While I have read and don't much care for Meyer's series, I did consider it an entertaining read, and don't consider the hours spent in the books wasted. But those who have lived with me, known me, or visited my library to borrow books are well aware that my tastes vary according to my mood (and I have more literary moods than a post-menopausal Fran Drescher). One day I'll read Tuesdays with Morrie, quickly followed by a vapid chick novel, followed by 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea followed by fairy tales... just because I can. My choice in books depends on what I'm eating, wearing, sitting, thinking, etc. And while I've only read the Twilight Series once, It was perfect for a weekend my junior year of college when I had only a little work to do ( which I could put off until Sunday night), all of my friends were gone home for the weekend, and I wanted to lay around for three days in my pajamas, reading and eating foods that were terrible for me.
Let me be perfectly clear however, that while I didn't hate the books, I do hate fanatical Twilight fans. The freaky pre-teen skankettes that wear Edward underpants should have their own brand of required therapists and be studied so future generations can skip the madness. N*Sync and Justin were the hotties in my pre-teen days, but we did NOT act like the crazed lunatics today's fans seem to be.There has, however, been some good in the aftermath of the Twilight-tornado. And that good is that all vampire stories are no longer being ostracized to places like the SciFi channel. A fantastic book series by Charlaine Harris called collectively "The Sookie Stackhouse Novels" is one of the hottest shows on HBO.
The premise is that the Japanese have perfected a synthetic blood and now vampires can come out of hiding and live among regular people in the real world. Based in the deep south, the show hits on a lot of hot-button racial and political issues in a fearless way.... and the actors are all gorgeous (Anna Paquin anybody?}.Another show that has jumped on the vampire bandwagon (and landed flawlessly, I may add) is the CW's The Vampire Diaries. I honestly didn't hold much hope for the series, but having just watched the first season's finale, I can admit I was dead (ha) wrong.
The show did start slow, but you find yourself oddly drawn in to the Nina Dobrev/ Paul Wesley/ Steven R. McQueen love triangle. But it's an age-old story at it's heart: girl loves boy, boy is a good vampire, boy's brother is a bad vampire but loves girl..... okay, maybe not. But it is drama and it is fun. It's not quite as intellectual as TrueBlood, but it has me all the same.
