lived in normal homes, didn’t sleep in coffins, or anything like that….the whole entire vampire myth was…uh…revamped for the book.
All in all, the plot lines seemed far too contrived. I found myself at many points laughing aloud at how absurd some parts were (something I never did in Harry Potter). It had only one or two psychologically intense (as in, it really gave you something to think about) moments in it. Yet there were never any earth shattering quotes such as when Dumbledore told Harry “We must all face the choice between what is right and what is easy.”.
One thing for sure though, Stephanie Meyer did a great job in creating the “feeling” of the irresistable pull between the two main characters – and it played on many a girl’s teen fantasies (doesn’t all young adolescent girls secretly want a dangerous-but-good intelligent boy with inhuman strength and perfect Greek god beauty to sweep them off their feet?? no? ok maybe that was just me.). The chemistry created between the two characters – and the feelings it invokes in readers – is probably what sent this book into hyper frenzy cult status. The book itself is not great, but the “feeling” it gives you is. It’s Juliet and Romeo all over. Tragic love with a bite (pun intended). The best thing is the characters actually remain chaste and it took them forever just to even have a first kiss (ala Mulder and Sculley type of anticipation).
I can already tell from the trailers that the movie is a bit different than the book. But that’s ok, I suppose. No movie can ever compete with the book (‘cept for the 1939 film adaptation of Wuthering Heights, but that’s another story). I’m not sure if I’m going to read the 2nd book in the saga (New Moon) because really, the ending of the story didn’t leave me full of anticipation. It’s really easy to guess which direction plot lines are going to take – Bella gets hurt, Edward saves her, the two are irrisistably drawn together, Bella gets hurt, Edward saves her, etc. The characters have no depth. It’s as if Meyer didn’t have any imagination left after a third way through the book. Perhaps that’s why I like JK Rowling so much – you could never tell what was going to develop next in HP. Twilight just didn’t “leave me hanging” like it should have.
And…actually, if I’m being fully honest….except for the wonderful magnetism that eminated from the main characters and the irresistable urge to keep turning the pages again and again, I thought the book was silly.
So why then did I have so much fun reading it and was drawn into the enchantment? I dunno. I liked it emotionally. Litararily, I didn’t. I’m not the only ambivalent reader either. Just read the other
low starred reviews on amazon to see what I mean.
So anyway, this has been quite a long review. I do have some other books in my library bag this week but I hadn’t got around to reading them yet.
I’ll have more by next week.. 
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So what’s in your bag? Play along with me! What are you currently reading from your library? If you don’t have any books out currently, share one you’ve read in the past. Just write up a library post on your blog, then come back here and post a comment with the link to your post. I’d love to know what everyone else is reading.
I Took the Moon For a Walk
– I’m not sure how I missed this uber-popular book growing up, but the fact is, I did. After hearing it mentioned so many times in homeschool circles and curriculums, I thought I’d see what the fuss was about. Part of 
– This is the 2nd Christian romance book I’ve read by Grace Livingston Hill, an author from the early 1900′s. Her books are not what I would call astounding must-reads, but they do have a quaint pleasantness about them that makes them fun to read. This particular book is a romance set in the 1930′s depression era, when men were “manly” and the women were domestic, issues were black and white, and traditional Christian values still prevailed in the hearts of many. Greg Sterling, the hero of the book, returns to his east coast childhood town after making his fortune from finding oil out west. Shortly after his arrival, he discovers a young lady who has passed out in the park and rushes her to the hospital where he discovers she had almost starved to death. Wanting to do more good to this unfortunate girl – and realizing his heart has become attatched – he finds himself in a terrible state when she disappears. He wants nothing more than to find her and ensure she is safe from the evils of the world! The whole book is pretty predictable and very sweet, but it makes for a really good old fashioned, light-hearted romance. Since it was written in the 1930′s and set in the depression era, I also like being taken “back in time” to what domestic life was like back then – curtains, homes, streets, cars, food, and other such quaint goodies are described in the words of that generation.
- After seeing a blogger recommend this book the other day, I picked it up at the library, unsure if I’d like it but willing to give it a try. The book is the first in the “Sisters of Holmes County” series. Set in Amish territory, it follows the lives of 3 sisters, Grace, Ruth, and Martha, with this book focusing on Grace and a terrible secret she has hid from her Amish family and community for over 4 years – a secret that is strong enough to destroy her world and new marriage. I had never read a book with Amish characters in it, so it was a pretty neat experience. It was also a good wholesome, Christian book – and I really appreciated not having to worry about running into things I’d rather not focus on in a good story. It was really cool the way the author infused Amish culture in the storyline and even had the characters speak German-Dutch in a way that when the paragraph was finished, you understood what they said and therefore picked up parts of the foreign language yourself! Although it’s not what I’d consider an “amazing” book, it was a pretty good all around read and I will be going back to pick up more books in this series.
– I don’t often pick up poetry books, but I couldn’t resist this 79 page children’s picture book. With artistic, flowing, colorful abstract illustrations and poetry divided up into US sections (Northeast, Capital, Southeast, Great Lake, Plains, Mountain, Southwest, and Pacific states), it provides a fun way of glimpsing into each area of the country through short poems. Jack-Evan appeared captivated by the photos (he loves bright illustrations) and I my tounge had fun running itself over the poetic words used to describe purple mountains, snow-filled skies, the Mighty Mississippi, and (of course!) southern pine trees. Even though Jack’s too young to grasp the meaning of the poems, it does his developing brain good to hear the English language used in ways that we don’t use in daily life. At the beginning of each section, a map of that section’s states is shown along with a box of facts and information for each state. For instance, in the box about South Carolina (our home state), it points out “Houses called hearts of pine built during colonial times still stand today. During the state’s early days tiber was so plentiful that sapwood was discarded and only the hearts of pine trees were used. The wood is said to last indefinately.” 
