The Willoughbys, by Lois Lowry

Title: The Willoughbys

Author: Lois Lowry

Illustrator: Lois Lowry (Yeah, she wrote and drew the pictures.)

Published: 2008 (to my surprise, since it seems so old fasioned.)

Pages:157 (175 if you include the cute glossary and the suggested reading list.)

Chapters: 22 (plus the glossary and the reading list makes 24.)

Pages per Chapter (on average): 7+

Date Started: Jan. 25-----Date Finished: Jan. 25

My Reading Speed: 175 pages a day, or 24 chapters a day

The Main Characters: The 4 Willoughby children, Tim, Barnaby A, Barnaby B (they're twins) and Jane, are mostly the main characters, and I suppose the story is also about the lonely Commander Melanoff, who lives in the mansion nearby.

My Brief Synopsis: The Willoughbys are a very normal and old-fashioned family, and the kids imagine it would be fun to be orphans like their favorite story book characters. Their parents are quite mean and uncaring, so it isn't any surprise. At one point a baby girl is left on the Willoughby doorstep and the kids want to keep it, but the mother won't allow it, so the children in turn leave it at the Melanoff Mansion. Mr. and Mrs. Willoughby take off on a dangerous vacation and leave the 4 children in the care of a nice nanny and for some reason try to sell their house so the children won't have anywhere to live. Meanwhile, Melanoff is a sad, messy man who made a fortune on a candy he invented. He's sad because his wife and son were supposedly killed in an avalanche. When he finds the baby, he cares for her and finds a reason to pick up his life again. He names her Ruth.

There isn't exactly any villain in this story, nor any real conflict. It's just a charming, old-fashioned style tale, like Mary Poppins or James and the Giant Peach.

My General Comments: Despite my expectations, this was a really sweet story. It feels just like a classic, but it was published recently, just last year. Very well written, and it's so short that, if I owned it, I would quite enjoy reading it again and again, because it's so good. Unfortunately, I don't own it. It's borrowed from the library. It's a good book to read to kids, but nice to read by yourself.

My Favorite Part: I like the parts with the baby Ruth in them. I love babies, and seeing how they're portrayed in books. Ruth is a cute baby.

My Favorite Things About the Book: It's short and simple. You can believe that the characters can be real and the things that happen are possible. It also has a very happy and satisfying ending, unlike Coraline. Also, the little references to other good, actually old fashioned books are cute. The Glossary and Bibliography are really good. Lois writes her own definitions for large words (kind of like Lemony Snicket) and summaries for old books that have similar plot elements to The Willoughbys.

A Personal Shout Out to Lois Lowry: Your book is so sweet. Before I saw when it was published, I was actually fooled into thinking that it was an old classic, because of the style in which you wrote. I really liked it. And your pictures aren't half bad either. They fit the book's style very well.

There is no Wikipedia article for The Willoughbys, but below is Lois Lowry's website:

http://www.loislowry.com/

What is your favorite part? If you haven't read this book, sorry for all the spoilers, but you can comment and say if this book review was helpful. If you have read this book, please give me a comment or email me so we can discuss it. This would be the closest I've ever gotten to a book club, you know.

The Host, by Stephenie Meyer

Title: The Host

Author: Stephenie Meyer

Published: 2008

Pages: 620

Chapters: 61

Pages per Chapter (on average): 10+

Date Started: Jan. 20-----Date Finished: Jan. 23

My Reading Speed:155 pages a day, or 15+ chapters a day.

The Main Characters: Technically you might say that there is only one physical main character, but inside this body are two individual minds who are very unique entities. One is Melanie Stryder, the previous owner of her own body, and Wanderer, the parasite like "soul" that has taken over Melanie's body as her own. Wanderer uses Melanie as a host, but Melanie can still make her voice heard inside their shared head. It's a little confusing, I know. Does that mean these are actually 2 characters or 1? No, definitely 2.

My Brief Synopsis: The story obviously takes place sometime in the future. It's a little bit sci-fi, because these aliens from outer space come to Earth and use the humans as hosts, hence the title. These parasites, Souls, have invaded many other planets in the universe, and Earth is like a new acquisition for them. There is some resistance among the humans, but only few groups; most everyone has succumbed to the Souls. Until the soul known as Wanderer becomes Melanie. Wanderer starts having visions of Melanie's loved ones, her young brother Jamie and her true love Jared, and starts feeling a similar yearning for them that goes against all logic. So, with Mel's vague directions, Wanderer searches the desert, almost dying from dehydration, to find these two people her body is so magnetized to.

The Conflicts: I don't want to reveal too much of the story, but Wanderer and Melanie do eventually find Jamie and Jared in a sort of underground compound that houses the few remaining "true" humans. Unfortunately, since Wanderer is one of the enemy, most of the small community despise her, even her love Jared, who can't possibly love Melanie with something so alien inside her. It's of course extremely complicated, but some people, like Jamie and her crazy but wise and insightful Uncle Jeb, know there is good in Wanderer, or Wanda as they call her later on, so they do their best to integrate her into the human community.

My General Comments: I loved it. Absolutely loved it. It was so incredible, the story, the characters, the very feelings the words trigger inside. Granted, the beginning is a little confusing, but I suppose that's the mood Stephanie Meyer wanted to open up with. It's just a completely sensational read. It's like Twilight in so many ways, with so much action and romance, but it was so totally unique. I've never read anything like it.

My Favorite Part: It's difficult to come up with a specific favorite part, but I like it whenever Wanderer is around her favorite people, like Jeb, Jamie, Jared, the resident Doc, and a man named Ian, who seems to appreciate and love "Wanda" for the seperate person she is, apart from her Melanie body. That makes it a funny love triangle, or rectangle or something, because Mel loves Jared, so Wanda is attracted to him too, but Ian loves Wanda, and she has some feelings for Ian, though Mel isn't comfortable with that because it's still technically her body. It's so confusing and difficult, but honestly, what kind of good romance isn't?

My Favorite Things About the Book: I really liked that I had such a long time to read this book, since it was so long. I also like how the book made me think about different things, like how it must be like to share someone's mind, (as in literally), or to be in a different body so many times but keeping one solid identity. I guess it makes people appreciate their given bodies more, and thier minds.

A Personal Shout Out to Stephenie Meyer: You have such an amazing gift with words, especially with those that produce such strong feelings in your characters. I cared so much for Wanda and for everything to turn out alright. The story is so emotionally involving that I felt like Wanda was really 3 people inside, including me. Your writing style just does that, pulls readers into the action and leaves them gasping for breath for more. I am so glad I decided to read this, to be a part of the adventure. Such incredible food for thought, too.

Here's the link to The Host's Wikipedia Article.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Host_(novel)

Below is the Stephenie Meyer's website:

http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/

What is your favorite part? If you haven't read this book, sorry for all the spoilers, but you can comment and say if this book review was helpful. If you have read this book, please give me a comment or email me so we can discuss it. This would be the closest I've ever gotten to a book club, you know.

The Titan's Curse, by Rick Riordan

Title: The Titan's Curse

Author: Rick Riordan

Published: 2007

Pages: 312

Chapters: 20

Pages per Chapter (on average): 15+

Date Started: Jan. 18-----Date Finished: Jan. 19

My Reading Speed: 156 pages a day, or 10 chapters a day

The Main Characters: Percy Jackson, son of the sea god Poseidon, plus his friends Grover, a satyr, and Thalia, daughter of Zeus.

My Brief Synopsis: Well, this is the third book in this particular series, so people who haven't read the previous 2 probably won't be able to follow. But Thalia, the demigod who used to be the tree guarding Camp Half-Blood, becomes a big character because Annabeth, as well as the goddess Artemis, gets kidnapped by the Titans, so Percy, Thalia and Grover have to go on a quest to save them before the Winter Solstice.

The Conflicts: As usual in this series, there are a bunch of fights and cool, dangerous monsters, if you're into that sort of thing. Luke, a son of Hermes being manipulated by the titan Kronos, is the guy you'd label as the villain. There are also a couple of new demigods, Bianca and Nico di Angelo, who are introduced to the scene. Bianca becomes a Hunter, and both she and her brother have a mysterious past.

My General Comments: I wasn't very sure if I wanted to continue this series at first, but I actually liked this book. It was good and fast-paced, and even after a couple of years of being a hero, Percy still finds something new to learn about being a demigod every once in awhile, therefore allowing us, the readers, to learn as well. That's what I think a good hero should be in this kind of series. Humble, and always learning, never assuming to know everything about his/her world, unlike their arrogant foes.

My Favorite Part: I like the parts where Percy meets an Olympian God or Goddess, to see how these figures of celestial power are described and what their characters are like. When all the gods are together, as in the Winter Solstice meeting and the Olympian party, it's pretty cool.

My Favorite Things About the Book: I enjoy reading about all the allusions to greek mythology. Most of my knowledge about greek gods and stuff I got from the Disney movie Hercules, so it's fascinating learning about all the names and the myths. Pretty smart of Mr. Riordan to fuse that kind of education with these cool adventures.

A Personal Shout Out to Rick Riordan: Kudos to you, Rick. You must've spent hours studying your Greek Mythology literature. You created such a cool and original world, I can almost believe that the gods are still around and kicking.

Here's the link to The Titan's Curse's Wikipedia Article.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Titan's_Curse

Also the series' Wikipedia Article

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percy_Jackson_and_the_Olympians

Below is Rick Riordan's website:

http://www.rickriordan.com/

What is your favorite part? If you haven't read this book, sorry for all the spoilers, but you can comment and say if this book review was helpful. If you have read this book, please give me a comment or email me so we can discuss it. This would be the closest I've ever gotten to a book club, you know.

Edit: There's now going to be a movie of the original Percy Jackson book, The Lightning Thief. Here's a trailer:

Erec Rex: The Dragon's Eye, by Kaza Kingsley

Title: Erec Rex: The Dragon's Eye

Author: Kaza Kingsley

Illustrator: Melvyn Grant

Published: 2007

Pages: 340

Chapters: 25

Pages per Chapter (on average): 13+

Date Started: Jan. 13-----Date Finished: Jan. 15

My Reading Speed: 113+ pages a day, or 8+ chapters a day.

The Main Characters: Erec Rex, a 12 year-old boy with funny hair and a glass eye, and Bethany Evirly, an girl who's good with numbers.

My Brief Synopsis: When Erec's adopted mother goes missing, his search leads him to an entire other world full of unusual magic. Because the 3 rulers of the magic lands Aorth, Ashonaand Alypium are old and want to retire, contests for kids are being held to decide who will be the next 3 successors. Erec decides that entering this competion can't hurt, and with lots of help from his friends he gets closer and closer to maybe becoming a king.

The Conflicts: It's not going to be that easy, however. There are kids who cheat a lot, and the contests seem rather dangerous. Someone is also driving competitors away with various incidents. A minotaur runs loose, attack fleas makes everyone itch like crazy, swamp gas invades the dormitories. One of the king's AdviSeers, Balthazar Ugry, is a suspicious character, always around when something bad happens. Erec later discovers that his mom is trapped in the dungeon of King Pluto and he has to steal various ingrediants for a blasting formula. And on top of all that, it seems that there's a plot to take over the magic realms using the 3 royal scepters, and Erec's mother keeps hinting that someone might be out to get him.

My General Comments: As I read this book, I couldn't help but think that Kaza drew a lot of inspiration from the Harry Potter series. The whole plot almost seems to be an attempt to mix the plots of Goblet of Fire and Order of the Phoenix, with all the contests and breaking into dungeons. Balor Stain very much reminds me of Malfoy, and Ugry definitly has a Snape-ish air in my imagination. I can tell that Springball was trying to be another Quidditch. It's got really complex rules, none of which involve broomsticks. I can't say I'm very scared of Baskania. He's no Voldemort. I liked the book, but I think it was a little funny how quickly the kids accepted all the weird things about the magic world. It's like, "Oh, would you look at that? That's not normal. But I guess it's normal here, so I'm good."

My Favorite Part: I guess I liked the parts with the contests in them. There are 6 of them, I think, and it's like American Idol. The group of competing kids is always reduced after each task is completed. The games seem fun. I think I'd have stood a chance of winning them if I was a character.

My Favorite Things About the Book: I enjoyed the semi-closeness to Harry Potter. The main characters reminded me a lot of Harry and Hermione. It's a shame there couldn't be a kind of Ron in there. I really liked the illustrations at the beginning of each chapter, by Melvyn Grant. His style is incredibly close to J.K.'s illustrator, Mary Grandpre. I like that Erec has different colored eyes, because in the book I'm writing my villain has a green and blue eye, so when I saw the cover up close I thought it was cool. It's not referenced a lot in the book, though. I also thought it was funny how Bethany sounded a lot like Bettina to me.

A Personal Shout Out to Kaza Kingsley: This book sounds like an interesting start to a series. I'm not sure what else is going to happen to Erec, but it sounds cool. I hope you don't take it the wrong way about how close your story is to Harry Potter. Did you get a lot of inspiration from it, I wonder?

Here's the link to Erec Rex's Wikipedia Article. It doesn't say much right now.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erec_Rex

Below is the Erec Rex website:

http://erecrex.com/

What is your favorite part? If you haven't read this book, sorry for all the spoilers, but you can comment and say if this book review was helpful. If you have read this book, please give me a comment or email me so we can discuss it. This would be the closest I've ever gotten to a book club, you know.

The Diamond of Darkhold, by Jeanne DuPrau

Title: The Diamond of Darkhold

Author: Jeanne DuPrau.

Published: 2008

Pages: 285

Chapters: 28

Pages per Chapter (on average): 10+

Date Started: Jan. 12-----Date Finished: Jan. 13

My Reading Speed: 142.5 pages a day, or 14 chapters a day.

The Main Characters: Lina Mayfleet and Doon Harrow return, and for at least a little while the story is told from the point of view from 3 other characters, their friends Kenny, Torren and Lizzie.

My Brief Synopsis: The people of Ember and Sparks try to get through a tough winter and Lina and Doon think it would be a good idea to go back to Ember and see what they can salvage from the dead city. There would probably be lots of food and materials left over from the Exodus of Ember (I made that up myself), plenty to last the rest of the winter. They make the journey, and during their adventures they discover a truly neat invention that probably saves all of human civilization for future generations.

The Conflicts: When the kids climb down into Ember again, they find it inhabited by a mean family known as the Troggs (just the name makes them sound terrible, doesn't it). The Troggs kidnap Doon while Lina escapes. They aren't exactly villains or anything, but they do treat Doon badly. They think they own the city, which they dub Darkhold. I think it's clever that the whole Trogg family is named after major cities. Washton, Kanza, Minny-Apples, Scawgo, Yorick. Yorick also reminds me of a Shakespear line (alas, poor Yorick. I knew him well!). Am I right about that? I can't be sure.

My General Comments: I most definitly think that this was the best book out of the whole series. There is a much bigger sense of adventure, and I love scenes in the middle of the forest. The diamond also lends a sense of mysticality to the story, even though it isn't actually magic, like you might think it is. (Yeah, on the cover the blue diamond looks all shiny and magical, but you're wrong. Oops, I've said too much!)

My Favorite Part: Okay, you can probably guess my favorite part here. Yeah, the ending. But this one was really good. It was definitly a happy and satisfying end to this series. Very fascinating too. It talks about what happens really far into the people of Ember's and Sparks' future, and then it gets really descriptive about the planet. It's really cool. You should read the book just to get to this ending.

My Favorite Things About the Book: Well, it's hard to come up with anything I haven't already mentioned. I just really liked this book in the series, okay?

A Personal Shout Out to Jeanne DuPrau: Like you just heard up there, absolutely loved the ending, Jeanne. I now understand that there's no need for another book in the series. I'm proud of myself for finishing the series within the space of a month, like I said I would. I still hope you write other books, because I like your style.

Here's the link to The People of Sparks's Wikipedia Article.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Diamond_of_Darkhold

Below is Jeanne Duprau's own website:

http://www.jeanneduprau.com/index.shtml

This link will take you to my review of Jeanne Duprau's first 3 books, The City of Ember, The People of Sparks, and The Prophet of Yonwood.

http://bettinasbooks2009.blogspot.com/2008/12/city-of-ember.html

http://bettinasbooks2009.blogspot.com/2009/01/people-of-sparks.html

http://bettinasbooks2009.blogspot.com/2009/01/prophet-of-yonwood.html

What is your favorite part? If you haven't read this book, sorry for all the spoilers, but you can comment and say if this book review was helpful. If you have read this book, please give me a comment or email me so we can discuss it. This would be the closest I've ever gotten to a book club, you know.

The Prophet of Yonwood, by Jeanne Duprau

Title: The Prophet of Yonwood

Author: Jeanne DuPrau.

Published: 2006

Pages: 290

Chapters: 33

Pages per Chapter (on average): 8+

Date Started: Jan. 11-----Date Finished: Jan. 12

My Reading Speed: 145+ pages a day, or 16.5 chapters a day.

The Main Characters: Nickie Randolph, a young girl who wants to help the world, and Grover Persons, a boy who wants to be a herpetologist (someone who studies snakes.)

My Brief Synopsis: This book is a prequel to The City of Ember and seems to take place a lot closer to the present than the other books. There is talk about a big Disaster approaching, various countries being at war with each other. A woman in Yonwood, North Carolina receives a horrible vision of a future in which the planet is barren and destroyed (hence the title). Nickie has 3 goals when she arrives with her aunt in Yonwood. 1~Convince her aunt to keep the big house her great-grandfather left them instead of selling it. 2~Fall in love during her stay. 3~Help the world in some small, special way.

The Conflicts: The alleged Prophet's friend, Mrs. Beeson, interprets the mumblings as instructions for the people to avoid this terrible future, but that doesn't seem quite right. No singing and dancing? No dogs? Why should people give up these kind of things? Why should the boy Grover give up his snakes, just because the bible says they're supposed to be evil? Why should God care about such trivial things when there's a global crisis?

My General Comments: I'm glad the story's events are closer to now than the others, though it seems like a scary prospect of the future, having so many people worry if the world's going to end. Who knows if we're not so far away from that unless we fix things right now, like global warming or foreign relations? It's serious stuff to think about, but it's always important to keep thinking about the future, how you can help make things better instead of worse.

My Favorite Part: I liked the last chapter very much. I know, it's seeming like a pattern for me. Me liking endings the most. But this was really good. You get to know how all the characters fared in the end and everyone seems happy, but then you realize that events still have to lead up to the point that Ember started up at, and yet it's satisfying. I had a sneaking suspicion that Nickie would grow to be the old lady who wrote the journal Lina and Doon found.

My Favorite Things About the Book: Well, since it's a prequel, I really like that things were cleared up. Of course, I think a tiny bit that the characters were slightly more... childish than Lina and Doon. I don't know, like, Lina and Doon seem a lot braver and more resourceful than Nickie and Grover. That's the only critique I'm going to make, because I did quite like it. Maybe not quite so much as the others, but it was good. Really.

Here's the link to The People of Sparks's Wikipedia Article.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prophet_of_Yonwood

Below is Jeanne Duprau's own website:

http://www.jeanneduprau.com/index.shtml

This link will take you to my review of Jeanne Duprau's first 2 books, The City of Ember and The People of Sparks.

http://bettinasbooks2009.blogspot.com/2008/12/city-of-ember.html

http://bettinasbooks2009.blogspot.com/2009/01/people-of-sparks.html

What is your favorite part? If you haven't read this book, sorry for all the spoilers, but you can comment and say if this book review was helpful. If you have read this book, please give me a comment or email me so we can discuss it. This would be the closest I've ever gotten to a book club, you know.

The People of Sparks, by Jeanne Duprau

Title: The People of Sparks.

Author: Jeanne DuPrau.

Published: 2004

Pages: 338

Chapters: 33

Pages per Chapter (on average): 10+

Date Started: Jan. 9-----Date Finished: Jan. 11

My Reading Speed: 112+ pages a day, or 11 chapters a day.

The Main Characters: Lina Mayfleet and Doon Harrow, the brave kids who saved the city of Ember, are back.

My Brief Synopsis: When the village of Sparks finds out that they have to take care of over 400 refugees of the dead city of Ember, they do the best they can, taking them in, feeding them, teaching them about the outside world.

The Conflicts: There are so many things the Emberites don't know, having lived underground all their lives, so the Sparks people think they're stupid. There's little food to go around, since the population has doubled, but the Emberites think Sparks is holding food back on purpose and starving them. Resentment grows between the two peoples, some arguements break out, and things almost turn into a war. Some people are partly responsible for this, like the 3 leaders of Sparks, a little Sparks boy named Torren, who fuels resentment by pulling a prank and blaming Doon for it, even Tick, an Ember teenager good with mob psychology.

My General Comments: Well, I think it was fascinating to read about this kind of stuff. It seems way set in the future, after some big Disaster. It's funny seeing how the Emberites learn about different normal objects, like a magnet, or a flashlight, or a toy airplane, how each thing is described so accurately it's as if you're learning about these foreign objects. It's also interesting to see how two different races, raised in entirely different conditions, react to each other.

My Favorite Part: I think I liked the ending chapters the best, when there's a truce and everyone promises to be friends. I know, that sounds like it's all happy and dandy, but I really can't think of anything else. It's a very serious storyline, with all the problems and hate and things.

My Favorite Things About the Book: Well, I always like reading about alternate worlds, and I think this one was constructed really well. It totally reminds me of Pendragon. I can almost imagine how the villain of that series, Saint Dane, would manipulate these people into falling into chaos and discord.

A Personal Shout Out to Jeanne DuPrau: You wrote another good one, Jeanne. You're like a genie in a bottle. It's amazing how much you seem to know about how the human mind works. Did you take psychology or something? Simply awesome.

Here's the link to The People of Sparks's Wikipedia Article.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_People_of_Sparks

Below is Jeanne Duprau's own website:

http://www.jeanneduprau.com/index.shtml

This link will take you to my review of Jeanne Duprau's first book, The City of Ember.

http://bettinasbooks2009.blogspot.com/2008/12/city-of-ember.html

What is your favorite part? If you haven't read this book, sorry for all the spoilers, but you can comment and say if this book review was helpful. If you have read this book, please give me a comment or email me so we can discuss it. This would be the closest I've ever gotten to a book club, you know.

Coraline, by Neil Gaiman

Title: Coraline

Author: Neil Gaiman

Illustrator: Dave McKean

Published: 2002-----Made into a movie: 2008

Pages: 162

Chapters: 13

Pages per Chapter (on average): 12.5

Date Started: Jan. 9-----Date Finished: Jan. 9

My Reading Speed: all 162 pages in one day, or all 13 chapters in one day.

The Main Characters: There's really only Coraline (not to be confused with Caroline), all the others are supporting characters. Her age is unknown in the book, but in the movie it's said that she's 11. She calls herself an explorer.

My Brief Synopsis: It's a very short and simple story about a girl who explores a new house and finds an "other" world behind a door. A world more interesting than the one she left behind, or so she thinks.

The Conflicts: The only remotely evil character is Coraline's "other mother", who created the other world so she can keep Coraline for herself, for some unknown reason.

My General Comments: I really don't have much to say about this book, because, to tell you the truth, I didn't really like it. For one thing, the book is thin, and I like really thick, "juicy" books. The story is also, I don't know... too simple. Too 2-dimensional, if you know what I mean. Like, if really well-written books with good driving plots and characters you care about were 3-dimensional, then this book was 2D. It was like the eqivilant of only a "drawing" of a story. That's the only way I can describe it.

My Favorite Part: If I had to have a favorite part, I guess it would be wherever the talking cat in the story was. He doesn't have a name, he's just a black talking cat. He's one of Coraline's friends. He's a little witty, a bit like the Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland.

My Favorite Things About the Book: I'm sorry, but since I didn't like the book all that much, I don't have anything to say here. The only reason I picked this book up in the first place is because of hearing about the Henry Selick directed movie of the same name (he directed The Nightmare Before Christmas, in case you didn't know). That at least seems interesting. The book wasn't interesting at all, in my opinion. It would be one of the few exceptions to the rule "the book is better than the movie." Of course, I haven't seen the movie yet, but I hope to do so soon.

A Personal Shout Out to Neil Gaiman: If you happen to be reading this, Neil, I'm really sorry to be putting down your book like this and criticizing it so much. I really expected better, though. I've read your book Stardust too, which I liked reasonably well, but I think that movie was better than the book as well.

Here's the link to Coraline's Wikipedia Article.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coraline

Below is Neil Gaiman's own website:

http://www.neilgaiman.com/

Below is a trailer video for the Coraline movie. That, at least, is more interesting than the book, I think.

Do you disagree with my harsh review? If you've read this book, happen to like it, and think I was too unfair, then you may freely comment and make your arguement. You probably won't change my mind, but at least you'll give me another reader's point of view. If you haven't read this book, sorry for all the spoilers, but if you're like me, you probably wouldn't want to read it anyway. It was a waste of time to me, personally.

Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer

Title: Twilight

Author: Stephenie Meyer

Published: 2005-----Made into a movie: 2008

Pages:500, plus 30 additional pages for a sneak peek of the sequel, New Moon

Chapters: 25, excluding the preview chapter of New Moon

Pages per Chapter (on average): 20 (not including New Moon)

Date Started: Jan. 4-----Date Finished: Jan. 8

My Reading Speed: 100 pages a day, or 5 chapters a day.

The Main Characters: Isabella, or Bella, Swan, a 17 year old girl who reminds me a lot of myself, and Edward Cullen, a vampire boy who sounds absolutly dreamy (sorry for my girliness)

My Brief Synopsis: Bella moves to Washington to live with her dad and in school is aquainted with the strangest and most perfect boy she's ever seen. Just being around him muddles her thinking. Turns out he's not even human. They go through a shaky relationship because he, Edward, doesn't want to risk harming Bella if they get to close.

The Conflicts: There are some who would keep these 2 foolish young lovers apart, like Billy Black, a friend of Bella's father, and a trio of hunter vampires who nearly kill her in the end.

My General Comments: I hardly know where on earth to start. This is probably the first book I've read in a while about characters that are actually my age. I absolutely love Bella. I can relate to her very easily. Of course I'm not so morbid, like she was in the beginning, I don't think of myself as clumsy (I can climb trees like no one's business), and I'm certainly not pale-skinned (I go to the beach nearly every weekend), but the rest of her I can live with. She allows me to pretend I'm the one in the story, having an utterly romantic love affair with a vampire. Also, from the preview of New Moon I read at the end of the book (I can't wait to read the rest of it!) I discovered that her birthday is Sept. 13, and mine is on the 7th. So cool!

My Favorite Part: I'd have to say my favorite part was actually a whole chunk of chapters merged together. I enjoyed everything between the event of Bella having dinner with Edward for the first time and when they're in the meadow together, freely enjoying each other's company.

My Favorite Things About the Book: It's got a very sneaky brand of humor. You have to read very carefully (or if you read it aloud, you have to perk your ears) to catch the little sarcastic jokes that pass between characters. That's my favorite kind, dry humor. And I've heard some reviewers say that the book had too many adjectives or something, but I think the story couldn't have been the same without all the little descriptions. I think it's been said that perfection doesn't come when you can't add anything more to something, but when you can't take anything away from it.

A Personal Shout Out to Stephenie Meyer: Your books are utterly breath-taking. You will be priveleged to know that this was my first romantic novel, and I loved it. Bella and Edward are amazing. I want so much to have a boyfriend like Edward Cullen (though he need not be a vampire or anything dangerous like that!) I look forward to reading your other books in the near future very much.

Here's the link to Twilight's Wikipedia Article.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twilight(novel)

And this is for the Twiligh Saga website:

http://www.thetwilightsaga.com/

Below is Stephenie Meyer's own website:

http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/

Below is a trailer video for the Twilight movie, in case you're interested. I can't wait to see it in the theater myself.

What is your favorite part? If you haven't read this book, sorry for all the spoilers, but you can comment and say if this book review was helpful. If you have read this book, please give me a comment or email me so we can discuss it. This would be the closest I've ever gotten to a book club, you know.