All my life, I’ve enjoyed reading. I mostly like to read biographies. It really doesn’t matter who it is, I just like learning about interesting people and the events that shaped their lives, what they achieved, even if they had a huge downfall or tragic ending. I also really love books about post-WWII America, a huge period of growth and discovery that fascinates me. And in the digital age, I’ve been able to lose my Quasimodo hump since I no longer have to lug around these massive tomes. I just tuck my Kindle and iPad into my purse to read on the go. Now don’t get me wrong, I enjoy chick-lit or a good trashy every now and then. You’ll find plenty of Jackie Collins, Helen Fielding and Sophie Kinsella on my bookshelves, virtual or otherwise.
But for the life of me, I don’t understand the obsession with the “Twilight” books. Seriously, I just don’t get the appeal. Maybe I’m just a late adopter, because sometimes it takes me a while to warm up to something before I become obsessed. Every time a new movie based on the saga comes out, I try to see what all the fuss is about, but I feel like I’m being left out of a major conversation. The women here at work and the moms of my kidlets friends all seem to know whether they are on ‘Team Edward’ or ‘Team Jacob.’ So I have once again gamely picked up the first installment, aptly named “Twilight,” but I still can’t get past the first 50 pages or so.
You might be saying to yourself, “Well, you clearly have no sense of whimsy.” Or maybe you think I am a pop culture snob. Neither is true, I promise!
For example, I voraciously devoured Stieg Larsson’s “Girl With The Dragon Tattoo” novels, even watching the foreign film adaptations on Netflix. I can’t wait for the Hollywood version, either. I also read Suzanne Collins’ “The Hunger Games” trilogy in one week, staying up late each night just to find out what Katniss would do, if she’d survive and save her district. I hope those upcoming movies are good too!
I’m not trying to sound judgmental here, if you enjoy them, well, it’s great that you’ve found something you like to read. I guess I just don’t “get” the whole vampire thing. I have never found ashen, bloodsucking neck-biters romantic or sexy — gee, I can’t imagine why! Maybe it’s because I have a horrible vision of George Hamilton dancing around as Dracula in “Love At First Bite.” Or Bela Lugosi creeped me out whenever he showed up on “Creature Features” or something. Who knows, maybe I just need to “close the book” on the idea that I might ever get into sexy vampire books, is that a such a bad thing? 
What kind of books do you like to read? Do you read to your kids?
The I Just Don’t Understand Vampires….. by The Harried Mom, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.