Currently Reading: Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer

[Gordon Nore]

I must have been living under a rock when the first of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series of books came. I never got around to reading it. Now with the movie out, and four titles of the series on shelves, the kids in my school library have been asking me daily if I have any copies available. I've ended up purchasing four sets of the series for school, mostly hardcover, so it's a significant investment of my budget.

I've also purchased a set for myself, which I will donate to the library collection. It's part of a large stack of school-related reading I have for the Holidays. I read the first two volumes in half-a-week, and I'm at work on the third right now. My kids are grades six, seven and eight. Many of my colleagues have read at least one of the titles. My wife has read them all.

I'm curious if anyone here on MT is reading them. What do you think of the books?

http://www.thetwilightsaga.com/books/book-series

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twilight_(series)

 

[Ramirez]

I must have been living under a rock when the first of Stefenie Meyer's Twilight series of books came. I never got around to reading it. Now with the movie out, and four titles of the series on shelves, the kids in my school library have been asking me daily if I have any copies available. I've ended up purchasing four sets of the series for school, mostly hardcover, so it's a significant investment of my budget.

I've also purchased a set for myself, which I will donate to the library collection. It's part of a large stack of school-related reading I have for the Holidays. I read the first two volumes in half-a-week, and I'm at work on the third right now. My kids are grades six, seven and eight. Many of my colleagues have read at least one of the titles. My wife has read them all.

I'm curious if anyone here on MT is reading them. What do you think of the books?

http://www.thetwilightsaga.com/books/book-series

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twilight_(series)

My stepson is trying to read it, I was never into those vampire novels though and this one seems geared towards teens. My step-daughter is into that vampire genre although she prefers Laurell K. Hamilton .

I tried reading Hamilton once during my morning sit-down...even then I found it tiresome.

I prefer Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden novels, although I rarely read fiction.

 

[KenpoGirl75]

My daughter is currently reading the third book in the series. She is in 7th grade and loves Twilight! I got her a poster for Christmas of her favorite character. I personally am not a fan of novels, so am not reading it.

 

[Lynne]

I love the books but haven't seen the movie yet. I have the Twilight CD.

 

[shesulsa]

Well ... I've read all four. And after Harry Potter, it's just ... blah.

I appreciate, at least, the teenager's perspective because I think the series drones on about feelings and self-destructiveness.

Things I appreciated about the book were Edward's value of his virtue and that of Bella's regardless of their desires. There were updated ideas on the legends of vampires and the werewolves/shapeshifters.

Breaking Dawn was my favorite of the four, however - at least everything but Jacob's view of her transformation. I was disappointed by the lack of action in the end, though.

Ah well.

I've read worse.

 

[Lynne]

My stepson is trying to read it, I was never into those vampire novels though and this one seems geared towards teens. My step-daughter is into that vampire genre although she prefers Laurell K. Hamilton .

I tried reading Hamilton once during my morning sit-down...even then I found it tiresome.

I prefer Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden novels, although I rarely read fiction.

I've read most of Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake (vampire) series. The material is very adult. Anita acquires with the "ardor" and ends up with multitudes of sexual partners. There is some BDSM stuff too. Actually, I got tired of Anita's sexploits.

 

[stickarts]

These books are on my list of books to read!

 

[Andrew Green]

I saw the movie, regrettably, and thought it was bad.... really bad...

cracked.com got it pretty much right:
http://www.cracked.com/article_16878_if-twilight-was-10-times-shorter-100-times-more-honest.html

 

[zDom]

Romance novels with vampires and werewolves.

But I'm reading them anyway. Sigh. Just began the 4th book.

They are.. OK, I guess. Don't think I've ever read a romance novel before so I have nothing to compare them with.

As far as vampire/werewolf books go: most that I've read are better than this.

 

[crushing]

I've read most of Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake (vampire) series. The material is very adult. Anita acquires with the "ardor" and ends up with multitudes of sexual partners. There is some BDSM stuff too. Actually, I got tired of Anita's sexploits.

There is a vampire series on HBO called True Blood that I kind of got in to. I was thinking about checking out the books by Charlaine Harris that series is based on. If the books are like the show, then it is more adult oriented too.

http://www.hbo.com/trueblood/
http://www.amazon.com/Charlaine-Harris/e/B000AQ04CS

 

[Aikikitty]

I read the series and enjoyed the books. Most of the 2nd book I didn't like because I thought some of the characters were acting really stupid, but it got better. I felt like had to "get through" most of the 2nd book, but I liked the rest much better.

I liked the movie too. I thought they did a good job and portrayed the book pretty well.

P.S. I should point out that I don't know how much guys would enjoy reading the series. One of the main reasons why my sister and I enjoyed the books so much was because we felt like we related to the main girl, Bella, a lot. Not that we romance with vampires, but her shyness, awkwardness, etc. are things we fully understand. Another reason why we enjoyed the series was because it also strongly reminded us of the Japanese manga (comic) series Fruit's Basket. If any female out on MT has read and enjoyed Fruit's Basket and then picked up the Twilight series, they'd see a strong comparasion.

 

[arnisador]

My wife and daughter are big fans. (My daughter is also a Fruits Basket fan!) They liked the movie well enough too.

 

[Gordon Nore]

I read the series and enjoyed the books. Most of the 2nd book I didn't like because I thought some of the characters were acting really stupid, but it got better. I felt like had to "get through" most of the 2nd book, but I liked the rest much better.

I liked the movie too. I thought they did a good job and portrayed the book pretty well.

P.S. I should point out that I don't know how much guys would enjoy reading the series. One of the main reasons why my sister and I enjoyed the books so much was because we felt like we related to the main girl, Bella, a lot. Not that we romance with vampires, but her shyness, awkwardness, etc. are things we fully understand. Another reason why we enjoyed the series was because it also strongly reminded us of the Japanese manga (comic) series Fruit's Basket. If any female out on MT has read and enjoyed Fruit's Basket and then picked up the Twilight series, they'd see a strong comparasion.

I stalled a little on the second book as well, but found it satisfying in the end. The third book is really drawn out... there better be a good pay-off! It is interesting for me, as a male who doesn't have a daughter, to make my way through this. However, as a teacher, I'm seeing all these middle school girls absolutely devoted to the series, so perhaps this helps me connect to their world.

 

[zDom]

My biggest problem with the movie was the "moving fast" special effects. Not very well done, IMO.

(Some basic physics issues, too: in one scene Edward FALLS fast. Nobody falls faster than anybody else. Only if he sprung downward — I pushed himself toward the ground — would he increase his speed toward the ground ...)

I think the "Heroes" series does "moving fast" much better than then did in the Twilight movie.