Friday, February 26, 2010

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.

3 comments:

  1. You know, I sped through the Twilight series about a month before Breaking Dawn was released and I enjoyed them. I even went to the midnight release of B.D. and stayed up late that weekend to finish it. Then, just before the New Moon movie came out in theaters I read the series again. And I have not yet stopped questioning what I EVER saw in those books that made me like them. I don't regret having read them. They introduced a new world of books to me that I truly DO enjoy, but the Twilight series really isn't that good. Oh well, I still LOVE Jacob and would gladly take him if I were not married. Team Jacob all the way through the poorly written series. LOL. :-)

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  2. LOL - you are so right! They shouldn't be good books but something draws us to them..... they are like chocolate..... ok in small doses but don't get carried away. (I loved them too!)

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  3. HA! I'm nervous to read Twilight. So far, I haven't done it, because...what if I adore it?

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