1. Queen of Babble in the Big City
Author: Meg Cabot
Published: 2007
# of pages: 307
I read the first book in this series, Queen of Babble about a year ago and thought it was cute and enjoyable, so thought I would continue on with the next book. The main character, Lizzie, has trouble keeping her big mouth shut and it often gets her into trouble. She's living in New York with her new boyfriend, Luke (who she met in the previous book) and is dropping hints that she wants to get married, but is worried that Luke doesn't share the same sentiment. I didn't enjoy it as much as the first book, but it was a light, fun read.
2. Eclipse
Author: Stephenie Meyer
Published: 2007
# of pages: 629
This is the third installment in Meyer's Twilightseries. I read the first book because I wanted to know what the big deal was, thinking I might stumble onto the next Harry Potter. Yeah, not so much. The book was AWFUL. I really don't get the popularity of these books at all. However, it was fun to read because it was so bad, you know? So I decided to keep reading the series just so I could mock them pretty much, haha. So in this book, Bella is in love with Edward (he's the vampire), but Jacob (he's the werewolf) is also in love with her and while she loves Jacob, she can't live without Edward. I have no idea why these two guys are falling over Bella as there's nothing special about her and she's really whiny and pathetic. Her entire life revolves around Edward; she even admits it by telling the reader things like "Everything in my life is about Edward." She has no goals in life except to become a vampire so she can spend eternity with Edward, which I find creepy, and not romantic.
The vampires and werewolves have to come together because Victoria, the evil vampire is coming to kill Bella because she wants revenge for Edward killing James, her lover. Victoria kills a bunch of people in Seattle, creating her own army of vampires to come after Bella.
The only thing that saves the book is Meyer's awful and often hilarious writing. We get gems such as these: (Bella snuggling up against Edward) It probably felt similar to snuggling with Michelangelo's David, except that that this perfect marble creature wrapped his arms around me.
I rolled my eyes when Edward had to go somewhere for the day and Bella was bitching about how "without Edward the day was guaranteed to be unbearable!" Um, you're going to become a vampire anyway so you can spend ETERNITY with him and you can't go one freaking day without him? How pathetic.
3. The Mist
Author: Stephen King
Published: 1980
# of pages: 230
I saw the movie two years ago and really liked it, so I thought I would check out the book which I haven't been able to find until just recently. From what I remember of the movie, it follows the short story pretty well. It's not one of King's scariest stories, but it's definitely creepy. The main difference between the book and the film is the ending. In the film we know exactly what happens to the characters, but the ending in the book is a bit more ambiguous, you don't know the fate of the characters, though you can probably guess it's a grim one. I kept picturing Marcia Gay Harden as Mrs. Carmody even though in the book she's described as being fat and much older.
