"The Time-Traveler's Wife" by Audrey Niffenegger

Reviewed by: Karen Ong

Book Watch, Vol. 1, Issue 3

The Time Traveler’s Wife tells the unusual love story of Henry and Clare. What makes their story different is that Henry has a genetic condition that causes him to time-travel to his past or future without his control.

When Clare is 20, she meets 28-year-old Henry in his present. Though Clare has known him practically almost all her life since he has appeared to her intermittently since she was six, for the present Henry, however, it would be a few more years before he would meet the six-year-old Clare. Confusing? At times it could be, with Henry appearing, disappearing, and reappearing in Clare’s life. But, as the story unfolds, this quirk ceases to become strange and instead contributes to making the story even more poignant.

“I hate to be where she is not, when she is not. And yet, I am always going, and she cannot follow.” – Henry

(The movie version starring Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams will come out in August 2009.)

"Twilight" by Stephanie Meyer

Reviewed by: Honey de Peralta

Book Watch, Vol. 1, Issue 2

Published in 2005, Twilight skyrocketed to the top of the New York Times Bestseller list and immediately spawned a wide fan base reminiscent of Harry Potter proportions. The first book in a series, Twilight introduces us to the love story between Isabella Swan, a seventeen-year-old new transferee to the town of Forks, and Edward Cullen, a 107-year-old vampire masquerading as a high school student. As Bella finds outs more about Edward and his family, her life is increasingly placed in greater danger.

In turns dark fantasy and romance, this compulsively readable book has, for a strong hook, the sweetness and headiness of first love, plus the excitement and danger of supernatural beings at work. Moreover, “Twilighters” are soon to get a treat as the movie adaptation is to be released in Dec 2008. Read it and understand why I say the book is probably as yummy as Bella smells to Edward.