It all started because the Philadelphia airport has a crappy bookstore. On a layover to L.A., I was browsing the "best sellers" rack, looking for some "literature" and came across Stephanie Meyer's Twilight. Judging the book by it's cover (clean, black, tasteful -- note that I tend to judge shampoo bottles in the same fashion, hence I will never buy Herbal Essences, sorry ATD), I purchased it and by the time I landed in L.A. was so crazed over the thing that I couldn't actually have a real conversation with my friend who came to pick me up.
And then I sorta forgot about the book until the movie came out and I learned (gasp) that there are three other titles in the series. Oh snap. I even brought a hardcover copy of the fourth one with me to Tanzania (though I didn't carry it, or, uh, have a porter carry it, up the mountain). In short, this stuff is literary crack. Why/How, you ask? A friend (who refuses to read them) put it best: The books are about a girl who falls in love with the dark, brooding, bad boy who actually likes her back and will do anything in his immense power to save her, make her happy, etc. It's every teenage girl's fantasy (see episodes of My So Called Life for full explanation of this concept).
Anyway, I've been impressed at Meyer's ability to promote waiting until marriage and semi-Mormon values while still writing teenage romance thrillers. I feel about her the way I feel about Ayn Rand -- I don't agree with her ideals, but I like her books, even though her books not-so-secretly promote her ideals. I can't believe I just equated The Fountainhead to Twilight. Please don't tell anyone.
Meanwhile, I started reading additional vampire literature. And I will call these books literature because they were recommended by my brother (brother = english teacher, english teacher = snobby taste in books, snobby taste in books = legitimate reads, therefore anything my brother recommends is legit; including graphic novels and wacked out Russian fantasy stories). This series -- called The Nightwatch -- is also a four-parter, written (originally) in Russian by Sergei Lukyanenko. Lower on the romance side of things and higher on the magical fighting and vodka sides. A real winner.
I haven't gotten on True Blood train (yet -- on the Netflix list...as are The Nightwatch movies, which apparently use "special effects" in how they put up subtitles. Confession: I just signed up for Netflix this month and the first movie I put in my queue was Twilight). But have a feeling I'll like the series, no matter how annoying they've managed to make Anna Paquin's character. I also have been encouraged to dive into Anne Rice (another female writer...hmmm...). I wonder if women are more naturally inclined to be obsessed with vampires (see reasoning on dark brooding men above). Except Lestat is such a ponce in the movie version of Interview with a Vampire (but that could just be Tom Cruise's fault).
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