Last Thursday afternoon, I went to Powerbooks at Greenbelt during my lunch break to find an unabridged copy of The Count of Monte Cristo. I checked at the Customer Service desk but it was currently unavailable. Since I really wanted to buy any good book to read over the long weekend, I decided to look around a bit. I was intrigued because the shelves for reserved books were stacked full of the Twilight series, plus there’s a lot of hype around the series because the movie just came out. On a whim, I asked the nice lady at the counter whether the first book of the series was available, and she handed me what turned out to be the last un-reserved copy of Twilight. I decided to buy it on the spot and begun reading it while having pasta at Java Man.

I couldn’t put it down, and it took all my self-control to stop reading the book since I had to go back to the office after my lunch break. I hurried home after work and actually skipped dinner to finish the book, which I did at around 2pm. I decided right then and there that I had to buy the rest of the books. I normally don’t buy books until I’m sure it’s something I want to read repeatedly (preferring to borrow a copy from the library or from friends, or reading at the bookstore first), but this was an exception. I had to know what would happen to Edward and Bella.

So the next day, I went back to Powerbooks, and was dismayed to find that there weren’t any copies available of New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn. I hurried to National Bookstore in Glorietta, but they were out of stock as well. When I got back to the office, I called all nearby branches of Powerbooks and National Bookstore to check if they had copies available, but to no avail. Happily, I remembered to call Fully Booked at Bonifacio Global City, which just got their stock. After work, I took a cab and bought the three other books in the series, and began reading New Moon right there at the bookstore. I, uh, again skipped dinner in favor of finishing the book. I slept at 5 am and got up at 8 am to begin Eclipse, skipping breakfast. I had a light lunch at around 2 pm, and finished Breaking Dawn at around 9 pm.

I have a feeling I’ll be writing a couple of blog entries on Twilight after this one, focusing both on the movie and the book. But for now, I suppose it’s enough to talk about how I skipped meals and lost sleep over the series.