Reading

A couple of days ago I finished the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. It was a great series. I was quite reluctant to read it when it came out, viewing it as a teen book that probably didn't have much substance. Turns out, I was wrong in my assessment and truly appreciated the love story of it all. I also loved that I was able to read the four books in what amounted to about a week, considering I have about 3 or so hours a day to myself - usually 45 min at a time, although that has been getting longer. (My husband will account to the fact that I pretty much ignored him after dinner during this time so I could finish the books.) Also, no housework got done during this time period, but it was totally worth it. I haven't read a book like that since the last Harry Potter. The story was engrossing, the characters interesting and the writing very good. And I was careful NOT to read the last 100 pages before bed, as I made that mistake with book 7 of HP and was up all night thinking about it. This time I had all day to think about the whole series which I truly appreciated. Thanks Ms. Meyer for a nice getaway.

The kids are alright

Last night during my break at Borders I read this review of the Deathly Hallows, written by Stephen King. Yeah, it was in Entertainment Weekly, but it was well written. I don't read much Stephen King so I forget he is a "tell-it-like-it-is" kind of guy when it comes to reviewing or writing essays. he gives high praise to Rowling for getting kids to read and to keep reading, and for writing a good, consistent story for more than 4000 pages (something he may know a little bit about considering the Dark Tower series is at least that long). Granted, he does have some misgivings about the series, but overall, gives it good marks. I think it is a good review (much better than the one in the NY Times which totally panned it, probably because of the reasons Mr. King states) and it made me want to read Robinson Cruso.

No one warned me...

Not to read the last 100 pages of HP7 before I was supposed to go to sleep. I couldn't fall asleep for hours! I am still digesting it and wish I had re-read the first 6 before I started this one. Rowling did a good job reminding you of things you most likely had forgotten about, but I found myself wishing I had remembered every detail of the previous books. All in all, well done. And if there is another book, IMO, I can't imagine that it will be good at all.