Tuesday Book Club–Eclipse
I gave an interview last week where I talked about how I generally write novels for the girl I was at 15.
You know who else writes novels for my 15-year-old self? Stephenie Meyer. I just finished Eclipse last night, and let my teenage self express how she feels:
(((****SIGH****Boys****Will I Ever Have a Boyfriend?****I Want Someone To Look at Me Like That****I Want Someone To Protect Me Like That****I Want To Be In Love!****Oh, Edward!****Why Can’t I Be Bella?****SIGH****)))
There. Not taking anything away from my own particular man, it’s just that the gawky, overweight girl I was who didn’t get her first kiss until age 16 (and then not another one until, I believe, 23) really, really, really enjoys a book of longing and danger and romance and excitement like this one. I can fully understand why Little, Brown needed to up their initial print run to 1 million. And why, I found out yesterday, when Stephenie had a book signing in Phoenix last weekend, not only did 900 girls show up (with another few hundred turned away, poor them, because the tickets were all sold out), but there was even a family of four who flew over from Germany. Not Germany, Indiana (if there is such a place), but actual Germany.
Let me just say I get it. My girlish heart totally gets it.
But before I reveal more embarrassing facts about my love life, let’s turn to your book selections for the week. What’s up?
Technorati Tags: Tuesday Book Club, Book Clubs, Reading Clubs, Books, Reading, Young Adult Fiction, Young Adult Novels, Stephenie Meyer, Eclipse, Too Much Information About Robin
August 21st, 2007 at 6:56 am
Well, I finished TTW and I am pages away from finishing The Last Mortal Man
Both of which remind me of my time traveling immortal self.
I’m seriously frightened of 900 girls. I think my max is 594. Shhhhhh…..
August 21st, 2007 at 6:57 am
I not only finished the new Amy Bloom novel,Away,I did it just in time to have a blog review of the book posted one day before it’s official release(I try not to review a book too early,except in very special cases*cough*EM&OFON*cough). I’m also reading An Arsonist’s Guide to Writer’s Homes in New England by Brock Clarke-it’s a novel,I swear! And a pretty darn funny one at that.
I started a new book called Caspian Rain by Gina B. Nahai and am still in the midst of P&P. With a mid-August slump in terms of fresh TV shows to watch,it’s been a real good time for reading lately.
August 21st, 2007 at 7:01 am
I woke up early this morning to heavy rain, so I stayed in bed to finish Hattie Big Sky. Oh, such a lovely book! I feel as if I’ve made a friend in Hattie. She seems so REAL.
I also read Rules this week, and I know I’m a latecomer to that party, but oh, yes, it’s GOOD. It just doesn’t waver in its honesty and humor. Quite wonderful.
And I got to the library, so I’ve got a whole HUGE stack for next week! Yippee!
August 21st, 2007 at 7:04 am
Yeah, I really gotta read these Stephenie Meyer books. And Lady T, that Arsonist’s Guide sounds great. I love a catchy title.
I finally read Rats Saw God by Rob Thomas, which people have been telling me to read for years. It is, in fact, very good.
August 21st, 2007 at 7:39 am
i haven’t read a book this week but i bought a book to read and it happens to be *drum roll*–”boy toy”. that’s right after being told by the enormous liars who work at the book store i frequent that it would not be available until after 9/24/07, it arrived 5 days later.
problem is my husband snagged it. he’s about a third through so just a couple more days and it is mine!
August 21st, 2007 at 8:21 am
Hey, hey, I’ve got my ticket to see Stephenie Meyer tonight in Seattle!
August 21st, 2007 at 8:35 am
I read NEVER CHANGE by Elizabeth Berg, which I loved, and also EVERYTHING CHANGES by Jonathan Tropper, which I also loved.
August 21st, 2007 at 9:32 am
I finished up KEY WEST by Stella Cameron, which I enjoyed, and am almost through PSYCHIC CHILDREN, by Sylvia Browne, which reinforces a lot of what I already know and believe.
August 21st, 2007 at 9:35 am
I finished some kick-ass contemporary trickster tales, reviewed today at 7-Imp Land.
I loved Mokie & Bik, to be co-reviewed soon. Jonathan Bean is having a killer year.
I finished Owlboy. Go, Billy!
August 21st, 2007 at 11:20 am
I’m working on “The Know-It-All: One Man’s Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World” by AJ Jacobs. I think I was working on this last week, too.
August 21st, 2007 at 11:21 am
I am conceding defeat, and returning three books that I would like to read to the library unopened. I just don’t see when or how I’ll ever get to them, and I would like them to go to a more deserving home.
I re-read a childhood favorite, The Changeling by Zilpha Keatley Snyder, and am mid-way through The Velvet Room. They seem to hold up well for me, but I know that my impression is colored by my strong nostalgia towards both books.
I also started Eclipse, but had to put it on hold until finishing the Snyders, because I’m writing something with a deadline. But my impression of Eclipse so far is excellent. It’s a bit like with the Harry Potter books - I love the characters, and want to spend time with them, so as long as the characters remain consistent and something happens, I’m pretty much content. Perhaps this is my inner 15-year-old talking - she would have loved the Meyer books, too.
August 21st, 2007 at 3:29 pm
I’ve had some airport and hospital (observer, not participant) time on my hands this week, so I’ve got a reprieve from school work and a return to gulp-it-down reading:
Stay! Keeper’s Story by Lois Lowry — the most literate dog ever, but I’m not sure 4th graders will love the book; Iqbal by D’Adamo — an eye-opening look at child labor in Pakistan; The Gorgon’s Gaze by Golding — great fantasy with an environmental slant; and I’m just about done with The Thief by Turner so that I can read The King of Attolia and The Queen of Attolia.
August 21st, 2007 at 3:39 pm
I’ll read Eclipse when either it comes out in paperback or I have it rammed down my throat by one of my friends. New Moon did end well, but the beginning put me off really, really bad. I mean really bad. So yeah, no way I’m spending $17 on that. Especially not with Dragon*Con and all its wonderful money-spending opportunities coming up.
I’m rereading On Writing by Stephen King, and let me tell you, after a week of reading nothing but snatches of manga before I handed them off to friends (I’m more or less the school lending library for specific genres) and managing to squeeze in a younger-YA favorite of mine (Half Moon Investigations by Eoin Colfer–don’t care how young it is, that book will always be great, but…) in a couple of chapters a night, it was really nice to be reading pages and pages of relatively small words again.
For the first time in my life, I’m having to squeeze in time to read, and it’s pretty weird.
August 21st, 2007 at 4:46 pm
I’ve been reading up a storm this week–I got my schedule all messed up on vacation, so I haven’t been sleeping, and I’ve been on a middle-grade kick so the books are short. I won’t bore you by listing all of the books I’ve read but will say that my absolute favorite of them was “The Green Glass Sea” by Ellen Klages. A close second was “The Last Holiday Concert” by Andrew Clements.
August 21st, 2007 at 7:24 pm
Good thing I told you I wouldn’t be around so much, because I’ve been without phone or Internet most of the day. I’m typing this on a laptop tethered to a cell phone right now. Thank goodness for advanced technology that I don’t own but do have access to. It’s like having a friend with a pool at her house.
Kathryne, did you know Ellen Klages is coming to the Kidlitosphere Conference? Don’t you think you should come and tell her in person how much you loved her book? (Peer pressure! Yeah!)
Miri, isn’t On Writing just spectacular? So clear and practical and inspiring. King is the king.
Mary Lee, I hope all is or will be well. I know how those hospital hours are–a real time warp. And also a great chance to read big, thick books. At least that’s the good part.
Jen, I can’t wait for you to read Eclipse so we can secretly talk about it! It’s so scary in this one particular part–way too tense for someone trying to get to bed at a decent hour. Those are the breaks.
Katie, I love the title of that! Is it good? It sounds like an admirable goal.
Jules, I feel so drawn to Owlboy every time you bring it up. Just love that name.
Judy, so interesting that you read that book by Sylvia Browne this week, since I read a book about a psychic this week, too. Isn’t that stuff so intriguing? I especially like the viewpoint that we all have that ability, if we’d just stop crowding our brains with distractions . . . like blogging. (Cough.)
Laura, did you read those two books with those two titles on purpose? Was change (whether to or not) your theme for this week?
Alkelda, I know you’re on break from your own blog, so I hope you’ll come back here and report on your Stephenie Meyer date! Cool!
Annette, rip Boy Toy out of your dear husband’s hands. Remind him that it’s preparation before you see Barry at my book launch next week. You don’t want to have to say you have it but haven’t read it yet. Preparation.
Eisha, never heard of that book. It’s so nice of friends to push books on us, though, don’t you think? That’s why I have the Tuesday Book Club–I love to hear what someone else wants me to read.
Sara, speaking of latecomer to the party, I still haven’t read Hattie Big Sky, although obviously I must. Thanks for putting that in my brain again.
Lady T, love that Arsonist’s Guide title! Wow! And thanks for grouping my review with something by Amy Bloom. I’m honored.
Patrick, did you really read The Time Traveler’s Wife? Or is this another bluff? If you did read it, that means Annette is the only one left who hasn’t, which means she’d better grab that right after she finishes Boy Toy.
Great work on the reading this week, everyone! As always, you inspire me!
August 21st, 2007 at 8:17 pm
Of course I read it. Why would I lie about reading something?
I’m still trying to decide which had more nakedness and sex, Rachel Vincent’s debut Stray or TTW.
August 22nd, 2007 at 9:55 am
@patrick–”why would i lie…”–errr, uhm, robin you wanna take this one?
August 22nd, 2007 at 12:15 pm
annette - what are you implying? That I make things up?
If it was possible, I’d be offended.
August 23rd, 2007 at 1:49 pm
Never offended? Never embarrassed? Patrick, you’re a candidate for marrying into my husband’s family.
August 24th, 2007 at 4:59 am
kittymamma - Is he cute? Wait, you aren’t offering for me to marry your husband. err, ummm, nevermind — carry on.
August 25th, 2007 at 7:33 pm
Isn’t Stephenie the COOLEST? I love her series. I actually got to meet her at last year”s National Book Festival.
August 26th, 2007 at 10:34 am
Elizabeth, I totally agree! And how cool you got to meet her at the NBF!
August 27th, 2007 at 5:22 pm
Isn’t Eclipse amazing? I just love it! I’m fifteen myself and let me tell you that pretty much my exact thoughts….as I am reading Stephenie Meyer….ahhhh Edward….