Mr. Psychic...

... One thing that is very different about Edward, besides the fact that he is a vampire, is the fact that he can read minds. He tells Bella of his hidden talent one night at dinner, the same night she finds out he is a vampire, and she is horrified. Thankfully, for some mysterious reason, he can't read her mind, but he can listen into the thoughts of nearly every person imaginable, vampire or human. This talent may seem like a really helpful skill, but he does elude to the fact that it is very distracting to have all the voices in your head at one time, and it's very hard to keep your own thoughts straight. In thinking about the book, I've often wondered if this would be a good or a bad gift to have. Obviously, there are some things people are thinking that I would rather not know, but in Edward's case, his physic abilities seemed to save him and those around him from a lot of harm. But on the other hand, it seems like this skill just makes things too easy. This may sound weird, but to get to know someone, you have to spend time with them and get acquainted with their personality. But if you could simply read their mind, it ruins the whole "friendship making" time, and all their private thoughts are disclosed to you, which also isn't fair. Well... anyway, I'm probably never going to have to face the decision weather to be psychic or not, but if I do, I think I'd rather have my friends keep their thoughts to themselves.

Don't judge a book by its cover...

... After finishing the book, its really interesting to look back on some of the events that took place with new meaning. In the first few chapters of the book, the reader doesn't know that Edward is a vampire. He seems to be just a cold hearted jerk who has very limited social skills. However, after finding out that Edward is a Vampire and Bella's particular blood type is especially tempting to him, one can better understand Edward's indifferent attitude towards her. It seemed that he was being rude by avoiding Bella and constantly blowing her off, when really he was trying to hold himself back from killing her! As twisted as it may sound, he really had good intentions. Or, in other words, he was trying to save her from himself. It was interesting when Edward told his side of the story about Bella's first few days of school. He had been going through a personal struggle between right and wrong and resisting one's temptations, and all the while Bella thought he was deliberately being mean to her. Its hard to know someone's true intentions unless they tell you themselves. I'm not saying that everyone who is mean is really a blood sucking vampire, but often the general public is too quick to judge when there is really something else going on under the surface.

Twilight...

... WOW!!! That's all I can say! I don't even have words to describe how much I loved this book! I started reading it the first Wednesday we had in class reading and I was done with it by the following Sunday... I couldn't put it down. What an awesome book! And it wasn't just the characters that hooked me ( although I can completely identify with Bella, and Edward... ) the plot, writing, and tone of the book were equally astounding. I must admit, I was quite reluctant when I had picked this book up at Barns and Noble. I had been expecting another one of Jodi Picoult's gripping tales, but with 19 minutes still in hard cover, I had to settle for Stephenie Meyer. And, despite everyone telling me how amazing the book is, I was unconvinced. So I grudginly settled for Twilight and was prepared for the worst as I began the first chapter on Tuesday night. But I was very pleasantly surprised by love for the book and by the weekend I was boardering on obsession. But I just couldn't stop reading! So... despite my forethoughts, I would recommend this book to almost any teen girl I know. With an intense, and ofcourse slightly romantic tone and an ending that will have you frantically flipping pages, this book is an instant classic!! Well... that's all for now!!

All My Sons...

... Overall, I really enjoyed this book! I liked the simplistic tone, the setting/WWII era, and I especially liked the themes in the book. One of these underlying ideas that really intrigued me was found in the qoute that the book is named after. On page 83, Joe states that, " They were all my sons". I thought that this qoute was really interesting and it encompassed one of the major lessons in the book: that our actions all have reactions, and you never know who it will affect. Joe knew Larry didn't fly a P-40, but he still essentially killed his son through his terrible decision. He also caused 21 other families to feel the same grief he felt after learning of Larry's death, and Larry couldn't deal with that. All those boys had loved ones just like the Keller family. All those boys were like Larry... They were all Keller's sons and because of his faulty decison, they were all killed. It's amazing the damage that one pressured decision can do.