Twilight

Like most teens in my generation, I got captivated by Sweet Dreams and Sweet Valley High. But unlike the typical teenaged girl, I did not progress to Danielle Steel and company. Towards the middle of high school, I was introduced to Sidney Sheldon and then quickly moved on to Michael Crichton, John Grisham, et al. Reading best sellers soon became trite, the plots clichéd. I soon began to initiate myself into the world of non-fiction, and this personal discovery was a state of great luxury and comfort for me. Topics are usually autobiographies of personalities who piqued my curiosity or historical events that made a mark. I remember reading books about the sinking of the Titanic, Greek mythology (no doubt inspired by mythology in reading class during junior high), ancient Rome and Greece (most especially the relationship between Brutus and Julius Caesar, Anthony and Cleopatra), Persian Empire (particularly under the reign of King Xerxes where the Battle of Thermopolis happened. Inspired inpart by the book of Esther in the Bible), Alexander the Great, Katharine Graham, Princess Diana, Jacqueline Onassis, JFK Jr, Audrey Hepburn, and of course the list goes on and on. An assortment of topics, really. Oh! And some Archie Comics also thrown in for good measure. At one point, the late Kevyn Aucoin’s book was almost a must buy – until good logic turned me around and saved me.

A few months ago, however, I received a call from a friend requesting me to ask C if she could borrow a certain book. Unfortunately for her, C was away on business that time. She mentioned that she was just done reading Twilight, (the first book) and urgently had to read the sequel right away. She told me C mentioned that he bought the book, but I told her I was positive that I did not see him reading it around the house. But just the same I told her I will ask him once he gets back.

But this friend surprised me by traveling all the way to Serendra that night to go to Fully Booked and purchased all 3 remaining books to complete her Twilight collection. And this is already after searching for it at almost all of the bookstores with no luck. I was so intrigued by this book because of the reaction that it got from my usually level headed friend that I had to send an SMS and ask C about it. She was right. C had indeed ordered it from Amazon, intending it to be a gift for J. My sis-in-law, borrowed it right away, as soon as it was delivered.

It is absolutely out of character for me to be interested in the horror-fantasy literary genre. I was not lured by Anne Rice with her aristocratic vampire, Lestat. Regardless that it was made into a movie with Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt, and much later into a Broadway musical. Neither did Harry Potter elicit any interest from me, even when it was raking in millions of dollars in book sales and movie tickets.

However when I found out that the Twilight series fall into dark romance, that is where my attraction with the saga started. As soon as I began reading the first book, I found myself a willing captive to the book’s thin plot and shallow characters. I read it without dissecting the way the book was written. It is essentially a love story; and what girl, regardless of age, can resist a good and simple love story?

It’s not the greatest book in the world, but I generously own up to the fact that I read it in a day’s time. I simply could not put it down. It was pure enjoyment, let me tell you. I have read all four books in one week. And I am now back to reading the first book, all the better to refresh my memory for when the movie comes out this weekend.

Before this Twilight saga piqued my interest, my bedside companions were Epicenter: Why the Current Rumblings in the Middle East Will Change Your Future by Joel Rosenberg and The Shack by William Young. Both are heavy reads, and so I take a break from one and read the other. Don’t ask me how I do it, that’s just how I plan to go on till I actually finish it. But being rudely interrupted by Twilight, I might take some time to go back.