The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks

About this book - From Amazon.com

Seventeen year old Veronica "Ronnie" Miller's life was turned upside-down when her parents divorced and her father moved from New York City to Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina. Three years later, she remains angry and alienated from her parents, especially her father...until her mother decides it would be in everyone's best interest if she spent the summer in Wilmington with him. Ronnie's father, a former concert pianist and teacher, is living a quiet life in the beach town, immersed in creating a work of art that will become the centerpiece of a local church. The tale that unfolds is an unforgettable story of love on many levels--first love, love between parents and children -- that demonstrates, as only a Nicholas Sparks novel can, the many ways that love can break our hearts...and heal them.

I liked reading The Last Song well enough. It was a nice start to the new year. It was a very typical Nicholas Sparks book which is why I wanted to read it. It is a feel good book with a twist and usually with a "happy" ending. I have happy in quotations because happy is in the eye of the beholder. Let's just say there is usually a definitive ending to Nicholas Sparks' books. You generally know what to expect and that is why you read his books, at least that's why I do.

Throughout the book, I had it in the back of my mind that The Last Song was a Miley Cyrus vehicle. Not being a fan of Miley Cyrus, I'm sure that colored my opinion of the book. Maybe I would have liked it more? I don't know.

I had trouble understanding Ronnie's anger at everyone. I do get the impression that that is how it can be in divorced families especially when one parent disappears. And as a teenager, it can be just triple fold.

I do look forward to watching the movie, The Last Song, as a part of my Page to Screen reading challenge. I cannot wait to compare the book to the movie.

The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Society by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows

About This Book

“I wonder how the book got to Guernsey? Perhaps there is some sort of secret homing instinct in books that brings them to their perfect readers.”

January 1946: London is emerging from the shadow of the Second World War, and writer Juliet Ashton is looking for her next book subject. Who could imagine that she would find it in a letter from a man she’s never met, a native of the island of Guernsey, who has come across her name written inside a book by Charles Lamb….

As Juliet and her new correspondent exchange letters, Juliet is drawn into the world of this man and his friends --- and what a wonderfully eccentric world it is. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society --- born as a spur-of-the-moment alibi when its members were discovered breaking curfew by the Germans occupying their island --- boasts a charming, funny, deeply human cast of characters, from pig farmers to phrenologists, literature lovers all.

Juliet begins a remarkable correspondence with the society’s members, learning about their island, their taste in books, and the impact the recent German occupation has had on their lives. Captivated by their stories, she sets sail for Guernsey, and what she finds will change her forever.

Written with warmth and humor as a series of letters, this novel is a celebration of the written word in all its guises, and of finding connection in the most surprising ways.

It was interesting reading a novel completely composed of letters. It made everything seem so much more personal. But still confusing to me because I kept reading the letters without reading who it was addressed to. So I'd read the first few paragraphs and go, wait, who is writing to whom? It's probably because I am impatient and want to find out the meat of the story, so I lose sight of the details.

In the beginning of the book, you get the sense that Juliet is a very independent sort of woman that has been through a difficult time, understandably as it is after World War II. We learn that she loses her flat after a bombing that hits her neighbor's home which takes half of her flat as well. We learn that she has difficulty maintaining relationships or even finding a man that interests her, for that matter. Which is why it was a bit difficult for me to understand how she falls into a whirlwind relationship with a wealthy American publisher. It just didn't seem to jive with the character that I've come to know. But I supposed that it would be flattering and welcomed to have a fun, carefree relationship after the hardships of the war. I can't fault her for that.

Needless to say, I wasn't too surprised that she didn't accept right away when marriage was proposed. Her escape was to Guernsey which she had fallen in love with through her letters with the members of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.

The correspondence began with Dawsey who somehow ended up with a book that used to belong to Juliet. Dawsey writes in hopes that Juliet would point him in the right direction to get more books of that nature. He mentions the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society which piques Juliet's interest and so the letters begin. One by one, the members of the society begin to write to Juliet sharing their stories about the Nazi occupation.

Juliet ends up visiting Guernsey under the premises that she will write an article about the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, but she ends falling in love with the people and the island.

Sam's Letters to Jennifer

I decided to go with Sam's Letters to Jennifer by James Patterson for my next read.




About This Book

Dear Reader,

Have you ever gotten a letter that changed your life completely? It happened to me once. I still can feel the urgency that overtook me as I opened the envelope and the hunger I felt for whatever that letter would say. It seemed as if my entire life hung in the balance as I read.

Sam's Letters to Jennifer is a novel about that kind of drama. In it, a woman is summoned back to the town where she grew up. And in the house where she spent her most magical years she finds a series of letters addressed to her. Each of those letters is a piece of a story that will upend completely the world she thought she knew - and throw her into a love more powerful than she ever imagined could be possible. Two extraordinary love stories are entwined here, full of hope and pain and emotions that never die down.

I hope you'll enjoy this novel as much as I've enjoyed writing it. It's not often that you get a letter that changes your life. But it should happen to everyone at least once.

Yours,
James Patterson

The book starts you off wondering "Who is Sam? Who is Jennifer? And who is Danny?" Are they involved? What happened to Danny? Are Sam and Jennifer couple? These were just a few, okay more than a few, questions that ran through my head as I started off the book.

The background is set. We learn that Sam, whoever he is, and Jennifer are extremely close. And that Jennifer is still, even after a year and a half, heavily mourning the loss of her husband, Danny.

Jennifer receives a phone call that tells her that Sam is in a coma and is needed by her side. Here we learn that Sam is Jennifer's beloved Grandmother who practically raised her and has been her support since her parents were gone.

Back in Grandmother Sam's home, Jennifer discovers a set of letters addressed to her. When she reads the first letter, a bomb is dropped. Grandmother Sam never loved her Grandfather Charles despite their 50+ years of marriage.

As Jennifer reads her letters from Sam, she learns that Sam finds love despite being in a loveless marriage. Jennifer also discovers that she can let herself love again when she finds romance with a childhood friend, Brendan, who is back in town visiting his uncle. She learns to live life to its fullest despite the losses she has suffered with her husband's terrible accident that cost him his life and her subsequent miscarriage. Brendan teaches her to live every day "from the crack of dawn until I closed my eyes."

When Sam wakes up from her coma, Jennifer is hit with more devastating news. Brendan who she is slowly falling in love with, has cancer. He has the kind of cancer that the only treatment is experimental, radical surgery with extremely high risks. Brendan had returned to his childhood haunt for one last enjoyable summer. But for her, Brendan is willing to take the risk. Sometimes you just have to take the chance for love...

I kept getting the feeling I read this book before. There were parts that I thought, hey I read this before, and then there were parts that were totally new to me. I am leaning towards my not having read this book before, but rather that the storyline is a bit predictable somewhat along the lines of Nicholas Sparks. It is a sweet, romantic read, nonetheless.

ETA: I've heard a new song lately called According To You by Orianthi. The sentiment of the song makes me think of the relationship Sam had with her husband.

Plum Pudding Murder by Joanne Fluke

Yay, my first book of the year. And I started with a good one.



Product Description

The Cookie Jar's busiest time of the year also happens to be the most wonderful time...for Christmas cookies, Hannah's own special plum pudding - and romance! Holiday orders are high, and Hannah's slated to provide dessert at the Reverend Knudsen's upcoming nuptials. She's busy as can be and loving it. She also gets a kick out of 'Lunatic Larry Jaeger's Crazy Elf Christmas Tree Lot', a kitschy carnival taking place smack-dab in the middle of the village green. Larry thinks he's crazy like a fox with his wild business schemes, but this time, the entrepreneur may have bitten off more than he can chew. Rumour has it that Larry's in the red - an idea that takes a sinister turn when Hannah discovers the man himself dead as a doornail in his own office...

It seems quite a few people would have liked to fill Larry's stocking with coal and then bash him with it - including his bitter ex-wife, his ex-partner's daughter, a woman he was wooing, and the Crazy Elf Tree lot's extremely exasperated investors...

Now, with so many suspects to investigate and the twelve days of Christmas ticking away, Hannah's running out of time to nab a murderous Scrooge who doesn't want her to see the New Year.

I really like the Hannah Swensen series by Joanne Fluke. Plum Pudding Murder did not disappoint. Hannah Swensen is the resident cookie maker of picturesque Lake Eden with a knack for finding bodies. What is this, book number 12 for the series and a dead body for each? Something tells me that I would not want to live in Lake Eden, although Hannah's cookies might be strong temptation....

Hannah and Lisa, owners of the The Cookie Jar, have their hands full baking for the holiday season. Along with their regular customers, they are supplying the Crazy Elf Christmas Tree Lot with cookies to sell. Larry Jaeger is the crazy owner of the Crazy Elf Christmas Tree Lot with questionable business practices, as Hannah discovers through the Small Business Practice class that she is taking with her mother. Apparently Larry's motto is "We sell below cost and make it up on volume." Not exactly kosher business happening here. And it seems that someone else agrees. Hannah and Norman find Larry and his big screen television victim to a gun toting murderer.

Hannah sleuths around while baking delicious goodies, trying to keep Moishe (her cat) from destroying her Christmas tree and heirloom ornaments, tracking the whereabouts of Norman's mother to find out why she has been acting so mysteriously lately, and still bouncing back and forth about her feelings for the two men in her life, Norman and Mike. Yes, Hannah is a busy lady.

The discovery of the murderer is a bit convoluted, but very Hannah. And the ending leaves us with a major cliffhanger that you could see coming a mile away.

Oh, and the recipes.... there were so many recipes in Plum Pudding Murder that I want to try. I will be back to update how yummy or not so yummy they are.

Death Walked In by Carolyn Hart

Okay, so I'm on book 3. 3 mysteries. Surprise, surprise. ;) I have to get myself to the library to get some more books!

Death Walked In by Carolyn Hart
The series fascinates me because I would love to be like the main character and own a bookstore. As I discussed with D recently, this would be something I would love to do someday when the kids are older and out of the house. Of course I would deal with the books part and not the business part. heehee The book was okay. Not bad, not great. This series is based on two amateur detectives Max and Annie Darling. Annie is the owner of Death on Demand, a mystery bookstore. Max is problem solver of sorts. He is not a private detective b/c that requires a license but he has an office open to help people solve problems. Max apparently had a problem in a recent book and is a avoiding his problem solving business. He has decided to focus on renovating their new home, the Franklin House. There are a few mysteries involved. First, Double Eagle coins are stolen from a wealthy man's home. A woman is found, by Annie, murdered in her home when she calls to Max to retrieve an item from the Franklin house. The woman is the housekeeper of the wealthy man. Soon it is determined that the housekeeper somehow hid the Double Eagle coins in the Franklin, unbeknownst to the Darlings, and was murdered for them. The questions are: Who stole the Double Eagle coins? Who murdered the housekeeper? Where are the Double Eagle coins hidden? Was the housekeeper involved? The book follows Max and Annie Darling as they seek the answers to all the questions with the aid of Max's mother and two friends via email and webcam as they sail aboard a yacht. I would read more books from Carolyn Hart. She is not a difficult read.