Bout of Books Day 4 Update

Today there are two challenges with Bout of Books.  The first one was from In Wonderland and this one made me smile.  Hers is a road trip challenge--list books that take place in different places that you would travel to.  I had to smile, because I did this for last week's Top Ten Tuesday.  So I thought that I would link that post here as my participation in this challenge.  So click here to see my original list instead of me boring you with the same books again :)

The other challenge is an I Spy Challenge.  Paperback Daydreamer has a list of things that we need to find in books that we own.  So I am going to start racking my brain and see if I can think of all of these things in the books that I have at home.  I think the hardest thing is not repeating books!

• snowflakes: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
• flames: Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card (I think so...I am not confident with this one--but wasn't one of the armies the Flame Army and then there's the whole fighting thing)
• a city skyline: Texas Hold 'Em by Lisa Cooke
• the moon: Swinging on a Star by Janice Thompson
• a sword: Macbeth by William Shakespeare
• a wedding dress: Fools Rush In by Janice Thompson
• high heels: Spying in High Heels by Gemma Halliday (note I have not read this...it was freebie on Kindle, so I have NO idea if its any good)
• fog: Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
• a Christmas tree: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
• sunglasses: Snoopes in the City by Darlene Gardner
• lightning: Angels and Demons by Dan Brown
• a tattoo: Downburst by Katie Robison
• combat boots: The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot
• hand-cuffs: The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
• a road: The Host by Stephenie Meyer

In terms of an update on progress: today I read a little bit more in Mansfield Park....I am beginning to wonder at what point Fanny will step up for herself...usually I feel like Austen women have strength which is why the books have had such "staying power" but I must not be there yet...or she never shows it--just waiting to see.

Character Thursday: Wanderer from The Host

Okay I mentioned in my book review of The Host about the movie that was coming out on this book.  And with that movie coming out tomorrow, I have had The Host on the brain.  So I thought I would do a Character Thursday about my favorite character from the book--Wanderer.  I actually had originally thought about doing Wanderer/Mel because I love their relationship--that is what really made the book for me.  But if you really read the book-they are two different characters, so maybe a different day.

Okay first of all a little bit of background for people who haven't read the book in a while/seen the movie preview/etc.  Wanderer is also known by her nickname Wanda, but she is the alien species that takes over Mel's human body--the host.  As a result, Wanda doesn't view the humans as we do, she views them as a species that has their own problems as the other species she has been with.

My favorite thing about Wanderer is her ability to think out of the box.  A lot of times in our current society, people stick with their original opinion.  They are not willing to put themselves in the other person's shoes.  Wanderer literally does put herself in the human shoes by being a parasite, but with Mel still there and around Wanda learns from Mel andWanda really starts to change her mind about what to do.  This gets even better with how much we learn that Wanderer is a very smart "person".  She serves as the equivalent to a college professor and tells lots of stories of her previous "lives".  We often see the more educated as less likely to change their minds...but I think it speaks volumes to her character.

What will be interesting is how she will be portrayed in the movie....and how they will show this change?

P.S. A sequel is for sure in our future...I wonder when http://www.hypable.com/2013/02/21/stephenie-meyer-reveals-what-she-is-writing-next/

If you see this...let me know I want to know what you think!

Book Review: The Host

I finished this book awhile ago but just now finally getting around to writing about it.

Title: The Host

Author: Stephanie Meyer

Genre: Fiction

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars (For an explanation of star ratings go here)

Summary: The world has been taken over by aliens--they have implanted themselves into human minds to take over the world.  They believe that they are improving mankind.  However, there are some humans who have not been implanted.  That is where our main character comes in: Melanie.  But the world changes for Melanie when she is captured and implanted with a host, Wanderer.  Wanderer and Melanie have to figure out how to live in the same body together, which doesn't usually happen! 

What Did I Love: The story was very engaging. I always wanted to know what happened next and I came to really be invested in the characters--especially the relationship that forms between Wanderer and Melanie.  Def. better written than Twilight series.  

What Did I Hate: This is the probably a book that took me the longest to finish ever! I did listen to it on audio and sometimes that takes me longer because I have to be driving to Provo or in a good cleaning mood to listen sometimes.  But it is really long--it doesn't drag just I think she could have done a series or trilogy instead. But she did leave it open for a sequel.

A Word About the Movie Coming Out Soon: I put the trailer below in case you haven't seen it yet.  I hadn't until tonight when I went looking for it.  I'm not wild about what I have see so far.  It makes it look more lovey dovey and action packed than I felt it was and they didn't answer my number one question: how are they going to deal with the Wanderer/Melanie relationship.  A lot of that is internal conversations...harder to do in the movie.  P.S. I pictured the men in this movie a lot cuter than they picked out...

Have you read this? Will you go see the movie?