14) The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks

I'm a huge Nicholas Sparks fan, and The Last Song did not disappoint.  I was, I will admit, hesitant when it came to starting this one, but once I finally opened it up I read it in a day.  I couldn't even get to sleep last night until I turned the final page.

Why was I hesitant?  Well.  I've been seeing the trailers for the film version, and unfortunately the image of Miley Cyrus as the main character, Ronnie, threw me off.  I'm just not a big fan of Miley.  Nicholas Sparks actually wrote the screenplay for the film before he wrote this novel, specifically for Miley Cyrus to be in the film.  It was just not doing it for me.

Once I got over that though, as I just said - I could. not. put. this. novel. down. 

Some people say that Nicholas Sparks is "predictable" -- but I bet those people don't actually read Nicholas Sparks.  Sure, he has a bit of a formula with his stories (yes, they will take place in North Carolina, and there will be some sort of love story), but I find that each of his novels has a uniqueness to it as well that makes me love them all for various reasons.  His characters are individuals, they aren't cookie-cutter characters.  You also never know if his story will have a "and they lived happily ever after" or end in utter tragedy.

I love his writing.

Read The Last Song, especially if you're already a Nicholas Sparks fan.  Don't let Miley deter you. ;-)

(Also, I will so see the movie, regardless of Miley.  I love Greg Kinnear and I do think the film version will be great).

14 down, 86 to go!

The Stephanie Plum Series by Janet Evanovich

I have finished up to Book Seven in the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich. I am LOVING this series, and cannot believe I hadn't heard of them until last winter. Janet has written FOURTEEN (* I apologize, last summer the FIFTEENTH book came out actually!) stories so far in the "numbers" series, and a few other Stephanie Plum books called "between the numbers" stories - so I still have a long way to go to catch up on everything she's written.

Stephanie Plum (who has a lovely first name, don't you think?) is a girl from New Jersey who loses her job and turns to her shady cousin Vinnie for help. In "One For the Money" (book one; the book titles have numbers in them which definitely helps you remember the order of the series!), Stephanie goes to Vinnie's office to ask about a filing job, but finds out the job has been filled. Instead she finds herself accepting a job as a Bounty Hunter to look for vice cop Joe Morelli, a guy she has a history with since childhood. The stories unfold from there, Stephanie ends up sticking to her job as a Bounty Hunter (or, Apprehension Agent for "FTA's" or "Failure to Appears"), but she's not particularly great at her job. She gets lucky a lot, and she has a whole slew of sidekicks from ho-turned-friend-and-coworker Lula, to her energetic and sassy Grandma Mazur. She has love affairs with hunky Joe Morelli, but also with Ranger -- the elusive, sexy, and actually-good-at-being-a-Bounty-Hunter Bounty Hunter who also works for Vinnie.

Each book finds Stephanie chasing after a new FTA, and she usually winds up in some pretty crazy situations. It has humour, a touch of romance, a touch of mystery and mostly it's just a good read.

I highly recommend checking out the Stephanie Plum series, I'm sure you'll enjoy them as much as I have been. I'm really looking forward to diving into Book Eight, which I just checked out of the library today!

January Reading Update

I need to post more here, so I'm just going to restructure my posts to less elaborate info about the books I've read... in order to entice me to keep posting.

Books Read In December/January:

By Nicholas Sparks
The Choice
The Lucky One

Both highly recommended (The Lucky One especially). More fantastic books by Mr. Sparks. LOVE HIM.

By Charlaine Harris
Dead Until Dark (book 1, Sookie Stackhouse series)
Living Dead In Dallas (book 2, Sookie Stackhouse series)
Club Dead (book 3, Sookie Stackhouse series)
Dead to the World (book 4, Sookie Stackhouse series)

I am absolutely in love with this book series, and am going through them like CANDY. Read them. READ THEM NOW. (Here's a link to the box set that I purchased on Amazon)

Currently Reading:
Dead as a Doornail (book 5, Sookie Stackhouse Series) by Charlaine Harris
Chasing Fireflies by Charles Martin

I just joined GoodReads.com and I am addicted to this website now. You can find a link on my sidebar for my profile!

Dear John

Author: Nicholas Sparks

Publication Year: 2006

Synopsis: (courtesy of Nicholas Sparks online)

An angry rebel, John dropped out of school and enlisted in the Army, not knowing what else to do with his life--until he meets the girl of his dreams, Savannah. Their mutual attraction quickly grows into the kind of love that leaves Savannah waiting for John to finish his tour of duty, and John wanting to settle down with the woman who has captured his heart. But 9/11 changes everything. John feels it is his duty to re-enlist. And sadly, the long separation finds Savannah falling in love with someone else. "Dear John," the letter read...and with those two words, a heart was broken and two lives were changed forever. Returning home, John must come to grips with the fact that Savannah, now married, is still his true love—and face the hardest decision of his life.

Thoughts:

Very soon after writing my previous post about my love for all books by Nicholas Sparks, a co-worker loaned me this novel. I nearly read the entire thing in one evening. Having already recently gushed about Nicholas Sparks in general, I will just say -- READ THIS BOOK. The calibre of this love story, and the way it draws you in, is very reminiscent of The Notebook. I was engrossed by the characters and the story, and even found myself crying throughout the ending of the book.

Dear John is available for purchase online here:

Amazon (Can.)

Amazon (U.S.)

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Note from The Wonder Worrier: I apologize for my previous lack of updates on this blog; I am trying to update more steadily now. I have read a good batch of novels recently, so I'm updating frequently this week with novels that I didn't get a chance to update as soon as I finished reading them. The end of my office job and beginning of teacher's college had me distracted for the past couple of weeks. Keep checking in, and happy reading!!!

The Guardian

Author: Nicholas Sparks

Publication Year: 2003

Synopsis:

Young widow Julie Barenson was left a special gift when her husband passed away, a Great Dane puppy with a special note that said he'd always watch out for her. A few years after his death, Julie begins dating again. She finds herself choosing between suave, rich and handsome Richard Franklin and her husband's best friend and nice guy, Mike Harris. As Julie chooses to accept the love of another man into her life once again, she's thrown into a nightmare ordeal caused by a jealous rage that finds her, and the people she cares about, fighting for their lives and sanity.

Thoughts:

I've read quite a few Nicholas Sparks novels. For those of you who don't feel familar with his written work, have you seen The Notebook? A Walk to Remember? Message In A Bottle? All three of those movies were based on Nicholas Sparks books (three books I've read). Something I like about Nicholas Sparks is that he is in the romance genre, however he's different than what I classify as "chick-lit". I like to alternate between my usual funny, light chick-lit reads and a Nicholas Sparks story. Perhaps it's because his books often involve more mature characters, and not as quirky comedic plotlines as the other books I tend to read. Another positive side to Nicholas Sparks: even though he's written quite a few novels already, so far his writing has never been "cookie-cutter" as some other author's have been after they start coming out with a whole slew of novels (Danielle Steele for example, pure cookie-cutter storylines that are obviously written just to release more and more novels). Each Nicholas Sparks story, all taking place in some part of North Carolina, have a unique storyline and characters you can easily fall in love with.

After all this gushing about Nicholas Sparks in general, you can obviously tell by now that I enjoyed The Guardian. It was greatly different than his other books, in that it included an element from the thriller genre that adds a little more "spark" (no pun intended!) to this romantic tale. The romantic relationship in this story, while still important, is not a fairy tale romance like his other work and almost sits on the backburner for a good part of the storyline. I think that this is a novel that can be enjoyed by a wider range of female readers because of that extra element -- it's not just for the hopeless romantics like me!

I will admit, I found the beginning of the book a little slow. But in the end it was an enjoyable read, so I do say stick with it and you won't be disappointed!

The Guardian is available to purchase through Amazon here:

Amazon (Can)

Amazon (US)

If you've enjoyed Nicholas Sparks in the past as I have, make sure to check out some of his other titles! The following are Nicholas Sparks I've read so far:

• The Notebook (classic, wonderful, I can read this one in a two-hour sitting!).
  
• The Wedding (sequel to The Notebook in that its the son-in-law of Noah & Allie as the main character! Sweet, short romantic tale with a twist ending!).
  
• A Walk To Remember (similar length to The Notebook, and similar type of story. The movie was dramatically different from the book, and I highly recommend you read this book!).
  
• A Bend in the Road (one of my favourite Nicholas Sparks' stories so far! Connected very well to the characters, excellent story line).
  
• True Believer (another more current read for me, and I really enjoyed it. Found the characters easy to get attached to, liked the story line a lot).
  
• Nights in Rodanthe (this is coming out as a feature film this September; it wasn't my favourite of his stories but that's because I read it as a teenager and its about a middle-age couple so I just didn't connect too well to the characters)
  
• Message In A Bottle (I read this one quite awhile ago; I remember liking the story, but I wasn't a huge fan of the ending. I never saw the film version of this book).