If you love David Sedaris books, you should get them on CD or on iTunes. He reads the books himself, making it ten times more funny!!!

Also, I loooooove anything by Philippa Gregory!

The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak, seriously this book is amazing. It's about a young girl named Liesel in Germany during WWII. She steals books. Oh and it's narrated by death. The prose is simply moving.

Jessica Z by Shawn Klomparens another fantastic book about a girl named Jessica Zorich, she basically has two realtionships and lives in San Francisco. There are terrorist attacks going on, but it is basically a backdrop to the story. If you want something that makes your chest tighten with emotion read this book.

One of the first books I'd ever read by her was "The Queen's Fool" and I was instantly hooked!

Because Meyer hasn’t dealt with the psychological issues of what she’s putting into this book (and, obviously, idealizing), she portrays it as the perfect, romanticized dream. And she’s very good at capturing the desirable stress of an early relationship– wondering if your feelings are reciprocated, fumbling through the mess of learning to be together, and generally getting high off the hormones.

The problem with Edward, then, is like the problem you face when you start to realize your newfound crush doesn’t have anything beyond that gorgeous smile. Turns out the confusion of their first learning experiences will never go away, because Edward is almost certifiably manic-depressive. The feelings he instills in Bella won’t grow beyond awe over his beauty (oh god, his beauty, he is SO BEAUTIFUL, oh beautiful Edward etc), and his feelings for her never get quite past ‘ownership’, at least not as far as he can communicate them.

There are lots of people who hate on Twilight because of its awful writing. Well, it’s awful. Doesn’t stop it from being enjoyable.

What disturbs me is that, without fail, every girl I know who has actually recovered from an abusive relationship (and I mean to the point where she’s not going to find another one next week– actually recovered) has told me how horrible it was, reading about a guy who reminded them so much of The Ex. We felt terrible for poor deluded Bella, sympathetic for all the well-meaning friends and family she blows off in favor of the New Master, and utterly outraged by the progression of their relationship.

Honestly, rather than banning the book, I think we should make it required reading… followed by serious discussions about emotional and physical abuse, and the ways in which people can use others’ love to get away with their own issues scot-free. If more girls learned to recognize– and avoid– Edward, there would be fewer girls in the world who had to conceal their bruises.

The reason I (and probably a lot of other girls) feel so strongly about Twilight is that the vast majority of serious Twilight fans are totally unaware of some of the undertones. It doesn't reflect on them at all– most of them don't recognize it because most of them haven't been in that kind of situation, and I hope they never are.

But as I said above, I think everybody should read Twilight. There are things to be enjoyed in it, and learning to enjoy a book while still recognizing negative or dangerous influences in it is what separates fundamentalist book-burners from people who can read Clockwork Orange without raping anybody (i.e. almost everybody).

Just… in a society where girls are constantly being told that their entire worth is wrapped up in their weight, cup size, and ability to attract a man, it's important that they recognize when there's a lie behind the entertainment. And that was my goal in commenting: to point out the lie, so that readers are less likely to swallow it. I definitely wasn't intending to attack you.

Also, if your posts are capable of generating nine-paragraph dissertations and more argument than a standard session of Congress, count yourself a successful blogger. When you feel like somebody's calling you names, remember– you made them feel strongly, maybe even think about what they believe, and that means you have an influence over them, whatever they think of you.

Keep up the good work. Oh, and if you're on the lookout for more kickass books, your tastes and mine seem to overlap a lot– I could send you a list to sample if you're interested.

but seriously guys, the whole point of this post was just for books that are somewhat fun for some people to read on the beach. i respect whatever your feelings on twilight are, but for some people who don't view it the way you guys do it's a guilty pleasure and something entertaining to read once in a while. i know you may think people who find the books enjoyable are idiots because they don't see it the way you do, but is that any reason to jump down their throats?

instead of just saying what's wrong with twilight and why it shouldn't be on this list, why don't you give some other suggestions (like annie)? i think we'd all be willing to hear them and give them a try.

Read Dean Koontz instead. There's a great little used book store at the beach I go to that has tons of his books..

Try the first few Anita Blake novels if you're looking for vampires. At least Ms. Hamilton writes well- and her love triangle is far sexier.