Monday, August 4, 2008

The Twilight Phenomenon

Anyone who has perused the internet chat boards for YA readers or wandered past a bookstore knows this was the weekend of "Breaking Dawn," Stephenie Meyer's fourth and final installment of the "Twilight" series. As with JK Rowling's final "Harry Potter" book, the readers of BD were waiting anxiously at midnight for the book's release and then devoured it (no pun intended!) in a day or less.

Sadly, I have not read Meyer's books - yet. I am on the library's waiting list for them which will mean I will get them sometime around 2010. I wish I had unlimited book funds but lately I have been buying some fantastic novels and books by friends of mine, like Paula Yoo's "Good Enough," Michael Reisman's "Simon Bloom," Lisa Yee's "Millicent Min," CG Watson's "Quad," Joyce Lee Wong's "Seeing Emily," Liane Bonin's "Celebrity Skin," and so on. I do scour the used bookstores, just in case someone has parted with a copy!

In the meantime, I'm on a quest - a Meyer quest, to learn all I can about the books. What is the one thing that makes them "must-reads" for you? When I ask readers this, I get answers like, "It's so great!" Or "It's an amazing book!" Or "I love those books!"

Give me specifics, people! Is it the character development? The narrator's voice? The tone of the books? The relationships? The action? Do you like the supernatural element? The writing style? The dialogue?

Thank you for helping me with my research!