Welcome!  I’m so excited to re-read the Twilight Series to get ready for the Breaking Dawn: Part 1 movie release.  I decided to add something new to my re-reading experience.  I got The Twilight Saga: The Official Illustrated Guide this year and I really wanted to listen to the playlists that were in there while I was reading the books, so I thought “Why not make an event out of it?”  And here were are.  Plus you can read along with me, if you like.  This week I am reading:

I’ve also made a bookmark for you to download that has a reading schedule on it so you can finish all four books before the movie comes out on November 18.

New Moon has two playlists in The Twilight Saga: The Official Illustrated Guide.  Today I’ll post the first playlist and tomorrow I’ll post the “alternate” playlist.  Why are there two?  I don’t know.  She doesn’t say in the guide.  Enjoy the music and check back tomorrow for even more music!

I’ve picked official videos where I can so I’m sorry about the commercials.  I’ve also listed the chapter that each song goes with.

1. “Do You Realize”  The Flaming Lips (Chapter 1)

2. “Papercut” Linkin Park (Chapter 1)

3. “Hyper Music” Muse (Chapter 3)

4. “Apocalypse Please” Muse (Chapter 3)

5. “Time Stands Still” The All-American Rejects (Chapter 4)

6. “Empty Room” Marjorie Fair (Chapter 4)

7. “Unwell” Matchbox 20 (Chapter 6)

8. “Pain” Jimmy Eat World (Chapter 7)

9. “Ride” The Vines (Chapter 8 )

10. “Fix You” Coldplay (Chapter 9 – Jacob’s perspective)

11. “Blueside” Rooney (Chapter 9)

12. “Over My Head (Cable Car)” The Fray (Chapter 11)

13. “Going Under” Evanescence (Chapter 15)

14. “Tautou” Brand New (Chapter 15)

15. “Be My Escape” Relient K (Chapter 16)

16. “Never Let You Down” The Verve Pipe (Chapter 16)

17. “Sing for Absolution” Muse (Chapter 18 – Edward’s perspective)

18. “Ya Mamma” Fatboy Slim (Chapter 20)

19. “DOA” Foo Fighters (Chapter 20)

20. “Stare” Marjorie Fair (Chapter 22)

21. “The Scientist” Coldplay (Chapter 23 – Edward’s perspective)

22. “Memory” Sugarcult (Chapter 23)

23. “The Truth About Heaven” Armor For Sleep (Chapter 23 – Edward’s perspective)

24. “Sound of Pulling Heaven Down” Blue October (Chapter 24 – Edward’s and Bella’s perspectives)

Week 1 was great!  I read Twilight again and watched the movie.  Here are my spoilery thoughts on the following:

The Book: The book is sweet. It carefully takes you on the journey of discovering first love.  Their love is obsessive, but I think that’s how most people feel when they fall in love the first time.  Their love is bitter-sweet, too.  I saw a lot of references to Edward being sad and conflicted.   I was surprised at how light-hearted the book was while I was re-reading it.   It made for a nice contrast to the sudden shift into horror at the end. When Edward finds Bella in the dance studio, it’s utterly heart-breaking.

And man do they argue a lot.  They’re like a little married couple already!  It’s endearing how they have extremely different ideas on what’s best.  A lot of their arguments stem from being jealous of each other.  Edward is jealous of her mortality and Bella is jealous of his immortality. I liked the foreshadowing of Bella wanting to be alone with him on a beach. He he.

One thing that fascinates me is how Edward’s actions through the first half of the book could be interpreted as either a creepy stalker or of someone in love.  It emphasizes the fact that he hasn’t made up his mind yet if he’s going to give into his lust or hold out for true love.  He goes into her room at night without her knowing.  He follows her around in his car.  Bella is not creeped out by this behavior, but as I was reading it I couldn’t help think that maybe he didn’t always have the best of intentions like she thinks he does.  Edward has a bad boy streak, especially when it comes to his driving.  He’s the boy in high school you wanted to date but knew you shouldn’t.  If only you could have been the girl to straighten him out

My favorite line from Edward is him saying, “You have saved me.”  It reminds me a lot of what Darth Vader says to Luke in Star Wars.  Maybe it’s more important to save someone spiritually and Bella doesn’t realize that.  She needs to have a chat with Luke.

The Movie:  Is it just me or did the movie skip over why they fell in love?  Edward is talking about wanting to kill her and then *Urch*  ”I don’t know how long I’ve waited for you.” Um.  What?  When did they fall in love?  I like the dance studio scene in the movie because they are explicit about explaining things that are only implied in the book.  It’s very clear in the movie that Edward might kill her and what choice he is making.  Bella never thinks that he would kill her so it doesn’t come across like that in the book.  The movie is definitely more dramatic than the book. Maybe over-dramatic.  But I still love it!  And Robert Pattinson is nice to look at I love Edward’s line of the “vile repulsive things they were thinking.”  It wasn’t in the book, but it should have been.

Also, if you haven’t watched the audio commentary for the movie, DO IT NOW.  It’s hilarious.  Robert makes fun of himself THE WHOLE TIME and you can’t help but laugh through the whole thing.

The Playlist: I liked all the songs except for “Dreaming” by OMD.  It was so cheesy (especially in the context of the book which involves Bella staring at Edward’s abs) that it made me cringe.  My favorite song was “Why Does it Always Rain on Me?” by Travis.  I think it really brings out the sarcasm of the book.  The songs are mostly light-hearted and sweet.  Maybe the playlist helped change the mood that I read Twilight in.  I can’t tell if I always thought Twilight was sweet and light-hearted.

The Soundtrack: The Twilight soundtrack sold like hotcakes and even though I was a Twilight fan, I didn’t buy it at first.  None of the songs interested me.  Then I saw the movie.  I loved all the songs and had to have them.  A good soundtrack reminds you of the movie.  I can remember where all the songs go in the movie and listening to the soundtrack feels like watching the movie again and again.

Husband’s thoughts: You read that right.  Not only did my awesome husband read the book, he’s watched the movie with me.  Here’s what he had to say:

I really think it’s a good story. Edward falls in love with someone that is the hardest for him to have. I liked the blend of the natural and the supernatural.  Edward is a gentleman.  He’s courageous because he’s able to control his instinct to kill her.  Edward is willing to do anything for her and that’s a good example of what love is.  He can’t even kiss her without it being hard.  Edward is somewhat of a girl’s fantasy, but I think there could be guys like him out there. Most guys don’t like love stories because it’s feminine, I guess. Twilight is a love story, but it’s not a cheesy romance – there’s drama and action in it, too.  The book is easy to read and I liked that.  I was wondering how people read these books so fast.

I wish they had a different actress for Bella.  Edward’s makeup looks weird.  I know he’s supposed to be white, but they could have done a better job.  The running special effects in this movie look totally fake.  You can tell they’re on a line moving them.  I don’t know that I like Twilight, but I don’t dislike it.  The fight scene at the end was cool.