New Moon

The difference between New Moon and Twilight? This time I recognized as I was reading that it was melodrama. This doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it, but it didn't erase everything else in the world to me as the last one did. I really liked Jacob, and I'm glad we got to see more of him, but I was irritated with Bella for not realizing more quickly that vamps aren't the only scary beastie out there. I, in my audience omnipotence, saw it coming in the first book, so it was rather painful waiting through half this book before she figured it out. I mean, hello? It just isn't logical that there would only be one mythical creature that turns out to be real, you know, once one gets past the logic of any existing. Seems like it would be something I would have asked Edward about sometime in the first months of the relationship. But hey, that's me.

And, I really missed the Cullens. There's a sparkle there (and I'm not talking about their skin) that makes the book...I'm still, nevertheless, dying to see what happens next. I want to discuss the ending, but hesitate to give any spoilers. harrumph.

Classic Reference

I stole these from Diane C, a fabulous (I think that I'm beginning to use that word too much...) colleague of mine. They are her favorite reference questions from kids:

Girl looking for the birth date of the Mother of God. Father standing around in an entirely useless manner. I wonder what wires got crossed...

Boy looking for the Gestational period for Dragons! Diane tried very hard to explain that it really depended on the author...

Book Group, episode 2

Weight of Water by Anita Shreve. Not really something I'd normally choose to read, but my first choice for Book Group got turned down by the overlords, as they have their own designs on that title, so I had to choose quickly. I didn't really enjoy it. Most of the characters were unlikeable, which, ok, whatever, you can't like everyone. The time shifts were jarring and came without warning. I can make an argument saying real life is never as structured as a novel; suddenly displacing a reader better mimics how certain things in life trigger memories and thoughts regardless of what is really going on around you. But what really bugged me about the novel? It was cold. Not just because the setting was stark, although that didn't help. But our narrator was of the "Just the facts, ma'am" philosophy, and the book tended to read like dry non-fiction. I wasn't emotionally invested. At all.

The book group (3 new people this time! yay!), pointed out something I hadn't realized. Our primary narrator, Jean, never talks much about herself; her past; her emotions. I was so irritated with the obvious distance she created between herself and the story that it didn't even occur to me that we really knew next to nothing about her. While I know that Shreve has a very loyal following, I'll only give this book to those who enjoy a good depressing read. Myself? I don't think I need to read anymore Shreve.

Jean, a photojournalist, is sent to cover a scandalous double ax-murder that happened in 1873 on a remote rock off the coast of Maine. She brings along her family and as she delves deeper into the murder she begins to see parallels between the past and the present, with equally disastrous consequences.

The ladies, while not overcome with love for the title, did seem to be glad to have read it. And they said they'd come back for the next one, so, really, I can't ask for more, can I? =D