I'm Not Proud to Have Read...

I saw this topic on Home Girl's Book Blog and could not resist. "Write a blog post wherein you 'fess up to reading a book that didn't make you proud."

Okay, the book I'm picking is one I recently read -- Stargazer by Claudia Gray. The reason I singled out this particular book is because it is at the end of a long line of shameful book choices and by the time I got to this place, there is no reason I should have picked it up and read it at all, let alone read it cover to cover in two days, being very entertained while doing so.

I decided to read the Twilight series the Christmas before last when I heard the first book was something like my favorite book of all time, Pride and Prejudice (speaking of a bastardization of great literature). And friends, I loved it. Shamefully, I ate through all four books in a week and by the time I finished, my head was spinning with dreamy visions of Edward Cullen. I breathlessly told my husband the plot of all the books and talked about them nonstop for days after finishing. I even hummed little songs about becoming a vampire. It was getting weird.

So, having read Twilight and having vampire-romance withdrawal, I promptly went to the bookstore and asked if they had anything like Twilight. After much prodding, one of the clerks recommended Evernight by Claudia Gray. "It's about a vampire boarding school," she said and I snapped it up right then and there.

And I read it straight through. It was no Twilight, but it did indeed have vampires and did indeed have romance so I was happy for a moment.

But the more I thought about Twilight and Evernight, the more I realized these were really horrible books. Engrossing though it was Twilight had so many flaws and annoying, silly characters, that there was no way I could actually like it. In fact, I had to hate it, right?

So, I thought to myself, there is no reason I should bother to read anymore of the new Twilight-spin-off vampire fiction out there. Evernight was a momentary lapse in judgment. I'm done with bad books like this.

Then, why oh why, when I was browsing for something to read at the library two weeks ago, did I pick up Stargazer, the sequel to Evernight?

Because I couldn't help myself. Because vampire romance is kind of cool. Because I really do love corny YA books. Because it was a quick and easy read.

And you know the sad part. I'm probably going to read the next book in the series, Hourglass, when it comes out next month. And I requested Evermore from the library yesterday.

Oh, the shame. The horrible shame. Yes, I read bad vampire romances. And I kind of like them.