Showing posts with label Sparks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sparks. Show all posts

Friday, December 9, 2016

"Two by Two" by Nicholas Sparks - Great Book!

Two by Two by Nicholas Sparks is about a family living a good life until it isn't so great.  Russ is living a good life, married to Vivian, a beautiful woman, with new born child and zero money problems.  But life has a way of sneaking up on us and soon Russ is going to have to deal with life that is not so great.

I thought this book was really good.  All the characters were well brought out.  The best part of this book for me was the back and forth between Russ and Vivian, just priceless!  This was a great book to start the month.  Enjoy!
(Gerard's review, 5++ stars)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. To find books on a specific topic, scroll to the bottom and click on the topic you want. Happy Reading!

Wednesday, November 16, 2016

"Three Weeks with My Brother" by Nicholas and Micah Sparks

Three Weeks With My Brother by Nicholas and Micah Sparks is one of the best memoirs I have read. It has humor, interesting adventures and touching moments. I loved how these guys gave us a look at their family dynamics from childhood. I think they did a fantastic job of weaving their memories into their time together as they traveled around the world in three weeks. It is a story of persevering through tragedy and life’s bumps. Throughout the book, they kept repeating the mother’s standard sayings: It’s your life. No one ever promised that life would be fair. What you want and what you get are usually two entirely different things. 

I enjoyed reading this more than I expected and found the inspiration for Nicholas Sparks' books very interesting. I think anyone who enjoys Nicholas Sparks' books would enjoy this as well even though it is non-fiction. It even includes discussion questions in the back for book clubs!
(Karen's review, 5 stars)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. To find books on a specific topic, scroll to the bottom and click on the topic you want. Happy Reading!

Saturday, April 7, 2012

"The Best of Me" by Nicholas Sparks


The Best of Me by Nicholas Sparks is the sad love story of Dawson and Amanda, two high school sweethearts who went separate ways.  Dawson was from an abusive family and had bullies for brothers but was not like them.  Amanda was from a well-to-do family who did not want her seeing Dawson.  They had a common friend, Tuck who was an old widower but who could see their love for each other so made arrangements for them to cross paths years later through his will,  Over the years, they still thought about each other and wondered what would have happened if they stayed together.  Dawson never married, but Amanda did, although she never had the passion with her husband that she had experienced with Dawson. 
The mixture of some fighting, a couple of ghosts and Tuck’s sweet memories all work to make this an interesting read.  I liked this one because it didn’t drag along.  I think it would have been better though if the author let the reader know Amanda’s family better.  It seemed he just threw them in at the end to wrap up the book with a neat little ending. 
 (Karen's review)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

Hope you will visit our other blog, "Right Where We Belong" to see our Happy Easter Everyone post!

 We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during April to Paralyzed Veterans of America.

Friday, November 18, 2011

"The Guardian" by Nicholas Sparks

The Guardian by Nicholas Sparks is a combination of a love story and a thriller with a dog thrown in.  The main character is Julie, a young widow who works at a salon and finally decides to date four years after her husband died.  Her husband, Jim, left her a letter and arranged for her to get a Great Dane puppy in the event of his death which I thought was a pretty neat idea.  The dog was his way of watching out for her.  After the Prologue, this book poked along for me until about half way through when the psycho stalks her and she realizes she is in danger.  I liked "The Guardian" because of the dog involved watching out for Julie.  Gerard read this a long time ago and liked it too.  He said I should read it and I finally got to it and am glad I did!

BEWARE:  SPOILER AHEAD--STOP HERE IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE BOOK!
The ending was pretty intense but I didn't like that the dog died.  I think Julie should have went for the gun when her dog grabbed the guys arm instead of letting him shoot her dog.  I get that the dog was like a guardian angel and once Richard was dead, she'd have Mike and live happily ever after and the dog's "job" was done.  I just think the dog could have lived too--I would have liked that ending better.

Have you read this one? What did you think of it?

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Friday, October 8, 2010

"The Choice" by Nicholas Sparks

“The Choice” by Nicholas Sparks is a slow moving love story about two neighbors, Gabby and Travis, a veterinarian.  They get off to a rocky start, Gabby has to choose between her long-term boyfriend, Kevin or her new found love, Travis.  Everything goes along quite smoothly until an accident that changes everything and Travis is faced with the hard decision no one wants to make.  “The Choice” deals with the issue of living wills and “How far should you go in the name of love?” 
 
Although “The Choice” was slow-mo and at times I felt I was plowing through it, Part 2 really picked up.  I didn’t care for Gabby in the beginning of the book at all.  She had a dog named Molly and I couldn’t help thinking that Molly should be the name of the woman and Gabby the name of the dog!  (Perhaps because when we got our dog through Petfinder, her name was Gabby.  We changed it to Abby.)  I’m so glad I finished “The Choice” because as usual for Nicholas Sparks books, the ending was very good and I got to care about the characters.  I even liked Gabby by the end.. 
 
In Part 2, Travis is faced with a decision none of us ever wants to have to make, whether or not to pull the plug on a loved one in a coma.    I just found out while reading this book about a young fellow puppeteer whose wife just had a seizure and went into a coma.  I couldn’t help reading this book with him in mind.  Comas can be short-term or go on form many years.  Whether or not to pull the plug on a loved one in that condition is probably the toughest decision anyone ever has to make, yet some people are faced with it every day.   This book really got me thinking as to whether or not a living will is such a good idea after all.
(Karen's review)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it?

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Teaser Tuesday: The Choice & The Man Behind The Nose & Snow Valley Heroes

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along, so I thought I would play for fun! Just do the following:

  • Grab your current read
  • Open to a random page
  • Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
  • BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
  • Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teaser. 

Karen's:
By the time she got back to work, the only thing Gabby knew for certain was that as forgiving as he'd been, she'd never live down what she'd done, and since there wasn't a rock large enough for her to crawl under, it was in her best interest to find a way to avoid him for awhile. Not forever, of course. Something reasonable. Like the next fifty years.
From p. 50 of The Choice by Nicholas Sparks.
The Dog Council had sent a message to all the dogs to come to a meeting in Waggy Valley.  The Council wanted them dogs to know of a dangerous problem people were facing on planet earth, and why the dos were, once again, being asked to help.
From p. 7 of Snow Valley Heroes--A Christmas Tale (Planet of the Dogs Vol. 3) by Robert J. McCarty.

Gerard's:
So I was running in twenty different directions and didn't know what to do with my life.  It was a weird feeling.  I wasn't putting myself through all this in pursuit of money but in pursuit of an insatiable desire to try more, do more, achieve more--to live more.
From p. 85 of The Man Behind The Nose by Larry "Bozo" Harmon

Saturday, September 25, 2010

"The Last Song" by Nicholas Sparks

The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks is an amazing story about teen rebellion, love, friendship, romance, and forgiveness.  I can't say enough about how touching this book is.  The main character is a girl named Ronnie who held a grudge against her dad because he left, but her 10-yr.-old brother, Jonah, brought out her tender side.  One summer, she has to go live with him against her will and learns and grows into a mature woman who realizes she was not always right after all and everything is not about her.  I enjoyed watching her develop into a truly caring person and learn about forgiveness. 

It's a very good story and I liked it a lot! I liked the characters in this book because they were all very believable.  Parts were sad but overall, I liked the ending because it was very touching and happy at the same time.  This is a must read if you enjoy books about teens and parents.
(Karen's review)


I’ve been blessed to read a lot of really good books this year and I  add The  Last Song by Nicholas Sparks to the list.  At first, I thought,  “Oh, great, a teen novel.”  I’m not going to like it.  I LOVED it!  It  tells the story of Ronnie, a girl who has to spend the summer with her  dad and does not want to.  Turns out she had the best summer ever.   Superb writing.  This book is hard to put down.  The characters are very  believable.  There is nothing bad to say about this book.  I am so glad  to end the year with this wonderful book!  Do yourself a favor and read  this one.  You will be happy you did.
(Gerard's Review)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it?

Other reviews of this:  Reading Without Restraint

Saturday, June 26, 2010

"The Lucky One" by Nicholas Sparks

The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks is an interesting romance involving a single mom who took care of her elderly mother and helped her with the kennel, and a vet who felt the photograph he found of her in Iraq brought him luck so wanted to find her because he felt he owed her.  He walked across the country with his dog to find her and had a little run-in with her ex who happened to be the Sheriff.  He also had a dog who traveled with him which added to the interest of the story for me.  This was a good read if you’re looking for a light family type story with some suspense tossed in.  I liked it!

(Karen's review 10/25/09)

Friday, June 25, 2010

"At First Sight" by Nicholas Sparks

At First Sight by Nicholas Sparks is a romance between Jeremy, a successful New York magazine columnist, who falls in love with Lexie, a country girl, and moves to her neck of the woods away from the city. The author delves into the dynamics of friendship, commitment, marriage, pregnancy and fatherhood. It gave insights into the adjustments involved in entering and maintaining a serious relationship by centering on Jeremy's and Lexie's feelings as their relationship progressed. The ending surprised me so I'd say it is a good book and recommend it to anyone who likes romance. 
(Karen's Review 8/18/08)

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