The Host Giveaway

Morning, all! I'm happy to announce that Hachette is letting me run a giveaway for a copy of the new paperback edition of Stephenie Meyer's The Host. (Dets on how to enter at the bottom of this post.)

I was in the bookstore Friday and saw a woman paging through the book next to one of the displays. She read a bit, walked a few steps away (with it still in her hands) and continued reading down the stairs where she had to stop at the platform and read more. I wanted to scream at her, "Buy it! Buy it! It's fantastic!." I didn't see if she made it to the register because I was on my way out with my own purchase, but I hope she took it home and devoured it like I did when it first came out!

Now, I've never done a Stephenie Meyer post. First, I was late coming to the Twilight saga, much to the chagrin of my sisters. And by then I figured everyone had put in their two cents already.

The Host was actually my first Meyer read and I happily reviewed it for Bookbitch.com, but was really only a few months into blogging at the time. But I loved it. I mean I really, really loved it. I jumped on the Meyer bandwagon within just moments of cracking that tome and have not looked back since. (To be honest, I was already on her bandwagon because she was one of the first who really got through to the eldest Junior Junkie, sending her on her way to earning Junkie status!)

The Host is Meyer's adult debut (though it's really fine for her teen readers as well -- I've noticed this as a concern on Shelfari, and thought I should mention that). It's got all the hallmarks of the Twilight saga, a love triangle and (in my opinion) excellent characterization and an enthralling plot. Instead of vamps, though, it's about aliens! I'm one of many who are seriously hoping that there will be another outing in this world. (Did I mention I loved it?!) Here's a little bit about The Host:

They call themselves souls and they live transferring themselves from one host to another. Earth is just their latest conquest. Wanderer has lived more lives than most of her kind and this is why she is chosen to be placed inside one of Earth's remaining resistant humans. From the beginning, Melanie, the host, is different from others: Her consciousness seems to have remained, and her memories of loved ones haunt Wanderer day and night. Melanie’s increasingly insistent voice drives Wanderer to the desert where she hopes to finally track down the human's family. As Wanderer's bond with Melanie changes, though, she becomes unsure of her place in this life. Her kind leads a collective existence, one with no room for individuality. The fact that humans embrace this offers an aspect to life that Wanderer has never experienced.

And, my thoughts back in May '08 when I reviewed the book for Bookbitch.com:

This is a more complex story than any synopsis can really express, but it’s essentially a tale of love, friendship, and the need to belong somewhere. Meyer has already conquered the teen scene, and captured the hearts of many adult readers as well, with her Twilight series. The Host is an absolutely amazing book that will give those few remaining holdouts the opportunity to see just what all the fuss is about. I’ll tell you now, it’s all true - I loved The Host and can’t recommend it highly enough.

Now tell me, are you one of those holdouts? How would you like to win a free copy? If so, leave me a comment here (with your email) between now and midnight Saturday, May 8 (US only, please). I'll draw a name on Sunday morning and announce it that morning. Good luck!

Another Long Night Reading

Sometimes I feel guilty staying up so late to read. My other has a flexible work day, but he still has to be in sometime before 10. I on the other hand, can sleep late and simply make up my work later in the evening. It's nice and I absolutely love it because it means that I really don't have to worry about those late night reading binges leaving me exhausted the next day at work! But I think that Mike would rather my light be out so that he can sleep. I notice that he tosses and turns more when it's on late. Hmm.

Anyway, the reason I was up so late last night was that I slacked off all day (on my reading). I finished up Linda Barnes's latest, Lie Down with the Devil. It was great! I've been a longtime reader of the series, in fact, I discovered her pretty early on in my bookseller career. She already had a ton of books out in the series, and fortunately for me they had just reprinted Trouble of Fools. See, I had found about 5 of her mid-series titles lurking on my grandmother's shelves.

Style and subject wise, I have found that Barnes appeals to just about anyone who likes Sue Grafton and Janet Evanovich. In fact, I sort-of did a test while working at the bookstore and discovered that most people who read one of these ladies, like all three. If you're not familiar with Barnes and her heroine, Carlotta Carlyle, here's the scoop:

Carlotta is a six-foot redhead, ex-cop turned PI who drives a cab to supplement her income. She's got an off and on relationship with a mob boss's son, and her "little sister" (big brothers/big sisters little sister) is the daughter of a Columbian drug lord. Catchy, right? I love it. Barnes has never failed to to deliver a wholly entertaining and gripping mystery. I zipped through Devil in no time and will anxiously await the next book as usual.

And here's a bit about Lie Down With the Devil (it shouldn't give anything away about the rest of the series, I was very careful!):

It was supposed to be a simple tail and surveillance case, something nice and easy to ease Carlotta back into work and help her to get her mind off of her own problems for one night. Jessica Franklin fears that her soon-to-be-husband is having an affair. She hires Carlotta to follow him for one evening and make a note of the places he visits and specifically where he stays for the evening. Unfortunately for Carlotta, this is by no means the easy case she thought it would be. Soon she's stuck in the middle of a murder investigation - as the prime suspect.

So that was productive. Then I did some laundry, and watched Tori and Dean on OnDemand. It's my new obsession. They're cute and they seem to be really down to earth people. Normally I don't get sucked into reality shows unless there's cooking involved or it's one of Bravo's contest shows. I caught and episode of this one last week, though, and I spent yesterday catching up.

And then I started reading Twilight. Bad idea late at night. I reluctantly set the book down at 4am. I know I've only got about an hour's worth of reading left, but even I had to admit that 4am was a bit ridiculous.

Anyway, going to finish it up today. Unfortunately, I won't be receiving New Moon before the end of this week, so it won't be a total Twilight marathon for me. I guess it's a good thing, though, cause I do have other things I need to do this week!