TWILIGHT: Chapter 16-Carlisle

CHAPTER SUMMARY: More faulty background is given on Carlisle, more vivid description of the house, and then the vampires decide to play...baseball?

NOTES/THOUGHTS/REACTIONS:
Edward leads Bella to Carlisle's office. Insert vivid description here, and I must say that it is impossible for one room to hold more books then a library, unless it was the size of a library. As Carlisle's office isn't, this description/thought of Bella's is dumb, unless she's been in really tiny librarys before this.
More vivid description and oh look, Carlisle himself! More description and then Carlisle has to leave so he tells Edward to tell the story about himself. Considering this chapter is named after him, he has very few lines. So exit Carlisle and Edward continues where he left off. He tells about how Carlisle struggled with himself, learned he could feed off of animals instead of humans and when to France. I also must comment that people do not swim the Channel all the time. Because it's dangerous too. You also have to have a lot of conditioning as a swimmer to do it without drowning so this is a very stupid remark that could have been saved by research.
Bella for some reason is shocked to learn that they don't need to breath and my God, this girl is DUMB. VAMPIRES, Bella. Undead! No breathy! Ringing a bell? This once again brings in angsty Edward who worries this information will frighten poor Bella away but she urges him on in a pointless inturruption and he continues. Gag me.
Carlisle apparently found other vamps who didn't agree with his views (because you know, they're ACTUAL vampires) and so he leaves. Started practicing medicine somehow, and then found Edward during the influenza in America. Enter Edward. One thing I want to point out in this background talk is that Edward had a decade or so where he didn't follow Carlisle and drank human blood. So see? NOT PERFECT GIRLS.
But somehow he had a change of heart (Edward is very vague on how and I would personally like to know more, but Meyer doesn't want any dark stuff so she figures this is enough info) and goes back to Carlisle and Esme who apparently entered the picture sometime in between all this.
End epic flashbacking and Edward takes Bella to his room and I have to say, I actually find his room kind of cool. Should I find myself owning a place with an extra room, I'm turning it into a sound room like Edwards.
The coolness is dimmed by the angsty over-the-top lovefest between the two that should make me smile and be happy but since I don't even like the characters and aren't fully convinced they're in love it just comes off as corny and I roll my eyes. Alice and Jasper arrive and insert vivid descriptions of how they move here, and they are invited for a game of...baseball. I admit, this threw me for a loop the first time I read it and so kind of perked up and thought, okay, maybe the interesting and fun part is coming up? Oh, how sadly was I mistaken. Read on next chapters to see why.

WORDS THAT A TEENAGER WOULD NEVER SAY/DON'T BELONG/USED WRONG: sinuously

BOOKS THAT ARE BETTER: The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong
WHY IT IS BETTER: This is the first book in the Darkest Powers series and it is a great start. The characters are intriguing, not at all perfect (inside or out), and have actual problems. The setting itself is also intriguing: a home for disturbed teens. Bet you never thought a fantasy book would be set there, did you? Just read it, you won't be sorry. It's fast-paced, really interesting, and solid writing. This is actual suspense that Twilight was sorely lacking.