The Twilight Saga is wrapping up, but the adaptation of Stephanie Meyer’s bestselling novel THE HOST is heating up. Deadline reports that Andrew Niccol (Gattaca, Lord of War) has signed on to direct his own adaptation of the sci-fi romance. He had been attached to the film earlier but left due to scheduling issues. Since production on The Host was delayed, Niccol is once again available.

The first part of a trilogy, though no other books have been released, 2008′s The Host focuses on Melanie Ryder, a young woman who happens to be one of the final humans on Earth fighting an alien parasitic species called Souls. Melanie is captured and implanted with a legendary Soul named Wanderer (Wanda), who tries to force Melanie to lead her to any remaining humans. Instead, Wanderer is faced with a consciousness as strong as her own and she and Melanie engage not only in a battle for control of Melanie’s mind, but also in a love triangle with Melanie’s boyfriend. Saoirse Ronan will play both the possessed Melanie and the parasite Wanderer.

Niccol is no stranger to si-fi. He wrote and directed 1997′s Gattaca and is in post-production on the dystopian In Time, about a world where the aging gene has been switched off and immortality is achievable but costly.

Do you think The Host will help fill the void left when The Twilight Saga is done?

The Twilight movie franchise will begin to wrap up with Breaking Dawn Part I in November, but Stephenie Meyer fans have another movie to look forward to—The Host. According to Deadline, Saoirse Ronan has been cast in the lead role in the movie based on Meyer’s bestselling novel.

The Host is a sci-fi romance about parasitic aliens who take over the earth. Ronan will play Melanie Stryder, a 20-year-old woman who is possessed by the alien called Wanderer (Wanda). Melanie fights Wanda’s attempt to control her mind, which I imagine will be more difficult to fully represent on-screen than in print.

Hopefully Saoirse Ronan is up to the task of playing a body possessed by two souls. The 17-year-old actress has an impressive resume that includes The Lovely Bones and Hanna. She was also nominated for an Academy Award for her role in Atonement.

The Host, first released in 2008, was meant to be the first book in a trilogy, but fans are still waiting for Meyer to write the next book (supposedly called The Soul). Meyer recently told USA Today, “”I have the outline written and the first two chapters. I need to get on it.” Perhaps she will time the release of the next book with the release of The Host movie.

What do you think of Saoirse Ronan as Melanie? I pictured Melanie a little older, but other than that I think she’s perfect. Now we have to wait and see who they cast as Jared and Ian. Do you have any actors in mind for Jared and Ian?

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Take a look at some upcoming book releases I think you’ll be interested in:

The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott by Kelly O’Connor McNees

Available April 1, 2010 (Order on Amazon)

From the publisher:
In the bestselling tradition of Loving Frank and March comes a novel for anyone who loves Little Women.

Millions of readers have fallen in love with Little Women. But how could Louisa May Alcott-who never had a romance-write so convincingly of love and heart-break without experiencing it herself?

Deftly mixing fact and fiction, Kelly O’Connor McNees imagines a love affair that would threaten Louisa’s writing career-and inspire the story of Jo and Laurie in Little Women. Stuck in small-town New Hampshire in 1855, Louisa finds herself torn between a love that takes her by surprise and her dream of independence as a writer in Boston. The choice she must make comes with a steep price that she will pay for the rest of her life.

Changes (Dresden Files) by Jim Butcher

Available April 6, 2010 (Order on Amazon)

From the publisher:

The new novel in the #1 New York Times bestselling Dresden Files series.

Long ago, Susan Rodriguez was Harry Dresden’s lover-until she was attacked by his enemies, leaving her torn between her own humanity and the bloodlust of the vampiric Red Court. Susan then disappeared to South America, where she could fight both her savage gift and those who cursed her with it.

Now Arianna Ortega, Duchess of the Red Court, has discovered a secret Susan has long kept, and she plans to use it-against Harry. To prevail this time, he may have no choice but to embrace the raging fury of his own untapped dark power. Because Harry’s not fighting to save the world…

He’s fighting to save his child.

Claude and Camille by Stephanie Cowell

Available April 6, 2010 (Order on Amazon)

From the publisher:

In the mid-nineteenth century, a young man named Claude Monet decided that he would rather endure a difficult life painting landscapes than take over his father’s nautical supplies business in a French seaside town. Against his father’s will, and with nothing but a dream and an insatiable urge to create a new style of art that repudiated the Classical Realism of the time, he set off for Paris.

But once there he is confronted with obstacles: an art world that refused to validate his style, extreme poverty, and a war that led him away from his home and friends. But there were bright spots as well: his deep, enduring friendships with men named Renoir, Cézanne, Pissarro, Manet – a group that together would come to be known as the Impressionists, and that supported each other through the difficult years. But even more illuminating was his lifelong love, Camille Doncieux, a beautiful, upper-class Parisian girl who threw away her privileged life to be by the side of the defiant painter and embrace the lively Bohemian life of their time.

His muse, his best friend, his passionate lover, and the mother to his two children, Camille stayed with Monet-and believed in his work-even as they lived in wretched rooms, were sometimes kicked out of those, and often suffered the indignities of destitution. She comforted him during his frequent emotional torments, even when he would leave her for long periods to go off on his own to paint in the countryside.

But Camille had her own demons – secrets that Monet could never penetrate, including one that when eventually revealed would pain him so deeply that he would never fully recover from its impact. For though Camille never once stopped loving the painter with her entire being, she was not immune to the loneliness that often came with being his partner.

A vividly-rendered portrait of both the rise of Impressionism and of the artist at the center of the movement, Claude and Camille is above all a love story of the highest romantic order.

The Host by Stephenie Meyer (Paperback)

Available April 13, 2010 (Order on Amazon)

The Host is finally being released in paperback and according to Stephenie Meyer’s website, it will contain some new material:

I have just heard from the publishing company that the paperback release will have a Reading Group Guide that includes the following:

New, never-before-published “bonus chapter”
An interview with Stephenie
Discussion topics and questions
Stephenie’s annotated playlist

The Bedwetter: Stories of Courage, Redemption and Pee by Sarah Silverman

Available April 20, 2010 (Order on Amazon)

From the publisher:

Warning from publisher to reader:

At HarperCollins, we are committed to customer satisfaction. Before proceeding with your purchase, please take the following questionnaire to determine your likelihood of enjoying this book:

1. Which of the following do you appreciate?
(a) Women with somewhat horse-ish facial features.
(b) Women who, while not super Jew-y, are more identifiably Jewish than, say, Natalie Portman.
(c) Frequent discussion of unwanted body hair.

2. Are you offended by the following behavior?
(a) Instructing one’s grandmother to place baked goods in her rectal cavity.
(b) Stripping naked in public-eleven times in a row.
(c) Stabbing one’s boss in the head with a writing implement.

3. The best way to treat an emotionally fragile young girl is:
(a) Murder the main course of her Thanksgiving dinner before her very eyes.
(b) Tell her that her older sister is prettier than she, and then immediately die.
(c) Prevent her suicide by recommending she stay away from open windows.

If you read the above questions without getting nauseous or forming a hate Web site, you are ready to buy this book! Please proceed to the cashier.

Deliver Us From Evil by David Baldacci

Available April 20, 2010 (Order on Amazon)

From the publisher:

David Baldacci-the #1 bestselling author of The Whole Truth and First Family-returns with his most surprising, heart-stopping, and timely thriller to date . . .

DELIVER US FROM EVIL

Evan Waller is a monster. He has built a fortune from his willingness to buy and sell anything . . . and anyone. In search of new opportunities, Waller has just begun a new business venture: one that could lead to millions of deaths all over the globe.

On Waller’s trail is Shaw, the mysterious operative from The Whole Truth, who must prevent Waller from closing his latest deal. Shaw’s one chance to bring him down will come in the most unlikely of places: a serene, bucolic village in Provence.

But Waller’s depravity and ruthlessness go deeper than Shaw knows. And now, there is someone else pursuing Waller in Provence-Reggie Campion, an agent for a secret vigilante group headquartered in a musty old English estate-and she has an agenda of her own.

Hunting the same man and unaware of each other’s mission, Shaw and Reggie will be caught in a deadly duel of nerve and wits. Hitchcockian in its intimate buildup of suspense and filled with the remarkable characters, breathtaking plot turns, and blockbuster finale that are David Baldacci’s hallmarks, DELIVER US FROM EVIL will be one of the most gripping thrillers of the year.

The 9th Judgment (Women’s Murder Club) by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro

Available April 26, 2010 (Order on Amazon)

From the publisher:

The most personal

A young mother and her infant child are ruthlessly gunned down while returning to their car in the garage of a shopping mall. There are no witnesses, and Detective Lindsay Boxer is left with only one shred of evidence: a cryptic message scrawled across the windshield in bloodred lipstick.

The most dangerous

The same night, the wife of A-list actor Marcus Dowling is woken by a cat burglar who is about to steal millions of dollars’ worth of precious jewels. In just seconds there is a nearly empty safe, a lifeless body, and another mystery that throws San Francisco into hysteria.

The most exciting Women’s Murder Club novel ever

Lindsay spends every waking hour working with her partner, Rich–and her desire for him threatens to tear apart both her engagement and the Women’s Murder Club. Before Lindsay and her friends can piece together either case, one of the killers forces Lindsay to put her own life on the line–but is it enough to save the city? With unparalleled danger and explosive action, The 9th Judgment is James Patterson at his compelling, unstoppable best!

Lover Mine: A Novel of the Black Dagger Brotherhood by J. R. Ward

Available April 27, 2010 (Order on Amazon)

From the publisher:

The hot new novel in the Black Dagger Brotherhood by the #1 New York Times bestselling author

John Matthew has come a long way since he was found living among humans, his vampire nature unknown. Taken in by The Brotherhood, no one could guess what his true history was-or his true identity.

Xhex has long steeled herself against the attraction to John Matthew. Until fate intervenes and she discovers that love, like destiny, is inevitable.

Savor the Moment (Bride Quartet) by Nora Roberts

Available April 27, 2010 (Order on Amazon)

From the publisher:
New Love takes the cake in the third novel in Nora Roberts’s new Bride Quartet-in a stunning French flap edition

Wedding baker Laurel McBane is surrounded by romance working at Vows wedding planning company with her best friends Parker, Emma, and Mac. But she’s too low-key to appreciate all the luxuries that their clients seem to long for. What she does appreciate is a strong, intelligent man, a man just like Parker’s older brother Delaney, on whom she’s had a mega-crush since childhood.

But some infatuations last longer than others, and Laurel is convinced that the Ivy League lawyer is still out of her reach. Plus, Del is too protective of Laurel to ever cross the line with her-or so she thinks. When Laurel’s quicksilver moods get the better of her-leading to an angry, hot, all-together mind-blowing kiss with Del-she’ll have to quiet the doubts in her mind to turn a moment of passion into forever…

The Carrie Diaries by Candace Bushnell

Available April 27, 2010 (Order on Amazon)

From the publisher:

The Carrie Diaries is the coming-of-age story of one of the most iconic characters of our generation.

Before Sex and the City, Carrie Bradshaw was a small-town girl who knew she wanted more. She’s ready for real life to start, but first she must navigate her senior year of high school. Up until now, Carrie and her friends have been inseparable. Then Sebastian Kydd comes into the picture, and a friend’s betrayal makes her question everything.

With an unforgettable cast of characters, The Carrie Diaries is the story of how a regular girl learns to think for herself and evolves into a sharp, insightful writer. Readers will learn about her family background, how she found her writing voice, and the indelible impression her early friendships and relationships left on her. Through adventures both audacious and poignant, we’ll see what brings Carrie to her beloved New York City, where her new life begins.

Like most people, I became a fan of author Stephenie Meyer from her famous vampire trilogy. I think a lot of people were curios and maybe a little skeptical when she announced she had another book out so soon after the success of Twilight. My friend Sandie and I attended a book signing for The Host, curious to see if Meyer was merely just a one series wonder. I have to say that I was happily surprised to find she has more than one trick up her sleeve. The Host is a romantic science fiction story that takes place on Earth after it has been almost entirely taken over by aliens. The aliens are basically parasites that use human “host” bodies to function. Although the aliens are responsible citizens and lead pretty normal, eco-friendly, non violent lives; they are ultimately guests that have over stayed their welcome.

The good news is, there are people like Melanie Stryder and her younger brother Jamie who have escaped capture and now live a life on the run. The story beings when Melanie is taken and given “Wanderer”, the alien soul that now lives inside her. Melanie is strong for a human and Wanderer soon realizes she is not in complete control of Melanie. After time, Wanderer actually begins to sympathize with Melanie and she plans to escape to join the rest of the human resistance. There’s just one small problem, you can tell when somebody has turned alien. So when Melanie/Wanderer does arrive at the human resistance hideout, she’s not trusted (to put it mildly). The Host is a great story about love, trust, and right and wrong. As the reader, you are often unsure whose side you’re on and who you want to see succeed. This book is a little more adult than the Twilight series and if you are looking for purely romantic book you won’t find it here. I really enjoyed this read, and I hope Meyers continues this story in the future.

Buy The Host by Stephenie Meyer on Amazon by clicking here.