Dear John

I'm always intrigued to read a book that has been made into a movie. Is the story so good that film people feel like it will make a great flick? I'm guessing that since most of his other books were turned into movies, that they decided to do the same with this one. I have no desire to see the movie. Mostly because I don't like the chick who plays Savannah. If it was someone else, then sure. I'll probably end up renting it.

This is the second Nicholas Sparks book that I've read this year, and I'm really starting to think that maybe my goal for this year should be to really all his books. That might take some time.

This book is pretty fast paced and easy to read. It's a love story. And a story about heartbreak. But really, while the previews to the movie make it look like a tear jerk er, I didn't cry, not even close.

While on leave from the army, John meets Savannah and they fall in love. Maybe I'm just bitter, but I have a hard time believing that you can fall in love with someone that you've only know for two weeks. So they are smitten kittens and then he has to go back to Germany and they write letters and all that jazz. The second time he sees her, things get a little tough, but they try to work it out. Eventually she dumps him. This takes place after the whole 9/11 thing, and he's over in Germany and places at war. If she really loved him, than she would've waited for him. I understand that would have been hard to do, but supposedly love conquers all. They don't see each other for years and she gets married and doesn't know what to do with his life. There wasn't really a recap as to what he does next. Guess it's whatever the reader wants to imagine. If any part of this book is sad, it's the dad.

It was a decent book. Check it out.

Truly, Madly

I've been on a book spending spree lately. Whenever I go to Winco, Fred Meyers, Target, or Walmart I always look at the book selection. Something I really don't need to be doing. Oh well. What's done is done. I picked up this one because I liked the cover (purple is pretty) and frankly, it seemed like the most interesting to me at the time.

I liked it. Don't let the hearts and girly cover fool you. While a bunch of people fall in love, it's more of a mystery novel. It's about Lucy Valentine who's dad runs a matchmaking service, and when he goes out of town for some recovery, he asks Lucy to take over. What makes the Valentine's so special for this line of business that they can feel people's auras, everyone except Lucy who has her own gift. When she touches someone's hand she can see what they are missing. First day on the job she shakes the hand of a client and sees a dead body. Curious about finding out what happened, she and cute (or says the book) P.I. guy upstairs try to solve the mystery. Of course they fall in love while they do so.

While it does talk about romance, it's not cheesy. Or gooey. It was a good book. I just hated the ended, because while everyone had a happy ending, it just kind of ended suddenly. Like it's suppose to be a cliffhanger to get you to read the next book. Maybe someday when I'm at Walmart and see it, I might pick it up.

The Cinderella Pact

I was reading a magazine (People maybe?) and saw that they turned this book into a movie (I think for Lifetime?) and it sounded interesting so I went and got the book. And I really liked it.

It's about Nola, and overweight editor at a magazine, who tries to get a job as a columnist, but they won't hire her because she's fat. So she makes up Belinda Apple, a slim, stylish, British girl who doesn't exist. One day she and her 2 chubby friends get rejected at a fancy restaurant because of their weight so they decide to follow some advice that Belinda (aka Nola) gave to a reader, and make a pact to lose weight. Basically they are transforming themselves (kind of like Cinderella). One friend decides to get gastric bypass surgery, the other starts eating better and exercising with a professional trainer, and Nola, like most of us, has her ups and downs.

One day her boss figures out that Belinda isn't real, and in order to keep her job, Nola does what she can to prevent from getting fired. And on top of that, she falls in love with the guy who could fire her. All while trying to not be hurt by the fact that her sister wants Belinda as her maid of honor.

The ending was kind of lame, but I really enjoyed. Maybe one day I'll get motivated and do a "Cinderella" on myself.

Shutter Island

I'm not even sure how to describe this book. I saw the preview for the movie and it looked interested, so I decided to read the book. And it is interesting. A disturbing and trippy and a bunch of other things. But good. Good enough that it made me want to keep reading it. The story goes that U.S. Marshall Terry goes to Shutter Island to find a mental patient that somehow escaped. No one can figure out how she disappeared. But while there, strange things start to happen. It gets to the point where him and the reader doesn't know what's real anymore. If you like psychological thrillers this would probably be a good book. I'm interested and seeing how the movie is.

Miles To Go

I don't know why, and I can't figure it out no matter how hard I try, why I find Miley Cyrus interesting. I also find her annoying. But I find most celebs annoying. I like most of her music. The upbeat songs are fun to sing to. And her show Hannah Montana really isn't so bad. I can only watch a few episodes at once, but it's mindless entertainment. Something you can just put on in the background and not really have to pay attention to. So for whatever reason I got her book from the library. She talks about her life before she became a star, how in 6th grade the kids would pick on her, and she didn't know why. She used to do cheer leading to help her escape from the bullies and was really happy when she got the part on Hannah Montana because that meant she didn't have to deal with the mean kids anymore. Do you ever wonder if people who are on TV shows get along with their cast mates? I do. Apparently, up until about season 3 of her show, she and the girl who plays her best friend didn't get along. Typical teenage drama. This is a good book for anyone who is a Miley/Hannah fan. And there's lots of pictures. I don't know about you, but when I read a book about some one's life, I like to look at pictures. So if you ever write a book about your life, include photos.

The Last Song

I was on Twitter during the time that Miley Cyrus was filming this movie and she always Tweeted about it. I kind of forgot about it, then something made me remember it and I wanted to read the book. I searched everywhere for it. Finally found it at Target. Have you ever had a book that was just calling you to read it. Like you'll get some sort of insight if you do? That's kind of how I felt about this one.

It was a good book. Read most of it in one day. The story is about 17 year old Ronnie who's mother makes her and her little brother spend the summer in North Carolina with her father. The parents have been divorced for 3 years and Ronnie doesn't like her father because she thinks he's the cause of the divorce. Needless to say, she's not happy going down there. Once she's there she kind of gets mixed up in a bad crowd, but falls in love with a cute local (who, from what I understand, ends up being Miley's real boyfriend in real life). Things start getting a little better when she starts dating Will.

But as the summer ends, she finds out something life changing about her father. You can tell from the title that something is going to happen to him. Its not that hard to figure out.

I think the reason why I liked it, is because I felt like the characters weren't sitting around doing nothing, they were out living life, and it made me want to be a little more active in life. Also kind of made me want to go to North Caroline, it sounds relaxing.

So check this book out. I liked it and even though its almost 400 pages long, its goes by quickly.

First Comes Love

Even though this author's books are pretty simple, they are entertaining. She creates good characters. They are a little bit of goody goodies, but oh well. I read the other books she wrote containing this main character (Always The Bridesmaid, Here Comes The Bride), so I kind of wanted to read the third installment. In this book, Cate and her hubby are newlyweds and are feeling the pressure to have a child. Seems like all their friends are having children. I can understand that. All my friends are getting married, and its not much fun to be one of the few who are still single. So, Cate and her hubby get pregnant and it follows the ups and downs of being prego. She gets sick non stop for about 3 months. On top of all that, their cousin Denise who is just a great big pain in the butt is getting married and thinks that Cate got pregnant around the same time just so she could still her thunder. She and her trashy boyfriend are annoying and really make you hope that people like them don't really exists. But they do. It was a good book, and probably a good one for anyone who is expecting or has children.