Twilight

This is the first time since Harry Potter that people would stop me in public to ask me what I thought about a book. I was reading Stephanie Meyer's first bestseller, Twilight, and young women would come up to me with excited eyes and ask, "So - what do you think?" Before I read this book, I had young woman after young woman tell me about the series, tell me how they had started reading Twilight two days earlier and were now half way through the third book in the series. One girl even told me that she feels like she can't date any more because no boy will ever be Edward. Oh my gosh! It's Edward mania!

You've seen these books in your local book store - the ones with the hands holding an apple on the cover They are classified as young adult fiction, and while many readers feel like that is an unfair designation, I think it's accurate. Twilight is great. Don't get me wrong. But it is young adult fiction. I say that because of the subject matter and the way the relationships are handled. This is 500 pages (which I love for a young adult book, or any book) of a teenage crush. I really enjoyed it. It took me back to those high school days when you'd feel like you couldn't breathe if the boy you liked sat down next to you, how you'd feel like you'd die if he skipped class, how you'd stare at the back of his head thinking you could get him to turn around and look at you by the sheer force of your thoughts. Remember that? That is this book - big time. What makes it young adult fiction is that focus and also the lack of depth in the characters. They are blissfully simple, and the only relationships that matter are the romantic ones. Nothing is explored outside of the all consuming crush.

Fans of all things otherworldly will love this book too because - well - for the handful of you who don't know, I don't want to spoil it. Go ahead. Read Twilight, no matter what age you are. And if you're under 30, you may have to miss work to keep reading. On the Book Beat for KSL Newsradio, I'm Amanda Dickson.