Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling

I've just re-read Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone with my eight-year-old son, Nicholas and I'm so glad I got to share it with him!

I've probably told you this before, but I resisted reading HP for a very long time. I was certain I would not like it. "It's for kids," I thought. Wrong. About five years ago, I picked up the first book just to see what all the fuss was about. I was amazed from the first page.

Rowling's book is really for everyone. It is truly amazing. The writing is pure genius and the story keeps pulling you forward so you never want to put the book down.

I rarely read books a second time, but I'm wondering if maybe it's time to do that. I think I appreciated every little bit of this book more with my second reading. Besides, it was so much fun seeing my son react to it - laughing and cheering throughout!

Forget about the movie. So many students say, "I've already seen the movie. Why should I read the book?" There's no contest here. The book is so much better than the movie. The movies are good. There's no doubt about that. But it just can't compare to the joy of reading the book.

If you've never read the series, you should get started now! You could read them all before the final two movies come out (the first one in December?). We have the complete collection in the SRR and we have about 20 copies of book #1.

YOU MUST READ THIS BOOK!

5/5 Stars

The Girl With a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier

Who is this girl?

Is she smiling?

Where did she get that fancy earring?

Why is she surrounded by black?

Why is her body turned away?

Is she keeping a secret from us?

What is she waiting for?

What is she thinking?


Last week the literature students and I took some time off our usual lit study (Anita Desai's short stories to be exact) and we had a look at this Vermeer painting.

I was amazed with what the girls were able to come up with. They thought of a number of explanations for the questions above and they had a lot of interesting ideas regarding the expression on the girl's face.

From what I can gather, it seems this painting is a bit of a mystery. Nobody really knows who the girl is or what her story is. In fact, I found that when I looked at Vermeer's other paintings that this one is quite unique. It was highly unusual for him to paint only the head and shoulders in a portrait and this is his only painting with a black background (I think).

I asked my students to imagine if they were to write a novel about this girl's life. What would they write? Who would she be? What would be their explanation for the woman's unusual expression, her clothes, and her possession of a very valuable pearl.

Actually, it has already been done. Tracy Chevalier explored the painting with her book The Girl With A Pearl Earring.

Like the painting on its front cover, Chevalier's novel is a beautiful work of art. She captures the personality and language of a poor tradesman's daughter who has no choice but to take work as a maid for the wealthy family of a master painter. Chevalier's girl, Griet, is wonderfully sweet and innocent, but she also sees things with a cleverness and insight that often startles those around her. As a reader, it is great fun to experience the story through her eyes.

My favourite parts of the book involve the descriptions of the paintings and Griet's reactions to them. I liked that Chevalier gave her narrator an artistic sensibility so she could really "see" the paintings. Griet has an innate understanding of composition and is able, in her simple language, to explain the paintings to us. She even guesses at missing pieces before the painter himself can discover them. I also enjoyed the fact that Chevalier incorporated a number of other Vermeer paintings into the story and so a quick search on the Internet will provide you with a visual representation of elements in the story.

Of course the story culminates in the painting of the narrator. It builds and creates for us an explanation of the painting. You and I may have imagined a different story for the painting, but Chevalier's is a good one too.

For students who are interested in reading something a bit mature and are ready to make the leap from teen novels to something with a bit of substance, this would be a good book. The language is that of a "simple" maid so it isn't too difficult to read. At the same time, it is the type of book that would be classified as "literature" and therefore worthy of study and likely to bring you to a greater understanding of the world if you take your time with it and give it a bit of consideration.

I'd like to discuss this book at length, but I think it is probably best to leave it to the reader to enjoy. I should warn you, though. This book has some mature content. Chevalier handles it well, as good writers do, but you should be aware that this is a book that is perhaps more suitable for older readers.

To hear an interview with Chevalier about the book you can find it HERE.

5/5 Stars

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

Amazon description from Publisher's Weekly:

Violence, in McCarthy's postapocalyptic tour de force, has been visited worldwide in the form of a "long shear of light and then a series of low concussions" that leaves cities and forests burned, birds and fish dead and the earth shrouded in gray clouds of ash. In this landscape, an unnamed man and his young son journey down a road to get to the sea. (The man's wife, who gave birth to the boy after calamity struck, has killed herself.)

They carry blankets and scavenged food in a shopping cart, and the man is armed with a revolver loaded with his last two bullets. Beyond the ever-present possibility of starvation lies the threat of roving bands of cannibalistic thugs. The man assures the boy that the two of them are "good guys," but from the way his father treats other stray survivors the boy sees that his father has turned into an amoral survivalist, tenuously attached to the morality of the past by his fierce love for his son. McCarthy establishes himself here as the closest thing in American literature to an Old Testament prophet, trolling the blackest registers of human emotion to create a haunting and grim novel about civilization's slow death after the power goes out.

On a layover in Chicago I found a nice little book kiosk and loaded up on books for the 14-hour flight ahead of me. This book grabbed my attention immediately. I had heard something about the movie which is now being shown world-wide except here in Brunei and I always love a good end-0f-the-world movie so I was keen to see this one. Also Viggo Mortensen is awesome, right? Anyway, I figured if they made it into a movie it must be good and if I'm going to watch the movie I'd rather read the book first. This book before movie thing has worked out so far. I enjoyed Harry Potter more for reading the books first and can you imagine seeing New Moon if you hadn't read the book - disaster!

On my plane, the in-flight entertainment was awful, I was squished against the emergency door exit that jutted out about a foot and a half inside the plane and into the space where I wanted to put my rather long legs, and I kept catching a whiff of noxious toilet fumes from the area next to me....but none of that mattered because I was totally engrossed in this book. I started it as the flight took off and didn't stop reading until every last page had passed before my jet-lagged eyes. And, sure enough, while I was reading the end of the book, tears started flowing down my cheeks so badly I had to turn off my overhead light before the people waiting to use the can noticed the blubbering baby in the window seat.

Let me just say, this book is pretty intense. It isn't so much about the end of the world as it is about what it means to be a father and what it feels like to take care of a son. Of course this is child-care pushed to the extreme. If the father fails to take care of his son here, he will either freeze to death, starve to death, or get eaten by wandering bands of nasty degenerates. It's fascinating to watch as these two characters try to take care of each other. It's tense, it's dark, it's sad, and it is utterly gripping.

I'd also like to mention that I loved the way McCarthy wrote all the dialogue in this book without quotation marks. It is an extra touch that makes this book even more fascinating to read.

The Road won the 2007 Pullitzer Prize and it was chosen to be an Oprah Winfrey's Book Club selection. If you think you might like this book, I think you will.

I'll be adding my copy of this fabulous book to the SRR next week. Let me know if you are interested in being the first one to read it.

5/5 Stars

On Writing by Stephen King

Have you ever thought of doing some writing of your own? If so, this book is for you!

I have a lot of students in my classes who are actively writing stories in their free time. In fact, I've been telling people for years that this is the perfect place for a young writer to break out.

Part of the reason I say that is because we have so little access to distractions here that a young writer should be able to find the time to sit down and focus on their work. The other thing is that there is so much food for writers here.

I've just finished reading Stephen King's On Writing from cover to cover. It is fun to read and would certainly catch the interest of anybody who has ever thought of becoming a writer.

The first half of the book is autobiographical. King tells us interesting stories about what happened to him as he was growing up. This allows us to understand him as a writer and how he became who he is today. I love that he gets to the point. He isn't overly self-indulgent even when he writes about his own life.

The second half of the book gives us practical information on how to improve our writing. He really stresses the importance of doing two things if you want to be a writer: read a lot and write a lot. Sound advice really. He also gives us some insider information on the life of a writer when he reveals the fact that he aims for ten pages a day and that he usually writes in the morning. He speaks of shutting the door and not letting anybody see the work until it has gone through a couple of drafts. He even suggests that you let your work sit for a long time before you go back and edit it.

His advice gives us a rare opportunity to see into the life of a writer. His tone is encouraging and at the same time it is direct, almost in-your-face. I like that. King is honest and open. He encourages that in writers.

I highly recommend this book for all my student writers. I suggest, at the very least, that you read the chapters titled "Toolbox" and "On Writing".

I like this book so much that I'm going to buy a copy of it myself. I'm going to read it again, only this time I will have a pencil in my hand and a notepad nearby.

5/5 Stars

Wake by Lisa McMann

First of all, I'd like to say the premise of this book is very interesting.

Imagine what it would be like if, whenever you were near people who fell asleep, you entered their dreams. That's what happens to Janie. She'll be walking along and then suddenly her body gets paralyzed and she goes blind and the next thing she knows she is inside some weird world - the world of a nearby dreamer.

Most of the time it isn't something she enjoys. Nightmares are the worst of course. Anyway, I loved the idea and I have to say that McMann delivers. She explores the idea fully while creating a very engaging and mysterious story filled with teen angst.

I read this book over two nights. Even though I'm very busy and have other things to do, I just couldn't put this one down.

By the way, I've got the hardcover version and it is so perfect. It has 210 beautiful pages and a really interesting looking cover which looks like it is glowing in the dark. Well done Simon Pulse publishers on printing a delightful book. There's just something about holding a book that is the right size with pristine, white paper stock and just the right font and print.

Anyway, I have to tell you more. This book is unique as far as I know. The writer is doing something very special here. McMann writes in third person (he/she). That's not super strange, but so many YA books are first person (I) so it is a bit different. It is also written in present tense. I don't know why, but it often sounds strange to me. The story moves along and kind of unnerves you. It seems strangely unreal. To add to the weirdness of it all, McMann writes in very short, choppy sentences. There are more three-word sentences in this book than you will find in a book of poetry. It is strange. Like poetry sometimes.

I's like when you see one of those hand-held camera movies for the first time, you think, "What's this?" And at first you aren't sure if you like it. It doesn't feel right. You may wonder whether you like it or not. However, the hand-held camera creates an unusual feeling of realism that brings you into the story and changes your reaction to the movie. McMann's writing does something like that. It makes you feel strange - mirroring the feeling that the character gets from her experience of being in other people's dreams. By the end of the book, the style draws you in and hypnotizes you. It has a strange disjointed rhythm to it.

I highly recommend this book. At 210 pages, it is an amazing, quick read. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. BTW, this book has become so popular that it has been worked into a trilogy now. Fade (book 2) is out and the last book Gone is due out in February.

Additional Comments Added 22/08/09
I'm not going to tread too far on a slippery slope here. I like this book and I am featuring it on my blog because I believe other readers should know about it. I will, however, reiterate that the intention of my blog is to promote great books that I think will be interesting for the young people in the country where I presently live. Suffice it to say, I'll be keeping this book in my own collection to read and enjoy again someday.

5/5 Stars

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

Werewolves vs. Vampires in New York City. Cool.

Did you enjoy Twilight? Did you enjoy Hunger Games? You'll love this one too! I've just finished it and it will be in the reading room once you have finished your qualifying exams.

Amazon UK review:

Fifteen-year-old geek hipster Clary thought she was just a normal kid, but normal kids don't see invisible people, and normal kids' mothers don't suddenly disappear, seemingly captured by horrific monsters. But like many fantasy heroines, Clary isn't normal, and she's got all the secret parentage, dramatic revelations and amazing magic powers to prove it. Clary is a Shadowhunter, brought up as a mundane but born to fight demons. She and her mundane friend Simon fall in with a trio of Shadowhunter teens, and are soon embroiled in a quest to understand Clary's past - and incidentally save the world. Rich descriptions occasionally devolve into purple prose, but the story's sensual flavor comes from the wealth of detail: demons with facial piercings, diners serving locusts and honey, pretty gay warlocks and cameo appearances from other urban fantasies' characters. Complicated romantic triangles keep the excitement high even when the dramatic revelations tend toward the ridiculous. Lush and fun.

I really enjoyed this book. I like the world that Clare develops and I like the characters. The pace is perfect. She takes time to make her characters interesting, but she also moves the plot along so the story keeps you interested. If you took half of Meyer's brain (Twilight) and connected it to half of Collins' brain (Hunger Games), you'd get Cassandra Clare. She struck an excellent balance between story and plot.

Seriously, if you like the whole vampire/monsters-living-in-the-real-world type of book you will enjoy this. Right from the first chapter, Clare grabs you and doesn't let go.

The book is complete in itself, but you also get the feeling that Clare was really gearing up for the series and setting herself up well I'd say. It's only going to get better as we get to know the characters and what they can do.

I can't wait to find out what happens in the next book. Wait a minute, I've already bought it! Yay!!!

Flaws? I'm not sure. I had the ending figured out pretty early on, but I'm not sure if Clare intended it that way or not. Still, there are two more to go so surprises may be in store!

I highly recommend this one.

5/5 Stars

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Amazon.com:

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen regards it as a death sentence when she is forced to represent her district in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. But Katniss has been close to death before—and survival, for her, is second nature. The Hunger Games is a searing novel set in a future with unsettling parallels to our present. Welcome to the deadliest reality TV show ever...

This is one of the best books I've read in years. I really enjoyed it and read almost all of it in one day because I didn't want to put it down.

Okay, about The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins doesn't make us wait. We get right into the action. She sets up her interesting world and gets her characters busy right away. The world is fascinating. Katniss, a teenage girl, lives in what used to be North America near the Rocky Mountains (the place I call home BTW). Things are strange in this futuristic place. The government of the Capitol keeps tight control of the districts around it. The people live in misery. They can barely scrape enough food together each day to feed themselves and in Katniss' district some people actually starve to death or die in mining accidents.

In order to exert their control over the country, the government sets up a "contest" each year and they draw two teenagers' names from each district to compete in a deadly game. 12 boys and 12 girls compete in the forest to see who can live the longest. They must find food and fight each other in order to survive.

To make it even more interesting, the government broadcasts it like a reality TV show. It is kind of like Big Brother or Survivor meets Lost. Everything that Katniss does or says is being shown to everyone in the country, including her family and friends back home.

Katniss is a hunter and she's very good with a bow. She's also pretty good at identifying edible plants and those that can be used for medicine. Her chances of surviving this crazy battle are actually quite good.

There's a boy from her district who makes it even more complicated. He says he loves her and wants to help her. Will they cooperate and take care of each other? Will they fall in love? You'll need to read it and find out.

If you like stories with action and excitement, you're going to love this book. I've given it a full five out of five stars and I would recommend it for anybody to read.

I'm very pleased that there will be two more books. The first one can stand alone as there is a clear beginning, middle, and end but I think most of us are happy to know that this isn't it. We want to know what will happen next. How is it possible, though, to wait for seven more months for the second book? This is going to be a new kind of torture for readers around the world.

I was so ready for this. After reading the marathon of five books by Meyer (Twilight Series and The Host), I needed a different kind of story. Meyer takes it slow. She develops her characters and their feelings and the story moves along at a crawl. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed them all, but I kept hoping for some action. In fact the whole sequence in Italy was one of my favourite parts because I finally felt like we were getting into something and that something exciting was really going to happen.

5/5 Stars

Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

stepheniemeyer.com:

When you loved the one who was killing you, it left you no options. How could you run, how could you fight, when doing so would hurt that beloved one? If your life was all you had to give, how could you not give it? If it was someone you truly loved?

To be irrevocably in love with a vampire is both fantasy and nightmare woven into a dangerously heightened reality for Bella Swan. Pulled in one direction by her intense passion for Edward Cullen, and in another by her profound connection to werewolf Jacob Black, a tumultuous year of temptation, loss, and strife have led her to the ultimate turning point. Her imminent choice to either join the dark but seductive world of immortals or to pursue a fully human life has become the thread from which the fates of two tribes hangs.

Now that Bella has made her decision, a startling chain of unprecedented events is about to unfold with potentially devastating, and unfathomable, consequences. Just when the frayed strands of Bella's life--first discovered in Twilight, then scattered and torn in New Moon and Eclipse--seem ready to heal and knit together, could they be destroyed... forever?

Wow. That was incredible.

If you’ve read the first three books of the Twilight Saga, you won’t be disappointed by the final book. It is full of interesting new developments and has an exciting, edge-of-your-seat climax. Although I didn’t always feel satisfied by the directions that Meyer took her books, the final one in the series pulls it all together and makes it work.

At various times while reading it, I didn’t want to put it down. That’s always a good sign and it’s the benchmark by which I judge a book worthy of five stars. On the other hand, I was taking my time with it like you do when you are eating a really good piece of chocolate and you let it sit there on your tongue for a few extra seconds so you can enjoy every bit of its taste before you are forced by necessity to swallow.

At the end of Breaking Dawn, you’ll feel like the characters are old friends. You’ll like them and care for their well-being. You’ll feel desperate for a happy ending. And when it is all said and done, you’ll be left with the feeling that it would be so nice if Meyer would just write four more books.

Without hesitation, I recommend everyone read this story. It belongs on your shelf next to Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings. Okay, well, maybe one shelf down, but still.

By the way, wouldn’t it be nice of they could just skip the first three books and make a movie about the last one? Oh well, we’ll just have to be patient as they churn out one movie at a time until, eight years from now, they will complete Breaking Dawn: The Movie.

If you have ever read a series like this, you'll know this feeling. First, you're thinking, "Wow, wasn't that great?" Then, you sit back and reflect on what you have just read. You might imagine what happened next or focus on the stuff in the books that you enjoyed. However, that warm feeling is soon replaced by confusion. What do I do now? When will I find another interesting series of books to read? What should I read next?

5/5 Stars

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Back cover book blurb:

Tally is about to turn sixteen, and she can’t wait. Not for her license—for turning pretty. In Tally’s world, your sixteenth birthday brings an operation that turns you from a repellent ugly into a stunningly attractive pretty and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is to have a really great time. In just a few weeks Tally will be there.

But Tally’s new friend Shay isn’t sure she wants to be pretty. She’s rather risk life on the outside. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world–and it isn’t very pretty. The authorities offer Tally the worst choice she can imagine: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn pretty at all. The choice Tally makes changes her world forever.

Imagine what would happen if everybody in the world were beautiful. What would it be like? In Scott Westerfeld's book that's basically what happens. At the age of 16, everybody gets their body surgically enhanced so that they are a perfect "10". In fact, people can choose how they would like to look. Then, they go off to a city where all they do is party and have fun. Imagine.

Now, what would happen if you didn't want to become pretty? What if you liked yourself the way you were?

That's the idea in the Uglies Trilogy. The stories are very interesting and fun. I really enjoyed all three books and, at times, I couldn't put them down. I donated my copies to the Reading Room so you should get a chance to read them. Please, do yourself a favour and read Uglies first. There are plenty of copies floating around the country and you can usually find a copy in Best Eastern.

You'll think I'm a bit weird (like you don't already), but the last time I visited Best Eastern I noticed that Uglies was hidden behind some other teen novel. While the sales attendant wasn't looking, I moved it to the front of the shelf where people buying a copy of Twilight would likely see it! Yes, Mr. Jason is a bit of a nut.

I'd love to read your comments on this book and/or comments on the nature of beauty. After reading this book I started thinking about how we react to beautiful people. It is weird, isn't it? It really is just dumb luck that makes some people more beautiful than others. I mean, congratulations, your parents were attractive and so are you. So what. Anybody can be born beautiful. It doesn't take any special talent. Actually, I should mention here that I like beautiful people. Don't get me wrong. I just like them a whole lot more when they have other things going for them also.

It is sad really. If you are born beautiful and all you ever hear is, "Wow, you are beautiful" then you start to think that being attractive is your thing. That's who you are. That's what you do well. I really hope that doesn't happen to you. Don't let your beauty be everything. You've got more to offer the world.

I don't want to get too personal here, but as a teenager I wasn't very happy with the way I looked. I was so tall and thin. Besides, my family didn't have the money to buy me fashionable clothes. Being attractive definitely wasn't my thing. I was good at English. I was okay at a lot of stuff. I had convinced myself that looking attractive wasn't important. It's what is inside that counts, right? Well, of course that's true, but now I think that it's okay to do the best with what you have.

Anyway, enough about that. The Uglies Trilogy is a lot of fun. I hope you get a chance to read it!

By the way, I first heard about this book when I was looking at the New York Times Best Seller list. I stumbled on this article and it sounded like an interesting book.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/11/books/review/Hynes-t.html

5/5 Stars

Peter Pan in Scarlet by Geraldine McCaughrean

Inside Jacket Blurb:

Neverland is calling again. . .Something is wrong in Neverland. Dreams are leaking out—strangely real dreams, of pirates and mermaids, of warpaint and crocodiles. For Wendy and the Lost Boys it is a clear signal—Peter Pan needs their help, and so it is time to do the unthinkable and fly to Neverland again.

But back in Neverland, everything has changed—and the dangers they find there are far beyond their dreams. . .


Wouldn't you like to stay a child forever? Wasn't life much simpler then? Something changed in your world when, one day, somebody asked you "What do you want to be when you grow up?" and you were actually able to give them an answer. Being an adult isn't all it's cracked up to be. In Peter Pan in Scarlet the children from the original story have grown up, but they get one more chance to become children and return to the fantasy world of Neverland.

This is a very good book. I absolutely loved the first few chapters and I enjoyed reading it out loud to the class so much. This is the kind of book you just have to own. It is a work of art.

Confession time. I never really liked Peter Pan much. Even as a child, I never found the story to be very interesting. However, one day S.A., our delightful English HOD, came into the office with this book. I was immediately hypnotized by the cover and begged to be the first one to read it.

This has to be one of the best book covers ever! I love the shimmering map that is kind of in the background. I liked to just hold it in my hand and walk around with it. Even the paper is that beautiful, thick white paper that feels so good to the touch. Wherever I went, people kept coming up to me and asking to take a look at it. I love when that happens.

Anyway, the story is very good. You will enjoy it. It is a teen novel rather than a children's story and I think most people would get something out of it. It is so nicely written and really captures your imagination. The first three chapters are incredible and rank up there with some of my favourites. Geraldine has such a great start in this one. The climax hit pretty early so I was a little slow in finishing it, especially when I got Twilight and I wanted to see why everyone was reading it.

However, I still think it is very interesting and I would highly recommend it. The story really wrestles with the idea of becoming an adult and what that all means. I liked that about the book.

There is something strange about that time in our lives when we go from being a child to a teenager and then from being a teenager to an adult. For me, it was a tough time. I wasn't in a big hurry to grow up - which might explain why I still behave a bit like a teenager. :-)

5/5 Stars

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

stepheniemeyer.com:

Deeply sensuous and extraordinarily suspenseful, TWILIGHT captures the struggle between defying our instincts and satisfying our desires. This is a love story with bite. Isabella Swan's move to Forks, a small, perpetually rainy town in Washington, could have been the most boring move she ever made. But once she meets the mysterious and alluring Edward Cullen, Isabella's life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn. Up until now, Edward has managed to keep his vampire identity a secret in the small community he lives in, but now nobody is safe, especially Isabella, the person Edward holds most dear. The lovers find themselves balanced precariously on the point of a knife-between desire and danger.

Imagine if you fell in love with a vampire. What would happen? Can you imagine how hard it would be for your vampire love to resist biting your neck and damning you to a life as a blood sucker? Cool!

Twilight is an excellent book! You should read it. I give it five stars.

After seeing so many copies of Twilight bouncing around my class, I just had to ask. I was told it was a vampire love story and I guess that sounded interesting so I Googled it and found out that it has been a bestseller for a few years now. Actually, I felt a bit embarrassed that I hadn't heard of it. I wanted to know what all the fuss was about so I went down to Best Eastern at The Mall. I didn't see any copies on display so I asked one of the sales attendants about it. To my surprise, she knew what I was talking about and directed me to the counter. She pulled a bag off the floor in a spot hidden below. She uncovered it and placed it in my hands. I think it had somebody's name on it, but she let me buy it anyway (sorry if that copy was yours). If I had known that it was the last copy available in the country, I guess I would have been jubilant. Instead, I simply grinned with satisfaction, not knowing how lucky I really was.

Anyway, I was tired the night I got it so I only read the first 20 pages. The book seemed pretty good, but I was so busy at the time and I still had a couple chapters of Peter Pan in Scarlet to finish off. A few days later I read another 50 pages or so. That's when it took off. I coudn't put it down and one night I stayed up late to read it. I was so tired the next day I wondered if the students could tell. Yes, even teachers stay up later than they should sometimes. Great book. Everyone should read it.

I give this book five out of five stars simply because there are times when you just can't put it down. No, it isn't as incredible as Harry Potter, but it is still very good. I suspect the reason why a lot of the girls like this book would be their attraction to Edward. Also, they probably like the first person narrative because they get to see the world through another girl's eyes. I'm just guessing though. You will have to tell me (maybe in the comment section of this post).

For me, I couldn't help wondering what it would be like to be Edward. Wouldn't it be great to be a vampire? You could live forever. You could be rich. As Edward, you could read people's thoughts and charm them. You'd be super strong and fast. You would never have to sleep or eat (well, except for drinking blood). You could study all kinds of things like piano, languages, and history. And, you could be a "good" vampire. You could go out and hunt down evil criminals and make them pay! In other words, you could be a superhero! I like that idea. There should be a TV series like that. Good fun.

(*Spoiler alert* do not read this paragraph if you haven't read Twilight) I guess it was the whole saving Bella from the car accident that caught my attention and the mystery behind why Edward seemed to hate her at the beginning. I knew it was a vampire book so I was curious as to how Meyer was going to develop the story. How would she find out that he was a vampire? What would happen next? Would she want to become a vampire? Actually, I was a bit disappointed when Jacob just out and told her about the Cullens. I had hoped Bella would slowly put the clues together herself. Still, that was okay. Oh, and one other thing I really liked was the references to literature like "Romeo and Juliet". I hope it inspires you to read it someday!

5/5 Stars