Catching Up

It’s taken four years, but I finally saw the first three Twilight movies.

To be truthful, I did watch the first Twilight movie with my stepdaughter likely after it came out on DVD, but I think I remembered more of it this time.

I enjoyed them. And of course, it makes me want to read the series over again.

It’s Book Season

There is something about the lazy, hazy days of summer and the desire to sit outside and read.

I don’t read nearly as much as I used to, but I still love books and losing myself in them.

My stepdaughter has been kind and has lent me several books she brought home from her recent visit with her mom.

I re-read the Twilight series as well as novella from the series called The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner. The Eclipse short story was a good one, although it hard to read because you knew what fate laid in store for Bree, who seemed like a good person who had a tough life.

I am currently reading A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray.

When looking up the author, I read this is actually the first book in a trilogy. I am enjoying it. It’s a quick and easy read although I have to keep skepticism at bay.

Yes, I can believe in fairies and dragons, wizards and vampires but I have a hard time with realms and the magic found within them.

I also have a Mary Higgins Clark, a John Grisham and various other not-popular fiction books sitting on my shelf. I also recommend Anita Shreve.

Her books, to me, scream out summer reading.

Breaking Dawn Thoughts

My stepdaughter was right.

Breaking Dawn, the final chapter in Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series, was the best book in the four-part saga.

Again, Meyer has created secondary characters you truly care about. I would love to read more about the vampire friends of the Cullen’s.

However - IF YOU HAVEN’T READ THIS FAR INTO THE SERIES, DON’T READ FURTHER AS I MAY SPOIL THE ENDING FOR YOU.

However, I would have like to have seen the bad guys get it. It would be fairly easy, with that ending, for Meyer to create a Book Five with the Cullen’s and their friends having to fight the Italian vampires yet again.

And that really is my only complaint with this book - at the beginning, it really was more of the same.

When I found out that Bella was pregnant and Edward wasn’t happy about it, I wondered if Meyer was going to split the couple again.

So when my stepdaughter asked me how I was liking the book, I replied it was “All right”. I was anxious about reading another book where the couple splits because of lack of communication. That really frustrates me.

So I was pleasantly surprised when I continued reading to find Edward sticking my Bella’s side despite their difference of opinion.

Good for Meyer and good for the reader who gets to see characters who truly develop and an entire new story emerge.

Twilight Thoughts

I just finished reading Eclipse, the third book in Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series.

I started reading the series on the recommendations of my stepdaughter, AD, and my friend, JM. Both said Twilight was so good they couldn’t put it down, and then they immediately ran out to buy the other three books. JM said it was the first time since Harry Potter that her children were neglected to finish a book.

So with those recommendations, I reserved Twilight from the library. I liked it. It was a good book, however, I found the main character, Bella Swan, annoying. Her belief that she isn’t good enough for Edward, her vampire boyfriend, irked me. I don’t think you should be in a relationship if you feel that inferior to your partner. I wasn’t going to read the other books because Bella annoyed me so much, but I persisted with New Moon. I am glad I did because that book was more enjoyable. I even liked Bella.

AD tells me the books get better as the series progresses and, so far, I must agree with her. Eclipse was really good. I didn’t want to stop reading it, and I am anxiously awaiting the library’s call for the final book, Breaking Dawn.

What I like about the series is that I am just as interested in the secondary characters as I am in Bella and Edward. I would love to learn more about Alice, Jasper and the other vampires in the Cullen family.

According to Meyer’s website, she was writing Midnight Sun, Twilight from Edward’s point of view, but it was leaked on the Internet and she stopped writing. You can read what she wrote on her website at http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/midnightsun.html

I have actually spent a great deal of time reading vampire books. If you are looking for other good vampire books, may I suggest:

* Christopher Golden’s Of Saints of Shadows and its sequel Angel Souls and Devil Hearts
* Nancy Baker’s A Terrible Beauty
* Tanya Huff’s vampire series starring Toronto-based vampire Henry Fitzroy and ex-police officer Vicki Nelson.