Twilight

I'm probably the last person in the world to read the first book of this series, but hey, it was worth the wait! I was even more curious to read it after I saw the movie in December - I thought it was really beautifully filmed. So when I started reading I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the tone, the atmosphere of the book was the same as in the movie. So they got it right!

Twilight is a love story between Bella and Edward. They don't really have the usual teenage complications, but they have a different (big) one. Edward is a vampire. He's a good vampire and tries real hard not to feed on humans, but still. I liked the way their differences were treated by Stephanie Meyer - it doesn't really bother Bella that Edward could eat her at any moment. That's really the best example of adolescent love and trust I've seen, obvously brought to new heights.

I really enjoyed reading this. The first half was slow and dark - Meyer had to set up the characters I guess. Then it got very exciting and I couldn't put it down.

I won't say any more, since you've all either read it or at least heard about it. Just that I'll need to get to a bookstore to buy the second book soon!

Challenges: 1st in a series, 999 Challenge, A-Z Challenge, Banned Book Challenge, Countdown Challenge, New Authors, Romance Reading Challenge, TBR Challenge, What an Animal, What's in a Name, YA Romance, Young Adult Reading Challenge, Whitcoulls Challenge

Getting Rid of Matthew

What a fun book! Jane Fallon's Getting Rid of Matthew was the perfect chicklit - believable characters, interesting plot, romance, man problems and career problems too. Not simplistic but not too serious either. Perfect for this genre.

Helen is dating Matthew for four years. The only problem is that Matthew is married to Sophie and has two daughters and he doesn't want to leave them. When he finally does, Helen realises that this is not what she wants and she does her best to get rid of him and get her life back. How does she do this? By using a fake identity and befriending Sophie of course. :-)

I really enjoyed this, as I do most intelligent chick lit. I'm definitely going to read anything else Jane Fallon writes - she gives Sophie Kinsella a run for her money!

Challenges: A-Z Challenge, Countdown Challenge, New Authors, Themed Reading Challenge, Chick Lit 2, Romance Reading Challenge, TBR Challenge

Out

I'm a few days too late to count Natsuo Kirino's Out for the Japanese Literature Challenge, which means that I didn't finish that one. Oh well, I have so much life stuff going on that I don't get as much reading done as I'd like. More on that some other time.

What a book! I don't usually read crime novels so this was way out of my comfort zone, but I really enjoyed it. I do love Japanese literature though so maybe that was part of it. It was suspenseful and gruesome at times, but it also had odd moments of clarity about human beings.

The story is basically about a group of women who work the night shift at a factory - they're all different but they all have difficult things they have to deal with and escape from. Then, one of them kills her husband. The others decide to help their friend get rid of the body and this unleashes a whole chain of events and gets a whole string of people involved. Mostly people you'd want to stay away from.

It's also a psychological study of the darkness in human beings. How far into the dark would you go? What would be capable of pushing you there? And what happens when you cross that moral line for the first time? I'm not sure I like the answers... I mean I know that we all have a dark side, but I also hope that it never comes to the surface in most of us. Well, in all of us actually, but that's wishful thinking.

The book read like a thriller - parts were even like watching a thriller. My brain kept saying 'no, don't go there, don't do it, nooooo' during some passages. That's got to be a sign of good writing!

There is one thing that I really didn't like at the end, but I don't want to spoil the book for anyone. Let's just say that I'd hope that hatred is easier to hang on to and that giving in to the dark side isn't that obvious.

I'd definitely recommend this one, whether you like Japanese literature or quality crime writing. Apparently Natsuo Kirino won a prize for another of her books, Soft Cheeks. I now see that it hasn't been translated into English (hopefully yet), but others have. More to choose from, yay!

Challenges: 999 Challenge, A-Z Challenge, Countdown Challenge, Genre Challenge, Lost in Translation, Naming Conventions, New Authors, Suspense and Thriller Challenge, Well-Seasoned Reader

Wyrd Sisters

I'm surprised to report that I finished this pretty quickly and enjoyed it! I have tried to like Terry Pratchett so many times, but this is the first book of his that I actually finish. I'm not sure why - judging by my other interests and tastes, I should love everything he writes!

Wyrd Sisters is about three witches in the Discworld - it's the sixth or seventh book in the series but it's the one that introduces the witch characters so I thought I'd start with this one rather than the real first one. The story itself isn't spectacular or anything, but Pratchett's writing truly is fantastic. He uses so many references, so many joeks - I'm sure that I missed half of them and was still amused. It's intelligent writing and I like that.

Everything I read these days gets 4 stars and I'm waiting for a 5-star book. I was hesitating with Wyrd Sisters so it gets 4.5. :-)