the water mirror

i started the water mirror the day we got it and i finished it the next day in 64 minutes TOTALY AWSOME

Does Twilight Suck?

No one tonight (male or female) much cared for Twilight. They thought the romance was artificial, superficial, and generally boring. Isn't there anyone out there in the blogosphere willing to defend the merits of this book?

If not, our next book is The Water Mirror, by Stephanie Meyer. We have copies reserved, so stop by to pick one up sometime soon.

And just so you know, we pulled out the Homework Help laptop and logged onto meebo in case anyone dropped by the site to chat with us. My Yahoo ID is jcl_lackman_ck if you'd rather use your traditional IM program than the meebo embed. I hope to chat some of you soon.

Why Do We Love Blood-Suckers?

Thought #1

I read both Peeps and Twilight about six months ago, and scheduled them as back-to-back selections intentionally to see if my theory would hold true. I talked to lots of people who really liked Twilight and read a lot of good reviews of the book, but noticed a pattern: everyone who recommended it to me was female. Personally, I thought it was pretty good, but not great. The romance didn't get me nearly as excited as it did the girls/women who read it. I enjoyed the creepy/gross Peeps much more, but found that those who loved Twilight the most couldn't get through Peeps because it was too much. So my theory is Peeps is a boy book and Twilight a girl book. Nick and David's reactions (see previous post) would validate that theory, but I'm wondering if anyone else wants to weigh in on the matter.

Thought #2

For hundreds of years now, vampires in their various manifestations have been the stars of countless tales, legends, books, and movies. Why? Sometimes they are clearly the bad guys and must be defeated, but they seem to have a cool factor that makes them appealing despite their parasitic ways. More often, in recent years, they are tragic heroes (anti-heroes?) whom we are supposed to side with. What is so cool about being undead, running from the sun, and surviving only at the expense of others? Thoughts . . . anyone . . . Bueller?

The Twilight of this book... HOPEFULLY.

This book did not appeal to me. Their relationship was TOO perfect. They get into a fight and then 1 second later they make up, and I believe the author could have made their love for each other quite lucid without informing us of every time they kissed or what not (do real couples even show their affection that much). It was a romance more than a fantasy story. The author, in my mind, also overplayed the fact that Edward was a dangerous person for Bella to be around, for example almost in every paragraph, Edward would say "You shouldn't be around me." or something to that effect, and it was like the author thought so little of our intelligence and memory that she felt the compulsion to remind us of that fact. Their relationship not being believable and the overstatement of facts already told to us made this one of my least favorite books. Although I have to admit, it did leave you wanting more at the end.

Twilight of the October Discussion

Making that pronouncement with a week to go may be a bit premature, but it's beginning to feel that way. Forgetting to request this particular book not only meant it wasn't available at out last session, but that we had to wait behind 5 others on the request list. Between that and a couple of the copies being kept overdue, it's been a long wait. Nevertheless, 3 of you have checked out copies now and two more copies should be available tomorrow. I've already read it and Gabs might add her thoughts from Columbia. So we might yet have a good discussion.

What am I saying? Of course we'll have a good discussion. Even if no one's read the book, we can still have fun hanging out. The last two books have offered very different takes on vampires, and I thought it might be fun to consider the popularity of vampires in legend, literature, and cinema. Or we could hear about what else everyone has been reading (assigned or not). Or we could hear what you have going on beyond books. It's up to you. I'm just there to provide and room and some snacks, it's your group and you can determine the direction it takes.

Which goes double for this blog. I started it as a way to make announcements and extend the discussion about our readings beyond our actual gatherings, but it can be much more. We rarely stay on topic when we get together in person, so why should we have to on this blog? I invited each of you to be contributors so you'd have the power to control what gets posted; it's your blog and you can determine the direction it takes. Write a post and tell us what you're thinking.