The real reason I should have posted last week

I will start off this post with a "Don't Judge Me". Yes, I could have started posting last week. But that was before I started reading what I vowed I would never read.

Twilight

I was so against reading that book. I am not a sci-fi /fantasy reader...AT ALL. Make believe stuff in books puts me TO SLEEP. But...I was curious to why even the "book snobbiest" of all my friends read it and loved it. (Mind you, she was in the "closest" about it and gave me the whole "Don't judge me" speech too...hahahahaha)

I said at my last bookclub, I was going to give it a try. Some scoffed, as I did, at the thought of reading a teeny bopper book. While others told me to tell them how it went. I had bought the book and vowed to start after Thanksgiving.

Then, I saw my best friend immersed in it at Thanksgiving. Laura knows I love her to death, but books are one thing we do not have in common. She was CRAZY about Harry Potter books and I could care less. Needless to say, this made me VERY apprehensive about trying to read the book.

I waited for a few weeks....and then 2 weeks ago on a Sunday, around 12:15 am I could not go to bed. I put my book light on and cracked open Twilight (which being fantasy should put me to sleep in a chapter or two right?).

SO WRONG

This damn book had me sooooo caught up...I stayed up until 6:15am to read all 545 pages in one sitting. I had to get up at 7:30am that morning (and lasted all day on 1 hour and 15 minutes of sleep).

I took the Twilight drug and was hooked. To the point that I wanted to run out to the bookstore and get the rest of the series. But I knew I had A TON of gifts to wrap and send out...so I ordered online...hoping it would buy me some time. I lent the book to one of my friends that week and she was just as hooked as I was (sorry Kristy)!

Kristy and I went and saw the movie that next Sunday night (ummm...did I mention that day I finished the book...I saw the movie online....hanging my head in shame...). People had knocked the movie, but I went into it knowing that the book was going to be a thousand times better. And that my dear, wonderful, Edward Cullen would never be as wonderful as he was in my head. I was shocked by how each time I see Robert Pattison play Edward...he grows on me :)

Last Monday...the next 3 books came in. I waited until Tuesday to read New Moon...again in one sitting. This time I finished all 563 pages by 4:30 am. I was getting better! (The book light was replaced with the lamp...last time I struggled to see the print...now I could read much faster...just like my high school days).

I went to lunch the next day with Kristy and did the passing of the books. I had also downloaded the soundtrack from Itunes. (again, don't judge me) I know it was not my usual style...but for some odd reason...I liked it. (Geoff made me take the test "Even if it wasn't from the Twilight movie, would you would have liked the songs!" and I said "Yes" I LOVE Iron & Wine now)

Thursday afternoon I finished Eclipse at 629 pages...and that evening I HAD TO FINISH Breaking Dawn. Poor Geoff...he made me eat dinner...and then I was into my own world until 3:30 am...all 756 pages (I started at 8:00pm and rested for an hour to eat and watch The Office). And then it ended.

I was in a funk all Friday...it was BAD. What the heck was I going to do without these books? Thank goodness my husband is a trooper, and wanted to see what the big "deal" was with these books I was so enthralled with. (I mean, I read 2,492 pages in 22.5 hours). He went and saw Twilight with me (I have seen it 4 times in 1 week now...it's a sickness I know).

Here's the big question....Why so obsessed Madeline? It's make believe. It's vampires and teenagers in love. Seriously? Why? These, are questions I ask myself CONSTANTLY. My favorite books are classics. The Count of Monte Cristo, Withering Heights, Pride and Prejudice, To Kill a Mockingbird....and now Twilight. (quit shouting blasphemy)

Yes, I know this isn't a literary masterpiece. But for me...I can't remember how long it has been that a character has been stuck in my mind and SO REAL that I kept turning page after page to find out what was happening. This book was not about vampires for me...but about love and relationships. When these characters were happy, I was. When they were angry...I was...when they hurt...I did. I honestly, have never felt these emotions so raw in a book (let alone one aimed at teens).

I know Edward Cullen is not real...but in my mind...he was real. I was able to be caught up in a make believe world that was described so perfectly, I literally "was there" for those 22.5 hours. The downside....now that the series has ended...all I have is 244 pages of an online draft of another book that might or might not be published and waiting for the next movies to come out possibly in 2009 or 2010. Ughh

My name is Madeline. I am 28 years old. And I am in "literary love" with a vampire named Edward Cullen.