TWO WORDS: NOT INTERESTED

That's how I feel about the remainder of the Twilight Saga. Sorry, fangirls, but I think the book was sophomoric and silly. I finished it, but I have no desire to continue reading. In fact, I already know how it ends. And to me, it ends in rather stereotypical LDS fashion: young marriage, young parents. Who cares that they're vampires? Both of them? I wasn't impressed. Stephenie Meyer needs to practice her craft, and I mean practice -- write some more before you publish again, Stephenie. You write like a teenaged girl instead of for them.

SYMPATHIZING WITH THE UNSYMPATHETIC

I attempted Terry Pratchett years ago with Witches Abroad. I failed, or rather Pratchett failed, miserably. The book was quite boring and silly-in-a-bad-way. I was unimpressed. However, last month, I was loaned Going Postal and encouraged by a fellow book-lover to attempt Pratchett once again. My first thought was, "Where was this book when I tried Pratchett before?"

The hero of GP is Moist Von Lipwig. And he insists you say it correctly: Von Lipvig! He has a point -- I have a first name few can pronounce, and I find it rather annoying when people screw it up. Chalk one up for sympathizing with a supposedly unsympathetic character. In the end, Moist is sympathetic, although he would wish you to think otherwise.

He is a thief, after all, and always will be one. But he's no dummy, and he uses his thievery wiles to his advantage and to that of the local post office's as well.

I won't say much -- to say even a little will give all the juiciness away, and we don't want that. But this book was quite amusing, even laugh-out-loud funny at points. It was also heartwarming and dark as well. In all, it's a great introduction to Discworld, and I wish it had been mine.

WHATTA FINALE -- SPOILER ALERT!

I have finally digested this wonderful ending to the most magical series I have ever read, no pun intended at all -- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Once again, I was unable to read it slowly. I finished it the Saturday it was released. I was teary from the beginning. Hell, I cry at Disney movies. Dudley's response to leaving Harry behind started it all for me. It was unexpected and touching, a brief glimpse at what Harry might have done for his cousin if given the chance.

After reading the Half-Blood Prince, I had a lot of ideas about who was going to die and how, including Harry. My theory was he was a Horcrux, and I was right. Thankfully, the other part of my prediction -- that Harry was going to die because of it -- did not come to fruition. Harry was going to die, but I thank JK Rowling that she saw it in her heart to spare him.

On to other deaths. I was very upset with Fred's death, and with Lupin's and Tonks', especially after the birth of Teddy. How like Harry Teddy Lupin became. Thank God he had Harry for a godfather. And the most surprising of all was Snape's, although I knew it was inevitable. The resolution of Snape and Harry was so sad that I cried while describing it to a friend. I felt so stupid that I didn't figure out what truly led to Snape's redemption -- love. How unlike him. And yet it totally made sense. Even now, as I write this, tears well up in my eyes. Of everything that happened in the book, the scenes at the end with Snape and the resolution of his story will stick with me for a long time.

And the epilogue was one of the sweetest things I have ever read. To think that Harry named one of his boys Albus Severus brings tears to my eyes yet again. When Harry referred to Snape as "probably the bravest man I've ever known," I broke down. What a wonderfully heartening way to end such an epic story.

My only gripe was that we didn't learn more about what happened with the rest of the survivors except Percy, Neville, Malfoy, and Teddy Lupin. What happened to everyone else? No fair! However, I did read somewhere that Rowling has mentioned she will work on a Harry Potter encyclopedia of sorts which might detail more information about other characters. I'll keep my fingers crossed!

STEP INTO LITERATURE

It's something all book lover's wish to do, isn't it? Don't we all wish we could be a part of Emma's world, or Harry's? What about Jane Eyre's? For Thursday Next, it's possible. In The Eyre Affair, by Jasper Fforde, 80s England is a world where literature is all the rage, the Crimean War is still being fought, and Winston Churchill's never been heard of. People can stop time, move about in it, and even jump in and out of books.

Next, an operative in a government agency that deals with literary crimes and has a time-hopping father, an inventor uncle named Mycroft, and a one-legged ex-boyfriend with whom she's still in love. It's a great mess, and by the end of the book, everything gets sorted out. Everything.

This book was recommended to me by my friend Shannon, who's literary advice I pretty much trust on blind faith. She was the one, after all, who told me to quit bitching about reading levels and try Harry Potter. Hooray for Shannon and hooray for Thursday Next. Can't wait for payday to got another Next novel.