I am unsure if I have written about this before, but I have a confession to make. I am more than a little hooked on the “Twilight” book series by Stephanie Meyer. It’s a vampire story, a werewolf story, and a love story all rolled into one. There is a little action, a little mystery and a lot of gooey goodness aimed at the young adult crowd. I was a little hesitant to read the first book, because it was written for young adults, and I was certain that it would be too vanilla for my taste. However, after reading Twilight, I immediately started reading New Moon, and didn’t stop until I finished Eclipse. There’s a fourth book, Breaking Dawn, that is coming out soon, which I cannot wait for. I have read the series more than once already, thanks to eBooks and my local library. I am planning on ordering the whole set once Breaking Dawn comes out. Also, on 12/12/08, a movie based on the first book is being released. I am more than a little excited about that as well. While this series isn’t as full of blood and gore as a lot of other vampire novels, it’s certainly addictive once you start reading it.

Another interesting facet to this is that Stephanie Meyer is a member of the LDS church, like my husband is. Knowing some of the beliefs that members have, it is easy to see it echoed in the way she writes to some degree. It’s just a tidbit that I might have not picked up otherwise, and I’ve found it interesting, especially reading the books again, how she injects, maybe not even consciously, some of that culture into the stories she writes. Concepts like virtue, heaven, and the value of a soul come up fairly often. Even the fact that the vampires, the good ones anyway, attempt to avoid causing pain and shy away from drinking human blood is also indicative of the fact that she tries to be a good influence on the demographic she is writing for, even while touching on racy and dark topics.

At any rate, I recommend the books. They aren’t heavy reading, but there’s certainly entertainment value. Plus, something must be said for a book that can knock Harry Potter off the top of the bestsellers list and remain there for 35+ weeks.

Go Stephanie. :)