Once again, it's time for Top Ten Tuesday, a bookish, list-y meme hosted by the fabulous ladies at The Broke and the Bookish.  And, wow, is this week's topic a stumper:  Top Ten Favorite Books I Read Before I Was a Blogger.  It's a toughie, right?  Especially for those of us who have been blogging for a while (BBB was born in August of 2006).  I mean, one of the chief reasons I started this blog was so I could remember all the great books I've read because, without it, my old, feeble mind just comes up blank!  Well, okay, I managed to think of ten, but I'm telling you, it was not easy, not easy at all ...


1.  Twilight by Stephenie Meyer—Yeah, yeah, yeah.  When Twilight first came out, I belonged to a book club with a woman who was related to Meyer somehow (cousin?).  She recommended the novel to us, saying if we all read it, she was pretty sure she could get Meyer to come chat with our book club.  But, when she described the novel as a "teenage vampire romance," we all turned up our noses.  And, it must be said (though it pains me to do so), that by the time she convinced us all to read Twilight, Meyer was much too busy to come to our little book club.  True story.

I remember being embarrassed to read Twilight in public.  Back then (it came out in 2005), adults didn't read teen books unless it was to screen them for their kids (which was totally what I was doing—uh huh).  And yet, it kept me totally entranced.  It still shames me to admit it, but I loved Twilight.


2.  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling—The name J.K. Rowling doesn't appear on my blog until 2007, when I reviewed Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, but I had been reading her ever since the first Harry book came out in the U.S. in 1998.  I remember devouring the series while sitting in the bedroom of my toddler (who's now 14).  He played happily while I read, oftentimes falling asleep before I realized the room had gone suspiciously quiet.  H.P. grabbed me from the get-go, keeping me totally riveted with the story, the characters, the setting, everything.  It will always be one of my favorite children's series!


3.  Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell—I'd seen the movie version of GWTW several times, but I didn't read the book until after I traveled to Atlanta in 2000.  The setting definitely came alive more because I'd visited the setting and the story, of course, kept me totally engrossed.


4.  Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman—I'm not sure why this one sticks out in my mind, except that I remember it being a fun, charming novel that was different than other books I was reading at the time.


5.  Outlander by Diana Gabaldon—I read this fat tome on someone's recommendation and, in no time at all, found myself totally immersed in the story.  It swept me away from the stresses of my every day life, which at the time included bottles, diapers, housework, and all the other chores that come along with stay-at-home motherhood.  I don't know why I didn't continue with the series, but it's one I would like to finish.  Someday.  You know when I have a million free hours to wade through those very, very large books!



6.  Emma by Jane Austen—After Gwyneth Paltrow brought Emma Woodhouse to such charming life on the big screen in 1996, I knew I had to read this book.  Needless to say, it met my (very) high expectations.


7.  Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurty—I've never been a huge fan of Westerns, but this classic really captured my imagination.  It's an entertaining read that I should probably re-read soon.


8.  The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown—Like millions of other fans, I found this one edge-of-your-seat compelling.  Is the writing absolutely brilliant?  No, but it's still an exciting and very readable thriller.


9.  A Time to Kill by John Grisham—I loved the movie version of this novel and not just because it's the only  Matthew McConaughey film in which the actor does more than just look pretty.  Nope, it was the storyline that sucked me in.  I'm not a huge Grisham fan, but I did really enjoy this book.  I've been meaning to re-read it for years, but a library copy's still sitting on my desk waiting for my attention.  Soon, I promise!



10.  The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold—As disturbing as this novel is, I also found it totally mesmerizing.  It's unique, compelling and memorable.

A stunning realization:  So, as I was typing up this post, I had an epiphany—all the books I listed, except one (Outlander), have been made into movies/t.v. series.  Does this make them stick out more in my mind?  Or, is it just because I selected a crop of very excellent books?  Hm ...

Now that I've searched my tired mind for titles I loved before becoming a book blogger (way back in 2006—yikes!), I'd really like to know which books you adored back in the day.  Do we have any favorites in common?      

This week is going to be a fun one at BBB - I'll be drawing a winner for the Taken By Storm giveaway, announcing more giveaways, and I may even have a review or two. But first, I must rant. Hubs and I watched Twilight last night - oh boy, have I got a few things to say about that! If you adored the movie, you may just want to skip this post. If not, read on ...

So, I know I'm the last woman on Earth to see Twilight. I had plans to see it when it came out, but after hearing friends' mixed reviews, I wasn't sure I wanted to watch it at all, let alone pay astronomical amounts of money for theater tickets. Now that it's out on DVD, though, curiosity got the better of me - hubs brought the movie home last night and we watched. And snickered. And rolled our eyes. And giggled. It was soooo, soooo bad. Honestly, the best part of the movie was the scenery. Of course, I'm Washington born and bred, so I could be a bit biased ...

Perhaps I'm being a bit too critical (Me? Never!), but seriously, the movie was awful. The plot was choppy - I don't know if it would make sense to anyone who hadn't read the books. None of the actors seemed comfortable in their roles - Bella was too serious; Edward too awkward; Jacob too - I don't know - wrong. The relationship between Bella and Edward progressed too fast, and I didn't feel any real chemistry between the two. In fact, all of the actors seemed stiff, cold and melodramatic. The only person in the movie who acted naturally was Stephenie Meyer herself! And as for the dialogue - yikes. Cheese, cheese, cheese.

All you have to do is scroll through this blog to see that I am a Meyer fan. Not a screechy, obsessive, prom dress-wearing, psycho fan, but a fan. I adored Twilight, loved New Moon, and liked Eclipse. True, I haven't quite gotten around to Breaking Dawn (even though it's been sitting on my shelf for months), but I will. Like I said, I'm a fan. Of the books. The movie just didn't capture the drama and passion of the story at all. Not that I'm surprised - in my opinion (be it ever so humble), films rarely do justice to the books on which they're based. There are exceptions, of course (Gone With the Wind comes to mind), but Twilight is soooo not one of them. I did stay awake through the movie, which is saying something since I snoozed through The Dark Knight, Quantum Solace, and every other DVD I've viewed lately, but I think that had a lot more to do with the two glasses of Mountain Dew I drank rather than any magic happening on-screen. Or maybe it was my husband laughing uproariously on the couch next to me. At any rate, I think you get the picture - Twilight (the movie) just plain sucks. And yes, the pun was intended.

(Image from publisher's official website)

If you liked Invasion of the Body Snatchers, you're going to love Stephenie Meyers' newest novel, The Host. In this, her first book for adults, Meyer takes the body snatching thing to a whole new level.

The story takes place in the U.S. following an invasion by parasitic aliens. Since the alien "Souls" need host bodies to live, "Seekers" hunt down humans, then force them to undergo an operation whereby a Soul is implanted inside them. Erasing individuals creates a harmonious world full of peaceful Souls who work toward the collective good always. Trifles such as locks, money, and highway patrolmen no longer exist as they are simply not needed.

There's just one problem with the Souls' perfect little world - not all humans go down as easily as they should. Case in point: Melanie Stryker. When the Seekers capture Melanie's body, they implant her with an experienced Soul called Wanderer. Having lived multiple lives on several different planets, Wanderer expects to have no trouble on Earth. She's never met resistance in a host body before, but Melanie is different. She won't leave. The Seekers know Melanie worked with a rebel cell, and they want her memories - Wanderer tries to retrieve them, but Melanie blocks her every attempt. Such a blockage occurs so rarely that no one knows quite how to help Wanderer. Meanwhile, the rebel human assaults her with confusing memories and thoughts. Despite Melanie's mental defenses, Wanderer discovers her secret - her brother Jamie and boyfriend Jared are hiding out, desperately protecting their humanity. Their exact location eludes Wanderer, although she does manage to extract a sketchy map from Melanie's mind. She turns this information over to an aggressive Seeker, although it fills her with guilt to do so.

As Wanderer mines Melanie's memory for more information, she finds herself empathizing with the human, even caring about the males who dominate Melanie's thoughts. Before she knows it, Wanderer's driving east to Arizona, desperate to find the humans before the Seekers do. After a harrowing journey, she finds exactly what she is looking for, but she doesn't receive quite the welcome she was expecting. Instead, the humans dump her in a remote cell in the warren of caves they inhabit. Most of the group find her presence repugnant - they prefer to kill her or hand her over to Doc, who dissects infected bodies to gather information about the Souls. Only Jeb, Melanie's cantankerous uncle, gives Wanderer the benefit of the doubt. Jeb proves to be a powerful advocate - with his protection, no one dares harm her, but that doesn't mean they accept her either. Jared, especially, can't stand the monster with his lover's face. Others lurk in the dark caves, just waiting for an opportunity to gun her down.

While Wanderer fights to stay alive, she learns a great deal about the rebels and about human nature in general. She sees their brutality ("They might have been human ... once, but at this moment they were something else. They were barbarians, monsters. They hung over us, slavering for blood" [120].); their duality ("Humans were deceitful, treacherous creatures. I couldn't anticipate their darker agendas when such things were unthinkable to my species" [225].); and their great capacity for love ("So great was his compassion, he seemed to bleed internally with it" [322].). For the first time, Wanderer questions the deeds of her species. Is it right to take over different species, forcing them to act as the Souls see fit? Is it ethical to erase individuals for the good of the collective? Who, exactly, are the monsters here? The Souls, who steal bodies for their own purposes, or the humans, who annihilate each other with startling regularity? Where does Wanderer fit in - can she, a kind-hearted Soul, really be the monster the humans think she is? These are questions she must answer before The Seekers find her and force her to choose a side.

While The Host teems with moral and ethical questions that will have book clubs atwitter for days, the book really isn't about philosophy. It's not even about the action, or the adventure, or the sci-fi trappings - at its heart, The Host is a love story. Personally, I didn't find Jared that appealing, and I didn't understand how Wanderer could fall in love with him simply based on Melanie's memories, but the story really is about their relationship. Is it as passionate and exciting as that of Bella and Edward? Uh, no. But, it's compelling enough to keep you reading. Of course, romantic love isn't the only kind Meyer explores here - there's also love of home, love of family, love of community, love for a child, etc.

If you're more about the issues than the love story, there's plenty to discuss here: What does it really mean to be human? Without will/agency, are we anything more than slaves? Is the good of the collective more important than individualism? Will our compassion conquer our brutality? Like I said, there's plenty to discuss ...

While I really enjoyed reading The Host, I did have a few issues with it (of course). I liked the character of Wanderer, but I couldn't stand how helpless Meyer made her in certain situations. I mean, Melanie is a brave, resistant human and Wanderer is a strong, spirited Soul - together, they should make a steely being who can take care of herself. But, no, she has to be constantly rescued and carried about by the men in the tunnels. I'm no feminist, but c'mon! Bella (of the Twilight books) actually has this same tendency, but it's more endearing in her somehow. Like with Bella's Edward/Jacob love triangle, I also got a little tired of Wanderer's Jared/Ian issues. That's all small potatoes compared with my biggest issue, which is this - I really did not like the ending. I don't want to spoil anything for those who haven't read it, so that's all I'm going to say, but dang, I wanted something more satisfying.

Is The Host my favorite Stephenie Meyer book? No (that would be Twilight), but it's one of those "unputdownable" novels that keeps you turning pages at lightning-speed. Sure, it's a bit of an Invasion of the Bodysnatchers copycat, but it's one you won't want to miss.

Grade: B+

(You can watch Stephenie Meyer talk about The Host here.)

Okay, so I'm back to vampires. I just finished New Moon, the sequel to Stephenie Meyer's novel, Twilight, and it was just as good as compelling as the first.

Meyer's sophomore novel continues the story of Bella Swan, a teenager who finds herself inexplicably drawn to Edward Cullen, a gorgeous senior, who just happens to be a 200-year-old vampire. In the first book, Edward spends his time rescuing Bella from various evils, including a bloodthirsty vampire named James. In the second, Edward breaks Bella's heart by leaving (for her own good, he says). In an attempt to fill the bottomless void left by her true love, Bella becomes very close to an old family friend, 16-year-old Jacob Black. As their friendship deepens, she wonders if she can ever let go of Edward and accept the love of someone else. Just as she is beginning to feel somewhat happy again, Jacob's lightheartedness changes, and Bella discovers he has secrets of his own, secrets that could destroy Edward and his family. Despite Edward's betrayal, Bella is compelled to help him, a compulsion that puts her in more danger than she could ever imagine.

Once again, Meyer has created a story full of adventure, humor and passion. I find her novels immensely readable (they are actually Young Adult novels) and extremely compelling. Although New Moon is more introspective than Twilight, it is still a blood-pumping, page-turning marvel that will suck you in completely. I love her books, and am anxious to read the next three (yes, three, according to her website) installments.