springdellgirl

Book Review #11






When I was growing up and living up Provo Canyon we were far from any city or county library. As a result a book mobile would travel up to our little community to meet our library needs. The book mobile came once a week and was much anticipated...especially in the winter months. Half of the time that I lived in Springdell we had zero TV reception until the arrival of cable tv and thus most people that lived there were readers. The book mobile was a warm and cozy place to congregate with friends and neighbors and peruse the shelves for good reads.

The man that drove the book mobile was an odd duck...his name escapes me. He used to wear quilted western shirts, had a sign on his desk that said "I collect stamps" (shocker), and spoke with a pronounced speech impediment.

The book mobile had a pretty good selection of books...a small children's section, fiction, and nonfiction and behind his desk there was an elusive white box that held a "special" collection of books. We called these "Young Love Books"...they were "teen romance" books. Titles like "The New Girl" and "Prom Date". Why these books were kept behind his desk I have no idea...but it did require me to have to go up to the book mobile man and stammer out beet red "Can I see the young love books". Oh the agony! Especially if any neighborhood boys were around to laugh and mock.

There were special rules related to the "young love" books. First, you were only allowed two books at a time and I do believe there was an age limit to read them. I think I recall having to be twelve...am I making that up Naomi? I seem to recall finally being "old enough" to read these "special" books and I recall having had to read the ones Naomi (who is 2 years older than me) had checked out before she returned them to the book mobile before I could check out my own.

After reading these books for a few months I came to realize that these books were "lame"...because at twelve I had already been reading books like Thornbirds, Herman Wouk, Pat Conroy, and John Jakes. "Young Love" books were quite tame in comparison.

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer was our book club selection for July. This book is young adult fiction. Lucy had talked about this book a few times and then Andrea read it and enjoyed it and so she picked it as our selection for July. This book has a few interesting things going for it...it is written by a BYU graduate, it is a bestseller, it is based on a dream the author had, and it is a love story about vampires. Hmm...

From the Publisher:


“I’D NEVER GIVEN MUCH THOUGHT TO HOW I WOULD DIE– I’d had reason enough in the last few months –but even if I had, I would not have imagined it like this. . . . Surely it was a good way to die, in the place of something else, someone I loved. Noble, even. That ought to count for something.”When Isabella Swan moves to the gloomy town of Forks and meets the mysterious, alluring Edward Cullen, her life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn. With his porcelain skin, golden eyes, mesmerizing voice, and supernatural gifts, Edward is both irresistible and impenetrable. Up until now, he has managed to keep his true identity hidden, but Bella is determined to uncover his dark secret. What Bella doesn’t realize is the closer she gets to him, the more she is putting herself and those around her at risk. And, it might be too late to turn back. . . .Deeply seductive and extraordinarily suspenseful, Twilight will have readers riveted right until the very last page is turned.



The first part of Twilight had me flashing back to young love books and thinking...oh no! Boring. (But I kept reading I mean if Lucy and Andrea liked the book there had to be something to it). I'm glad I did. The first part of the book is slow and very juvenile (oh yeah...it's Young Adult Fiction...duh) but the book definitely got better. Right around the part where Edward (the dreamy vampire) admitted to being a vampire and began explaining how he became a vampire. Then I was hooked. The book really picked up speed at the baseball game in the woods.

Here is my pet peeve: I am annoyed by the vast quantity of books where the female protagonist is annoying and constantly getting into trouble and having to be saved by the better written and more interesting male character. I know...it is a universal fantasy of women everywhere to be "rescued" by a handsome male (hello Jamie Frasier...but even Claire annoys me a lot of the time). Bring on the strong interesting females I say!!

Something else that I found slightly disturbing was how orgasmic Edward is over the scent of Bella's blood. YES...I REALIZE HE IS A VAMPIRE. But it was still weird and disturbing and I had to wonder what kind of kook is Stephenie Meyer.

Third...Edward is described as having "bronze" colored hair. I couldn't picture that no matter how hard I tried. My Edward is dark and brooding ala Heathcliff of Wuthering Heights.

My rating of the book: GOOD. It is a great poolside/lakeside summer read. Great literature it is not. Edward is interesting and tantalizing even if Bella is boring. I will definitely read the other two books in the trilogy. The biggest perk of reading Twilight...the brownie points I earned with my Young Women who found it in my car and lapsed into a glassy- eyed chant of "Edward...Edward...Edward". Or was that me?