REVIEW: Twilight

Twilight
Author: Stephanie Meyer

I remember when this series first came out. My teenagers and their friends were carrying the books around chatting endlessly about sparkly vampires and werewolves. YA books existed prior to this series, but this first book in the series is the first one I remember being so popular that all the area teens were reading it. Then the other books continued the story.....and the movies.....

I can totally see why this series made it onto the list of 100 books for The Great American Read. Because I want to read through the entire list, I happily checked the audio book out on my local library's digital site and proceeded to find out what makes Edward Cullen sparkle. :)

I enjoyed the story, but the book is definitely for younger readers who still understand the intricacies of high school social events and first love. I hate to admit this -- but I'm too old for this book. As Bella gushed about loving Edward despite his strange behavior and barely controlled urges to drink her blood, I did catch myself rolling my eyes a bit and thinking how ridiculous she was being. But then I would stop myself and think....this book is written for 13-18 year old girls....not for a 50 year old woman who has been married twice and had kids. :) Bella is justified by her youth in her simpering and dreamy sighs over.....a vampire who could kill her (but who magically loves her enough to bravely hold back his urges and promise to never harm her -- even if she smells incredibly tasty).

I came, I checked out, I listened.  Not for me. Would have been for me 35 years ago when I was still longingly gazing at a senior boy who did not even know I was on the planet (who thanks to the magic of Facebook I have come to know is now 100+ pounds overweight, bald and a 3 times divorced alcoholic. Dodged that bullet!!! ha ha ha)

This book series got millions of teenagers to read and talk about books! Even my teenage son read the series at the urging of his then girlfriend. And that is the purpose of The Great American Read....a celebration of books that got the public reading. All types of readers! And all types of books! I'm loving my journey through the list. This particular series is not my cup of tea.....but it's because of ME, not the book. I'm too old and have lived too much life (gained wisdom since my silly girl days) and just can't identify with the main character anymore. Does that make this a bad book? Nope. It makes it for another target audience. And I'm ok with that. Girls have been simpering and pining after boys they should really best leave alone (I know this for a fact, because I married one.....hence the divorce and re-marriage later when I had a brain) for hundreds of years. And boys have been falling in love with the wrong girls for those same centuries. It's young human nature. Then as adults we all look back and roll our eyes, thinking how unbelievable naive and stupid we were.  :) Such is life. :)

I do wish I had had a boyfriend that sparkled though. My husband offered to spray himself with glow in the dark spray paint and chase me through the woods near our house.....but it just wouldn't be the same. And, we would probably both trip over a tree root and pull a muscle or sprain something. Nope....sparkly trysts are best left to the young. I will settle for a cute, slightly overweight, non sparkly husband....and move on to the next book on the list. :) I read this first book...but will not be reading the rest of this series.

Check out The Great American Read! It will be a series on PBS starting in October. They have shown an intro episode already which is streamable online. The list of 100 books is here: https://www.pbs.org/the-great-american-read/books/#/  Happy reading!! Twilight is the 13th book or series from the list that I have read/re-read as part of The Great American Read. :) Only 87 to go!