My sister-in-law loaned me two books that she said she had read and really enjoyed. She's loaned me lots of books--and I've always really enjoyed each and every one of them, and have been grateful for her recommendations and for sharing the books with me so that I wouldn't have to go through the library or have to purchase the books. These books have included: Because of Winn-Dixie, Peter and the Star-Catchers, Peter and the Shadow Thieves, The Goose Girl (actually, all of Shannon Hale's books) Pictures of Hollis Woods...all really fabulous books. Well, I was a little doubtful about the last set that she loaned to me. She had told me last year that she would have never ever read these books, due to the subject matter, but she had to give a presentation or something, and so thought she would just "scan" the book and ended up reading and becoming so engrossed that she didn't sleep the whole night to finish the book.
Well, despite the track record of recommendations from her, I rather skeptically brought the books home, thinking I'd get around to them whenever, and have to take little bites here and there over an extended period of time. I should know myself better, though, I get so absorbed in a story, I just get frustrated when I have to take it in little pieces, and so end up just plowing through. Even books that I have read before, like the Chronicles of Narnia or Persuasion. (Those familiar ones are a little easier to take in bites, though, than a new story, but still.)
Well, last Tuesday, I picked up the first of the set that she gave me, called Twilight. I read the first chapter, thinking I could maybe do a chapter at a time. Which was fine with the first chapter. I have to admit, I was curious due to the subject matter (vampires) because I've never been interested in that type of story, EVER, but because Vicki liked it so much, I was curious. The curiosity pulled me through the first chapter, and then I HAD to find out, and then--I was hooked. I finished the book on Thursday morning, and then picked up the next book (New Moon) and finished that one by Friday. You have to understand, I've been obsessive about sleeping what with Oliver and his continuous night-wakings or extremely early mornings, and I got three hours of sleep two nights in a row because I just had to finish these books (it's rather hard to read when Oliver is awake). And then I picked up the first book again (Twilight) and finished it yesterday. It was just as good as the first time around. I could read it again, and I don't think I would still be tired of it. I'm itching to read New Moon again, the only thing stopping me is that I have so much to do Wednesday and Thursday. But I'm obsessed! I've been to her website and I just can't get enough of her characters! I would have to say that I love this book as much as I love Jane Eyre and Pride and Prejudice. And that is really saying a lot, because I really, really, love those books.
I guess this is just to say that I loved the books, they are fabulous, and if you are in the mood to become completely absorbed in a fictional story, these are the books for you. I highly, highly recommend them. However, I must warn you that if you don't want to get as hung up as I am right now, don't read the second book, New Moon. Twilight holds together itself as a complete, finished story, but I couldn't get enough of the characters and that is why I continued on with New Moon. But if you can read the first one and not read the second one, let me know! I'm so unsatisfied, (think: the last Pirates of the Carribean movie unsatisfied) and can't wait until September for the next book. And then I will have to wait an entire year for the next book, and another year or more or forever for the last book, which is really the one I am dying to read at this moment.
I would love to meet Stephenie Meyer and get my books signed (I went out and bought them the day I gave them back to Vicki, heh, because I was already to read them again, because I can't get enough of her characters!) She'll be here in Provo on Friday and Saturday at the Provo library but I think it's an exclusive club pary and then an expensive symposium the next day. Oh, well.
Here's the weird part, and I don't know if it's just because I'm kind of a freak, and perhaps overly sentimental or something? I don't know what it is, but after I read a really good book like that, I get a little depressed. Or melancholy, perhaps is a better word. Perhaps its because it was such a good story, and then, it's over. Is it because I was so absorbed in the story, that for a few days I became "friends" with the characters, and then I have to say goodbye, never to see them again? Am I mourning the end of the book? Am I sad because real-life is just not as fabulous as a story? Or is it simply because I've had my decadent indulgence and have to face the chores and mundanity of everyday life again? I don't know exactly what it is, maybe it is somehow all of those things combined. But what I'm curious to know, is if anyone else in the world ever feels that way after reading a fabulous book or seeing a really really good movie. Or is it just me?
