New Blog Look... New Giveaway!

New Blog Look... New Giveaway!

Thanks to EVERYONE who clicked, tweeted and made sure all the links worked from the top of the page ALL THE WAY to the Bottom!

The WINNER is... Debbie (dasuzuki)!

Congrats! I've just sent the email to let her know!

I've been meaning to update the look of Chick with Books for a while now... Add a few things here and there... Have fun changing some colors, fonts etc... Add a little html code and see what happens... So now that I've got things pretty much in place, What do you think?!

Want to help me make sure it's all working? I've got a little incentive for helping... I'm going to give away a $15 Amazon.com gift card to one lucky helper! Here's all you have to do to enter...

• Click on any of the links on the blog (in posts, sidebar, the tabs above, etc.) and let me know in a comment below (on this post) what link you clicked on and if worked (it took you where it's suppose to take you) or if it didn't work.

OR...

• Tweet any of the posts by clicking on the "tweet" button at the end of the post and leave a comment below letting me know what post you tweeted, and if it worked.

*Don't forget to leave your email in your comment too!

That's it! Easy enough? It's a great way for me to find out if things are working (or not working) and a fun way for you to enter to win a gift certificate!... Let's click around the blog until Sept.15th! So, Giveaway ends 11:59pm EST on Sept. 15th. I'll randomly choose one winner from all the comments received! Thanks for the help! And Good Luck!

New Blog Look... New Giveaway!

New Blog Look... New Giveaway!

Thanks to EVERYONE who clicked, tweeted and made sure all the links worked from the top of the page ALL THE WAY to the Bottom!

The WINNER is... Debbie (dasuzuki)!

Congrats! I've just sent the email to let her know!

I've been meaning to update the look of Chick with Books for a while now... Add a few things here and there... Have fun changing some colors, fonts etc... Add a little html code and see what happens... So now that I've got things pretty much in place, What do you think?!

Want to help me make sure it's all working? I've got a little incentive for helping... I'm going to give away a $15 Amazon.com gift card to one lucky helper! Here's all you have to do to enter...

• Click on any of the links on the blog (in posts, sidebar, the tabs above, etc.) and let me know in a comment below (on this post) what link you clicked on and if worked (it took you where it's suppose to take you) or if it didn't work.

OR...

• Tweet any of the posts by clicking on the "tweet" button at the end of the post and leave a comment below letting me know what post you tweeted, and if it worked.

*Don't forget to leave your email in your comment too!

That's it! Easy enough? It's a great way for me to find out if things are working (or not working) and a fun way for you to enter to win a gift certificate!... Let's click around the blog until Sept.15th! So, Giveaway ends 11:59pm EST on Sept. 15th. I'll randomly choose one winner from all the comments received! Thanks for the help! And Good Luck!

The Host by Stephanie Meyer... A Giveaway!

The Wanderer invaded Her Soul...

But Melanie Refuses to Give Over Her Mind too...

Congrats to Bethie, Carina & Virginia! They each won a copy of The Host! And Thank you to EVERYONE who joined the fun! Tweeted and Blogged about the Giveaway!

How many of us adults have enjoyed the Twilight series?! Stephanie Meyer's brought us into the world of Vampires & young love and captured our attention. Now enjoy The Host by Stephanie Meyer, who creates a world we feel we can step right into... and a love story we can devour... all for adults!

Back of the Book... Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away. The earth has been invaded by a species that take over the minds of human hosts while leaving their bodies intact. Wanderer, the invading "soul" who has been given Melanie's body, didn't expect to find its former tenant refusing to relinquish possession of her mind. As Melanie fills Wanderer's thoughts with visions of Jared, a human who still lives in hiding, Wanderer begins to yearn for a man she's never met. Reluctant allies, Wanderer and Melanie set off to search for the man they both love...

Featuring one of the most unusual love triangles in literature, THE HOST is a riveting and unforgettable novel about the persistence of love and the essence of what it means to be human.

THE HOST debuted at #1 on The New York Times hardcover fiction bestseller list and remained there for more than a year. Meyer’s first adult novel was not only a huge commercial success with more than 2 million copies sold, it also brought a whole new audience of readers to Stephenie Meyer. Featuring one of the most unusual love triangles in literature, THE HOST, appeals to rabid Twilight Saga fans and readers of classic literary suspense alike. The Host has also been referred to as "science fiction for people who don't like science fiction". AND Movie rights to THE HOST have been optioned by Nick Wechsler and Steve and Paula Mae Schwartz, the team that produced the film of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road. Andrew Niccol of Gattaca and The Truman Show will write the script and direct.

Originally released May 2008, it is now available in a trade paperback edition WITH a New Bonus Chapter! Here's a link to a peak at the bonus chapter. Plus, there's a Reading Group Guide for book clubs (I've included that below). I've enjoyed the writing of Stephanie Meyer in her Twilight books, and I am enjoying reading The Host! She makes the setting she writes about and the characters so real. I'm not quite done with The Host yet, it's a nice thick book!, so my review is coming... In the meantime, here's the reading group guide, and following that are the details on how to enter to win your own copy of The Host!

The Host by Stephanie Meyer Reading Group Guide...

1. How does the poem “Question” by May Swenson, which appears as the epigraph at the beginning of the novel, relate to some of the important themes in The Host?

2. The souls are described as bright silver ribbonlike creatures with hundreds of tiny tentacles. To some they seem beautiful, while others liken them to “worms” and “centipedes.” Do you think the souls’ physical form suits their nature? If you were to imagine a different form to give the souls, what would it be?

3. There is an ongoing debate in The Host about the true nature of humans. Wanderer refl ects, “The humans were brutish and ungovernable. They had killed one another so frequently that murder had been an accepted part of life” (page 47). Do you think this brutality is innate to mankind? If so, does this make the peaceable souls’ decision to take over the earth more ethical?

4. While most of The Host is narrated by Wanderer, Melanie occasionally takes over the narration to relate important memories. Why might Stephenie Meyer have chosen to tell the story in this way? Did you connect more with one voice than the other?

5. The souls believe they are transforming the vicious human world into a utopia. Is the society the souls construct better than the natural society of humans? Melanie tells Wanderer that humans realized the souls were taking over bodies “when the evening news was nothing but inspiring human-interest stories…when everything morphed into Mayberry” (page 108). How does the society of the souls on earth compare to your image of “a perfect world”?

6. The souls are morally complicated creatures. On one hand, they are “all things good: compassionate, patient, honest, virtuous, and full of love” (page 3). On the other, they survive by taking over the bodies and minds of unsuspecting hosts. Does the parasitic nature of the souls overshadow their virtuous qualities? Did you sympathize with the souls, or did you view them as the clear enemies of humans?

7. When Wanderer is lost in the desert searching for Jared and Jamie, Melanie tells her, “You’ve finally found the place and the body you’d die for. I think you’ve found your home, Wanderer” (page 113). What is the significance of “home” in The Host? Why has Wanderer chosen to move from world to world for so many millennia? Can earth ever really be home for a soul?

8. When Wanderer first arrives in the caves, she reflects, “This place was truly the highest and the lowest of all worlds --- the most beautiful senses, the most exquisite emotions…the most malevolent desires, the darkest deeds” (page 141). Are these extremes inevitable? Are our darker inclinations essential to the richness of human experience? Do you agree with the premise that more purely “good” beings like the souls can’t experience life as fully as humans can?

9. The humans in the caves are divided about how to view and treat Wanderer. Do you think it is more reasonable to extend kindness to Wanderer or to ostracize her as a potential threat to the group? If you lived in the caves, how would you greet her arrival?

10. Of everybody in the caves, Jared reacts to Wanderer in a manner that is perhaps the most complex. Does the way he treats her surprise you? What do you imagine is going through his head in the first days after Wanderer’s arrival? What instigates the change in his attitude toward her?

11. When Wanderer /Melanie first arrive at the caves, Melanie is eager for them to explain their situation, but Wanderer insists on staying mute, even if it means being subject to imprisonment and abuse. Why does Wanderer make this choice? Do you think it is a wise one? How might things have played out differently if they had done it Melanie’s way?

12. While Wanderer describes many of the worlds where she has lived in great detail, we learn very little about her birth world, The Origin. How do you imagine The Origin? What would a world populated only by souls be like?

13. Near the novel’s end, Wanda makes a deal with Doc. Do you think she makes the right decision about Melanie’s fate and her own? Were you satisfied with the humans’ response to her decision?

14. Jamie tells Wanderer he chose Pet because “I was looking for someone who looked like you. And I thought this looked like you” (page 605). Do you agree with Jamie? Do you think Pet’s body matches Wanderer’s nature?

15. Imagine a prequel to The Host. Of the different worlds Wanderer lived on before arriving on Earth, which would you be most interested in imagining more fully? Similarly, each of the humans living in the caves during The Host has a back story. Which of these would you be most interested in learning more about?

You can read more about the book at The Host Website. You can also learn more about Stephanie, her books and movies at her website, StephanieMeyers.com. AND Courtesy of Hachette Book Group I have 3 paperback copies of The Host to GIVE AWAY! Here's how to enter...

To Enter this giveaway...

*For one entry leave me a comment with your email address!

*Get an extra entry for following my blog! Just leave a comment letting me know you're a follower! ( Not a follower yet? No problem, sign up by clicking on the 'followers" button on the sidebar to the left! Just let me know you became a new follower!)

*Blog or tweet about this giveaway and leave me the link.

This giveaway is open to US and Canadian residents only (No PO boxes). The books will be shipped to the winners directly from the publisher. Contest ends 11:59pm EST on May 19th. I will randomly pick the winners the next day and email them! (please check your email.. winner must reply to me within 3 days! Thanks!) Good Luck!

Memoir Monday... Orange Is The New Black by Piper Kerman

Graduated from Smith College... Found Herself in Exotic Places...

Landed in Federal Prison!?

Orange Is The New Black

A Memoir by Piper Kerman

From the Publisher... "When Piper Kerman was sent to prison for a ten-year-old crime, she barely resembled the reckless young woman she’d been when, shortly after graduating Smith College, she’d committed the misdeeds that would eventually catch up with her. Happily ensconced in a New York City apartment, with a promising career and an attentive boyfriend, she was suddenly forced to reckon with the consequences of her very brief, very careless dalliance in the world of drug trafficking.

Kerman spent thirteen months in prison, eleven of them at the infamous federal correctional facility in Danbury, Connecticut, where she met a surprising and varied community of women living under exceptional circumstances. In Orange Is the New Black, Kerman tells the story of those long months locked up in a place with its own codes of behavior and arbitrary hierarchies, where a practical joke is as common as an unprovoked fight, and where the uneasy relationship between prisoner and jailer is constantly and unpredictably recalibrated.

Revealing, moving, and enraging, Orange Is the New Black offers a unique perspective on the criminal justice system, the reasons we send so many people to prison, and what happens to them when they’re there."

How does an intelligent young lady who graduated from Smith College end up in a federal prison in Danbury, Connecticut? By laundering money for an African drug lord of course. What?! Yes, Piper Kerman reveals her brief life of crime at the beginning of the book, and how she came to her senses before she thought it was too late, started a "new" life, (or got back her old one), but found out how certain things have a funny way of catching up to you...

Lot's of buzz about Orange Is The New Black by Piper Kerman, which was published by Random House earlier this month, and which is on my coffee table right now with a bookmark solidly placed 1/3 of the way through. Her story is fascinating, the writing is good (I had to pull myself away for coffee this morning) and I will have my full review later in the week! For now, you can read an excerpt of the book that is being called "A compelling, often hilarious, and unfailingly compassionate portrait of life inside a women’s prison" at Marie Claire Magazine. And that connection I mentioned in my Sunday Salon post? Well, I happen to have grown up in the town where Piper Kerman was "sent away" to...

Happy Reading! Suzanne...

The Cradle by Patrick Somerville... A Review & Giveaway!

"There are two kinds of people in the world," Marissa said.

"There are people who understand that everything matters and people who don't understand that everything matters."

Congratulations to Linda, Darcy & Ashley who each won a copy of The Cradle! Thanks to EVERYONE who joined the fun, blogged and tweeted!

The Cradle by Patrick Somerville opens with a very pregnant Marissa describing "the cradle" that she was rocked in as a child, that was supposedly from the Civil War, and went missing after her mother abandoned the family when Marissa was 15, and a mysterious break-in occurred shortly there after. Marissa asks her husband Matt to find it. She wants the cradle for her baby, just as she had it as a baby. It is important to her... he wouldn't understand because he was an orphan... What this means is finding Marissa's mother, even though Marissa has no idea where she is... Matt is a hero to her, he's pretty good at finding keys, why should a cradle be so different?

The next chapter fast forwards 10 years to another family, Rene Owen and her husband Bill, dealing with their 19 year old son going off to war. Rene is desperate not to have her son go off to war. The reason is a deep down pain, a lost love in another war many years before, and a secret that she's kept hidden just as long.

How Patrick Somerville weaves these two stories together is what is magical. When I started reading The Cradle, I thought I was in for a light read. What I got was a deceptively complicated story, that surprised and delighted me. When Matt makes the simple gesture of humoring his wife and trying to find the cradle, little does he know that he's going on quite an adventure that will take him all the way to Antarctica! As he follows the trail of the cradle, he stumbles upon long kept secrets of Marissa's family, which stir his own childhood memories and dormant feelings. Rene Owen's story alternates with Matt and his search for "the cradle", and in doing so the anticipation of each story grows. Hints of a connection are sprinkled in both story lines and there are no earth shattering revelations, but that is what makes the story special- the seamless connection you find at the end. Along the way, the author challenges the reader to think about what being a family means, what being a parent means, and what value a human life holds. The characters are believable, the writing is good, and the story innocently captures your attention. Thought-provoking and at times heartbreaking, The Cradle by Patrick Somerville is a very satisfying read in a mere 200 pages. The search may have started out for the cradle, but everyone finds something different at the end of the story. One thing we all find at the end is hope...

The Cradle would make a great reading group pick. There is definitely great material for a discussion! Here's the Reading Group Guide for The Cradle. You can learn more about Patrick Somerville by visiting his website, and Patrick also has a wonderful essay about how the story for The Cradle came about at Hachette Book Group. I want to also thank Valerie of Hachette Book Group for sending me a copy of The Cradle for review!

Courtesy of Hachette Book Group I also have 3 copies of The Cradle by Patrick Somerville to give away! Here's how to enter...

To Enter this giveaway...

*For one entry leave me a comment with your email address!

*Get an extra entry for following my blog! Just leave a comment letting me know you're a follower! ( Not a follower yet? No problem, sign up by clicking on the 'followers" button on the sidebar to the right! Just let me know you became a new follower!)

*Blog or tweet about this giveaway and leave me the link.

This giveaway is open to US and Canadian residents only (No PO boxes). The books will be shipped to the winners directly from the publisher. Contest ends 11:59pm EST on May 8th. I will randomly pick the winners the next day and email them! (please check your email.. winner must reply to me within 3 days! Thanks!) Good Luck!

*P.S. This Book is Kindle Ready!

I Thought You Were Dead by Pete Nelson

They say Man's Best Friend is a Dog...

They Must Have Been Talking About Stella!

Last night I went to an author event at my local Indie Bookstore, Books on the Common,to listen to Pete Nelson talk about his new book, I Thought You Were Dead. Funny, engaging and a real down-to-earth guy, Pete talked about the love for his dog Alice (who was the inspiration for Stella in his book), Seedy bars (research material), and how it took 15 years & 1200 pages to tell the story of Paul, a guy whose life seems to be one disaster after another, and his faithful companion Stella, who gives him unbiased advise on practically everything. Oh, and BTW, Stella is half German Shepherd and half Yellow Lab, but that never stops her from sharing her opinions. Of course over time Pete edited the book down to 261 pages, and this week it was finally published! And Independent Booksellers (Indies) have chosen I Thought You Were Dead as an Indie Next List pick for April! I've started to read this and have found myself laughing out loud at some of Stella's great observations. I'll be reading this book over the weekend, but thought I would share this with you before my "official" review. I just love the idea of Stella sharing her wisdom with Paul and with us readers! But there's more to I Thought You Were Dead than a dog who's a great conversationalist... Here's what the publishers have to say about I Thought You Were Dead...

Back of the Book... For Paul Gustavson, a hack writer for the wildly popular For Morons series, life is a succession of obstacles. His wife has left him, his father has suffered a debilitating stroke, his girlfriend is dating another man, he has impotency issues, and his overachieving brother invested his parents' money in stocks that tanked. Still, Paul has his friends at Bay State bar, a steady line of cocktails, and a new pair of running shoes (he’s promised himself to get in shape). And then there’s Stella, the one constant in his life, who gives him sage advice, doesn’t judge him, and gives him unconditional love. However, Stella won't accompany Paul into his favorite dive bar. In I Thought You Were Dead, author Pete Nelson delivers a novel that is all at once heartwarming, heartbreaking, and heart-wrenchingly funny. Most of all, it's a story that proves that when a good dog is by your side—especially one with whom you can have an engaging conversation—life can be full of surprises.

The "Full" Review coming soon... Happy Reading! Suzanne...