I confess…

CONFESSION #47

So here it is, & I hang my head in shame…

I’m reading Twilight.

Yes, it’s true.  And I’m not proud of it.  But even though I’m about five years past the curve, I admit that I’ve been mildly curious to find out what all the hoopla is about concerning this book/series/author.  (The movies will come next, if I think I can stomach them.)

I’m not a big fan of most YA—or whatever you might call this genre of story—but I felt the same way about wanting to know what the Harry Potter books were about, & that turned out okay.  At least for the first few books. :crazy

So when our local bookmobile librarian handed me the entire series in one gigantic stack, I first groaned, then thought what the heck.  Just because I start it doesn’t mean I have to finish it, & just because I read the first book doesn’t mean I have to read all of them.  Right?  (And, yes, I also confess that although I buy most of my books new to support their authors, I am not forking money out for this one.  At least not yet.)

My assessment so far is this…

I actually chuckled about three times in the first 15 pages.  Good.  It gave me hope.

But now I’m about 60 pages in & I’m bored.  Not bored enough to give up—yet—but feeling very ho-hum.

I don’t dislike any of the characters too much so far, but I do keep picturing Robert Pattinson as Edward Cullen, & it’s beginning to creep me out. I mean, seriously. Can you believe this not-bad-looking kid…

Cedric Diggory Pictures, Images and Photos

…is also this creepy-looking fellow?

Robert Pattinson Pictures, Images and Photos

Gurk.

Surprisingly, I don’t picture Kristen Stewart as Bella Swan—go figure.

The biggest problem I fear I’m going to have with this book is the teenage angst.  And worse yet, teenage vampire angst.  It makes my head want to explode. :hothot

But again, I’m giving it the old Dungeon try.  (Complete with torture chamber & weeping. LOL)

So what about the rest of you?  Have you read Twilight or the…*clearing throat*…Twilight Saga yet?  What did you think?

And if you haven’t, have you ever read a book or watched a movie/TV show that you were kind of afraid to admit to?

Comments

33 Comments  •  Comments Feed

  1. Laura J. says:

    As far as Twil (I can’t even type it all the way out) I will admit that I bought the first book. So it’s somewhere in a pile of books and will most likely stay there. I just can’t do it. I’m afraid I’ll be like you and end up picturing you know who as Edward and I just can’t risk the upset stomach.

    As far as admitting to a tv/movie show or book…right now I can’t really think of any. I’ll have to get back to you on that one.

    On November 15, 2010 at 9:28 am

    • Heidi says:

      If you want, Laura, you could read it along with me. We could shudder (or be forced to recant our negative opinions) together & maybe even have a little Dungeon book club discussion. Fair warning, tho—it will take me forever to get thru the book, so we’d have to pace ourselves. :icecream

      On November 15, 2010 at 11:27 am

      • Laura J. says:

        Let me think about that….uh….no. Sorry. Just can’t do it. What I know of Bella and Edward well I know they seriously both need to be staked.

        However if you would like a recommendation for a good YA book (I don’t read many, but I love these) try Demon Envy and Speed Demon by Erin Lynn (aka Erin McCarthy). They are funny and the teens in them don’t brood (well not overly brood like the Twil… books do). Hope she writes some more of these soon.

        On November 15, 2010 at 4:49 pm

  2. Lindy says:

    I confess, I haven’t read any of the Twilight books. And honestly, I probably won’t. My nephew loaned me the first one well over a year ago, and I’ve got it sitting on a table to give back to him (unread). I’m with you — just not into the whole YA thing (with a very few rare exceptions, like books written by personal friends). I’m not a fan of angst, especially not teen angst. Blech. Plus I like my romance to be heaped with lots of spice, which isn’t what I associate with YA romance (and if there *is* YA smut, I really REALLY don’t think I want to read it – ick).

    I’m sure I’ve read and/or watched lots of things I shouldn’t admit to, but… meh. I like what I like. 🙂

    ~Lindy

    On November 15, 2010 at 11:25 am

    • Heidi says:

      LOL Good for you, Lindy. Hey, I admit to actually liking the Andrew “Dice” Clay movie Brainsmasher: A Love Story, so how much more humiliating can anyone else’s choices get? :crazy

      And tho I have read a few very good YA books—Meg Cabot’s first Princess Diaries book & American Girl come to mind—I tend to be very picky because of the teenage oh-woe-is-me-life-is-so-hard attitude most of them have.

      But I’ll make you the same offer I made Laura—if you want to dive in & give Twilight a shot, we could all read it together & possibly discuss it down the road. After all, shame spirals are so much more fun with friends. :xmastree

      On November 15, 2010 at 11:31 am

      • Lindy says:

        I enjoyed “Stupid Cupid” by Rhonda Stapleton, but I probably would have missed it if she hadn’t dated a good friend of mine. I really did like her writing style, so I’m glad I read it.

        LOLing at the offer… I’ll probably have to pass, but I’d enjoy reading your thoughts if you continue to read the series. I *might* even be intrigued enough to read them, too (but with a couple of truly fabulous TBR boxes sitting right here, I’m kinda doubtful).

        :somuchlove

        ~Lindy

        On November 15, 2010 at 11:38 am

  3. Jody Hart says:

    Well, I have to admit that I’ve read three out of the four.
    I started out reading Twilight to check it out for “appropriateness” for my then soon to be teenage daughter. Surprisingly, I ended up turning the pages even though I’m far from a teenager. Not sure if it had to do with the great story line or the fact that I secretly love vampire stories. I’ll admit it was a cute, fun read and I did like the sutble comparisons to old literature novels woven into each book. LOL

    I will say that I did NOT recommend them to my daughter to read because I absolutely can’t stand Bella’s character. So needy for her teenage vampire boyfriend and always being a damsel in distress character is not a role model I’d like for my girl. 😀

    I read the books way before the movie was released and I had a completely different “Edward” in my mind. My Edward was a lot more of what I think a “teenage vampire” should look like. LOL Overall the movies stuck to the story.. so far.

    The last book of the saga is still collecting dust in my “to be read” pile, but I’m thinking I might as well read it since I’ve gotten this far into the little love triangle that Stephanie Meyer conjured up for us. 😀

    On November 15, 2010 at 11:50 am

  4. Dee says:

    I will say I’m very much like Laura in that I have not read those books. I will come out and say this though – I’m a vampire fiction snob. My vampires should not sparkle in sunlight; they should fry like bacon.

    I however have heard mixed reviews from friends who have read them. One of my very good friends tells me while not excellent written, the saga does make for good drama and I would like it. The other friends who tend to get fangirly over it I ignore because I’m convinced they can’t be objective.

    I tend to believe those who do not like the books because they tend to be straight shooters. My beloved cousin Sarah, who I swear is a younger version of me except she loves hockey the way I love soccer, call Meyer a hack and says she HATES the books. My good friend Katie points out any romance between a teenager and a man who is 101 is just wrong. Her other big beef is the obsessive creepy love and like Jody said the exceptionally needy heroine.

    On November 15, 2010 at 12:04 pm

    • Dee says:

      As far as what I read, I normally don’t have any books I’m ashamed to admit I read. TV watching…well, right now my tastes are Castle and NCIS since I think ABC canceled my new favorite show without telling anybody!!! [I hate when they do that.]

      But I will admit I’ve indulged in guilty pleasure TV such as The Hills, The Bachelorette/Bachelor, and that show on TV Land a cuple of years ago which was some high school reunion set in paradise or something.

      But my favorite guilty pleasure is watching soccer on the Italian channel because while I don’t understand a lick of what they say they focus on the important stuff… goal celebrations [aka manpiles] and post-game shirtlessness. [And if it’s an important game…shortlessness].

      On November 15, 2010 at 12:25 pm

      • Ann Garland says:

        Hi Heidi (Posting for the second time)–I watch all the cooking shows, too. Have you seen Top Chef: Just Desserts? I hope this becomes an annual show. Top Chef All Stars (I think that’s the title) starts December 1st.

        I’ve watched previous editions of The Apprentice (both regular and celebrity), but I missed the first few episodes, and didn’t catch up. :socool

        On November 16, 2010 at 2:26 am

        • Heidi says:

          Hi, Ann!

          Love Top Chef: Just Desserts. Possibly better than the regular.

          The Apprentice has been repeating occasionally on CNN (I think; maybe CNBC…one of those news channels, anyway), but you really have to sort of fall into it. I only go looking if I miss an original airing.

          On November 16, 2010 at 6:43 pm

    • Heidi says:

      I’m with you on shying away from anything that *everyone* is ga-ga over. I like to make up my own mind & usually find that stuff the world adores (as a drooling, mindless mob) is not for me.

      And as far as confessing to some reality TV viewing, I’m not ashamed of saying I watch & enjoy a lot of the cooking/fashion ones—Hell’s Kitchen, Top Chef, Project Runway, even The Fashion Show. But I do keep my love of The Apprentice more under wraps. I don’t even like Donald Trump, but I can’t help it, the show amuses me. :brava

      On November 15, 2010 at 12:56 pm

  5. Suzanne F says:

    I admit, I read all 4 before the movies came out. It was so bad that I had my husband actually go to Borders at midnight and get me Breaking Dawn (because I certainly couldn’t do it, that would be embarrassing!). I can’t stand Edward, he drives me nuts, Bella is pathetic with no back bone (I agree with Jody, NOT a role model for my little girl either!) but I LOVE Jacob! :loveangel I completely admit to reading the books because I secretly kept hoping that she would wise up and go with Jacob 🙁 I am kind of a sucker that way.

    Oh and I think Robert P. and Kristen S. are completely wrong for the parts in the movie. I can never seem them as the character, just as the actors.

    On November 15, 2010 at 12:37 pm

  6. Heidi says:

    Jody & Suzanne~ I think you two got it right…I do sort of wish I’d read Twilight way back when, before it became such a cult phenom thing. Everything that I’ve seen & heard since has colored my judgment. (Tho I *am* trying to put all that aside & keep an open mind.)

    I haven’t gotten to the creepy 100yo vamp lusting after a 16yo girl or anything of the supposed romance just yet. Edward just saved her from the van & we’re still going thru all the over-thinking teenage angst thing…which is where I grow bored.

    But I’m sticking with it, at least for a while longer! :cantputdown

    On November 15, 2010 at 12:52 pm

  7. Heidi says:

    Oh, & can I just say what a yawn it is that *all* the guys in Bella’s school lust after her? Riiiiiiight. And she’s got what going for her…not being a cheerleader? not being athletic? driving a dumpy old pick-up? Oooh, boy magnet! *snork*

    On November 15, 2010 at 12:53 pm

  8. Lynn Kitchene says:

    I’ve read all the books and seen the movies and I LOVED them. It was a refreshing change for me to not have all the sex sex sex. Don’t get me wrong. I LOVE a good love story complete with sex but when that’s ALL they do, I’m thinking they should’ve been born rabbits and not humans. I mean….come on…………no one can do that 24 hours a day. I like a story line with my books………not JUST sex and some of them are getting to be all about sex and the story line is blah (if there is a story).

    On November 15, 2010 at 1:11 pm

    • Heidi says:

      Well, I’m a fan of hot-hot-hot sex, the more the better :dracuulla but I do agree that it shouldn’t be in YA. That’s actually one of the biggest problems I had with Meg Cabot’s Queen of Babble. It was promoed as YA, but *all* about this teenage girl having sex & moving in with her boyfriend. I had a huge problem with that & even started urging my local libraries to move it into the adult section.

      Kids get enough of that on TV, I don’t think it should be in books, too. Sez the gal who writes super-hot sex & has a grandmother who tells her she’s going to hell for writing pornography every five minutes. :beerlaugh So maybe I’m just completely out of touch. :ouch

      On November 15, 2010 at 3:43 pm

  9. Hollie says:

    I have not read them…nor do i ever plan on reading them!! I have way to many books that I DO want to read in my TBR piles!! Sorry…just saying! I have friends who do love them…and i still love my friends…but thats pushing it for me! :devil
    I did read all of the Harry Potter’s and I even stood in line with my son at midnight when the last one came out. I Loved them! I wont watch the last HP movies though…just because I would hate to see what all happens to the characters I’ve loved!
    I also read the The Lightning Thief when my girly asked me to read it, and that was good…(movie sucked for me).

    On November 15, 2010 at 3:40 pm

    • Heidi says:

      ***I have friends who do love them…and i still love my friends…but thats pushing it for me!***

      ROTF You are too funny, Hollie. It’s so big of you to keep liking your friends, even tho their taste levels are obviously skewed. :beerlaugh

      I agree with you on the size of the TBR pile, tho, which is why I say I’m *trying* Twilight, but no promises I’ll finish it. Life is too short to waste time reading books you don’t love. (And of course you ADORE all of mine, so that’s never a waste of time, right? RIGHT?! :devil )

      I loved the first few Harry Potter books, but then they got a bit dark & wordy for my tastes. I think the last is the only one I haven’t read, tho…& I’ll still watch all the movies. To me, they’re different enough from the books that they don’t seem repetitious.

      On November 15, 2010 at 3:48 pm

    • Heidi says:

      Oh, & I also intend to watch at least the first Twilight movie. I’ve got it on the DVR, but wanted to give the book a try first.

      On November 15, 2010 at 3:48 pm

  10. Laura J. says:

    Okay–I did think of a movie that was really bad, but I LOVED it and that is The Adventures Buckaroo Bonzai Across the 8th Dimension. Peter Weller looking hot, Hot, HOT as Buckaroo, John Lithgow as the mad scientist/alien guy (if you thought he was funny on Third Rock from the Sun…you have not seen him at his funniest) and Christopher Lloyd as another alien named John Bigbooty (that’s big-BOO-tay).

    (I can also mention Rocky Horror Picture-yes I dressed up occasionally for the midnight showing)

    On November 15, 2010 at 4:55 pm

  11. Jennifer E says:

    I read the Twilight books before the movie came out. Twilight was my first vamp read. When I went to the movies, I picked the movie apart. I think it would be hard to read the books after you have watched the movies. I will pick up a teen read when I want to read something less intense. :cantputdown

    On November 15, 2010 at 5:12 pm

  12. Anne says:

    First, I do like and read quite a bit of YA even though I’m close to the big 50. (I am a bit surprised at what’s labeled YA, but has lots of sex too. One has to be realistic, but yikes!)

    I read all the Twilight books. It started because of the hype, then I guess they were ok enough to finish. I didn’t love the characters or the story.

    Same thing with Potter. Most of the books could have been cut in half (not to make 14 to spread out the goodness, but 7 shorter, more concise stories). Don’t hate me Pottervillians!!!! I enjoyed the first couple of movies the most, the rest not so much.

    On November 15, 2010 at 5:57 pm

  13. mary k says:

    Because I love anything Vampire….I watched the movies….yes all of them. The Twilight Saga isn’t all that bad, in fact I am quite enjoying them and so is my 20 year old daughter. (Yeah I can’t beleive my daughter is already 20 either…lol)

    I ahven’t read the books…yet. But at some point I probably will..just to see how they are.

    I love the Harry Potter movies and have not read any of those books yet either, but I plan to.

    I will read, watch pretty much anything that involves Vampires…lol Does anyone remember Vampire in Brooklyn? Now that was bad….lol but I watched it…

    I also started reading the Sookie Stackhouse books way before true Blood came out and I have to say, I like the Books better. Maybe that’s why I am waiting to read the books for Harry Potter and Twilight…The books are almost always better…

    On November 16, 2010 at 7:08 am

    • Laura J says:

      Mary I agree 100% that the Sookie books are better than the show (not that I have a problem with those chosen to play Eric and Alcide, if you know what I mean). The shows has gone so far away from the books I just can’t watch them.

      On November 16, 2010 at 8:33 am

  14. Heidi says:

    I like to read books before I see the movies, if I can, but sometimes it’s just so much easier to spend 90mins watching a film than it is a month to read a book. (And I’m a slow reader, so yes, that’s about how long it takes me.)

    But I do think the books can sometimes be much bigger & better than the movies. With the first couple Harry Potter movies, I had just read the books & they had been so vibrant & amazing that I found myself picking out everything they *hadn’t* done in the film…or everything they hadn’t done quite the way I’d pictured it. Believe it or not, I thought the movies had fewer bells & whistles.

    I sort of think of the HP books & movies as two entirely different entities now, which I know sounds weird. And I may end up feeling the same way about Twilight, we’ll see. :witch

    On November 16, 2010 at 6:55 pm

  15. Victoria CK says:

    First, I have never read the Twi… Mom and friend warned me away. Both said how bad and unlike anything we read and like the books are. Does she really need 4 books for all the same teen agnist and to still end up with the wrong guy? And this is just from all the noise from the books & movies, not from reading them. Mom said it is worse to have to read it all. Have way too many other things to read to for that! And then with all the movie bs one guy vs the other?? Like the movie is going to be THAT different than the books?? What, all the kids are going to effect the ending with their voting? Do they really think so?
    Also, vampires DO NOT SPARKLE!!!!

    Next, I didn’t think I had a “shame” TV or book to mention, but someone wrote about The Adventures Buckaroo Bonzai Across the 8th Dimension. Oh, the is a must see ‘cult’ classic. Have to find it somewhere and watch it. Too fun!

    As for a good “YA” vampire series, check out P C Cast’s (with Kristin Cast) House of Night series. This is a GREAT series. And you should be able to get it through your library for a first try. (books are Marked, Betrayed, Chosed, Untamed, Hunted, Tempted, & Burned. There may be a new one out, not sure.) We all love this series and get them as soon as they come out 😀
    vickykerr@sbcglobal.net

    On November 18, 2010 at 1:29 am

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