A guy reads Twilight by Stephenie Meyer (2009-2011)

Reading New Moon: Chapter 1 (Party)

Β The song for this chapter is Iris by Goo Goo Dolls (suggested by Deby A.)

[audio:https://twilightguy.com/music/iris.mp3]

I almost didn’t post today, fearing that three posts in a row might make people think I was forming a new habit, an expectation I would never be able to keep up with thanks to my impending deadline and already up-till-3AM days. However, the pull of New Moon was much to strong: and thus I embark into Chapter the First anyway!

My absolute first thought upon opening the first chapter of New Moon is: I am ninety-nine point nine percent sure I have read this before. I honestly can’t explain it, but somehow between 2006 and now, I have picked up this book and read the beginning of the first chapter. Maybe one of the many times I was standing in a bookstore, just paging through the YA section, and just picked up New Moon on a whim. Or I might have read it as an excerpt off Amazon.com sometime. Either way, I recognize it like dΓ©jΓ  vu. And it is very interesting to think that sometime, long ago, I actually read part of this novel: having no clue at all what it was.

The first scene of this book has instantly drawn me in: beautifully written, so much that I didn’t even expect what would happen, even with that feeling that I’ve read it somewhere. Like the ending of Twilight, the thought that Bella the human could grow old while leaving Edward the vampire as 17 is startling: especially to them. Is it more frightening to Bella, that she must age and leave Edward the same; or for Edward, that she will die someday and leave him behind, alone again?

And, I must remind Bella, eighteen is not quite that old. If she thinks eighteen is old, and I am nineteen…where does that leave me?

Old Kaleb

AHAH! Stephenie said ‘Moot Point’ again! If not for me, that phrase might go entirely unnoticed by everyone reading, but thanks to my previous encounters with the phrase, you all might be pleased to recall my possible definitions to it, including Davy Crockett’s favorite pose (the Moot Point) and the latest scores in a game (due to the coach tripping the referee with a chocolate goose, the opposing team was given one Moot Point). I am nearly certain there is some story behind Stephenie’s attraction to ‘moot point’ just as my unintentionally common usages of the words ‘abysmal’ and ‘abhor’ and ‘rot’ probably do not go unnoticed.

Anyhow, enough of my silliness. The Volturi immediately leapt out at me: who are these vampires that I’ve heard about, and now finally have a name? And how is it that by making them angry, they can kill vampires? I have little doubt as the book unfolds I’ll be seeing more of the Volturi.

And, Alice…

“No presents,” I protested in a mumble.

She finally seemed to process my mood. “Okay…later then. Did you like the scrapbook your mom sent you? And the camera from Charlie?”

Show off.

While reading my new book (which, unlike my edition of Twilight, is hardcover) I discovered a new use for a cell phone:

Cell Phone Bookmark

Cell Phones: Good for Holding Open Books

One thing that I think should be done soon, if not immediately, is to find a name for Bella’s truck. After all, that old red thing has survived many a season, and now on top of that, it has ‘personality’ as Bella puts it (which almost seems like an excuse for a shower of rust when closing the door). How can such a thing not have a name?

Back in the olden days, people would name their cars, like Dashing Hopes or The Fiery Carriage. I, coincidentally, name most of the cars in my writings: and if another author leaves out a name for their vehicles, I usually go right ahead and name if for them myself, as they obviously simply forgot (what author would not name their cars?). Bella’s old truck might be the Rusty Bucket or Bloody Awful Noisemaker… anyone else have suggestions? (ADDED: Other than The Thing, which I don’t think has yet been passed as its Official Name πŸ˜‰ )

As I got to the end of chapter one and saw Bella opening her gifts, I instinctively allowed my mind to relax. After all, nothing bad usually happens when one is opening their gifts. Wrong. After Bella cut her finger, that tiny drop of blood: I can see the entire room immediately tense up.

I was so happy to see the vampire action right up in the front of this one. But oh the torture! Leave me hanging so much at the end of the first chapter? Sheesh.

——NOTES——

– I just cleared out all the old song suggestions from Twilight: now everyone can start suggesting songs for chapters in New Moon (obviously, somebody was ahead of me, and already did for chapter one- one of the songs that didn’t make it for the Twilight Song :D). Send them in over here.

– Emails coming to those who sent them! Also, everyone who’s asked for a preview of my book: I’m working on it. I have your emails but I’m still way behind.

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191 Responses

  1. *Long-time reader, first-time commenteress*

    I’m so glad you’re finally on to New Moon! I’ve been looking forward to your thoughts on this book more than any of the others. πŸ™‚

    She did mention in Ch. 1 of Twilight that “The Thing” had potential as a nickname for her truck…

    I’m rereading the books for probably the twelfth time, and every time I come across a “moot point” I think of you and laugh. She also occasionally uses the “nervously shifting from foot to foot,” which also makes me think of you.

  2. I do believe SM had indirectly named it The Thing, but I liked Rusty Bucket. If she gives it a human name, she should call it Gramps or Papaw. I’m estatic that you are finally reading New Moon and that first chapter does leave you hanging. I loaned my sister my copy of Twilight, with that first chapter and she called me the next day (which is the way most of us read it) after she finished reading it and asked for New Moon. I hate to say it Kaleb, but my 74 year old mother read Twilight faster than you (2 days). You don’t have to post EVERY day, but you should post about more than one chapter at a time.

  3. yay!!
    your reading new moon!!! it’s my favorite book ever!!
    you know i think “The Thing”
    is the name of Bellas truck.
    actually i just got new car, it’s this cute sports car two door mercedes, and i couldn’t resist i named it Bells! (after Bella) i know i know i’m pathetic.

  4. What many people fail to realize is that Bella’s truck already has a name.

    Chapter 1, page 7. “The Thing.”

    Also I love your usage o cell phone bookmark, GENIUS!

  5. WOOHOO!
    Another chapter!
    I don’t have a car to name, sadly, but i definitely think that bella’s truck should just be named “rusty”
    Also, you weren’t the first to realize that you can use a cell phone as a bookmark. i use mine all the time!

  6. I thought Bella’s truck was named “The Thing”? πŸ˜‰ You even said it yourself. “How could such a thing not have a name?” Voila. I like it.

    I’m with you on the age thing, personally… I just turned 20. Then again, my [nonexistent] boyfriend is not 17 and non-aging.

    *gaahahahahahahahasp* I’m kind of appalled right now, Kaleb. Your Twilight set doesn’t match. You’re going to have to reread Twilight until you can have an excuse to go buy a hardback copy. πŸ˜›

    And songs… now I can’t wait for my copy of New Moon to get here (TOMORROW. But I have to wait until I get home from vacation to read it. Sigh.) so I can suggest music! I must suggest “Time is Running Out” by Muse, though, right now, for one of the first chapters… I forget which, but I *think* it’s the second or third.

  7. BELLA’S TRUCK NAME: ludovic speed.

    i think it’s perfect. it fits nicely, seeing as ludovic is an old name, for an old car. and speed…..is a play on words!

    hope you like!

  8. Well, for truck names, my mom’s red Jepp is an Alice, but Bella’s truck does not seem to be an Alice. And my Dad’s black Jeep is Buckwheat, after the Little Rascals character, but that doesn’t really fit, either. Then we have “The Horrible White Truck” which is pretty self explainitory.

  9. I’m sorry, I didn’t read all of the previous posts because I’m in a hurry so someone may have mentioned this already… I like what Bella thought at the beginning of Twilight when she figured “The Thing” could be the truck’s nickname. It made me chuckle then and I still think of her truck as The Thing. πŸ™‚

    So glad to see you started New Moon right away! I was wondering how long we might have to wait. Thanks! πŸ˜€

  10. I did the exact same thing and read the first chapter of New Moon without knowing what it was πŸ˜› My step-dad named our car once, I can’t remeber what it was though. Hmm, I’ll have to ask him.

    moot point.
    bajajaja :]

  11. I did THE SAME THING! No joke! As I read New Moon I was felt major deja vu and then realized after the first chapter, I MUST have read it before sometime.

  12. if it’s torture to stop at the end of chapter 1, don’t stop. read chapter 2 and post about it approximately 5 minutes later.

  13. Aaaaand if you feel so interested in what happens next… perhaps you could do more than one chapter at a time! πŸ™‚

  14. I love how New Moon starts out. It is my favorite beginning of the three books. I can’t believe you were able to stop at the first chapter! There’s so much more action left to come, and the first chapter gives you a small taste of that, leaving you wanting more.

  15. I name cars all the time, haa! Totally weird how you’ve read the start of New Moon before! Could’ve been in a review or something πŸ˜€
    Oh, and I’m re-reading New Moon (I just got it back from a friend after a 4 month absence!) so while I’ll be reading something like 8 chapters a day, I’ll pester you with my song suggestions!

  16. I’m 19 too; maybe we can go retirement community shopping together some time.
    As far as naming Bella’s truck, thats some big responsibility you’re giving yourself there. I wish you luck; I have no suggestions. My car doesn’t have a name. I don’t think it has enough personality to have a name, really.
    Its just my car. A Honda CR-V. Booooorrrinngggg.
    Oh well whatever. Hurry up with New Moon please because I REALLY want you to get to Eclipse. Don’t go too fast though, because New Moon deserves as much attention as any of them.

  17. Okay, if you can stop there for any time at all, you’re strong.
    I just re-read New Moon yesterday (in one day, yes) and I laughed at suspenseful chapter breaks because you might actually wait through them. Yeah, I think you’re insane to stop at the end of any chapter.
    Maybe you should read, say… 10 chapters at once?

  18. Hey if you go back to the Twilight when Charlie is telling Bella about the truck Charlie says ,”the thing runs great…” And Bella thinks ,’the thing it has possiblities, as a name at least.

  19. i both loved and hated the first chapter. It was very well written and adorable (romeo and juliet) but i made the mistake (stupid me) of reading the first chapter in the back twilight. And new moon was not in my hands. And no one would lend it to me. And convienently enough, the bookstores were closed ( i think) and no one would drive me half way across the country.
    lol…i love when she uses moot point. Because of u, i always notice it now. She uses it a few times in the host too, and it set me laughing at some not-so-funny parts. πŸ˜›
    good luck with the rest of the book AND your impending deadline πŸ˜›

  20. hahah, nice beard Kaleb. I think Bella’s truck should simply be called The-Hunk-of Junk, because its basicallt a peice of crud. Our old car use to be called The Old Chariot, cause it was so old and ran so terribly. I have a lot of terrible memories of that car!

  21. I think the truck should have a grandfather’s name, like Victor or something. I think it fits. If not that, then I like Ol’ Rusty; it has a lot of character! I really don’t like ‘the thing’ because every time I see it I think of that really creepy alien movie *shudders* ,

    Scouts honor, I promise not to expect a chapter every day, but it won’t keep me from checking up to see if you’ve finished another one! Now, whenever I see, ‘moot point’ i giggle, thinking of your version of Davey Crockett’s moot point!

    Can’t wait for the next chapter! I’m really impressed with your self-control on not immediately reading chapter 2! Good luck with all your deadlines. (Wonder why they are called deadlines? Because if you don’t make them, you are dead? The world may never know…)

  22. All I can say is that you must have a lot of restraint to be able to read only one chapter at a time…when I first read the series, I read all of Twilight and half of New Moon in one day…I’m not sure if that’s because i loved the books so much that I couldn’t put them down, or because I have no life…heh..and I don’t recommend following my example because after spending 24 hours in Forks with Bella and Edward, I had trouble getting back to reality… anyways…happy reading! πŸ™‚

  23. i think the trcuk should be called: showering rusty!
    i also which u good luck on reading this book, i hope u dont miss to much of anything, cuz these books get harder to put down as they go on! hehe

  24. Hmm… well my car is called the G-ma Mobile. Maybe something on the lines of that.

  25. OMG i was so happy to come back from my 13 day alaskan trip without internet to find out you were onto New Moon already!

  26. I think Ol’ Red or Ol’ Rusty
    Somethin with Ol’ in it
    And I was wondering how much about New Moon you know previously to reading it. Maybe you already know why all the fangirls will be crying in agony in the not so distant future.

  27. No wait I know the perfect name
    Get ready for it…….
    The Fire Truck
    Its perfect well if anybody gets it then it will be

  28. HOW COULD YOU POSSIBLY STOP THERE!!!?? something is seriously wrong with u, i’m just going with the theory that you have read ahead,but just lie and say you didnt because NOT reading ahead would have been humanily imposssible! Warning: this is the saddest book you’ll probably ever read.
    love ya!

  29. Congrats on starting New Moon!!! And get used to the chapters ending like that! Have fun only reading one chapter at certain parts in this book!!!

    Your cell phone is exactly like my brother’s, except that his is blue. That’s cool.

    Oh, and for Bella’s truck, there was something good that she called it somewhere in Twilight, but I forget what it was. So I will go and look it up now.

  30. Amy, I agree with him reading ahead and just saying he didn’t. There really is no way you could stop there without knowing what happened.

  31. Wow, Kaleb..I gasped when I saw you had posted on New Moon so quickly after finishing Twilight. πŸ˜›

    Love the “New” look. πŸ™‚

  32. I name all of my trucks some of the most memorible names inculude snow white (the jeep), mater,shrek, and ugly (surprisingly the most beautiful one we’ve had).
    When I first got twilight I bought eclispe with it thinking that was the second book. I got the papere back version with the first chapter of New Moon in it. So I read it, but soon enough i finished cliff hanging first chapter and with no copy of New Moon. Sadly this was my downfall. I read the first 18 chapters of Eclispe before I was able to borrow a copy of new moon.
    Anywhoo – I love New Moon. It is my current favorite in the saga, and I hope you like it as much as I did.

  33. lol you probably did read the first chapter unknowingly at the back of twilight. I did the same thing without realizing it was actually first chapter of new moon. Luckily I bought new moon the same time as twilight so I was able to read it right away even though I had to wait months till Eclipse came out.

    oh I like The Thing. Such a simple name that just says it all lol

  34. Kaleb!
    I am so happy you have started NEW MOON! I really think you are going to enjoy it!
    I was laughing through-out the entire blog TOO!
    Greetings from uruguay

  35. Oh and I also used my cellphone to open my books but not the same way as you (which would be more convenient) since its a motorola SLVR

    ok I’ll stop commenting so much lol!

  36. Man I wish my phone wasn’t a slider, the phone thing’s a great idea. Love the thoughts on the chapter. I really don’t know how you didn’t go right into chapter 2, I finished Twilight and read the first chapter for New Moon at the end and had to go out and buy it to find out what happened.

    As for everyone saying this is the saddest book ever, I don’t think it is. Oh, it’s sad, and I cried the first 2 times I read it but I’ve read much worse books as well. IMO The Host is actually sadder than New Moon, but hopefully you’ll find that out for yourself soon.

    Good luck on your one chapter at a time once you get more into the book.

  37. was anyone else not able to open up this website a moment ago? it had a message saying that the CPU usage was messed up… maybe i’m the only one who noticed…

  38. I know Kaleb, Bella makes me feel like a grandma, im 20 holy crow lol. So excited you have started new moon!!! eeeek haha keep powering through. Unlike everyone else I quite liked this book (the second time i read it through lol) but thats because I am Team Jacob. Go Jakey!!

  39. Did you not read the preface? You didn’t comment on it so I was wondering if you even took the time to read it? And if so what were your thoughts on it? Thanks Kaleb and keep up the good work!

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