What are you reading?

“Breaking Dawn, by Stephenie Meyer.”

What’s it about?

“It’s a romance novel about a young woman, Bella, and a vampire, Edward. It’s part of the Twilight series. This one is different from the rest because it’s written from two perspectives. Bella’s best friend is Jacob, and he’s a werewolf, and he doesn’t like vampires. The others are only from Bella’s perspective, but this one also has Jacob’s perspective. He’s still in love with Bella, and he’s trying deal with the fact that Bella is married to this vampire, and now this vampire has impregnated her, and the abomination in her womb is killing her. So he’s angry. But Bella loves Edward and wants to keep the baby because it’s a symbol of her love for Edward, and also she wants to become a vampire so she can live with Edward forever. He’s a hero, and he’s very noble — he was born in the 19th Century, so he has a lot of these old-school mannerisms. He’s very chivalrous.”

Who is your favorite character?

“Bella — she’s the protagonist, and she’s very easy to relate to. Meyer documents the high school experience, and I’m just out of high school. Bella is very free-spirited, and she gets into a lot of trouble. She doesn’t quite fit in, but she fits in with these misfits, who are a bunch of good-looking vampires.”

Compare this to other books you’ve read.

“The closest thing I can think of is a more mature version of Harry Potter. The vampires and werewolves aren’t in a separate world; they exist in this world. They go to school; they go through all the steps of being a human being. But they’re superhuman.”

What book has been the most life-changing for you?

“The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien. I’ve always been so anti-war, and nobody close to me has ever been in the military. But I’m from Chicago, and it seems like probably one out of five people I meet here from San Diego is somehow related to the military, and the book has given me an appreciation for the different people around me — not even necessarily just soldiers. It’s in diary form, and he talks about seeing his best friend step on a grenade and die. Then he goes from that to talking about one of his best friends who came back here and ended up killing himself. Nobody really appreciated him or the work he did over there; everybody he knew had moved on with their life.”

Who are your favorite authors?

“I really like Nicholas Sparks — he’s a romance novelist. He wrote A Walk to Remember and Message in a Bottle. I like the way he writes and the way he approaches characters — it’s a very easy read, and within the first five pages, you already have a sense of who they are.”

What magazines or newspapers do you read?

“I’m a Chicago Tribune girl. I go online to read it. I’ll generally read about 20 articles a week all the way through. And I read Cosmo and the trashy magazines when I’m waiting in line at the grocery store.”

Do you talk to your friends about reading?

“Oh, yeah. We talk about the news, especially. But since getting into the Twilight series, I’ve approached coworkers and started discussing it. We talk about the different characters, why they appeal to each of us.”

Name: Eden Gannon | Age: 19 | Occupation: Restaurant hostess | Neighborhood: Sherman Heights | Where interviewed: City College