Tuesday, August 19, 2008

New York Timely Book Review

Reviews with moms in mind.

I managed to read two books this week. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls and Twilight by Stephenie Myer.
The Glass Castle is a quick, short, shocker. Imagine Angela's Ashes if McCourt had ADD. She manages to give the reader a quick tour of her unconventional, poverty stricken upbringing. If you want to read about someone who grew up rougher than you did, or if you could envision the worst childhood ever and still give it some competition, this one's for you. Walls sprinkles some childhood magic with extreme dysfunction and somehow comes out alive and well. This reader was left hoping her little sister Maureen writes her side of the Walls family saga.

Why a mom should read it? It's a great parenting style gauge, if you end up identifying with the mother than you should probably just leave your children on the nearest church doorstep.


Twilight is geared toward the young adult but has found a following from all ages. I found myself reading out loud to my four year old but only because we were on vacation and our one Curious George reader lost it's punch after a day. Need I say she's hooked so don't ask to borrow, I'm saving my copy. My first impression after hearing so much about this intoxicating bit of vampire lore was, dang, this book is big and I have the attention span of a gnat lately. But no fear ! The vampires are hot and the font is large. Smooth read, she's got a heck of an imagination. Something creepy as hell about a 100 year old guy seducing a 17 year old girl, but I don't think you're supposed to connect those particular dots. Bella's a shell of a gal until Lestat, er, I mean Edward touches her with his cold, hard, bony, (now, now) hand and exposes (now, now) a world far beyond what she's ever dreamed possible. OK, face it, he's hot. In a Paris Hilton way, not a warm blooded creature way. I'm still debating pursuing the other three books, I have to admit I couldn't wait for it to be over. But I'm 40 and the only thing sucking the life out of me, oh, well, let's not go there.

Why a mom should read it? Because thanks to Meyer your 13 and up fruit of your womb is probably dreaming of that sun starved, pasty faced geek in the basement next door bending her to his will. And you might want to understand the sudden interest.

3 comments:

CA Girl in 10-OC said...

OK now I want to read both of them! Amazon.com here I come!!

Lara said...

Okay, so I'm on book 3 of the Twilight series, and I'm totally hooked. They're so great. Characters are well-developed, plot gets more and more complicated, and you just can't decide what you want Bella to do. Definitely worth reading!!! If you have time.

Regi S. said...

I'm hearing they get better ,OK, they get smuttier. The first one was way to repetitive.

Edward: I can't be with you.
Bella: You're here now,guess you'll still be here in chapter 9. Now aggressively shove me in a car or something.


I'm hearing good things about the Jacob character though. It is young adult,it's totally unfair to judge it anyway ;)