So I took a small hiatus from Average Chicks.  Mostly, I was studying for finals and gearing up for my summer career, but simultaneously I was attempting to reconcile myself with the idea of writing about what interests “chicks.”  Writing my first few articles for this site, I kept coming back to that scene in How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days where Kate Hudson thrills as her boss tells her she can write about anything.  She grasps at the chance, assuring her employer she is eager to begin production on articles referencing politics, human rights, poverty, religion…  No, her boss corrects her, “anything” means shoes, cosmetics, fashion, sex – it is a women’s magazine they’re writing for, after all.  It was with this scene burned into my brain that I started writing for this website and attempted to integrate some semblance of girl power into the concept of writing about matrimony and McDreamy.  I am not the ideal source to go to for all things chick – my closet has five times as many sneakers as pumps and I cannot remember the last time I put on make-up.  Still, with all that being said, I would like to take this opportunity to write about my current obsession and quite possibly the girliest thing to ever make me squeal.

During my time off, one of the many things occupying my time was the fact that I joined a book club.  A number of my closest friends came across a book, fell in love with it, and started a club so they could meet weekly and discuss this book, its resulting series, and eventually other things they would read (if they ever managed to put down this first flagship saga).  Perhaps you are wondering what book they so avidly fawned over?  The answer, my friends, is one word: Twilight.  Haven’t heard of it?  Now you have.  Maybe you already had, in which case, no need to read further, you are already obsessed.  If, however, you do belong to the former group with no knowledge of this treasure, allow me to enlighten you.  Twilight is a “young adult” book written by a stay-at-home Mormon mother with no previous writing experience.  Did I turn you off yet?  Wait for it, here’s the part that usually makes everyone groan – it is also, primarily, a vampire love story.  This is about the time when my audience collectively closes their ears, but bear with me.

Since its publication, Twilight has spawned a series of three #1 New York Times Bestsellers with a fourth due out this August and a fifth, plus potential others, soon to follow.  Summit Entertainment has bought the rights to turn the first three books into movies and the film version of Twilight will be released December 12th.  Their author, Stephenie Meyer, has also published her first “adult” novel, The Host, and that’s a Times bestseller too.  You cannot go into a Borders or a Barnes & Noble without seeing at least three massive displays devoted to her books.  Seriously.  There are countless fan-sites dedicated to her work and current publicity tours across the country are selling out venues seating thousands.  So now that you are hopefully just a teensy bit curious, let me fill you in a little more on what you have been missing.

Twilight is the story of a (seemingly) painfully normal girl named Bella who meets an unbelievably gorgeous boy, Edward Cullen, at her new school when she moves to the middle of nowhere (Forks, Washington).  There is a catch, though, because this boy Bella finds so irresistible and fascinating is in fact a “good” vampire with an unfortunate and particular jonesing for Bella’s blood.  Twilight is Edward and Bella’s trial period.  It is the journey of two people who are attempting to reconcile who they think they are with their choices and their conflicting wants and needs.  It is thrilling, suspenseful, sometimes bordering on horrific, mysterious, laugh-out-loud funny, adventurous, dramatic, fantastic, relatable, and yes, damn romantic.  More significantly, it is a commentary on what it means to be human and how passion defines our species.  Told through Bella’s eyes, the narrative keeps readers by her side as she learns what Edward is and tries to understand what it means for her, this pitiful human who is so helplessly falling in love with him.

I am a huge book nerd, but if you aren’t, no sweat.  I promise it is an easy read.  Once the book club had passed the addiction on to me, I, in turn, hooked both of my roommates and my mother, plus some additional friends.  Those roommates have converted their families, and my mom has thrown most of her co-workers on the bandwagon.  Ridiculous as it seems, we are all in love with Edward Cullen.  Just do me a favor and read the first chapter.  I do believe that you, too, can become a Twilighter and I’m certain you won’t regret the action once you have.