This weekend we went camping. I enjoyed the time with my parents and siblings and especially with my little family. It’s beautiful up in the mountains and somehow… inspiring. But more on that at another time.

As soon as we were back to town, I directed my husband to the nearest Walmart to pick up a copy of Breaking Dawn (I was purchasing copies for my mother and my brother, but I got to read it first… ). We wandered around for a while before locating the book area. Twilight… New Moon… Eclipse… no Breaking Dawn. Okay… surely they must have it on a pallet somewhere… no. In fact, the man I asked didn’t even know what Breaking Dawn WAS and said their “vendor” brought in books whenever they wanted… I was appalled. Not because a guy didn’t know what the book was (the series isn’t my favorite), but because it IS the newest, biggest book of the summer in some ways… 1.3 million copies in one day… and this is WALMART…

I’m so used to them carrying everything I would ever want — and for the cheapest prices — that I go there even when my mind can’t handle the crowds and the disorganization… much to my husband’s despair…

We left Walmart and headed for the nearest Target… not much better in some ways, but here’s the result: low level of people, organized shelves, and a quick checkout. I’m sold.

My opinion on the book itself? Hmph. She could’ve done better. I don’t like to insult someone else’s writing (especially a published author)… but Twilight was better… New Moon and Eclipse were even better. I felt let down at the end of the book, despite some interesting twists and turns and ideas. I will say SOME of it was incredibly well written, so bravo on that! (I like to end on a happy note…)