I finally got around to reading this one and I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised. Most of you know that Twilight was not my favorite series. I found myself frustrated while reading it and wanting to just be done with. As a result I haven’t touched a vampire book since. Until now. I figured that I had already invested so much time and energy in to reading the series so I might as well see what this one was about. I figured it was a much smaller book so it wouldn’t be that much of an investment.

I actually got to the end of this one and wished that I could read more! The character of Bree Tanner was intriguing. She was everything that Bella Swan is not. Interesting, strong, intelligent and self sufficient. I honestly didn’t even remember her character from the original series but I won’t forget her now. I loved seeing the other side of the coin. It was nice to see a character that used her intelligence and wit to get her what she wanted.

I wonder what it says to young girls that this intelligent, strong, witty girl ends up dead while Bella Swan lives (so to speak) on with her whining and damsel in distress life? I would so much have rather ed Bree survive and see what she could have accomplished. What if Carlisle could have taught her how to withstand the temptation? What if she only hunted animals instead of people? I wish I could have more of this fascinating character.

It got me wondering if there weren’t other characters that could be taken further. What  characters would you like to see Meyer expand upon?

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I decided last week to go ahead and join Bookswim. I had heard so many great things about it and I needed new books to read but hated the thought of paying a fortune to get them. So, I went for it.

The sign up process was very simple and easy. I went through Sunshine Rewards and got 25% off of my first month. I figured that I would at least try it for the first month. I chose the option to have three books at a time. I can’t read more than that anyway so it seemed like a good deal. I can read as many as I want, 3 at a time, for less than the cost of one hardcover book a month.

I had a tough time at first choosing which books I wanted because I hadn’t read a lot of books this summer. In the end I chose an Ann Rice book and two James Patterson books. A couple of days later I spent more time browsing and now I have 15 books in my pool waiting to read. I probably would have rather read some of the ones in my pool before the ones I ordered first but I am okay with my choices.

It only took a few days to get my books and it was over the weekend so I would think they would arrive quicker if it were done over the weekdays. The books are in very good shape and marked clearly as Bookswim books so I won’t wonder if it is mine or not.

They send you a nice big plastic envelope and shipping label to return the books in. The shipping back is free so you just drop the books (2 at a time) in the bag and then put the label on it and drop in the mailbox. I like fast and easy and I pass a mailbox every week when I am at the bank so I won’t forget to return the books.

Book lovers will find this to be an amazing deal, especially if you are a fast reader because you could easily read a lot of books for your monthly charge. It all hinges on how fast you read them and return them so they can send you the next ones on your list. Definitely a must try for you guys who love to read!!

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What are you guys reading? I have finally gotten back in to the swing of reading I just ordered several books for the stack. I am really looking forward to some of these books and I think we can have a great discussion about them. Here is what is on my stack and we will be discussing in the next few weeks. If you have read them keep an eye out for the discussions and join in. If you haven’t read them go get them right now so you don’t get left out of the fun!

I have been hearing a lot of amazing things about both the Steig Larsson book and the Anne Rice book so I am very excited to begin those two. I think we will be able to have some amazing discussions on these two books. The other two are James Patterson books I have been wanting to read and I am hoping that they don’t follow the same path as the last Alex Cross books I read. I want James Patterson to impress me with one of these books. Start reading and get your list of questions together and I will see you in the Booknook in the next few weeks!! Enjoy!

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I just finished watching the rebroadcast of the Jimmy Kimmel Live Twilight Show and I had to come right over to discuss it with you guys. First I have to say that I love the sense of humor that all the cast members have. They really made the show enjoyable. I also have to say that I love the addition of all of these new cast members. They are interesting and beautiful and make the movie seem like it has so many more dimensions than just Bella, Edward and Jacob. The bad part? I can’t really stand the attitude of Kristen Stewart. She looks uninvolved and bored the whole show and when asked a question she is sarcastic and sort of demeaning to the fans. She almost seems like she feels too good for the rest of this world. Understand that my watching this comes from a place of not liking Bella in the books and not liking the choice of Kristen Stewart to play the part of Bella. I have said from the beginning I don’t like the way Stephanie Meyer portrays Bella in the books as a desperate damsel in distress. Add to that the fact that Kristen Stewart is no where near the picture of Bella I had in my mind and she just doesn’t fit the storyline to me. I think it just tops my annoyance to see her in interviews and shows and realize she never really answers a question. I know that it is rare for celebrities to want to keep their private lives secret. I also know that it is totally her right to not answer personal questions but she avoids even the most innocent of questions. She answers with sarcasm and a little bit of distaste. She was asked a very innocent question about whether there were any scenes from the book she wished had made the movie that hadn’t and she jokingly replied that she wished she had gotten to cook for Charlie the whole movie. With all of the amazing scenes from the book she could have taken the opportunity to make people even more interested in the books and movies and instead made herself look like an inane idiot. I really like Peter Francinelli. Perhaps it is his maturity that I enjoy but he is witty and interesting and seems to enjoy and appreciate his fans. He is a real star. I also have to say I am impressed with the maturity of Dakota Fanning. You would never guess she was so young. She certainly has a much better presence than Kristen does. So there is my opinion of the show. What did you guys like or dislike about the show? Where there any questions you wished you could ask them?

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Hello Twilight fans!!! I know that most of you are wondering what book I could possibly be talking about. Well it seems that Stephanie Meyer has decided to fill her fan’s thirst for more Twilight without actually doing a sequel to the series. In an act of genius she is instead going to release a book that expands on one of the lesser known characters. Forget Bella Swan now there is Bree Tanner. She is a character from the book Eclipse but now she is going to have her own book. The book is called The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner: An Eclipse Novella and it can be pre-ordered at Barnes & Noble now for delivery June 5th. For Twilight fans this will be a way to get a little taste of Twilight but it could be a little bit of a let down since it is really not the same storyline. It will be the opposing view of what happened when Bree and her army try to hunt down Bella and the Cullens. It will be interesting to see if her fans will look at this as a cheap imitation or if they will love it and take whatever Twilight reading they can get. Let me know if you read it. I imagine I will get around to it but I have to say that Twilight isn’t my favorite so it will have to wait for me to finish some other books first. Enjoy!

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I know you guys have been waiting a long time for us to discuss this set of books. I haven’t forgotten about my promise to discuss them but I have to say this one was even tougher than the Twilight Series. I have researched and read the books. I have researched Dan Brown. I just can’t find an interesting angle on this set of books. It isn’t that I don’t find the subject matter interesting. I am a lover of mysteries and thrillers so technically I should love this set of books. I also have to say that I have seen the Tom Hanks movies on the first two books and enjoyed both of them very much. I read all the way through The Da Vinci Code and found myself enthralled by the end of the book. I had already seen the movie Angels and Demons before reading the book and so I couldn’t bear to finish the book because it was so close to the movie that it just seemed redundant. I liked the movie very much though. I have been trying to read The Lost Symbol for a while now and can’t seem to get past the first third of the book. I think part of the problem is that this book seems much more technical and scientific than the other two. I find my mind wondering when he first starts discussing what Catherine does in the secret pod she uses as an office. That said I would like to discuss some of the points I do find interesting in the series.

I think as a whole it is interesting to consider that the premise of these books could be true. I for one had read several books and done some research about Jesus as an adult before reading The Da Vinci Code. I found it hard not to consider the possibility that he would have had a wife and possibly a child. When you think about it he lived in a time when Jewish men were expected to be married and have children. It would have been a point of contention in his culture had he not been married or a father. In my mind it would not have lessened my belief in Him as the Christ of the Bible. However, I also considered and realized that he was born for a purpose. He may not have known that purpose as a child but I would think that by the time he was 33 he was well aware of what he was going to be doing. He would also realize that a wife and child or children would not only make his calling more difficult but it would also create a situation where he would have to leave this family. I don’t imagine that he would wish that on anyone. I think he knew what he was born for and what his Father had in store for him and he was tunnel visioned in his determination to complete his task. These are the reasons I can’t believe he was married and had children with Mary Magdalene.

I also find it interesting to consider the existence of anti-matter. I am not an avid scientist and quite frankly I am not that interested in how things work. I am however interested in how people work. I found the storyline of the Vatican covering up scientific strides to be one that is very believable. I loved the part of the book where the Carmelengo asks "But who is more ignorant? The man who cannot define lightning, or the man who does not respect its awesome power?" I loved the speech that Dan Brown wrote for the Carmelengo! I found so many parts of that speech that spoke to me. I love that he was able to blend the need for science and the church. I also loved the line "Show me proof there is a God, you say. I say use your telescopes to look to the heavens, and tell me how there could not be a God!" Amazing! This is the exact fight I have in my heart all the time. I think about the intellect of the existence of God and laugh at how silly it all sounds and then I see the intricacies of the human body and laugh that I could even question how it was made. I think that the issues that the Vatican faces in the modern world are because of their failure to embrace the fact that people long for information about God and in our modern world they will not just accept things as stated by the Vatican.

I guess in the end what I love about this series is that it makes people question what they believe, it makes them search for more information of proof one way or the other and it makes people realize that each person is responsible in the end for their own beliefs. We should never turn our faith over to any one church or church leader. These books help people to see that perhaps faith in a human, fallible leader to facilitate our relationship with God can only lead to hurt and let down. People are flawed and they often do things that are beyond the comprehension of others. These books show in interesting ways that point. I would still love to hear what you guys have to say about the books. I would love to know if you find them to be believable or simply works of fiction. What parts do you find most believable and what parts are just too outrageous to ever occur? Do you think that his books got progressively more interesting or do you think that he became too technical and scientific? Thanks for hanging on so long for this discussion. I really wanted to do more with these books but I just couldn’t get much out of them. I can’t wait to hear what you guys have to say! Enjoy!

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I have been dying to find a new series to do a book club discussion on like we did with Twilight. I have put off reading the Dan Brown books because I just wasn’t sure I would enjoy them. I have seen so much hype this week about the release of Lost Symbol that I figured now would be a good time to start reading these books. I know if I commit to doing a book club discussion with you guys about these books that I will indeed make sure to read the books and post. I ordered them today and hopefully will have them within a week. Then I will need a few days to get started with Angels & Demons. If you are interested in participating in the discussion make sure to get your copies and get started reading them. The three books we will read and discuss is Angels & Demons, The Da Vinci Code and  Lost Symbol. I will be posting some discussion questions each week and giving you guys a few days to answer them and comment on each other’s posts. Then I will post my opinion and answers to the questions. Let me know if there are any topics associated with this series that you want to be sure we discuss. I am going to plan on starting the discussion of Angels & Demons on November 1st. Can’t wait to see what we will uncover with this controversial and intriguing series.

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I was looking around tonight to see what kind of Twilight and New Moon merchandise they had out there lately and I was amazed to come across a Twilight Store at Barnes & Nobles. To me that says volumes about how popular this series is and the importance it holds in the retail numbers of book and merchandise sellers. I don’t think I have ever seen a major book retailer like Barnes & Nobles create a whole separate store (which is really just a subcategory of their main site) for a book or series before. Imagine the money that can be made off of people browsing the store. The best part is that they also posted a video section where they have interviews with Stephenie Meyer about Breaking Dawn, Eclipse and The Host and they also have a Stephenie Meyer Pop Quiz for fans to test their knowledge. What a great way to give their customers information and also put all of their Twilight Needs in one place. You can order the books in hard cover, soft cover and special editions. You can also order the Twilight DVD. I also some Twilight themed gifts like book marks and some chess piece book ends like the ones on the cover of Breaking Dawn. I also noticed that you can now get the paperback with the front covers changed to match the movie photos instead of the traditional covers. You can also get magazines that feature the movies, book or stars. Finally you can order the Twilight Soundtrack from Barnes & Nobles. They truly are becoming one stop shopping for Twilight fans and they are very reasonably priced. One of the really great things about them is that they offer free expedited shipping for orders over $25. You get your order in about 3 days and it is free! Amazing deal for people who love Twilight and everything to do with the popular series.

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I have been finding myself interested to see if New Moon was going to be coming out soon and found that they are set to release the sequel to Twilight on November 20, 2009. I have to admit I didn’t enjoy the first movie even though I enjoyed the book. My thoughts with this one is that I didn’t enjoy most of the book New Moon and so perhaps I will enjoy the movie. I think that New Moon contained so many feelings of hurt and pain and abandonment that didn’t come across well in the book but could be played out very well in the movie. I also felt that Jacob wasn’t prominent enough in Twilight and now with New Moon he is going to be a major player. We will get to see a LOT of Jacob in this one. Especially since he is now revealed to be a werewolf and spends half his time in ripped shorts and no shirt. I know he is just  a baby but hey it is all make believe. Here is a neat trailer video I found on Moviefone.com. I hope you enjoy it and maybe it will spur you to reread the book and perhaps we can have some discussion about this upcoming book made to movie. Just click the picture of Bella to see the trailer for New Moon.

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For all of my Twilight fans I wanted to let you guys know about a great deal I have found. You can pre-order the Twilight DVD set through Target.com and it will ship on March 21st. The best part about this Twilight Deal is that you also get a free download of the movie through Itunes to copy the movie to your Ipod. This means you can carry Twilight with you wherever you go! I haven’t see this good of a deal on the DVD set anywhere else yet. The price is even really great at just $17.99. Just go to Target.com and check it out in the electronics department but hurry because I don’t know how limited this edition of the movie is going to be with the Itunes download included! Enjoy!

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