Taken by surprise...

I was (am) that weird kid that loved nothing more than to snuggle up with a good book and a packet of heliotrope seeds for hours at a time.
I LOVE books, love them more than anything else. I love to read, read, read... There is always a book in my backpack and in my tablet. When I eat, I usually read (when not with the kids of course).
It is not often that I am surprised by books... but I did fall victim to a cheesy movie that did ruin a good book... Twilight...

When the movie came out, I had no idea what it was about. I had not even heard of the books (no surprise there as I am in Greece) and I was really over the whole vampire thing by more than a decade. I did like "Interview with a  Vampire" back in the day but the books by Anne Rice? Total disappointment. I did read all of them though.

So, since I was no longer 17, I was dragged by my friend who is internally 17 and still stuck in the '80's (and I LOVE her for it :)) to go see Twilight.
I left the cinema with a "meh... I am not 17...I didn't get it" where all around me those who were 17 and had no kids (and no boyfriends or husbands) melted in a pool of butter over Pattinson... (NOT my type, I am more of a Gerard Buttler and Ewan McGregor kind of gal... ok fine... Chris Pine too... sheesh!)

However... at some point the movie was on TV and I watched it again and it kind of grew on me... I yawned through the next two but kinda liked the 3rd one and was disappointed I had to wait a whole year for the conclusion.
I then decided to get the books full intenting to just read the last one first so I would know how this all ends...

I do read slower than I used to (I read Rama by A.C. Clarke in one afternoon!!) mainly because of lack of time. I squeeze reading to a half hour before I go to bed (sometimes it is only 15 minutes since I can't keep my eyes open long enough or past 11pm at best) so here I am a month later and I am reading the first book.

What a huge disservice the movie did to Stephenie's writing!! I LOVE how she writes. It's not "for 17 year olds" at all!!! She uses BIG WORDS for adult people!! She uses all 5 senses to write (like a good writer should). You can actually tell she's been to school!!! ;)
I am mesmerized by her writing!! I love it!! No way I am skipping to the last book already!! I have.got.to.read.all.of.them!!!! And you know what?

I met my husband when I was 15... I fell in love with within 2 minutes of meeting him and I knew he was the man of my life. Yes, he has many flaws (so do I!) but I've been around the block a couple of times and here I am, 10 years married to him, mother to his children, went through super rough marital problems that we worked through and though of course I will always nag and he will still hurt me, or yell at me or mistreat me (and I know I might too)... I still get a hearthrob every time I see him.
When the world melts away, when work is being kind to him, when there are no triggers (he can't manage his stress and this is the problem), he IS the sweetest man on earth.
So by reading the book, I could totally get back to the time I was 17 and in love (mainly because I still am in love - is that weird? Being in love with a man for 19 years?)..

Stephenie Meyer... as an artist who trusted others to reproduce her work I feel ya. I know how when other people take over, some times (not all of the times!!), your work does not come out as you'd like or as it should, so I now know the movie(s) was the result not of bad, cheesy writing but of bad, cheesy directing and producing.