Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
rating: 3 of 5 stars

I don’t think I’ve read a positive review of Twilight from a feminist yet. I wonder if I’m going to be the first?

As a feminist who both loves vampire romance and has read so many horrible things about this series, I just had to read it myself to see what all of the fuss was about. You may be shocked to hear that I really wasn’t offended by the book at all and I actually rather enjoyed it.

I should clarify that so far I’ve only read the first book so I don’t know where things are going but I have a theory that leads to a fairly feminist message in the end.

Bella starts off not exactly needy but not totally self-reliant either. I saw her grow a bit in this first book and I have a feeling that she will continue to grow over the next 3 as well. The thing I find very interesting is that many of the vampire’s “special powers” don’t work on her. Edward can’t read her mind and Jasper only seems to be able to effect her emotions when she allows it. This makes me think that once she becomes a vampire, her power will be that she is in complete control of herself, immune to the other vampire’s powers all together.

It’s hard to have an epic love story without the characters losing themselves in each other. And if you’ve ever experienced this kind of love you’ll know how wonderful it feels. And this book really took me back to being a teenager completely head over heels in love.

I’ll be the first to admit, as a teenager when I would fall head over heels like this, it usually wasn’t for the right type of guy. I have to say, my taste in men has improved to a staggering degree over the years. However, as someone who found this kind of epic love (I’ve been with my husband for 10 years and can’t imagine life without him), I have to wonder why it seems it’s automatically considered unfeminist to love someone that much. I kind of feel sorry for anyone who has never loved someone so much that it makes you ache when they aren’t around.

I’m kind of surprised at the degree of love/hate for this book, I would think there would be more like me who were on middle ground. It wasn’t the best book I’ve ever read but I did find it to be a fun and enjoyable read.

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Little Brother by Cory Doctorow is the ultimate book for political geek conspiracy theorists.

All I can say after finishing this book is WOW! 3 chapters in I couldn’t put it down, I ended up reading it in 6 hours with just a few hours sleep somewhere in the middle. I couldn’t get enough and the more I read the more it sparked that fire to make a difference inside of me.

It starts fairly light and fun and even though you know it’s not going to stay that way, when the bomb finally does drop (no pun intended) you really don’t expect it. Emotionally it hit me a lot like I imagine it hit the kids.

I really thought when I read the description before starting the book that it would be less realistic, more like 1984 which I knew it to be based on. However, by chapter 5 I realized that this was a story that not only could happen in the US today but probably has. It takes us from the place we’re at now to where we could potentially be going very soon.

The description of what it’s like to write code at the end of chapter 7 was beautiful and encapsulated the feeling so well. My only complaint is that I would have liked to have seen more of Van and Jolu but at the same time completely understand the roles they play.

A highly recommended read!

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Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk draws you in and makes it really hard for you to put down. I read it over the course of three and a half hours and just couldn’t get enough. Envy and pride are the driving forces behind our main characters. The need to be something, anything, other than what they are.

I don’t know, maybe it’s because I’ve felt this way for a lot of my life but I really identified with a lot of these characters (which at times could be a bit scary!).

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