'Twilight' loses luster with Deseret Book

Anyone who is thinking about checking out the craze that is Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series need not attempt to find a copy of any of the best-selling vampire romance novels on the shelves of Deseret Book.

The bookstore chain, which is owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, recently confirmed that copies of any of the books in the popular series will no longer be found amongst the merchandise in any of its 38 stores.

While the books have been taken off the shelves, Deseret Book customers can still get their hands on a copy of one of the books by special ordering them through the store.

Deseret Book spokeswoman Leigh Dethman issued a statement from the company explaining the decision.

"Our top priority is to meet the needs of our customers, who increasingly represent a variety of viewpoints," the statement said. "Like any retailer, our purpose is to offer products that are embraced and expected by our customers. When we find products that are met with mixed review, we typically move them to special order status."

The majority of Deseret Book's business comes from religious books, but they do offer a variety of other fiction and non-fiction titles.

While "Twilight" is being pulled, "The Host," another of Meyer's books that is not part of the Twilight series, will still be available for purchase at Deseret Book.

Meyer is a member of the LDS church and a BYU graduate.

The news that the book is not being sold at the bookstore was unexpected by some customers.

"There is really nothing deep, sadistic or evil in it so it kind of surprises me that they wouldn't sell it anymore," Gail Wehunt, of Redding, Calif., said while shopping at the downtown Salt Lake City location Wednesday night. "The Harry Potter books got more deep than the Twilight ones did, I think."

Amber Kirkland of Taylorsville said that while she has not read the books, she has heard plenty about them from her roommates, who love them. She thinks that Deseret Book most likely would rather be "safe than sorry."

But others were not surprised to hear of the change.

Becky Jean Williams, of Salt Lake City, said the move is not surprising at all to her.

Twenty-nine-year-old Williams has read all of the books, but she can see how they could be a little mature for some readers.

"It is not an inappropriate romance novel but I can understand that Deseret Book would not want to sell it," Williams said. "I think (the books) are fine, and really mild compared to the rest of the world, but I can understand why."

E-MAIL: ethomas@desnews.com