Friday, January 04, 2008

Twilight Meeting

So last night our ward book club discussed Twilight. I need to say that our book club is more of a small social gathering than a meeting of the minds and for the past while the group has been rather small, kind of floundering, though we do have a wide range of ages represented. There were three of us who had read the series and loved it. The other two ladies hadn't had their names come up in the library queue. One of them heard about it and had decided already that she wasn't going to read it because she doesn't like reading to escape, she likes reading to learn and couldn't see that she was going to get anything out of a vampire book.

So I start in and talk about how much I loved the book, right from the start, because to me it read so fast and the descriptions were so vivid I felt like I was watching a movie in my head. But then to explain the story of a young girl falling in love with a vampire, but he is a good vampire because he drinks animal blood instead of human blood, and then there is the werewolf in the next story... it starts to sound ridiculous. I wasn't trying to convince the non-reader to read the book, I just wanted to talk about the story and the characters but that didn't happen at all. The non-reader became even more repulsed by the story as we talked about it. It kind of started to feel like I was a missionary for the series and was about to get rejected and booted out the door.

Then a late-comer arrived (an hour late and we were actually going to leave because Sommer was starting to act ready for bed and I didn't want her to start fussing). The late-comer explained that she didn't want to read the book but decided to read it to support the group. She started it almost didn't pick it up the second day but did after all . And what do you know? She really enjoyed it and wants to read the entire series. This convinced the non-reader that she should give it a try after all. I just pushed her further away from reading, even though I did say that I wasn't so keen on reading it at first either. So non-reader is borrowing my copy of Twilight and late-comer has my Eclipse. I am expecting non-reader to return the book to me on Sunday with a laugh and shake of her head saying that she tried but just couldn't read it. And that is okay. But I still haven't really talked about the books and the characters and the relationships. Oh well. I just saw on the website that they have casted the actors for Bella and Edward for the movie and production starts in February. Won't that be fun?

9 comments:

kelly said...

yes, it was an...
interesting evening.
do you think we converted her?

mindy said...

ok, I think I have non-reader "peg"ed but who is late-comer?
Sorry you weren't able to enjoy more of a discussion. Maybe it will be better when it's time to discuss New Moon.

Sally said...

Hey Paige!

My sister-in-law recommended that book and I saw it was on your blog, so I read Twilight back in September on my way to the East Coast. Then, my friend bought the series, so I borrowed hers and read New Moon on our trip to Utah last week. Now, I'm reading the last one. I'm about 380 pages into it. Honestly, I can't decide if I like it or not - weird, huh? I'm not really OPPOSED to it like your friend, I just can't decide. You wouldn't think I would read 1200 pages of something that I didn't like, so I don't know if I do, or if I'm just reading it for closure. I think the ending will make me decide whether or not it was worth it all. I'll have to let you know! Thanks for not spoiling the ending :)!

Torrie said...

I DON'T CARE WHAT ANYONE SAYS!
I AM VERY GLAD YOU TOLD ME TO READ THEM! I LOVEDDDD THEM, AND AM GOING TO READ THEM AGAIN!
and even more so, it gave jordan and i a new intrest to share, and she too loves all 3 of the books!!!! so thank you for a GREAT read!, and for giving jordan a mini wonder world to travel to.. she needs it! she loved them so much that i bought them for her for christmas and she got her friend chelsea to read the book too!

so as i ramble on...
who really cares what anyone else thinks, reading twilight, new moon and eclipse was a great series, that yOU really enjoyed, so live it up!, laught it off and READ THEM AGAIN!
{love ya-}

Shannon said...

Hi Paige - trying to explain the Twilight series to someone who hasn't read the books is like trying to explaing licorice ice-cream to someone who hasn't tried it...it sounds bizarre, but once you've had it, nothing quite compares! :) Wish I could have been at your book club meeting...

Lark said...

Why did non-reader even come? Usually you just skip book club if you didn't read the book right? And she shouldn't have contributed to discussion either. She should have listened to the readers discuss the book. Sorry it didn't go well. But those that actually read the book love it and totally support you!

Lynne said...

Paige, I would have liked to be at your book club meeting--I haven't read any of the Twilight series, but I like hearing all about it and you would have given a great presentation! Our book club is reading Gracelin O'Malley, historical fiction about a young woman during the Irish potato famine, by Ann Moore. It's an easy and thought-provoking read. We're not great minds, but we have fun together! Love you!

Paige said...

Late-comer is Kim Theiss. She called me tonight to tell me that she had already finished New Moon. Go Kim! And the non-reader was hosting the meeting because the original hostess got sick the day before.

Our book club really is more of a social gathering. And I have enjoyed that aspect of it because I have gotten to know ladies with whom I usually don't interact. We just don't have great discussions about any book but that fact that everyone feels pretty comfortable now talking about their lives counts for something, right?

curly girl said...

I am a little late to the phenom that is the Twilight series...I just got started on the first book and I have to say that I am surprised that I'm enjoying it. I've heard such mixed reviews that I was a tad skeptical. But, I stayed up way too late last night reading away. Can't say it's the finest piece of lit I've ever read, but it has been entertaining thus far, and right now, that's enough for me!

p.s. SO GOOD to see you (and Sommer) today!!!