A windy afternoon at the park

April 14, 2008

Done, but left wanting

I finally finished books 2 and 3 in the Twilight series. Apparently I'm a slow reader because so many of you said you finished the books in one long marathon session. It took me about a week for each book. At first I didn't want to rush through them, I wanted to savor each chapter and I was really enjoying this new indulgence. But after Dan threatened to take them away from me more than once and Lily raised her voice in exasperation, "Mommy, I'm trying to show you something! Stop reading!" I decided that I better finish them as quickly as possible. So on Thursday night I vowed to stay up into the night and finish Eclipse.

No matter how much I like a book it usually takes me several days to finish because every time I sit back to read I get sleepy. I love a good nap more than just about anything, so I didn't get too much daytime reading done. At night I would read awhile and though I was dying to know what happened next, I had to put the book down for the sake of my family the next morning. If any of you have been around me when I don't get enough sleep, you'll respect why I gave up at about midnight each night.

Now that it's done, I'm sad that I rushed through, especially the last part of Eclipse. Oh that was good stuff! I've been musing about why I loved these books so much. For one thing, have you ever read anything so sexy that didn't have any sex or real hanky-panky at all? It reminded me of pre-marriage days, when I would get all twitterpated about some boy. The excitement and anticipation was so intoxicating. Sure, you get the good stuff in marriage, but when was the last time you really got butterflies in your stomach?

Additionally, I think what really appealed to me was the slow development and evolution of the relationships. One thing that really annoys me about movies is there's rarely any relationship development. It's just not believable and it leaves me rolling my eyes. Now, a girl falling in love with a vegetarian vampire isn't exactly high on the reality scale, but at least the author made it intriguing to watch the relationship unfold.

I also liked the non-traditional view of vampires. The ability to coexist with humans in the daytime, the special "Cullen" diet, the sparkling skin in the sunshine (I can't wait to see how they depict that in the movie). I was also intrigued by all the Cullen's histories. It left me wondering what I would do with my time if I knew I would live indefinitely. I loved the theme of self-control and self-mastery throughout the books.

I have always loved "coming-of-age" books and this fit the bill perfectly. At times I worry that when my girls are teenagers it will be hard to remember and empathize with how it feels to be young, still growing in your understanding of the world and your maturity. Reading these books brought back the sharp feeling of angst that comes with that age, particularly of unrequited love. Maybe I'm alone on this, I know Jenn loathes Jacob Black, but I found myself identifying with him and wanting so much for him to find joy. I had a few one sided love affairs in my day (Lori & Sam, remember Jon Keller?) and I can still remember how I longed to have my feelings returned. One of the things that drew me to Dan was the fact that he adored me openly, and I just basked in his affection.

So now, let's speculate how Stephenie Meyer is going to wrap up the story in the 4th book. I predict that once Edward and Bella consummate their relationship, something about that act will make Edward human. I just can't see Bella really becoming a vampire and mortal enemy to Jacob. My sister Becky has some great ideas on her blog. Read her book review here. While I can't quite accept the idea of Bella leaving her human existence behind, I also can't imagine Edward becoming human and separating himself from the rest of the Cullens. They are so tightly bound, and Bella has become such an intricate part of the Cullen family that I can only picture them being a package deal. As for Jacob, the easy solution would be for him to imprint with someone, but I don't see Stephenie Meyer taking the easy way out to resolve Jacob's problems. I just hope he gets something great in the end.

Oh, how will we make it until August?! I've already scoured Stephenie Meyer's website and read the chapter written from Edward's point of view: Midnight Sun. And while I was pretty skeptical about the movie being any good because we all have such strong, individual ideas about what the characters look like and how the scenes played out, I have to admit that I'll be going on opening night after I saw this video. Who's with me?

Consumed

I have been sucked into the vortex of the Cullen family.

It's all Sam's fault, really. I had heard of the Twilight series of books; my cousins Katy and Jenn P. are big fans. I never really got interested, though, I thought, "Eh, vampires...not really my thing." But then Sam issued a challenge on her blog. For those of you who don't know anything about this book, or this movie, I'm sorry. Google Stephenie Meyer, get yourself to a bookstore, and get with it!

She was essentially saying, "Anybody whose anybody has read this book."

I couldn't back down from a challenge like that. So next time I was at the library, as luck would have it, there was actually a copy on the shelf. I spent the next four days reading every chance I got, staying up ridiculously late and generally finding ways to make the girls entertain themselves so I could selfishly indulge in a little vampire fantasy.

It's one of those books where you don't want to read it too fast because then it'll be over, but you just can't contain yourself! I allowed myself to rush through it only because I knew there were two more books after Twilight. Now I'm going to have to start rationing myself.

This is my feeble justification for being MIA on the blog. I can't get enough of Edward and Bella! After a panicked morning of finding no copies of New Moon at the library, calling Katy and Jenn, who I thought for sure would have one, I finally found a copy to borrow from my friend Brooks. It was ridiculous how excited I was to have found a copy I can start reading today.

Dan is full of mockery about my "teenage books." Sometime over the last few days we got on the subject of vampires and in a tone of mockery he said, "Yeah, I hear they make really good boyfriends."

Bite me.

My heart is all a-flutter

READ HERE NOW!

Lori emailed these photos to me a couple days ago and then my cousin Jen emailed this morning saying that she'd just finished watching New Kids on the Block on the Today Show. "Still as yummy as ever" she said. Amen, sister!

I still remember running home from school to watch their videos and I still have the VHS tapes stored with my high school scrapbooks and memorabilia.

I was shocked when I saw this picture. Did they really look that ridiculous?


Oh, but ladies, let's admit, they grew up reeeeeal nice.

Sookie, sookie, sookie, sookie, UH!

Hey Dan, if you get one of those cool white hats and striped leather jackets, you might get lucky tonight...