Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

Reading the last book in a series is always bittersweet. At the same time, I was really looking forward to it. Stephenie Meyer tells an engaging tale. From the first book, Twilight, I wanted know what was going to happen. I wanted to know if Bella and Edward were going to get together. I wanted to know if Belle was going to become a vampire. And it's finally here. The end to the journey. Now here's the problem. When I get excited and want to find out what's going to happen, I tend to skim. I read super fast and of course, lose things. In this, I mean, I lose text, nuances, even bits and pieces of the storyline because I read so fast. All just to find out what is going to happen. However this is not a problem with Stephenie Meyer's books. The writing is simple and simplistic so it is easy to read, easy to follow.

Now onto the story. Bella and Edward must fulfill their promise to each other. Bella begins to plan their wedding, or rather Alice begins to plan their wedding and Edward will make Bella a vampire after they are married. Jacob returns have a dance with Belle at the reception as a sign of his reluctant acceptance. Then Edward takes Bella on an elaborate honeymoon on Rene's island. They consummate their marriage with much reluctance on Edward's part. Not because he does not love Bella. On the contrary, he is reluctant because he loves her too much. Edward is afraid that in his passion, he will crush and hurt Bella. They wake up the following morning to find the bed mangled. Bella wakes up completely ecstatic but to Edward's horror, Bella is completely bruised. He swears to not touch Bella again, to Bella's dismay, and tries to distract with all the wonders of the island. Bella is distracted and not feeling well. She quickly comes to the conclusion that she is pregnant. Bella is overjoyed. Edward is not. Vampires apparently are unable to reproduce. And legend says that those that do, do not fare well. Legend has it that the "babies" are monsters, so Edward's initial is less than positive. His immediate call to Carlisle spurs him to get Bella back home to Forks to get rid of the "spawn." Bella immediately forms an alliance with Rosalie, who she has never gotten along with, to protect the baby. Rosalie who longs for her former, normal life where she could have grown up, married and had a family has a second chance with Bella's baby.

Although Bella is newly pregnant, her stages of pregnancy is advancing at a rapid pace. By the time she returns to Fork, she is clearly showing, feels the baby kicking and is having difficulty walking. Bella refuses to allow anyone to harm the baby despite the damage the baby is doing to her. She is unable to move, breathe or eat. The baby even ends up breaking her ribs with its kicks. But nothing can convince her the baby is evil. She continues to have beautiful dreams about the baby boy she thinks she is going to have.

Jacob returns to this "horror," and remains because it makes Bella happy. And Edward will put up with anything, even Jacob, to keep Bella happy. For once Jacob and Edward are truly on the same side in wanting Bella to end this horror of a pregnancy because they know it will kill Belle.

There are unknown dangers of a vampire child. The werewolves are "obligated" to kill the it and in doing so, its mother. Jacob, an alpha in his own right because he is a direct descendent of the first werewolf, leaves his pack and forms his own. At first he meant to be a lone pack but two others join him - Leah and Seth. Seth had formed a bond with Edward after fighting the vampires in Eclipse. And as an alpha, Jacob gives Edward permission to break the Convenant formed by years ago by the werewolves and the vampires, in order to save Bella's life. So the werewolves will no longer go after the vampires after Bella is made into a vampire.

A couple realizations are made. Since Bella is unable to keep any food down, the idea that because she is carrying a vampire child, perhaps it is blood that she is craving. And it actually works. Edward also realizes that he is able to read the baby's mind and has a conversation with the baby to let the baby know that all the movements have been hurting Mommy. And that works, too. The baby actually relays to Edward how much Mommy is loved. This now endears Edward to the child and they have made the step towards being a loving family. Jacob has lost his ally in Edward. The baby tries its best to not hurt Mommy but soon cannot help it. The time has come for Bella to give birth. Bella may die. Or will she?

Giving birth is killing her. It is literally tearing Bella apart. It is then that Edward chooses to make Belle a vampire by injecting her with his vampire blood. Rosalie escapes with the baby. Clearly, the baby is her first priority. The baby is a little girl, not the baby boy that Bella dreamed she was carrying. She names her Renesmee, after her mother and Edward's mother.

The transformation begins. Bella feels the burn searing through her veins throughout her body, along with a rapid heartbeat. This accelerates and accelerates for what seems like an eternity until it comes to a sudden stop. The transformation is complete. Belle is now a vampire.

Bella jumps up with the kind of agility and grace that she most definitely never had. Edward is wary. Everyone knows how dangerous and strong a newborn vampire is. Bella feels a bit a wariness of her own as she feels the tension in the air emanating from the other vampires. But Bella can only think of her baby. The circumstances under which Bella finally sees her baby girl is strange. Everyone is afraid of Bella's new abilities. As a newborn vampire, she is stronger than everyone else there. They are afraid not for themselves, but for her newborn who is half human and has human blood flowing in her veins. Bella shows amazing self control. Jasper who has had much experience with newborn vampires is astonished by Bella.

Surprisingly, the most protective over Renesmee is not Edward, not Rosalie or any of the other vampires. The one who hovers over the most is Jacob. Jacob has imprinted on Renesmee. Renesmee is Jacob's true mate. Bella is not happy.

Renesmee is a very special baby. It only takes one look at her to figure that out. She is unlike any other newborn. Yes, she is half human and half vampire, but there is more to it. Renesmee is very alert and aware, much more than a newborn should be at a few days old. We soon discover that Renesmee is aging at rapid pace, which explains the advanced pregnancy that caused Bella to give birth at a few months. This is a cause for concern. Carlisle is pooling all his resources to figure out what may or may not happen to Renesmee. Renesmee's growth is monitored and she appears to be toddler size before long. Thankfully, the rapid pace of growth as slowed down a little. She is not aging as quickly as she did at birth.

Renesmee also has her own abilities, not unlike her very special parents. With a touch, Renesmee is able to project her thoughts onto other people. It is the mirror image of Edward's abilities. She is able to "speak" to people and let people know her thoughts and desires despite being a newborn.

It is against vampire creed to make vampire children because they are dangerous and uncontrollable. So when Renesmee is seen by a lurking vampire and is mistaken to be one, the Volturi are informed. The Volturi begin to make their way to Forks to destroy Renesmee and the Cullens.

The Cullens gather their fellow vampires from around the world to stand as their witnesses as to Renesmee being a special human vampire child, in hopes that the Volturi will at least pause long enough to listen to their case. There is resistance for fear that Volturi will destroy them or the Cullens will expect them to fight. The Cullens only want witnesses.

In the meanwhile, Alice and Jasper disappear to places unknown. Speculation is that Alice was running away from what she know who spell doom for the Cullens. However, Alice did leave an innocuous clue for Bella, and only Bella. The page from a book leads Bella to a forger of all people. Bella deduces and determines that if all fails and Volturi destroys the Cullens, Renesmee will escape and start a new life as someone else. Bella has to be the one who sets this plan in motion because her mind is protected from Edward and the Volturi.

By the time the Volturi arrive with their entourage, the Cullens and many of their witnesses have formed a bond. Bella has also learned to finesse her special abilities. Her barrier that protects her thoughts from Edward has been honed to be a physical shield which she has been working on to protect not only herself but those around her.

The Volturi is taken aback by huge show of support for the Cullens. They destroy Irina for her mistake of leading them there. However, the Volturi still feel that Renesmee must not be allowed to live because they do not know the consequences of her existence. The Volturi make a show of deliberating while making hidden attempts to pick off some of the Cullens and their friends. If not for Bella's expanded abilities to formulate an invisible shield, the Volturi would have won.

Alice and Jasper arrive to save the day. They return from South America with an existing 150 year old human vampire that looks like a teenager. This first gives hope to Bella and Edward that Renesmee will live a long life and not prematurely die. This also shows the Volturi that Renesmee will not be a danger to vampire's secret existence.

The Volturi leave. And Bella, Edward and Renesmee can begin to enjoy their life together. The end.

I read that there was a lot of backlash for Breaking Dawn. I know that Breaking Dawn did not have many fans. But I actually liked this book. I liked Breaking Dawn better than Eclipse which I knew was a favorite of many. I felt that something was finally happening in this book. Things were finally going somewhere. The previous books were in stasis and things were finally happening in Breaking Dawn. Bella's little secret spy mission was a little weird and seemed to be a bit of a simplistic solution to the problem. But it's not like I can think of one better. It was a departure of the direction of the storyline that we were used to Twilight. But it made sense, sort of. Bella holding the key to Renesmee's safety in case all else fails. Bella is the one with the mind who noone can read.

Now Breaking Dawn isn't my favorite of the Twilight series. My favorite of the Twilight series is actually one that Stephenie Meyer has not written yet. Yes, I am referring to Midnight Sun, the companion book to Twilight. It is the first book that is from Edward's point of view. Supposedly a copy of one of the initial drafts of Midnight Sun was leaked on the internet. Now Stephenie Meyer feels violated and will not finish writing the book. At least not yet. She has released the draft on her website. So of course I had to read it. I know there are many Twilight devotees who vow not to read Midnight Sun until it is published but I am not one of them. I had to read it once I found out about it. I loved the concept of Midnight Sun. I've always wanted to know what someone was thinking both in real life and in stories. I want to know what is going through their head. Maybe I'm just a nosy person, but that's just how I am. The idea that Midnight Sun is the counterpart to Twilight which is from Bella's perspective is awesome. I was reading Midnight Sun thinking, oh, that's why he did that. So that explains why he said that. I loved it. I really do hope that Stephenie Meyer decides to complete Midnight Sun.

Rose Madder by Stephen King

So I combed the recommendations from an online book club for promising horror books to fulfill my horror genre. I used to be a huge fan of horror books and movies. I think I have lost my nerve as I've gotten older. So I was looking for a milder horror book, one that wouldn't give me nightmares. I know that Stephen King is the "King of Horror." He earns his title well. That man has a very sick mind. One really has to have one in order to come up with the stories he does. A book club friend tells me that he came up with The Shining and the character of Jack because "there are times when I felt very angry toward my children and have even felt as though I could hurt them." Okay. But the recommendation said that Rose Madder was not one of those scary horror books, so I went with that.

Basically the story begins on a surprising note. And not in a good way. Rose, pregnant, is beaten up by her husband for reading what he considers trash. Needless to say, Rose has a miscarriage and Norman covers it up. Rose feels that noone would take her word against the word of her husband, a cop. Rose suffers in silence for years, until one day a spot of blood on the sheets pushes her to run away. It was a hard road for Rose to take because for over a decade, Rose had meekly followed and taken Norman's abuse. But somehow she did it. Rose managed to escape by bus to a town that she thought would be far away enough. And luckily, she met a man at the bus depot who directed her to home for abused women. In this new place, Rose thrives and learns to be independent for the first time in a long, long time.

Meanwhile, Norman has not forgotten her. He considers Rose his possession and will never let go. He is just temporarily detained because he is being honored as a "hero" for a big case he has just solved.

Rose decides to pawn her engagement and wedding rings because they no longer hold any significance for her, only to find out that the diamond engagement ring that Norman told her was worth a lot of money was not real. This really brought to home how little Norman thought of and valued her even in the beginning. As she leaves the pawn shop in utter embarrassment, Rose finds herself mesmerized by a painting. The painting is of a woman standing in the middle of a field with her back to the viewer. Rose has to have this painting. She trades her two rings for the painting. As Rose leaves the pawn shop with her prize, another patron of the pawn shop stops her and offers her a job. He is owns an audio book company and thought that Rose had a wonderful voice that would tape beautifully. So things are slowly falling into place for Rose. She has found a safe haven away from Norman. She has a job for the first time. She has her own apartment. And she meets a man. Bill is the clerk at the pawn shop. Rose thinks she is safe since it has been a while since she has escaped from Norman. Meanwhile, Norman is finishing up business and begins to slowly follow leads to track Rose. He is in no hurry because he "knows" he will find what belongs to him.

In the meanwhile, the haunting painting that Rose found at the pawn shop holds much significance. The title of the painting is Rose Madder who Rose assumes is the female figure in the painting. Rose begins to notice subtle changes in the painting. Rose also begins to have dreams about the painting where she seems to enter the painting and finds that there is more to the painting than what she first sees. Apparently there is a monster that is similar to the Minotaur in the Greek myths.

Norman succeeds in tracking Rose to the town she now calls her home. He tortures and kills the man who first directed Rose to the women's shelter. He tries to stalk her at a fair sponsored by the women's shelter and almost succeeds in getting her. He injures two of her friends. Norman escapes after donning a mask that interestingly enough makes him look like the Minotaur. During his escape, Norman begins to have conversations with the mask and it begins to "influence" his actions.

Now things start getting intense. The police are now actively involved. Norman goes back to the women's shelter to find out where Rose lives. There he takes the life of the director of the shelter. Rose and Bill go back to her apartment, knowing that the police believe her claims of her husband's cruelty and have sent police patrol to guard her apartment. Unfortunately, Norman had gotten there first. Norman, having killed the two patrolmen, was disguised as one of the officers in the patrol car to give Rose the peace of mind to unlock the front door of her building. Rose and Bill just barely manage to make it up to her apartment by pure luck and the skin of their teeth. To escape the madman, Rose and Bill enter the Rose Madder painting. Rose will get help if she follows direction which is to lead the monster/Norman to a certain destination. And it is there that Rose Madder of the painting attacks and destroys the monster/Norman.

Hereafter, Rose and Bill leave the painting and one would think there would be a happily ever after. Rose and Bill marry and have a child but Rose has periods of rage and actually has abuse tendencies. She was warned by Rose Madder it would happen. Rose Madder had foreseen Rose's rage and had given her seeds and the warning "to remember the tree." This is the tree at the lake that Bill had brought her to. The seeds grow into a beautiful but deadly tree, I believe representing the poison that caused her rage.

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

I have wanted to read the classics for a while, books I have never had the chance to read. I never had to read the classics in high school. I was never in regular classes where the classics where a part of the curriculum like my friends were. So I've been wanting to make up for past times. Yet at the same time, I was avoiding reading Rebecca. I kind of wanted to keep on reading my easy reading books. I knew that reading Rebecca would take time and require me to think. And I just don't want to do that. My brain can't handle it. My biggest motivation in finally picking up the book to read was that it was due at the library soon.

It took me a while to get into the book, Rebecca. I think I kept on re-reading the first few pages because it wouldn't quite sink in. But once I overcame that obstacle, I was captivated. I came to see how it was considered a classic. It is well written. The story flowed. I wanted to keep on reading to find out what happened.

We meet a young woman, a quiet and demure sort of girl, who is working as a companion to a lady abroad. While in Monte Carlo, she meets and is "romanced" by a Maxim de Winter. Maxim de Winter is supposedly a grieving widower whose wife was lost at sea. He proposes and after a short honeymoon, the newlyweds return to Manderlay. Manderlay is the family home of the Maxim de Winter. The new Mrs. de Winter finds that Rebecca, the first Mrs. de Winter, still has a strong presence at Manderlay. This is evident with Mrs. Danvers - the housekeeper who is devoted to the first Mrs. de Winter, her untouched bedroom, her sitting room among other things. Mrs. de Winter finds it difficult to overcome the ghost of Rebecca and fears that she will never live up to Rebecca in the eyes of the staff, Maxim or his family. When the de Winters are pressured to throw their annual costume ball, things come to a head. Mrs. Danvers subtly convinces Mrs. de Winter to wear a costume based on a painting in the house. Unbeknowst to Mrs. de Winters that it was the same costume that Rebecca wore at her last costume ball. Maxim is horrified and demands that his wife removes the costume. They spend the remainder of the ball under a facade of marital bliss. Mrs. de Winter is completely convinced that it was a mistake to have married Maxim and that Maxim is still in love with his first wife, Rebecca. The next morning, Mrs. Danvers shows her true colors and nearly drives Mrs. de Winter to suicide by jumping out the window. But a shipwreck at the nearby beach gets in the way. It is a good thing, in more ways than one. Maxim reveals that the true nature of his first marriage. He opens up about how Rebecca was a manipulator, an adulterer and just plain cruel. Maxim dealt with it because she was abolutely wonderful with Manderlay. Basically Maxim made a deal with the devil in exchange for a proper mistress for his family home. The last straw was when Rebecca flaunts the 'fact' that she was pregnant with her lover's baby. Maxim loses it and shoots her dead. He sinks her and her boat. She is presumed lost at sea. The rescue of the shipwreck leads to the location of the sunken boat. An investigation unearths Rebecca's secret visit to a doctor who reveals that she was terminal, not pregnant. Rebecca intentionally provoked Maxim to cause her death and his perpetual guilt. The de Winters return to Manderlay guilt free, only to find Manderlay in flames - all likely at the hands of Mrs. Danvers.

Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer

I was excited to read the next installment of the Twilight series. I was lucky and was able to get Eclipse rather quickly from the library. But I had wanted to pace myself. I had a bunch of other books waiting on the sidelines. I did not want to bypass them in order to satisfy my selfish need to find out what happens in this series. I did not want to seem too obsessive. Plus time was running out with me having to return the books to the library. So there was space between my reading Book 2, New Moon, and Book 3, Eclipse. I explain all this because I did not enjoy reading Eclipse. At least not in the beginning. I guess I was in a good mind frame - a teenage mind set - when I started reading Twilight. I read New Moon right afterward, so I was still "in the zone." I don't know if it was because I read Rebecca right before Eclipse. Rebecca is a literary classic. So honestly, I found myself a bit annoyed with the writing. I really had little patience for it. It affected how I thought of the book and it is my least favorite. I find this odd because I've read lots of comments about how people love Eclipse . I think it is directly connected to the fact that I read a very good piece of literature directly before reading Stephenie Meyers again. I guess that was a big mistake. I still like her story a lot. I think she is a great storyteller but I wish she were a better writer. I can totally see how the teens love the Twilight series. It took a hundred or so pages before I got into reading the book again without being annoyed. Then I was immersed in the Bella/Edward saga again.

In Eclipse, the Cullen family is back in Forks, and Bella and Edward are together again. All would be fine in the world, except now Bella's best friend in the world, Jacob, will not or cannot be anywhere near her when Edward is around. Vampires and werewolves do not get along. Oh, and the fact that there is a vampire, Victoria, who is after Bella. And the Volturi may come around anytime to check on whether Bella has become a vampire as promised. It's just another day in the life of Bella and Edward.

With Bella's life still in danger from Victoria, Edward and Jacob form an alliance. They put aside their dislike for each other in order to protect the girl they both love. Edward will do anything, anything at all, to keep Bella from being hurt or sad again after he had hurt her so much. Even if it means letting her be friends with Jacob. The vampires and the werewolves take turns monitoring Forks and protecting Bella.

Bella continues to push to become a vampire. Edward agrees to be the one who will make Bella a vampire, on one condition - that Bella agrees to marry him. Bella wants it done as soon as possible because she does not want to get any older.

There appears to be a band of newborn vampires on the loose in Seattle. And they seem to be making their way to Forks. The vampires and the werewolves further their alliance and band together to destroy the newborns. They plan a trap with Bella as bait. When Jacob threatens to sacrifice himself during the battle when he finds out about Bella's and Edward's engagement, Bella kisses him to give him false hope. Only it isn't. In that kiss, Bella realizes that she loves Jacob, too.

Everyone gets ready for the attack while Edward and Seth, a young werewolf, protect Bella at a separate location. Since the werewolves are in tune with each other and of course, Edward can read minds, they are all in full contact with each other and are aware of what is going on. Edward soon comes to the realization that it is a trap. While everyone else is preoccupied with the newborns, Victoria is coming in for an attack. Edward is forced to fight anyway, despite Bella's machinations to keep him safe with her. Edward and Seth together destroy Victoria.

After the battle, Bella explains to Jacob that despite loving both Edward and Jacob, her love for Edward is much greater. As the wedding plans proceed, Jacob runs away in pain. He lives as a wolf to escape the pain.

Harry, A History by Melissa Anelli

As I was reading this book, I couldn't quite figure out how Melissa Anelli got to where she was. I couldn't quite figure out how a "normal" person got to be such a bigwig in the Harry Potter world. There were/are so many huge Harry Potter fans. I wonder how Melissa Anelli got to be the one to run a Harry Potter fansite, to be at premieres, to meet JK Rowling... How lucky can a girl get? She wasn't exactly with the Harry Potter craze from the beginning. Could it have to do with her persistence? Her maintenance of Potter fansite integrity? Her journalism know how? I was in awe because Melissa Anelli appears to be a normal person who got to be a part of things that any Potter fan would have loved, loved, loved to be a part of.

When Melissa Anelli first begins the Harry Potter series, she is interested but not obsessed. She is in college, so other things do come first. When Melissa is finally back home and job seeking, she falls back into Harry Potter and discovers the world of fansites. She ultimately relates the most with the Leaky Cauldron site. It is the world of Harry Potter that helps her through that terrible day on September 11, 2001. It is my impression that that day was a turning point for her. Even when Melissa secures a job, the Leaky Cauldron remains of utmost importance to her.

Melissa Anelli walks us through the different fansites, fanfiction, premieres, interviews with Jo Rowling, a Potter film set, podcasts and so much more. Reading this book was like re-living the Potter craze. I loved being to able to get a sneak peek at being an insider.

This is a great book for any Potter fan!

Sneak Peak at Books!

Guess what? I got a book today! I got a book today! Okay, so what's so exciting about that? I have books all around me all the time. Well, this one came from the Barnes & Nobles First Look program. I found out about it through the BBC Book Club. Well, I did know about Harper Collins First Look program. I signed up for it a while ago, but never really did anything about it. None of the books really interested me - mostly nonfiction. I also signed T for the Harper Collins First Look Kid's program and he's actually gotten a few books. We have one right now that I have to read to him.

Let me backtrack - what is the First Look program? It is the opportunity to get an Advanced Reading Copy (ARC) for free to review. An Advance Reading Copy, or ARC, is an uncorrected paperback edition created by publishers for distribution to booksellers and the media a few months before the actual publication of a new book. You get to check out new books before they are even on the shelves!

With Barnes & Nobles, it's easier to get an Advanced Reading Copy. You check to see if there is an offering of a First Look Book Club selection. Then all you have to do is enroll. Once there are no more books, enrollment will close. This makes it easier to figure out whether or not you will get a book or not. The number of books are limited and it's a first come first serve basis. So you should check to see if there are new selections each month, since you need to enroll each time. This month's selection The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe. I'm excited to read it. Also with Barnes & Nobles, you get to have a private discussion with the author and chat with other readers about the book online.

With Harper Collins, there will be a list of Books on Offer of their Advanced Reading Editions (ARE). You select the ones you are interested in. Here you simply briefly write why you would like to review the book. Then you wait to see if you will be selected. A random drawing is held. This past month was the first time I saw a book that appealed to me and chose a book to review. So I will have to wait to see if I am chosen. I think I requested to review 4 different times for T and we received the last 3 books. Perhaps there are better odds for the kids. Then if and when you get the book, you read and write a brief review in the time slot given. It's as simple as that.

Happy reviewing!

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares

I only knew about this book because the movie came out last summer. As I was looking for a YA book to meet my book challenge,I thought this would be a neat book to read. I haven't seen the movie but I have seen commercials so I had a rough idea of the actresses that had been cast. So while reading the book, I did have mental images of the characters. I don't know if that helped with the story or not.

This book follows four girls and their friendship one summer when they are apart. They are tied together by a magical pair of pants that travels between them. These pants are magical because somehow even though the girls are all different shapes and sizes, the pants fit them all beautifully.

Carmen, who originally found the pants, is going to visit her father where he lives for the first time. Carmen is all ready for some father daughter bonding when she learns that her father is getting married to a ready made family. Where does she fit into all this?

Lena and her family are visiting her grandparents in Greece. Through a big misunderstanding with a boy, Lena causes her grandparents to fight with good friends. Lena doesn't have the courage to right a wrong.

Bridget is off to soccer camp where she is learning about life, love and when to hold back.

Tibby is stuck at home for the summer. She's making a documentary while working at a local store. She meets a little girl who teaches her there are worse things in life.

The pants travel to each of the girls and gives them the courage to do what's right.