The Twilight series

The Twilight series my Stephenie Meyer was recommended to me by some friends at the office, swearing to me that it “so awesome” and that “I would love it”. This was then followed up with a brief summary of the series – geared towards young adults, a high school student falls in love with a vampire. Jessica was even kind enough to but me a copy for Christmas, however it sat untouched in my bookcase for the next six months.

Some of my favorite books include “Pride & Prejudice” by Jane Austen, “The Lord of the Rings” By R.R. Tolkien, “David Copperfield” by Charles Dickens and “The Dark Tower” series by Stephen King. You can see my hesitation. Not that I’m a book “snob” if you will, but I definitely have my standards. Then another friend recommended it to me as well, with the same raving reviews. So I finished up “The Venetian Betrayal” by Steve Berry, and dug in.

Hooked. Instantly. I started the first book on a Tuesday night, but because of the need to make money for a living, I wasn’t able to complete it until Thursday night. I started the second book, “New Moon” Friday night, and started and finished “Eclipse” on Sunday. The last time I was that wrapped up in a storyline was “The Witching Hour” series by Anne Rice.

Edward Cullen, the big V, is just scrumptious. Bella Swan, his romantic interest, I thought was very believable. Her description of their love and losses however is what got me the most. I bawled almost constantly through “New Moon”. There’s quite a few fans of the series who didn’t like this book, but I truly believe that unless you’ve gone through a horrific loss you won’t be able to identify.

Granted, the writing isn’t Tolkien, but the story is simply awesome. What’s even better, it evoked such emotion for me it was well worth the read. The next and last book in the series, “Breaking Dawn”, is scheduled to be released August 2, 2008. Additionally, Hollywood has picked up Twilight – the move is scheduled to be released 12/12/08.

Here’s a link to the author’s website: www.stepheniemeyer.com. Happy reading!

Cook wins Idol, beats up jason castro

David Cook Wins!!! Yay!!! I was freaking out after Tuesday night’s show, but my boy pulled it out by a healthy margin. I watched the entire show, which I usually don’t do because the filler usually sucks. I’m glad I did though!

Here’s a quick recap - Seal sounded great, Bryan Adams is still really ugly, Donna Summer is still alive, I discovered I hate the Jonas Brothers, ZZ Top is still alive, George Michael is still really gay, Jordin Sparks needs to lay off the pork chops, Graham Nash is still alive, Carrie Underwood sounded great, and I’m dumping David Cook for Renaldo Lapuz. (that last part was a joke – I’d never dump David!)

My current home state of Utah is now harboring thousands of shattered girls all across the state. I’ve heard rumors that local Jr. High Schools are bringing in grief counselors (no, not really!). Some girl announced on TV she voted over 2,000 times! That’s a stalker in the making - Watch your ass, D.A.!

All in all, great season. David, you can stop calling me for advice now - you won!!! I'll see you next week in at the usual spot.

American Idol Recap

Can someone explain to me why Brooke White is still on the show? Her performance last night was abysmal, and I swear she's making her outfits from furniture upholstery or curtains. Maybe I should start calling her Scarlet O'Hara. Jason Castro butchered "Memory" - what is going on? With these two awful performances, I'm shocked and awed that Carly was sent home - she did great! I'm pretty sure we have the "tweens" to blame. I'd like to ask every parent with girls between the ages of 6 - 16 to take away their cell phones every Tuesday so this kind of farce won't be allowed to happen again.

Besides, I had picked Brooke White to be voted out in my American Idol bracket, and she has completely screwed my standings. I have a reputation to uphold, Miss Scarlet!! And come on, look at this pic! It looks like those cheesy school photos from the eighties, where you had a clean smiling face on the front, and the same in the background kid looking dreamily towards their next Mad Libs session. She's killin' me here!