Twilight Book Series Review

The Twilight Series of books by Stephanie Meyer is causing a sensation with readers across the country.

The main character, Bella Swan, is an awkward teenage girl who has recently moved across the country to live with her long-time bachelor father.

The first book, Twilight, finds Bella starting at her new high school. Things are proceeding pretty much as one would expect until Bella meets the mysterious Cullen family. The Cullens, five impossibly beautiful, graceful youths, seem distant and withdrawn from the rest of the student population. Twilight chronicles Bella's life as she gets to know her new schoolmates, Edward Cullen, in particular. Bella finds herself madly in love, perpetually injured, and tracked by a bloodthirsty vampire.

The rest of the series follows Bella and Edward as she grows from a girl into a young woman. Edward, Bella's love interest, is a vampire who has made a decision to subsist on non-human "food." In addition, there is a third character who is central to the plot. A changeling Native American named Jacob Black plays an important role as Bella's friend. The characters are well developed and easy to relate to.

This series appeals to people of all genders and ages. Our 13 year old middle school babysitter loves the series. Her 19 year old college freshman sister can't read them fast enough. Our 20 something friend spends hours on the phone talking about to my 30 something wife about what Bella and Edward must be thinking and feeling. Our 40 something neighbor currently has borrowed our copy of the third book, after reading the first two in a few days. I, as a 30 something year old man, lost many hours of sleep because I was not willing to put the characters' lives on "pause."

The story line flows nicely and is set in the Pacific Northwest. Anyone who has ever visited the area can immediately imagine the deep woods and rough coastline described by Ms. Meyer.

The motion picture version of the first book, "Twilight," is set to show in theaters on November 21, 2008. As always, it is highly recommended one read the book prior to seeing the movie. The first book can be purchased in paperback for about $8 at just about any bookstore.

There are moments of violence and some sexual innuendos in the fourth book, but all are within the bounds of good taste. I highly recommend this series.