bethany725

I'd have to say that I think teenagers do still read books, as there's quite a few young adult series / books that are really, really popular right now. However, I went through a period when I was probably.. 16 and went through probably 21 where I didn't read nearly as much. I start driving at 16, and then it was that all my time was consumed with cheerleading and school.. then I started college and who has time to read anything other than class books then? Finally after I grad'd, I picked the habit back up, and haven't stopped since. I sincerely hope that most teenagers don't go through the same phase I did, but if some of them do, I can certainly relate and understand it. Also, as another angle.. there are so many other sources of entertainment now that are available to teenagers. The internet, gaming, etc are much more prevalent now than when I was in my teens, and I think it distracts from the simple task of reading a good book sometimes. Just my opinion.

STILL! I'll try to do better from now on! Can't promise it will NEVER happen again, but can promise I'll do my best.

My apologies, Roxi.. I am ashamed!! In my last book forum, I talked with a girl named "Rosie" all the time and I think my fingers just got into the habit of tagging the "sie" after the "Ro" ! Forgive my not thinking!

I'm with ya, Rosie! It's NOT a pretty sight for me when I'm cooking! My poor husband is at such a disadvantage after marrying me..

It's worth it for ACTUAL Ragu spaghetti sauce instead of generic "tangy concasse" they're always trying to sell me here.

Such a shame... but probably a great way to sum it up, Roxi!

Tonight it's a break from Indian food!! Spaghetti for us -- even found some REAL Ragu pasta sauce in a store here today. Cost me an arm and a leg, but it's worth it!

I just read your ramblings on the first 2 books. I completely agree with much of what you said -- and like how you mentioned Carlisle as the link between good and evil. I also agree with your saying Bella lacks much personality. The hard part is, I think that the book would have been WAY more interesting if told from the perspective of Carlisle and Esme, or Edward, or pretty much anyone besides Bella. Bella seems to me to be the most basic character, and it's a shame we view so much of the story through those basic eyes. Imagine how cool it could have been to hear Carlisle's voice of reason telling this story? You know he's not unfeeling -- he's just controlled and determined to have good win out. I'd love to get a glimpse inside his head and see how he REALLY feels sometimes -- I bet he's passionate and uber.sexy!

Hmmmm.. that would have been really interesting if Bella hadn't liked him. Half of me thinks he would have gotten his way with her -- one way or the other -- and half thinks he would have welcomed the relief since he was trying to stay away from her in the beginning anyway. I'm with you on this one though.. I think the pull would have been too strong for him! I'll have to check out your blog review on this book.. Does it say who your fav and least fav characters are??

Must be the ADD in me!

Oooh I forgot to answer this in my last post. He's not my favorite, and he's not my least favorite. I will say that during the first book (which I fully expected to hate), I asked my mom "Is it wrong that I'm in love with a fictional vampire character??" Overall, I really did like Edward.. There's something reaaaaally sexy about the guy (even though I don't like Robert Pattison appearance-wise *ducking to avoid things being thrown*).. The way I imagined him in the book was really sexy anyway. The fast car, the amazing strength, and there's no doubt he put Bella before himself time after time. He has a mysterious, aloof air in the beginning and it's really attractive. What can I say? I like the challenge some guys present. (Or did anyway, before I was washed up and married! ) Some people say he's overprotective.. I actually think he's the right amount of protective. Bella DID have a knack for getting herself into trouble and he stepped in at just the right times, for the most part. And it's admirable how he let her make her own decisions with Jacob, despite the fact that he was probably torn apart inside when she kissed him or told him she loved him, etc. So I think he was actually a good balance of hands-on and hands-off. Like the guy, but also hard for me to really evaluate him since so little of the book was from his perspective. I think it's why I have an easier time really making my judgment of Jacob and Bella: So much of the story was told from their view. If "Midnight Sun" is finished, I bet I'll have a whole page to write on Eddie-boy!

Dance lightly, and I'll welcome it!

Hey, I post in hopes someone will post their own opinion in return!

Dance all you want! ESPECIALLY on my bookshelf thread.. I think the more dancing, happy people, the better.

I definitely see your point, Roxi.. I think that, for me, since it was a fiction book and not really real, it was a lot easier to deal with than if this was something that occurred in real life. Since Meyer was writing specifically for YA, I feel like many things, the imprinting situation included, were merely explained away and she probably didn't write the storylines meaning for them to be questioned by us always-questioning adults out there. I support pedophilia no more than I support fortune-tellers (Alice) or mind readers (Edward), but since those are widely taken at face value in the book, I feel like the imprinters should be taken much in the same way. The way Meyer wrote and explained it actually prevented me from even considering pedophilia as an issue here -- Until I started reading the threads on the series, I didn't think much about it, just as I didn't think much about Jacob turning into a wolf or Carlisle bringing people back from the near-dead. Since so much of the book was make-believe, I let the imprinting situation follow in the same vein, and honestly never gave it a thought.

Not positive what is next.. I may actually try this book books of diff genres at one time thing, for a change! I have Cecelia Ahern's "A Place Called Home" on my bookshelf, and was thinking of trying that along with either "Wuthering Heights" or "Jane Eyre." I scanned the small book section at our have-it-all store today, but the selection wasn't fabulous and I didn't find a single book that's on my TBR list. Ah, well.. I am going to go to a bookstore maybe this weekend and see if I can have more success.

I just finished the series today so wanted to read some of the threads and comment. Favorite Characters.. Alice - She's playful, fun, accepting, welcoming, and one of the most devoted & loyal members of the Cullen family, despite the fact that she wasn't created by Carlisle. She always tries to help anyone that needs it in the book, and she's more welcoming to both Bella and Jacob, at times when other members of the family were less than accepting. Her powers to see the future, of course, are very cool.. If her powers were situated in someone less anxious to do complete good all the time (Rosalie, for example), they could be abused and cause more harm than good. The superficial side of me also loves that she's obsessed with parties and fashion.. Just too cute, and a nice balance for the unconcerned Bella in that sense. Emmett - What you see is what you get with Emmett. From the very beginning, there's a lot of mystery in this story. And that mystery follows all the way through to the end. Edward doesn't always tell Bella the whole story... Rosalie is stand-offish and unyielding and it's a long time before we understand why... Jacob resorts to tricks and uses Bella's friendship/love against her in order to get what he wants at times... Charlie is completely in the dark at the end about the truth... etc etc etc. With Emmett, it's never mysterious. He likes to fight, he likes to laugh, he likes to play, he likes to poke fun at Bella -- he's just good-hearted, honest with himself and others, and simple. And there's no guesswork with Emmett. Unlike so many of the other characters, he's easy to predict and it's endearing that he's so true to himself. Carlisle and Esme are givens for me for favorite characters. They're both warm, kind-hearted, care about others more than themselves, and the epitome of "good." Just plain good. Now for the ones I didn't love as much... Bella - I don't mean to say that I didn't "like" Bella, but there were points (especially in the first three books) that she really got on my nerves. For example, all through the first parts, she can only think of being with Edward forever. Her mind is consumed with him, she never wants him to leave, and she's very quick to claim undying, everlasting devotion to him. She seems to want nothing more than to have Edward wholly and completely and spend the rest of her life with him. Then all of a sudden.. When Edward starts talking about getting engaged and/or married, she literally shivers at the thought of being a 'fiance' or walking down the aisle. I do understand that her hesitation surrounding marriage comes from her mom, but it's such a huge swap to go from being "unconditionally and irrevocably" in love with him so soon after meeting him, to actually shuddering at the thought of wearing an engagement ring that ties her to Edward. Second thing that bothered me about Bella through mainly the first three books was how much she got to have her cake and eat it, too. I'm talking about how she spends 90% of her time with Jacob, despite her knowledge that he's falling in love with her. When Edward is away, she is around Jacob enough to develop feelings for him too, and it's evident in her actions that she feels this way. She's always stroking his face or his hair.. or leaning her head on his shoulder.. etc. Even later when he's a "shape-shifter," she continues developing this bond with him that must almost kill him .. She holds herself too closely to him, but not quite close enough to let him grab her. If I was Edward, I'd be upset that this charade continues all the way through the entire relationship. Generally, if a guy is in love with a girl, and she's truly and completely in love with another, she doesn't encourage the further development of the ellicit feelings by staring into his eyes all the time, or holding his hand everyday, etc.. especially after she starts having feelings for HIM but knows she'll never feel enough to give him what he needs. I think early on, she should have cut him loose or laid down some boundaries and stuck to them herself. Anything other than that is just intentionally hurting someone else.. in this case, it hurt both Jacob AND Edward at times, and all so Bella doesn't have to live without either of them right by her side whenever she wants. That being said, I wasn't always too fond of Jacob ... I think he should have also let Bella's words stand when she said she only wanted Edward, but I'm sure it was a bit confusing what with her actions not matching up with her words and all. I did like him slightly better by the end, since it all sort of matched up and made sense .. despite the imprinting situation. I didn't have a huge problem with the imprinting, since it was made clear that there was no free will involved. I actually ended up being happy with the situation at the end, So those are just my opinions.. I'm sure everyone doesn't agree, but that's all part of being a reader and discussing books, I guess. All in all, enjoyed the series and glad to see some Young Adult books becoming more widely valued. (I didn't say perfectly written or super insightful.. but many YA books are strictly for entertainment value, and I have to say this served up plenty of entertainment for me.) Even though I'm 26 so not really a "young adult," I think the more books that are widely-read, the better, as that scenario can offer many options and different perspectives.

Finished the Twilight series today! Yey! Now I can finally read the forum threads w/out fear of something being given away.

It sounds REALLY good, Peacefield! I bet I could find an egg substitute fairly easily.. Mmm it sounds all zesty and flavorful! Thanks for letting me know about this.

Lexie, At least that tells me it probably wasn't just the book, but the author's style I disliked! Sometimes I feel like maybe one book puts me off and I miss something great. You're right --- Diff things for diff people! I'm glad you enjoy him at least!

Ahhh I think it's all in good fun! I watch some and not others.. Like "Dancing with the Stars," "American Idol," and "The Bachelor" but don't get into "Survivor," "Big Brother," "The Amazing Race" for some reason. Who knows why? I do think they're pretty harmless though so am not opposed .. I figure watch 'em if you like, don't if you don't.

I've read "The Husband" by Koontz.. it was my first introduction to Koontz, and I found the book bland and boring.. It drug on and and on and on! I know many readers really like Koontz.. Anyone else have any opinion on "The Husband" ??

Haha.. I'd made like 2 posts when I put my list up there! You're certainly not being presumptuous -- although now I wonder if i was.