Recent Reads

Awhile ago when the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer came out I heard so much hype about it.  There were online fan sites, articles and of course tv show segments.  You *have* to read this book people were saying.  Not long after, the movies began to come out and the hysteria intensified.  The actors graced the cover of every tabloid magazine.  People waited for them for autographs or perhaps just to be able to say they saw them in person.  I knew nothing about it.  I turned the channel if the subject came up.  I walked away if the magazine that I intended to buy had Twilight on the cover.  I just didn't care.

I will let you in on a little secret...I hate 'going with the flow'.  I hate reading a book that 'everyone' else is raving about.  I hate going to the movie that is supposed to be the most amazing ever.  Sometimes I still go, but I hate being like everyone else!  I find that I usually get disappointed - if all of the critics are in love with a movie then I will likely not like it, or at least feel like I had higher expectations.

That said, I recently read a book that my sister loaned me which I would not ordinarily have picked up or given a second glance.  It was called The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed reading it.  It was bizarre and surreal, yet it gripped me and I found myself awake at 1:30am reading 'just one more page'.  They are now making it into a movie.  I told my sister how much the book surprised me and how much I enjoyed it.  She then told me that if I liked The Hunger Games, I would probably like Twilight.  Gasp.  No.  How could that be possible.  I was determined to dislike Twilight without ever having picked it up.  Unfortunately, that meant that I had to allow myself to dip my toe into the Twilight saga to see for myself.

I have currently finished the first book, Twilight and have just started the second, New Moon.  After finishing the first book I can honestly say "Meh".  I didn't hate it but it wasn't as good as I'd expected given all of the hype.  I have been told by Twihards that the books get better as you go and the last one is the best.  I find it odd that you need to keep reading to get to the best one but I guess I will in order to see what it's all about!