Kleenex anyone?

New Moon by: Stephanie Meyer

Bella Swan has now been in Forks, WA for 9 months. In Twilight, Bella meets and falls in love with Edward Cullen. This in and of itself is not a surprising turn of events, for a 17 year old to fall in love. Except that Edward is not your average high schooler, Edward is a vampire. Throughout Twilight, Bella and Edward’s love grows to the point where neither can live without the other (you remember high school romance, right?). Twilight ends at the prom where Bella is begging Edward to turn her into a vampire so they can be together forever, and he is adamantly against the idea. He asks her if just living a long, happy life with him is enough. She responds that it is enough, for now. The second book in the Twilight series, New Moon, picks up after the summer is over and on Bella’s eighteenth birthday. The first chapter changes everything and soon after that incident, Edward realizes that his presence in Bella’s life will constantly keep her in danger. As Twilight developed Bella and Edward’s story, New Moon develops Bella and Jacob Black’s story. We meet 15 year old Jacob in Twilight, he is the Quileute Native American who is the son of Billy Black, one of Charlie Swans best friends. New Moon changes the Twilight romance story quickly, and you will be asking, why? The last 300 pages are very intense, it becomes a page turner after a certain point. The action at the end will have you on the edge of your seat, absolutely freaking out.

That is a good synopsis of the story, but to discuss my opinion about New Moon I’m going to have to talk about the book in detail, so if you have not read New Moon and plan to, please do not keep reading this blog. There are going to be spoilers from here on out. SPOILER ALERT!!!

New Moon was not my favorite book of the series. I have now read the book 3 times, and I do love it, but being a huge player on “Team Edward,” I was sad throughout the entire book. I knew something horrible was coming whenever Edward was being distant and did not want to be around Bella for any period of time. When he left and said that he didn’t want her anymore, I crumpled to the floor and wept… just kidding, but I did cry. Her pain was so real, the way Stephanie Meyer describes her hurt makes you feel like you can’t breathe along with Bella. Stylistically I enjoyed the blank pages for the months of October, November, & December; it demonstrated the emptiness of those months for Bella without Edward.

When Bella first hears Edward’s voice in her head I was hopeful. Charlie has enough of a zombie for a daughter and threatens to send her to Florida to live with her mom. Bella makes plans and goes to the movies with Jessica in Port Angeles to get him off of her back. That is where she hears Edward’s voice for the first time in her head. Bella says that there are only 2 reasons for the hallucinations, but I didn’t agree. I thought maybe he was still hanging around in the background watching over her, and somehow he had broken through the guard of her mind and was putting thoughts in her head. My idea was not even plausible, but I was desperate for him to be back and therefore I was hopeful that somehow it wasn’t a hallucination, hopeful that it was actually him speaking to her. I knew it was a long shot, and looking back now it was ridiculous, but I just wanted him back so badly. I was so anxious for Edward’s return that I would look ahead like 30 pages and if I saw his name, I would think, oh good he’s finally coming back. I would get to that page and it would just be more hallucinations. I was so sad. I kept reading, expecting Edward to be back any minute, and he wasn’t. Finally, around page 380, Alice comes back, and the action starts.

The next key section for me is when Bella overhears a conversation between Charlie and Alice and he describes what Bella went through during the months that we didn’t get to read, I cried every time I read this part. The pain of her lost love and hearing it described in detail was enough to make a sane person go crazy. Whenever Meyer described Bella’s hole in her chest and how the edges burned, I could actually feel the pain. The times that Bella couldn’t breathe because of the heartache I felt like I was going to loose it. The image of Bella having to wrap her arms around herself to keep from falling apart, how sad is that?

The redeeming quality about New Moon (or at least the chapters 4-20), is that she does find a very good friend in Jacob. He makes her feel almost normal, and she describes Jacob as her personal sun. He warms her with his smile, just by being around. I’m glad that she realizes her heart is incomplete and that she’s like a dilapidated house that only the front room has been remodeled with Jacob in her life. Because Jacob is NO Edward :).

Throughout the entire book I kept thinking, Edward will be right back, he can’t live without Bella, he’s dying without her, he has to come back! But as I turned the pages and there was no Edward and no thought of him coming back I had doubt in my heart. My only comparison is in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry and Ron get into a fight and they don’t talk for 4 chapters. It felt like the longest span of time when reading the book for the first time. I thought, “Harry and Ron have to be friends again.” That’s what I kept expecting from New Moon. I kept looking for Edward to come back in 4 chapters, but the book kept going and going and there was no Edward. I read this book so fast, just to find him.

Just in case you have disobeyed me and you have ruined most of this book for yourself reading the spoilers, I won’t tell you how he comes back. But at the end when he is in Bella’s bedroom describing his love for her over and over again, I thought I was actually going to melt. His love for Bella and the way he describes his feelings, I mean wow! I suggest that if you stopped at Twilight, you have to pick up New Moon. Also, New Moon is the perfect introduction to Eclipse, which is probably the best of the 4 books. In Eclipse, the suspense of the love triangle between Bella, Edward, and Jacob is riveting. If you like the first two books, you will love Eclipse. So grab a box of Kleenex, take a Saturday for yourself, curl up on the couch and read New Moon. Please stay tuned for the Eclipse post, it will be coming soon.

Please let me know what you thought about this blog, or New Moon.

Here are some of my favorite quotes from New Moon, Enjoy:
I didn’t have to look to know who it was; this was a voice I would know anywhere—know, and respond to, whether I was awake or asleep… or even dead, I’d bet. The voice I’d walk through fire for—or, less dramatically, slosh every day through the cold and endless rain for. Edward. (Bella)

College was Plan B. I was still hoping for Plan A, but Edward was just so stubborn about leaving me human… (Bella)

I have to step out for a second. Don’t do anything funny while I’m gone. (Emmett)

Dazed and disoriented, I looked up from the bright red blood pulsing out of my arm — into the fevered eyes of the six suddenly ravenous vampires. (Bella)

You’re overestimating my self-control. (Edward)

Which is tempting you more, my blood or my body? (Bella)

He smiled my favorite crooked smile, but it was wrong. It didn’t reach his eyes. (Bella)

You… don’t… want me? (Bella)

Of course, I’ll always love you… in a way. But what happened the other night made me realize that it’s time for a change. Because I’m… tired of pretending to be something I’m not, Bella. I am not human. (Edward)

I promise that this will be the last time you’ll see me. I won’t come back. I won’t put you through anything like this again. You can go on with your life without any more interference from me. It will be as if I’d never existed. (Edward)

No, I don’t think she’s hurt. She just keeps saying ‘He’s gone.’ (Sam)

The waves of pain that had only lapped at me before now reared high up and washed over my head, pulling me under. I did not resurface. (Bella)

As if he’d never existed? That was insanity. It was a promise that he could never keep, a promise that was broken as soon as he’d made it. (Bella)

Who would want to ride a motorcycle here? It would be like taking a sixty-mile-per-hour bath. (Bella)

Only a teenage boy would agree to this: deceiving both our parents while repairing dangerous vehicles using money meant for my college education. (Bella)

Bears don’t want to eat people. We don’t taste that good. Of course, you might be an exception. I bet you’d taste good. (Jacob)

I was like a lost moon—my planet destroyed in some cataclysmic, disaster-movie scenario of desolation—that continued, nevertheless, to circle in a tight little orbit around the empty space left behind, ignoring the laws of gravity. (Bella)

So are you going to be my Valentine? Since you didn’t get me a fifty-cent box of candy, it’s the least you can do. (Jacob)

How much I wished that Jacob Black had been born my brother, my flesh-and -blood brother, so that I would have some legitimate claim on him that still left me free of any blame now. (Bella)

If you want to blame someone, why don’t you point your finger at those filthy, reeking bloodsuckers that you love so much? (Jacob)

I’d thought Jake had been healing the hole in me—or at least plugging it up, keeping it from hurting me so much. I’d been wrong. He’d just been carving out his own hole, so that I was now riddled through like Swiss cheese. I wondered why I didn’t crumble into pieces. (Bella)

When did you ever promise to kill yourself falling out of Charlie’s tree? (Bella)
Jacob, the only human I’d ever been able to relate to…And he wasn’t even human. I fought the urge to scream again. What did this say about me? (Bella)

Look, do you mind saving the stupid stuff for when I’m around? I won’t be able to concentrate if I think you’re jumping off cliffs behind my back. (Jacob)

Leave it to you, Bella. Anyone else would be better off when the vampires left town. But you have to start hanging out with the first monsters you can find. (Alice)

What did you think you were going to find? I mean, besides me dead? Did you expect to find me skipping around and whistling show tunes? You know me better than that. (Bella)

Why does everyone keep doing that to me? I don’t smell! (Bella)

There’s a very good chance that they will eliminate us all—though in your case it won’t be punishment so much as dinnertime. (Alice)

Try not to trip. We don’t have time for a concussion today. (Alice)

I wasn’t going to make it. I was stupid and slow and human, and we were all going to die because of it. (Bella)

You smell just exactly the same as always. So maybe this is hell. I don’t care. I’ll take it. (Edward)

In summary, she did jump off a cliff, but she wasn’t trying to kill herself. Bella’s all about the extreme sports these days. (Alice)

I love a happy ending. They are so rare. (Aro)

I haven’t seen a prospective talent so promising since we found Jane and Alec. Can you imagine the possibilities when she is one of us? (Aro)

It was heaven—right smack in the middle of hell. (Bella)

After all the thousand times I’ve told you I love you, how could you let one word break your faith in me? (Edward)

I could see it in your eyes, that you honestly believed that I didn’t want you anymore. The most absurd, ridiculous concept—as if there were any way that I could exist without needing you! (Edward)

His mouth was on mine then, and I couldn’t fight him. Not because he was so many thousand times stronger than me, but because my will crumbled into dust the second our lips met. (Bella)

Before you, Bella, my life was like a moonless night. Very dark, but there were stars—points of light and reason… And then you shot across my sky like a meteor. Suddenly everything was on fire; there was brilliancy, there was beauty. When you were gone, when the meteor had fallen over the horizon, everything went black. Nothing had changed, but my eyes were blinded by the light. I couldn’t see the stars anymore. And there was no more reason for anything. (Edward)

My heart hasn’t beat in almost ninety years, but this was different. It was like my heart was gone—like I was hollow. Like I’d left everything that was inside me here with you. (Edward)

You’re wounding my ego, Bella. I just proposed to you, and you think it’s a joke. (Edward)

The fairy tale was back on. Prince returned, bad spell broken. I wasn’t sure exactly what to do about the leftover, unresolved character. Where was his happily ever after? (Bella)

Skipping Christmas... I wouldn't dream of it

Skipping Christmas By: John Grisham

The love that is all things Christmas, this love is something I inherited from my mom. When I was growing up, the day after Thanksgiving was always a joyous day at the Bennett household. On that day many rush out to get a good deal, to fight the crowds, and get all the good door busters. But we would stay at home and eat left over turkey and apple pie, pull out boxes, and decorate for Christmas. There was always some hokey Christmas movie on tv, or at the very least there was Christmas music playing on the cd player and we would get busy. This was also an exhausting day. My mom does nothing half way (right Will?), I promise, we cleaned the entire house, floors, cabinets, shelves, everything would be dust free, and decorated in snow for the snowmen, or torn up burlap bags for the nativity scenes. Some people may read this and freak out, saying, it’s too much. Others may read it and sigh knowing exactly what I’m talking about. Some would think that I would absolutely hate Christmas because of all the craziness the holiday season was around my childhood, but no matter, I love it! I had to work on Black Friday (the slowest day of my working career) and so I started the decorating on Thanksgiving. Simon and I had a nice relaxing day, no cooking, no family, just enjoyed each other’s company. Of course it wouldn’t be Thanksgiving for Simon without a little football, and it wouldn’t be a day at all if I didn’t have a good book in my hands.

Skipping Christmas was a very quick read. I started it Thursday and finished it on Saturday and I’m reading another book at the same time. It was a very sweet story that touches your heart in the end. The reason I picked it up was because of the author. As much as I read, I have never read a John Grisham novel, so I thought, “what the heck… why not?” Since it is so small, if I hate him as an author it wouldn’t be that much of a waste. But I enjoyed it and I have acquired another book by him, “The Summons,” I’ll let you know how that goes as soon as I get to it.

I thought it ironic that I would put this book down and decorate my tree, or move a box, or even hum a carol while putting together my New England series Christmas village. The book is about a husband and wife that have just watched their only daughter board a plane to join the Peace Corps for a year and right before Christmas. They decide that instead of running through the hustle and bustle of Christmas, they are going to take a break this year and go on a Cruise. They figure that they are going to have a hard time declining parties and not accepting or giving gifts, but they don’t have any idea of the hard times ahead of them. From angry neighbors, to constant carolers at their home, this is one Christmas the Kranks are never going to forget.

Please read the book this season, it doesn’t take long, and it is a treat. Let me know what you think about this blog or if you have read the book, what you think about it. Merry Christmas!

Sister's got southern charm, yes ma'am!

Savannah from Savannah, Savannah Comes Undone, & Savannah by the Sea
By: Denise Hildreth

The Savannah series made me smile. This is one of those rare times that I was just wandering the rows of books at the public library and the title caught my eye, and it was a great series. You never know what you are going to end up with when you pick up an unknown author in the library. But, when I saw that there were two books, I thought, oh good, a series, so I grabbed them. I later found that it is a 3 book series and the library didn’t have the third, so I had to order book 3 from Amazon.com.

From the very beginning I was hooked. The story, between the 3 books, is one year in the life of Savannah Phillips who is from Savannah, Georgia. In Savannah from Savannah, she has just finished her Master’s degree at the University of Georgia and is moving back home. She recently won a contest that the end result was an award and her novel being published, but she declines the huge opportunity because she suspects that as usual, her mother has butted in (again) and fixed the contest. Savannah struggles, but lands a job with the Savannah Chronicle (her hometown newspaper) as the Human Interest story writer. Because of her spunky personality, she has run-ins with her boss, she doesn’t get along with Joshua North or “curly locks,” the guy that has a desk next to her at the paper, and it seems that everyone is waiting for her to fail at her new job. She tries to prove that she can do everything on her own, to her mother, her co-workers, and primarily to herself. She runs into some problems writing her first story, and learns some tough grown up lessons in the meantime. This introduction to the character is perfect and I really enjoyed this book.

Savannah Comes Undone starts right where the first book left off. Her mother, Victoria Phillips (never Vicky-out loud anyway), is chained to a statue in front of the court house that bears the Ten Commandments. There is a huge upheaval and half the town wants the statue gone and the other half wants it to stay. Savannah runs into personal convictions that she has to deal with on a Spiritual level as she learns who she really is, aside from her family and what she’s been taught all of her life. She meets some great characters that teach her some very valuable lessons in this novel.

After working at the Chronicle for 10 months, the Phillips family is going to Florida on vacation in the third book, Savannah by the Sea. She talks her boss into letting her go for research purposes to find a story on the many emotional struggles of the hurricane victims, a.k.a. sister wants to go on vacation. The “family” vacation includes her younger brother Thomas, her mother and father, their dogs, Amber-the beauty queen/Vicky double, and her best friend Paige. An unexpected person is also at the same beach in Florida and it turns her vacation upside down. This book is definitely my favorite of the three and there is actually an opening for her to write another book, I’ll keep you posted on if that ever comes about.

Some of my favorite concepts in this series start with the fact that the main character is a Christian. This book is not publicized as a Christian novel, but I was pleasantly surprised when Savannah lives her life according to her convictions. She “tills” every morning, meaning she has a quiet time with God, while she jogs with her Dad’s dog Duke. She prays, listens, and God teachers her many lessons on these early excursions. She has a life changing encounter with the Almighty in all 3 books that will convict and uplift you. Another characteristic of these books that I enjoyed was her personality. She does not cuss, but she’ll get caught about to say something un-lady-like and then rephrase the sentence midway through or give another sentence all together. For example: “I would like to find some hard liquor.” “Savannah Phillips!” Joshua rebuked. “Do you have something to tell me?” “I said-” “She always does this,” my father chimed in. “I know.” They both took a sip of their coffee. “I said, let’s make sure Duke doesn’t lick her.” Dad raised his eyebrow. “That was one of your more pitiful attempts lately.”

She also says “sister” all of the time, either talking in third person, or even talking about another woman in the book. For example: “Sister’s gotta go to her apartment.” Savannah’s character is a fun person that I could see myself getting along with. She is brave and confrontational, but yet she can be quite blind to what is going on around her. These three books are a lot of fun to read and I would encourage anyone to pick them up. The one thing that struck me odd is that I did find some pretty big errors in the books. Usually it was the incorrect usage of a word, or inconsistency within a paragraph. For example in Savannah Comes Undone, she walks into her bosses’ office and the books said: “He looked up as I walked in. He answered me without ever looking up.” What??? Little things like that, made me laugh, maybe the author needs to find a better editor. If her other books are as good as this series, I would be honored to edit her books. If you get a chance, let me know what you think about this blog or these books if you read them.

Bella & Edward, we meet again.

Twilight by Stephanie Meyer

I know what you are thinking…you are blogging about Twilight again??? Well actually, the first time was an introduction to my blog, the reason why I feel the need to put my opinions and thoughts on the internet for all to see (See Why am I Here???). This blog covers my thoughts on the first book of the series.

Twilight is a story about a seventeen year old girl that decides to move to Forks, WA to live with her father. Within the first chapter we meet Edward Cullen, the heartbreakingly gorgeous vampire that is so attracted to Bella’s blood that it is painful for him. She realizes quickly that there is something different about him especially when he defies odds and saves her from a near death accident. This teen romance is a page turner from the very beginning, this book has romance, struggle, and action. Even though the primary focus of the book is for teen girls, I know many women of all ages that love this book and also I have spoken with men that have read it and liked it as well.

Praise for Twilight: I was enthralled in this book from the very beginning. I enjoyed the teenage struggle and the reminder of the awkwardness of first love. Meyers developed Bella’s character very well showing her humor, sarcastic tendencies, and also her teenage imperfections (such as forgetting to call her mom when she first arrives in Forks or the fear of going to a new school). Bella is also seen as observant (she notices everything about Edward to the extent of his eyes changing colors), selfless (moving to a place she hates in order that her mom could spend time with her new husband instead of staying home with Bella), a quiet martyr (she doesn’t want to talk about being unhappy in Forks or for others to share in her misery), she is also the caretaker for both of her parents (always kept her mother safe from her harebrained ideas and cooks and cleans for Charlie, her dad), and she’s brave (in love with a vampire, hangs out with his family, and runs to save her mother from a dangerous vampire). I have read some complaints about Bella’s character about her being whiney and not an interesting character, but I disagree. I think she is an ordinary seventeen year old girl, who is going through a lot during the course of this book-moving to a new town, starting a new school, meets her first love-that’s a lot to deal with in a short span of time, I might whine a little too! Out of all 4 books, Twilight is my favorite. Being the first book of the series, I think that the book presents the beginning of their relationship well. I just love the story of them falling in love. Throughout the first half of the book, it’s as if they are separately falling in love with each other for months and then they bring it together in the meadow for a perfect scene of declaration of love. Another thing I love is how he makes her absolutely freak out internally, her heart races, she faints, she can’t breathe, or at least she forgets to sometimes. He is very sensitive to her heartbeat and she knows it, therefore it embarrasses her when her heart goes crazy just by a small touch from him. Even though the sexual tension progresses throughout the books, there is definitely some of that tension in Twilight. They never really discuss sex besides one scene with Bella’s curious “round-about” questions about Emmett and Rosalie having a marriage like humans do. And also Bella asks Edward, “Your human instincts…, well do you find me attractive, in that way at all?” Edward answers, “I may not be a human, but I am a man.” I think the first time I read that, I melted into a puddle. Overall the book was great, I have at this time read it 3 times, but I refuse to read it again for at least a year :).

Complaints for Twilight: Anyone who knows me and my complete obsession with Twilight is probably really freaking out right now that I have complaints about this book. But, I do. The main one being the whole book takes place between January and June, it just seems too quick. I fight with myself on whether Bella and Edward can really have this kind of deep love for each other in such a quick time frame. My thought is maybe it’s not that strong (just like any normal relationship), but it has the potential of getting stronger. For example, when Simon and I went on our first date, I knew he was the man I was going to marry and I wouldn’t let anyone get in the way of that. We didn’t say “I love you” until we were engaged a year after that first date, but within 3 months I had met his family and we both knew where the relationship was going. (SPOILER ALERT-FOR TWILIGHT ONLY) The Meadow scene happens on Saturday, Bella meets the Cullen family on Sunday/Edward meets Chief Swan, and that night they play Baseball and here we are introduced to the villains, James, Laurent, and Victoria. Wow, over the weekend you have declared your love, met the parents, and get attacked by the nomadic, human-killing tracker, James. By Friday, Bella is in the hospital recovering from a Vampire attack, absolutely freaking out that Edward might leave her. It just seems a little sudden. But then again I know people in perfectly sound marriages that got engaged after knowing each other only 2 weeks. One other complaint that I have battled with is her writing style. I think I have come to terms with the fact that it is a Young Adult fiction book and that I believe that the writing style was on purpose. I could be wrong, but it just seems like it was written by a teenager, but what if that was the point? Just something I’ve been mulling over.
Thank you for your time if you made it through this long blog. This story is so hard for me to boil down into a paragraph synopsis, I have contemplated how to do it for a while, thinking the movie would help formulate my thoughts, I was wrong. I am a “Twi-hard” to my core, we had our tickets for 4 weeks before the movie came out and saw it opening night. I do have to say that I enjoyed the movie. I am eager to see it again with fewer crazed fans (you know, the cheering, clapping, and swooning of the 40 year olds in front of us were kind of a distraction), maybe I’ll wait a few weeks for the craziness to go down.

All of that, please read Twilight, it is a great book and let me know what you think! Coming soon: New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn.

Please enjoy some of my favorite quotes from Twilight:

I wasn’t interesting. And he was. Interesting…and brilliant…and mysterious…andperfect…and beautiful…and possibly able to lift full-sized vans with one hand. (Bella)

I thought you were suppose to be pretending I don’t exist, not irritating me to death. (Bella)

Stupid, shiny volvo owner. (Bella)

It was hard to believe that someone so beautiful could be real. I was afraid that he might disappear in a sudden puff of smoke, and I would wake up. (Bella)

What if I’m not a superhero? What if I’m the bad guy? (Edward)

There’s always a risk for humans to be around the cold ones, even if they’re civilized like this clan was. You never know when they might get too hungry to resist. (Jacob)

Stupid, unreliable vampire. (Bella)

Do I dazzle you? (Edward)

Your number was up the first time I met you. (Edward)

I hear voices in my mind and you’re worried you’re the freak. (Edward)

And you accuse me of dazzling people-poor Jacob Black. (Edward)

About three things I was absolutely positive. First, Edward was a vampire. Second, there was part of him — and I didn’t know how potent that part might be — that thirsted for my blood.

And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him. (Bella)

You already know how I feel, of course. I’m here… which, roughly translated, means I would rather die than stay away from you. (Bella)

And so the lion fell in love with the lamb…What a stupid lamb. What a sick, masochistic lion. (Edward, Bella, Edward)

Are you still faint from the run? Or was it my kissing expertise? (Edward)

Just because I’m resisting the wine doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate the bouquet. (Edward)

Yeah, it’s an off day when I don’t get somebody telling me how edible I smell. (Bella)

I may not be a human, but I am a man. (Edward)

I doubted there were any etiquette books detailing how to dress when your vampire sweetheart takes you home to meet his vampire family. (Bella)

You are utterly indecent — no one should look so tempting, it’s not fair. (Edward)

Shall I explain how you are tempting me? (Edward)

What am I going to do with you? Yesterday I kiss you, and you attack me! Today you pass out on me! (Edward)

I love you. It’s a poor excuse for what I’m doing, but it’s still true. (Edward)

You brought a snack? (Laurent)

I can feel what you’re feeling now — and you are worth it. (Jasper)

Do you think any of us want to look into his eyes for the next hundred years if he loses you? (Alice)

It’s like you’ve taken half my self away with you. (Edward)

I suppose you’re going to tell me that your boyfriend will avenge you? (James)

I heard my favorite sound in the world: Edward’s quiet laugh, weak with relief. (Bella)

You fell down two flights of stairs and through a window. You have to admit, it could happen. (Edward)

They gave you a few transfusions. I didn’t like it — it made you smell all wrong for a while. (Edward)

Don’t I taste as good as I smell? (Bella)

I think that boy is in love with you. (Renee)

Bella, we’re not having this discussion anymore. I refuse to damn you to an eternity of night and

that’s the end of it. (Edward)

You’ll never catch me betting against Alice. (Bella)

Is that what you dream about? Being a monster? (Edward) Mostly I dream about being with you forever. (Bella)

I will stay with you — isn’t that enough? (Edward) I love you more than everything else in the world combined. Isn’t that enough? (Bella) Yes, it is enough. Enough for forever. (Edward)

Aliens...Awesome!

The Host by Stephanie Meyer

The earth has been invaded by aliens, and we don’t even know it. Wow, sucks to be the human race! The story is based on the alien “soul” named Wanderer. She is an old soul that has been to 9 different planets that have been invaded so far by the aliens. Wanderer has been selected to be implanted in one of the last humans on earth, Melanie Stryder. Wanderer’s first job is to find memories inside her host to ultimately to find the humans that Melanie has been hiding with. Quickly Wanderer realizes that Melanie is strong and not going away as the Host’s conciseness is supposed to. Melanie replays memories to Wanderer, which leads to Wanderer falling in love with Jared Howe, Melanie’s human partner. Wanderer finally feels that she is unable to dominate Melanie and wants to be transferred to a different Host, which will lead to Melanie’s death. After this, the story is just beginning and the characters go through many obstacles that continue throughout the story. This book is full of love, hate, romance, friendship, betrayal, action, and our basic instinct-survival.

The Host was an intriguing read. I have never read any Science-Fiction books before and therefore I was kind of hesitant. I mean come on, have you read my introduction to the book? Aliens? Souls? Last human on earth? You have to be kidding me, who wants to read that kind of thing? Well, from now on… ME! The story took some time to get into, but once I got to about the third chapter I was hooked. Then, once Wanderer reached the cave and met Ian (sigh) there was no turning back. The love triangle between 4 people was intense. Yes you read that correctly (triangle/4 people). I was cheering for the plot to go one way, then Meyer would introduce something new and I was changing my mind and wanting other things to happen.

The main reason I read The Host was because I was such a huge Twilight fan. The one thing that bothered me about Twilight was Meyer’s writing style. I thought it was amateur writing to say the least, with a good story line (mmm, vampires). After reading The Host I realized that Meyer’s is a literary genius. Haha, ok, I’m not going to go that far, because I don’t think she would agree with me. But, I realized that what I didn’t like about Twilight was actually on purpose, to reach her intended audience (youth/young adults). I figured this out because the same holes and “mistakes” in the plot and writing in Twilight should have been evident in The Host, but the mistakes weren’t there. This book was intended for an adult audience and written in that manner, just like Twilight was intended and written for young adults. I know that’s a little crazy, what I just wrote, but read all 5 of her books and you will understand what I’m talking about.

The best part of The Host in my opinion (which is all that matters on my blog… unless you want to leave me a comment, then I guess your opinion matters too) are the characters. The development of the characters makes you understand what they are going through, and I really cared about what happened to each character. Meyers has you pulling for every side. I laughed, I cried, I enjoyed this book. I would invite you all to read it…EVEN IF YOU DON’T LIKE SCI-FI! This is truly the Sci-Fi book for non-Sci-Fi readers. Read it and let me know what you think, or did this post make you want to check it out? Let me know!

12 years later I finally read Bridget Jones's Diary

Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding

Bridget Jones’s Diary is fun, quick read, full of embarrassing moments that the female audience can connect with. The book style is as if the reader is actually reading Jones’s diary with daily/weekly entries.

It has been said, by some, that Bridget Jones’s Diary is a modern rendition of Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (P&P). I would totally agree! Starting at the first interaction with, yes, that’s right, Mr. Darcy (Mark Darcy) being at a party and it is hate at first sight between Darcy and Bridget Jones (or so we think). There is actually a line in the diary that Jones comments on the fact that there stands Mr. Darcy all by himself at a party looking irritated. I actually laughed out loud thinking about P&P. Another similarity is the thought of Darcy not linking Jones (Mr. Darcy & Elizabeth Bennet), Jones not liking Darcy (Bennet & Darcy) then a twist in the plot and everything is turned upside down. Also in P&P/BJD, Darcy disappears for a point of time and does one huge good deed and all for Jones/Bennet, to win her affection. There are a few other parallels, but you’ll just have to read both books and find them for yourself.

Having watched the movie before reading the book, I knew which actor played each character. In the book the author mentions both leading actors at different times (Hugh Grant and Colin Firth). I thought that was just too funny that she would only mention two male actors and they end up being in the movie. Along the lines of the movie, I was surprised by the many differences between the book and the movie. Of course I liked the book more than the film version and mainly because it stuck closer with the plot of Pride and Prejudice than the movie did (again, I’ll let you find these on your own).

Just to bring this blog to a more personal level, in the diary, I found it funny that in the month of June, Jones is obsessing with planning her “mini-break” with her boyfriend Daniel Cleaver but he doesn’t want to talk about it or discuss it. Simon and I are the opposite, he plans all of our vacations, obsessing over them for months, picking out all the restaurants and attractions (which I appreciate), and I’m like “don’t ask me, I don’t care.” Another interesting point was the fact that Jones was ALWAYS running late and writing about it in her diary. I just wanted to yell at her, “Put the danged book down and get ready for your date, or for work, or wherever you’re going, and you won’t be late.” I hate being late- I bet that is a cultural issue though, we American’s are always in a hurry. One funny part that made me laugh every time was Jones’s mother, she said “Drrrrr” all the time. Could you imagine talking to someone and instead of saying “um” or just pausing they say “Drrrrr.” It made me laugh out loud. Also, I enjoyed the English phrases that I didn’t understand, but were fun to read, like: “I haven’t seen you for yonks” (quite a long time) or “Turkey Curry Buffet” instead of just saying New Year’s Day party, or the Tarts and Vicars party, for which Jones dressed like a bunny. Of course there were the British words in BJD that I previously learned in Harry Potter, like “snogging” (kissing/making out), “prat” (incompetent person), and “bloody” (kind of a curse or intensifier, i.e.: “Bloody Hell”). Anyway, this is a quick fun read that I suggest for any female (sorry guys I don’t think that you would enjoy it very much-I could be wrong, let me know if I am). But, one thing I would caution readers about is language. I know that there are cultural differences, but I still would caution those that do not particularly like language to be warned (especially if you dislike the F-bomb). Let me know what you think! Coming Soon- Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason- Stay Tuned!

Childhood favorite... or College :)

It’s the Chroni-what-cles, of Narnia… haha… just a little shout out to my SNL buddy… Let’s talk about C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia. This seven book series is usually a childhood favorite amongst people from everywhere around the world. I was introduced to this particular series when I was in college. Simon, (again, my husband whom I love) just randomly was talking about books that he grew up on and mentioned The Chronicles of Narnia, and I was like “Chronawhich of Whonia???” He was appalled that I grew up in a Christian home, in the south, was a reader from a young age but had never even heard of this Christian classic.

When Simon and I were dating, and first married we shared a passion for coffee, reading, and each other (hopefully this last one is still true, right babe? J). We would go to Books A Million ever Friday & Saturday evening, browse the shelves pick up random books and magazines and spend hours drinking venti white chocolate mochas, reading books and talking. This was the first place I read Chronicles of Narnia. Like most newly married couples we didn’t have two pennies to rub together, so there was no way that I could buy the series, it would have set us back at least $100 bones, so I sat at the BAM café and read. I read all seven in no time. I then decided it was time to get a library card and those were the first books I borrowed from the library. I read them twice in a row. This also started me on a C.S. Lewis kick (see Why am I here??? blog for definition of “kick”). I read Til we have Faces, Letters of C.S. Lewis, and started but never finished Screwtape Letters. He is such a great author, but sometimes I think I’m not smart enough to read his stuff. Maybe I’ll write about that some other time.

Lewis created a world that I was fascinated by the imagery and the imagination. These books got me thinking about not only fantasy, but about my relationship with Christ. I would think of how Christ had made this same sacrifice for me in the “real world” and would cry (really Charity, you would cry? Does that really happen???). The story of these children finding Aslan and getting to know him in a deeper way every visit to Narnia, it was breath taking. The parallelism between this fantasy story and our real walk with Christ was awesome. Now it’s not perfect, Lewis dabbles in a little bit of universalism and I know some parents have taken a particular scene out, when reading The Last Battle to their children. But I do believe that Lewis is in heaven with Christ even though he had this extra belief. The books are a fast read, with interesting characters that you will love or hate then grow to love and everything in between. I would highly suggest these books for kids of all ages, the young or young at heart. But if you have children and you have not introduced them to this series, then please do so as quickly as possible.

They have recently started making the books into films. I’m not sure if they are going to venture and do all 7 films. They started with The Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe, which was the first in the series that Lewis wrote, and the second in chronological order. They have made Prince Caspian, and they are supposed to have The Voyage of the Dawn Treador out in theaters in 2010 (which happens to be my favorite book of the series). The movies have relatively stayed close to the written form, except some small differences to make the transfer from the pages to film a little easier. Two of the biggest differences in Prince Caspian, was the battle where most of the Narnians die (that happens in the book, just before the Pevensie children arrive and it was not Peter’s fault). The second was that kiss at the end between Caspian and Susan… my thought on this added scene was maybe that scene just brings it to life for this generation, but who knows.

Back to the books, I have now read the series 3 times and I still don’t own it. I read it the last time right before Prince Caspian came out in the theater in summer 2008. I will probably read it a few more times in my life, at least when I start reading it to my kids (that I don’t have). I will try later to summarize each book, but that’s all for right now.

Why am I here???

Twilight (sigh)…

These books have ruined my life, not necessarily in a bad way, but I guess in a very good way. I am a silly girl, I get on these kicks…let me explain. For lunch for years I brought a frozen meal (Lean Cuisine or Weigh Watcher Smart Ones) and yogurt. Then I got tired of that and started making sandwiches, but my lunch consisted of the same thing (turkey sandwich, small bag of chips, yogurt, apple) every day for a very long time, then back to frozen meals and yogurt adding an apple, but I found a cheaper version called Lean Gourmet. Now for the last 2 months I have been taking canned soup, 10 crackers, apple, and yogurt, every day for 2 months this has been my meal. Why? Well the kicks, remember? Ok, well why should books be any different? I am a creature of habit. I use the same stall at my work restroom, I have the same routine every morning, and I read. When I find a book that I enjoy more than any others (see Chronicles of Narnia and Harry Potter blogs) I obsess over the book. Twilight has done this to me again. I’ve read the series (twice in one month), I can’t stop thinking about it. I’ve had dreams about it, I’ve found articles, websites, and interviews about the series, and it has sparked a new kind of love for reading.

I am a reader. I love to read. If you see me, ask me what I’m reading, I will have an answer for you, it might be an explanation, such as, “I just finished a book at lunch and when I get home I’m going to start a new book.” But regardless I’m reading something. The librarians at the Texarkana Public Library know my face. I go in every Saturday and exchange my books that I finished from the previous week and get new ones. This summer was a busy time in my life and I ventured into the realm of Hobbits, Elves, and Wizards. I’m always behind the times and with the trilogy The Lord of the Rings was no exception. The books were written in between 1937-1949, not saying that I should have read them back then, but I still was behind the times of pop-culture. I was in college when the first movie came out in 2001 and I waited 7 years to read the books after they were made famous by the movies (more on this in a later blog-see Lord of the Rings). This series took me from May to August to read. Since I own this series, I did not venture into the Library for that 4 month interval, and when I came back the librarians wanted to know where I had been hiding.

Ok, back to Twilight ruining my life... whenever I finished Breaking Dawn (4th book in the twilight series), it was 8:30pm on a Saturday night, I was so sad. Not about the book, just that the series that I was so involved in for the last 10 days was over. I couldn’t believe it. I picked up the Hobbit, but all I wanted to do was read about Bella and Edward. So I went to bed at like 9pm very sad. The next morning I had great expectations of cleaning my house (you know because the last 10 days all I had done was read and my house wad DIRTY!), but there was Breaking Dawn sitting on my kitchen table. I picked it up thinking I’ll just read the one particular chapter again and then I’ll clean. Well 6 hours later I was way past that chapter and wasn’t about to stop except we have church at my house and I had to at least sweep up the dog hair that had gathered on the floor. I finished Breaking Dawn for the second time sometime that week, and then re-read the whole series. After I had finished it, I couldn’t stop reading, anything, everything! It was like a hunger had built up inside of me and my eyes couldn’t get tired. I got online and read the first eleven chapters of Midnight Sun three times. I went to the library and started the Queen of Babble three book series by Meg Cabot. By the time November of 2008 started I had read 16 books in 35 days. I had friends referring me to free counselors for addiction problems. All of this reading was because of a love story between a normal girl and a vampire.

Now, it is mid-November, I have read more books that will be blogged later and I thought, you know, I have opinions about books. I like to share and express my opinions, maybe, just maybe, someone would like to read what I have to say. If nothing else I will get the urge to write out of my system. Because reading all of these silly novels has given me a writing bug, but since I’m a terrible writer, I should just blog my ideas and thoughts (where mistakes are forgivable) and leave the writing to the professionals. Although, Stephanie Meyer (author of Twilight) was an amateur and I can only imagine all the money that she is rolling in. I guess that’s what editors and publicists are for J. Well for now, I’ll stick with my reading kick and give you my opinions on the fabulous works of literature that I pick up.

Harry Potter Series...Love it!!!

The reader who reads books way after they are cool… How do I always do that?
This is not the first time I’ve read a book after everyone else in the free world, but it is my first blog. The Harry Potter series, one of my all time favorites, I didn’t start the series until after the 7th book The Deathly Hallows débuted summer of 2007, I had not seen any of the first 5 movies that had been out since 2001 or read any of the books. How did I not start this series at the tender age of 15 when The Sorcerer’s Stone first came out? Why not? I was after all raised in the generation that should have started reading them in 1997, and I have always been an avid reader… how can I be that un-cool? Well some of it probably had to do with my mother. I grew up in an ultra-southern-conservative household, where there were demons in all works of art that were not labeled Christian. Actually when I read the series at age 25 I thought my mom was going to throw me over her knee and spank me. The devil is in those books to my mother and to this day nothing can change her mind. But that doesn’t excuse why I never read any of the books that my friends from college talk about reading when they were younger, books like Nancy Drew, or the boxcar children, or even books by Judy Bloom, etc. Again, I was always a reader and I have not once picked up any of these books. When I was in the 6th grade I remember a girl in another class reading The Diary of Anne Frank, when did I read this piece of history? Oh, I think I read it in high school, years after others around me. Another example is Pride and Prejudice. Most students are required to read this literary classic in high school, when did I read it? 2007- seven years after high school!

Well back to Harry (yes we are on a first name basis). I instantly was in love with these books. My best friend had read the first two books, and was in love with all the movies. Almost everyone in my eclectic church had read them (or hated the thought of reading them-Dylan & Micah). I borrowed the first two from my fellow Potter-ite, Josh. And I read both in that first week. I had Josh bring me 3 and 4 the next Sunday, again in a week I had devoured those and needed 5… well someone else had his copy of 5, so what does an obsessed woman do? I went straight to Books a Million and bought The Order of the Phoenix and started reading it immediately. I finished it quickly Josh brought me 6 & 7. I read book 7, The Deathly Hallows, in one day. I was so worried about someone ruining the end of the series for me that I didn’t go to sleep on that wonderful Sunday night until 3am, knowing that work started promptly at 7:45am. I just couldn’t help it, I was addicted. I cried at the end and re-read the last 5 chapters the next day. I couldn’t believe it was over. I was soon obsessed; I bought the first 4 movies online and waited anxiously for their arrival-the longest week of my life thus far. I watched them in order multiple times. It wasn’t that the movies were that great (which they are), but I just needed to be part of that fantasy world even if I couldn’t read the books over and over, because let’s face it, those 3 weeks of reading Harry Potter, I did nothing else.

What I loved about Harry Potter… Please if you have not read the series and plan to you want to stop now. Spoilers ahead! I loved J.K. Rowling’s writing so much. The first reason I love this series is because I love Harry Potter. He is just a wonderful person that you could picture as being one of your friends. He was genuine, a true friend, and he was passionate about life. Another reason I loved the books was because J.K. Rowling would present information, make me believe it and then change everything that I knew. Who knew that when you started book one and saw that cute little redheaded girl with her mama at platform 9 ¾, dropping off 4 of her older brothers, that she would be the future mother of Harry’s children? Who knew that the annoying character, Dobby the house elf, first premiering in The Chamber of Secrets would one day not only save the day, but die for his friend Harry Potter, and I would cry for hours thinking of all Harry had been through with Dobby. Who knew that in Prisoner of Azkaban, the same crazy that we thought wanted to kill Harry would be the only family he ever had, and would love Harry for who he was and would inspire him at the end to continue down the right path of self sacrifice? And Snape… wow, what do I say about Snape. I hated him from the very beginning. Do you want to know what was my favorite chapter of the entire series is??? “The Prince’s Tale” where right after Nagini strikes to kill Snape, he gives Harry a memory and there Harry finds that Severus Snape has loved him because of Lily Potter the whole time. Wow, did I feel stupid… I mean here I am, loving Sirius and hating Snape and they love him for the exact same reason. Sirius loved Harry because of his love for his best friend James and Snape loved Harry because of the love he had for his childhood friend Lily. Rowling just blew my mind with the plot turns and the amazing way she can capture her audience. Whether you are 11 starting off in the magical world or 25 reading a child’s book, a person can’t help but love every minute of this fantasy. I had not read any book before this that compared to this literary genius. Simon (my wonderful husband) has since bought me the series and I have re-read them. I am trying to only read them once a year. My next venture will probably be around May of 2009 before The Half Blood Prince comes out in theaters in July. This will be my first Potter film to see on the big screen and I cannot wait! Although reading Harry Potter came late in my life and some time after the books’ first appearance, reading them was totally worth it. One good thing about how I’ve come across most books (you know way after they are cool to read), is the fact that I did not have to stay up late and wait outside of Books a Million to buy the next book that’s been published, I was able to read them all in 3 weeks. It took some of you losers 10 years to read them all. Just kidding, I’m actually very jealous!