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The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

8 (57.1%)

Lock And Key by Sarah Dessen

2 (14.3%)

The Terminal Man by Michael Crichton

1 (7.1%)

The Host by Stephenie Meyer

3 (21.4%)

Total Members Voted: 13

[honey]

Ok, I have a few choices. I tried to go with one's I'm interested in, and tried to give a different variety.... So I'm listing four books and their summaries. We'll just go with the majority!


I was excited to see some of you mention "The Lovely Bones" because that was one I was actually going to suggest. So My first choice is 

"The Lovely Bones" by Alice Sebold.

It is the story of a teenage girl who, after being brutally raped and murdered, watches from heaven as her family and friends go on with their lives, while she herself comes to terms with her own death. The novel received a great deal of critical praise and became an instant bestseller.
*A film adaptation of the novel is currently in production and is being directed by Peter Jackson, who personally purchased the rights.



Ok, book number two, is

"Lock and Key" by Sarah Dessen
Ruby Cooper has had to fend for herself for a long time.  Even when her mother was around, Ruby took care of most everything -- including, oftentimes, her mother's job.  When her mom takes off for good, Ruby decides to stick it out rather than contact social services -- after all, she's almost eighteen.  In a few months she'll be on her own anyway.

But she gets caught.  And social services places Ruby with her older sister, Cora, who Ruby hasn't seen since she was ten years old, since Cora left for college and never looked back.

What's really different about this one is that Ruby's struggles are mostly internal.  Yes, she's worried about her mother, and yes, her relationship with her sister has a long way to go.  But she doesn't voice those worries very often, even to herself.

She's also now in a new school, one that's much more challenging and one that's largely populated with very wealthy teens.  But Sarah Dessen didn't go the obvious route and make the Ruby's classmates obnoxious and snobby.  Just the opposite -- they're nice.  Friendly, thoughtful and decent.  So really, it isn't much of an external challenge, except for the more difficult work load.

Ruby's real challenge is to let herself let go.  To allow herself to depend on someone.  To allow other people to care about her, and in turn, to allow herself to care about other people.

Sorry about the long summary on this one, but it's all I could find to copy and paste. lol. I actually just finished this one and really enjoyed it, so I figured what the hey?

Choice 3, I'm going to go with

The Terminal Man by Michael Crichton
Harry Benson suffers from violent seizures. When he becomes part of an experimental program that sends electrodes to his brain to calm him, he is in recovery. Until he discovers how to get those soothing pulses more frequently, and then escapes the hopsital--on a murderous rampage with a deadly agenda....

I'm a big MC fan, and this one I haven't read, but it came recommended to me by a friend as being one of his better books. I plan on reading no matter what gets chosen...


Ok, and Last but not Least, I'm picking

The Host by Stephenie Meyer
Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away.
Our world has been invaded by an unseen enemy. Humans become hosts for these invaders, their minds taken over while their bodies remain intact and continue their lives apparently unchanged. Most of humanity has succumbed.

When Melanie, one of the few remaining "wild" humans is captured, she is certain it is her end. Wanderer, the invading "soul" who has been given Melanie's body, was warned about the challenges of living inside a human: the overwhelming emotions, the glut of senses, the too vivid memories. But there was one difficulty Wanderer didn't expect: the former tenant of her body refusing to relinquish possession of her mind.

Wanderer probes Melanie's thoughts, hoping to discover the whereabouts of the remaining human resistance. Instead, Melanie fills Wanderer's mind with visions of the man Melanie loves—Jared, a human who still lives in hiding. Unable to separate herself from her body's desires, Wanderer begins to yearn for a man she has been tasked with exposing. When outside forces make Wanderer and Melanie unwilling allies, they set off on a dangerous and uncertain search for the man they both love.


Ok, I know everyone here has recently read the Twilight series or is still trying to get through it, but I'm adding this as an option anyway because I loved this book much more than Twilight and it is seriously like my favorite book now.



So those are my four picks. Think about it and cast your vote. Majority rules. Yay!

[RokofAges75]

Aw, I wish we could pick two!  "The Lovely Bones" is one I've always heard recommended, but never read.  And I wanna read "The Host" too.  So my vote goes to either of those.

[mare]

I loved the Lovely Bones. I thought it was a great story,the only thing is I have read it. I think i'd like to try something I haven't read yet but I still might vote for Lovely Bones because I think we could have a great discussion about it.

The Sarah Dessen book sounds good but is it a young adult book because after Twilight I have had my fill of those lol It sounds like it might be.

out of all the MC books Terminal man was my least favorite. I love his books as a general rule though.

The Pact...not sure if I could read another Stephanie Myers book but i'm going with the fact that you said i'd like it more than Twilight and I trust your judgement.

All good and seemingly different choices. I might have to think a little more before I vote.

[honey]

lol um, yeah Sarah Dessen in a young adult author, but she's definitely on the more mature end of the YA genre. It's a coming of age, dealing with family drama type story. There is a romance subplot, but it's really kind of minor. This book is nothing like Twilight.

I don't know if that helps any, but um yeah it is young adult.

[honey]

that's interesting that that's your least favorite MC book. Like I said I haven't read it. I picked it off a recommendation . My least favorite MC book was probably State Of Fear. That's the global warming one, right? I really disliked that one.

[mare]

I think State of Fear was about a bomb threat? I don't remember lol. I still think his best one was Jurassic Park. Long before that movie came out I thought "Wow this would be a great movie!"

[honey]

lol maybe State Of Fear was the bomb threat one. Which ever one was the global warming one is the one I hated. I can't remember what the actual plot was, it could be the bomb threat one.

I think my favorite was Sphere and the movie didn't really do it justice.

and lol about the Host. Yeah, I think you might like it better than Twilight, but that's not me saying that I think you'd love it. lol I feel the need for some sort of Mare disclaimer.

[mare]

LOL aww It's funny because when I went to Barnes and Noble I was trying to remember the name of her book and for some reason I kept thinking it was The Pact and I was getting annoyed that I couldn't find it. Ironically enough I bought The Pact by Jodi Picoult instead.

I voted for The Lovely Bones.

I don't think I read a global warming book by MC but if I did I probably didn't like it since I don't remember it lol

You're right, the movie The Sphere didn't do justice to the book. They never seem to.

[honey]

yeah I voted for that one too because I haven't read it yet, but I'd love to pick the Host as well cause I'd love to hear what people have to say about it.

[DaniGiggles]

The Lovely Bones was a fantastic book, but I voted for The Host because I'm already in the midst of reading it lol - bah, I'm bad! But I'm up for reading anything.

[MellzBellz]

I loved The Lovely Bones, but since I have already read it and I'm too lazy to tear apart my room looking for my copy to reread I think I'm going to vote for the Sarah Dessen novel. I've read a few of her books and enjoyed them especially I think "Someone Like You." It's the one that they half based that awful Mandy Moore movie How to Deal on where the girl's best friend gets pregnant and the father of the child passes away right before she finds out she's pregnant. Anyway kind of ironic cuz I was in Borders the other day and had Lock and Key in my hand looking at it.

[honey]

aww yeah, I've read This Lullaby and Keeping The Moon by her and liked both, but I liked Lock and Key the best so far. She is a lovely writer though, so I'm sure I will eventually get through her whole collection.

[cabybakes]

I also adored The Lovely Bones...and would read it again, and I agree...great conversation to be had. 

I think the Sarah Dessen book sounds good as well )

[Frick24x]

I voted for the Lovely Bones. I read it already, but I've been meaning to read it again. I want to read the Sarah Dessen would, too.

Though, they all sound good, so it doesn't matter to me.

[honey]

Ok, why don't we let the voting stay open until the 25th (that's this Saturday, 1 more week)   just in case there's anyone interested in reading that hasn't voted yet. Then On the 25th that will give us one week to find the book and the reading and discussion will officially start November 1st.

Then maybe whoever has the next month can give us a few choices mid month, and do the same thing so that we can be ready for December.

Does that work for everyone?

Or do you think we'll need more than a month for each book or shouldn't worry necessarily about an actual monthly schedule?