It All Began Innocently Enough...

... A few months ago a friend of mine mentioned having read a book she thought was original and interesting. She said I ought to pick up a copy--if I didn't mind reading something that was intended for "young adults." Well, I loved the Harry Potter series so I had no issue with that. However, it's not easy to find the time to read anything these days so I kind of forgot about her recommendation. 

Then I decided to take a short, solo trip to California. The day before I left I was doing a little Christmas shopping at Target and the book caught my eye. It was part of a big display because the movie version had recently been released. Anyhow, I thought to buy it so I would have something to read on the plane... 

If you don't recognize the cover (crawl out from under the rock where you live) it's called Twilight. 

That was the beginning.

I was captivated by the story. I fully bought-into the characters, the relationships, the plot... I loved it. I read the book the whole way there, on the shuttle to pick up my rental car, in the line waiting for my rental car... I basically read it every spare minute I had on my trip. I was visiting my Grandma and she takes frequent naps... I read while she slept. I read after we went to bed and stayed up WAY too late.

I bought the second book, New Moon at the Sacramento airport on my home because I knew I would be flying into a storm and once I got home, I didn't know when I would be able to leave the house again to get my hands on it.

I finished Twilight on Wednesday evening. I started New Moon on Wednesday night (my hubby was out of town so I was able to stay up super late and devour page after page). I finished New Moon by Thursday night.

In the meantime, I ignored everything else that needed my attention except my children. I did not do any shopping (and I would have been able to get to the stores), I did not wrap any presents, I did not make any of the crafty presents I needed to get finished and in the mail, I did not do any of my baking--I didn't even facebook or blog! With every moment my kids were entertained and content, I read--until I ran out of pages. 

Friday arrived. There was a nice break in the weather. I left the kiddos with Grandma Lulu and went out to finish my shopping. I got it all done and managed to pick up Eclipse and Breaking Dawn. I made a promise to myself that I would not start my new books until I had accomplished some of my "chores." I finished making the presents and packaging them for shipment that HAD to get in the mail by yesterday. I did a bit of baking. I had finished my shopping on Friday and I wrapped about half of my presents and got them under the tree. 

Then I started book 3...

What about you? Have you been caught under the spell? I MUST recommend that you get your "teeth" into these books as soon as possible. However, I caution you to take it on when you have the time to really invest.