A Walk to remember by Nicholas Sparks

"Runs in 1958. Landon Carter is the typical high school student. The only thing you are interested in is going out with his friends, spend the shortest possible time in school and enjoy the last years of freedom before going to the University. Jamie Sullivan, on the other hand, is not an ordinary girl. Does not come out at night, does not go to parties or makeup as do the other girls of her age. Daughter of the pastor of the village, you pass the lunch time reading the Bible, the afternoons as a volunteer in an orphanage and summers at the camp of the parish. There could be two more different people. Until one Christmas night, everything changes. In barely a month, Landon will discover things that leads a life learns to learn truths about the nature of beauty, the joy of living, the pain of loss and, above all, the real and miraculous power of first love..."

Summary

Fifty-seven-year-old Landon Carter narrates the novel, reflecting on events from 40 years in the past. The novel opens with a Prologue, in which the older Landon, living in the same North Carolina town as he did at the age of 17, stands near the Baptist church that figures prominently in the novel and gets himself in the mindset of his 17-year-old self. The story begins in 1958 and is, Landon tells us, both joyful and sad.

Writing

Sparks wrote the manuscripts for A Walk to Remember, his third novel, in the summer of 1998. He wrote it in North Carolina, which is the setting of the novel. Like his first published novel The Notebook, the prologue to A Walk to Remember was written last. The title A Walk to Remember was taken from one of the tail end pages of the novel: "In every way, a walk to remember." The novel is written in first-person, and its narrator is a seventeen year-old boy, living in the 1950s.

The novel was inspired by Sparks' sister, Danielle Sparks Lewis, who later died of cancer in June 2000. Although the story is largely fictional, certain parts were based on real experiences. For example, his sister, just like Jamie, was never popular at school and always wore an ugly sweater. And just like Jamie, she always carried the Bible around with her every where she went. And just like Landon and Jamie, never in a thousand years did anyone think he would ever deeply fall head-over-heels for her. His sister's husband proposed marriage to her despite her sickness. After her death, Sparks said in the eulogy: "... I suppose I wrote this novel not only so that you could get to know my sister, but so that you would know what a wonderful thing it was that her husband once did for her."

Review

"A Walk To Remember, written by Nicholas Sparks is a truly wonderful love story that will touch many reader’s heart just like it did to me. After watching the film version of the book, I just had to pick up the book and I could not put it down. This book has become one of my favourite books. This romance story had really touched everyone’s heart about the true nature of love. This story is about a fifty- seven years old man looking back at his past which he will never forget. This man is Landon Carter. He takes there ader back to 1958 in the town of Beaufort, North Carolina when he was just 17 years old. In high school he chooses drama class than chemistry class thinking it will be easier for him. In the class there was a girl called Jamie Sullivan, a minister’s daughter. He and Jamie grew up together but were never really friends. Jamie was a good girl. She prefers going to the orphanage to help the kids and reading her Bible to socializing and going to the movies. Jamie asked Landon to be the lead role of the play since no one wanted to do it. Since the play was very important to Jamie and not wanting to hurt her, he agreed. They both became closer to one another. Being the president of his high school, Landon must find a date to the dance to fulfill his duties. After desperately searching for a date, he came to a conclusion that he had to ask Jamie Sullivan since there was no one left. Jamie accepts his proposal to the dance. Landon slowly realises that he has fallen in love with the most unlikely girl. After many dates, Landon finally learns that Jamie had terminal leukemia and has stopped responding to treatment. Landon wants to fulfill Jamie’s wish list example by building a telescope so she can see a comet. Through this process,

Landon and Jamie learn more about the nature of love. The book ends with Jamie's death, but only after the couple are married in the same chapel as was Jamie's deceased mother, the event that topped Jamie's wish list. This book has taught me a lesson that with love and support you can go through anything. I will recommend that everyone should pick upthis book and trust me that you won’t regret it. Now I will end this phrase “Love is like the wind. You can't see it but you can feel it.”

If you want to know about its author, Nicholas Sparks, Clic here!

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

"When Charles Bingley, a rich single man, moves to the Netherfield estate, the neighborhood residents are thrilled, especially Mrs. Bennet, who hopes to marry one of her five daughters to him. When the Bennet daughters meet him at a local ball, they are impressed by his outgoing personality and friendly disposition. They are less impressed, however, by Bingley's friend Fitzwilliam Darcy, a landowning aristocrat who is too proud to speak to any of the locals and whom Elizabeth Bennet overhears refusing to dance with her."

 Summary 

 Pride and prejudice was written two hundred years ago by Jane Austen and it describes a year in the life of an small group of young people who live in the coutry near London in a period of change ( XVIII and XIX century).

In the middle of this society we are able to find some special and funny people: The Bennet, who live with their five daughters: Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Catherine and Lydia. Mr Bennet is nice and intelligent and he dislikes the frivolity of his wife and his three young daughters but he has a good relation with Jane and Elizabeth besides he is very close to them.

Mrs Bennet is not as clever or educated as her husband. Her only aim in life is to find husbands for her daughters and her pleasures are visiting, talking and clothes.

However, their situation was worse than it seemed because of a lawyer's agreement, since Mr. Bennet had no son the property, when he died, would pass to a distant cousin, Mr. Collins. His daughters would not have nothing unless they married.

 Style 

Pride and Prejudice, like most of Jane Austen's works, employs the narrative technique of free indirect speech. This has been defined as "the free representation of a character's speech, by which one means, not words actually spoken by a character, but the words that typify the character's thoughts, or the way the character would think or speak, if she thought or spoke". By using narrative that adopts the tone and vocabulary of a particular character (in this case, that of Elizabeth), Austen invites the reader to follow events from Elizabeth's viewpoint, sharing her prejudices and misapprehensions. "The learning curve, while undergone by both protagonists, is disclosed to us solely through Elizabeth's point of view and her free indirect speech is essential ... for it is through it that we remain caught, if not stuck, within Elizabeth's misprisions."

 Publication history 

Austen began writing the novel after staying at Goodnestone Park in Kent with her brother Edward and his wife in 1796. The novel was originally titled First Impressions by Jane Austen, and was written between October 1796 and August 1797. On 1 November 1797 Austen's father sent a letter to London bookseller Thomas Cadell to ask if he had any interest in seeing the manuscript, but the offer was declined by return of post.

Austen made significant revisions to the manuscript for First Impressions between 1811 and 1812. She later renamed the story Pride and Prejudice. In renaming the novel, Austen probably had in mind the "sufferings and oppositions" summarised in the final chapter of Fanny Burney's Cecilia, called "Pride and Prejudice", where the phrase appears three times in block capitals. It is possible that the novel's original title was altered to avoid confusion with other works. In the years between the completion of First Impressions and its revision into Pride and Prejudice, two other works had been published under that name: a novel by Margaret Holford and a comedy by Horace Smith.

Austen sold the copyright for the novel to Thomas Egerton of Whitehall in exchange for £110 (Austen had asked for £150). This proved a costly decision. Austen had published Sense and Sensibility on a commission basis, whereby she indemnified the publisher against any losses and received any profits, less costs and the publisher's commission. Unaware that Sense and Sensibility would sell out its edition, making her £140, she passed the copyright to Egerton for a one-off payment, meaning that all the risk (and all the profits) would be his. Jan Fergus has calculated that Egerton subsequently made around £450 from just the first two editions of the book.

Egerton published the first edition of Pride and Prejudice in three hardcover volumes in January 1813, priced at 18s. Favourable reviews saw this edition sold out, with a second edition published in November that year. A third edition was published in 1817.

Foreign language translations first appeared in 1813 in French; subsequent translations were published in German, Danish, and Swedish. Pride and Prejudice was first published in the United States in August 1832 as Elizabeth Bennet or, Pride and Prejudice.The novel was also included in Richard Bentley's Standard Novel series in 1833. R. W. Chapman's scholarly edition of Pride and Prejudice, first published in 1923, has become the standard edition from which many modern publications of the novel are based.

 Jane Austen 

Jane Austen (December 6, 1775 - July 18, 1817) was a prominent British novelist. It is a model of a writer with a seemingly wealthy life but knew that faithfully reflect the drama in his novels.

Born in a rectory in the town of Steventon, Hampshire County. She was the daughter of Reverend George Austen and his wife Cassandra. He spent most of his life in that area. He had six brothers and one older sister, Cassandra, which was very close.

The only portrait is without doubt true of the writer is a drawing done by his sister and currently can be seen at the National Gallery in London. His brothers Frank and Charles were sailors and ended up being admirals.

In 1783 a relative took charge of his education, placing it first in Oxford and then Southampton. Between 1785 and 1786 he attended school for young ladies at the Abbey of Reading in Berkshire County. He received an education level higher than the women of his time.

In general, his life was calm and happy, despite a broken heart. In 1801 the family moved to Bath, the scene of many of his works, after the death of his father in 1805, Jane, his sister and his mother lived with his brother Frank and his family until, in 1809, moved to Chawton .

Jane never married but was engaged to a young man, Harris Bigg-Wither. Jane finally decided not to marry him. Already established as a novelist, continued to live relatively withdrawn and his health began to decline. It is believed he suffered from Addison's disease the cause is unknown. He traveled to Winchester for medical attention but her illness began to progress rapidly and died two months after his arrival in the city. She is buried in Winchester Cathedral.

The order in which they began and ended his novels does not correspond to the dates of their publications. Her novels with:

Sense and Sensibility (published in 1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814), Emma (1815), Northanger Abbey (1818) posthumously, and Persuasion (1818) posthumously.

Austen also wrote three short pieces: Lady Susan, The Watsons (unfinished novel), and Sanditon (unfinished novel).

 Review 

"Pride and prejudice is one of the most exciting and fascinating books I have ever read. Although it was written two hundred years ago by Jane Austen, the ideas it gives to the reader and the problems which our main characters have to face are real and apply to moden life. Every single teenager their day-to-day life has experienced how first impressions can affect in our personal lifes and how the family can influence our decisions. I am sure that fifty or sixty years ago the idea of marriage was really important and with it, its social status. Many women neither loved nor respected their partner, but they wished to escape the terrible fate of becoming maid (the same happened to Chalotte Lucas, Elizabeth's best friend at the beginning of the novel) . To sum up, what I like most about Pride and Prejudice is that it shows us real situations, real problems and it tells us their possible consequences.
This book, like most of Jane Austen's works, employs the narrative technique of free indirect speech and by using narrative which adopts the tone and vocabulary of a particular character, Austen invites the reader to follow the events from the speaker's point of view, sharing opinions, sadness or happiness.
I would recommend this book to those ones who love reading good literature or spending a good time learning how our ancestors lived and thoght and what aims in life they had."

The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks

"During his third mission in Iraq, Logan Thibault American soldier is a photograph of a smiling young woman half-buried in the sand. At the base, no one claims it and he just saving it. Logan suddenly starts to get lucky: winning in poker games, survives an attack that killed two of his companions? Back to the U.S., women seek Logan portrayed but certainly not expected to strong but vulnerable person with whom he meets in Hampton, North Carolina. The attraction to her catches him off guard and just keeping the history of photography, his charm, a secret. A secret that can end up destroying the wonderful love story that just begun."

 Summary 

U.S. Marine Logan Thibault finds a photograph of a smiling young woman half-buried in the dirt during his first tour of duty in Iraq. He carries the photo in his pocket and soon wins a streak of poker games, then survives a battle that kills two of his closest buddies. His best friend, Victor, seems to have an explanation for his good fortune: the photograph, his lucky charm.

Back home in Colorado, Thibault begins to believe that the woman in the photo somehow holds the key to his destiny. He sets out on a journey across the country with his dog Zeus to find her and eventually encounters Elizabeth Green, a divorced mother with a young son Ben, in Hampton, North Carolina.

Caught off guard by the attraction he feels, Thibault keeps the story of the photo and his luck a secret. He and Elizabeth begin a passionate love affair, but the secret of the photo will soon threaten to tear them apart—destroying not only their deep and true passionate love, but also their very lives.

 Themes 

The novel deals with the themes of fate and destiny. Despite the allusions to such themes made in the novel, Sparks admitted that he does not necessarily believe in either. He adds, however, that he is "a big believer in the fact that people have the ability to influence the future in a way that seems coincidental and when that happens, the feeling of fate or destiny is amplified. [...] In the end, when writing The Lucky One, I wanted to explore the subject of fate or destiny, but in a way that reflected the reality of the world."

 Review 

"Over the past few years I have have come to realize that I am a hopeless romantic. I love reading stories about two people having a chance meeting and just knowing from that moment that they were meant to be together, no matter how much their relationship gets tested. That is why this week's selection happens to be from the man that I like to call the King of Romance Novels, Nicholas Sparks.

I liked this book. I have read several books on it, "A Walk To Remember", "Dear John", "The last song", "The notebook" and enjoyed them, even though they both had sad endings. And although they all have sad endings, I have loved so much.
The book drags in certain spots because there is a lot of back story about each character that needs to be told, but there are also moments of action. Now, keep in mind because this is a romance novel the action scenes are few and far between, but the few that do exist leave an impact on the reader, especially the ending.
Sparks writes from the perspective of the main love triangle - Logan, Beth, and Beth's ex-husband, Keith. As I've mentioned before, I am not the biggest fan of multiple points of view, but this method helps push the plot along. It also shows the readers how the characters are connected. This book is great for anyone, especially those who love a great love story every now and then. I enjoyed reading it and I hope you do too. Maybe someday we will have that chance meeting where we meet the right person."

To learn more about this author click here!

Ten things you read is healthy

Reading not only provides information (instruction) but is (education) creating habits of reflection, analysis, effort,  concentration... and recreates, does enjoy, entertain and distract.

1. Reading increases your vocabulary. 
2. Reading increases your imagination. 
3. Read improve your spelling. 
4. Reading helps to express themselves better. 
5. By reading you exercise the mind. 
6. By reading and wake up to feed your brain. 
7. When reading entertain you. 
8. Reading makes you a very educated person. 
9. Read eliminates stress on people. 
10. Read enough prevents you from mental illnesses such as Alzheimer's.

All suns lie (Todos los soles mienten) by Esteban Valentino

The sun goes out, and Earth is dying. There isn't future for humanity. Rats earned the streets, young people are responsible for exterminating them. Amid the desolation, a group of teenagers find a place, and a Stone to challenge fate, but also uncovers a terrible secret plan and no one will ever be the same. Maybe I just left them the hope of preserving his message to the distant future and different.

 Summary 

A science fiction novel that transcends the paradigm of the devastation of the planet to delve into feelings such as loneliness, friendship, death and love.

Valentino realized something that other authors who are in the business of children's literature in Spanish doesn't seem to notice or simply don't care. Valentino realized that his readers are, besides those little (or not so little) things that fill the coffers of the publisher and authors, people with similar interests, problems, wishes and desires so common in the rest of humanity to might think that teenagers are part of it. 

Having this knowledge will serve, among other things, to build strong stories themselves without recourse to mythologies of others, such as those created by Bram Stoker or Anne Rice, but simply dedicated to creating from scratch. One world, one story, characters, with enough complexity to be very credible, and not only that, but these same characters, out of the book, could pass for real people. How many authors of books and endless series understand these details about your readers? 

While the story of All suns lie resorts to certain topics classic science fiction (the end of the world, a select, plagues and strange socioeconomic status), these resources aren't better, but are part of the landscape . The main thing in the story are the characters, young (of course), and their activities in a world that is approaching it's limit. From a triggering question, what would you do if it were the last generation born in the land?, The author takes the story to the world. 

Of course, while the plot unfolds involving the children, the main characters, takes place another story, another interpretation of the facts, which will eventually converge, as in any good mystery novel, in a final of such unexpected calls into question whether this is really a book for children-young-teens or not. An ending worthy of the best movies, and not say much more because the interesting thing is that a book doesn't tell you about it, but read it yourself. 

On the other hand, to be read by parents, the story of Valentino, awaken resentment own ignorance, to address issues such as death or sex (yes, young people also have sex), and will put aside other issues that are present in the text, such as friendship beyond all circumstances lie incorporated into everyday behavior and disinterest of adults for generations to come, by looking only at the anecdotal and not based on what the decision to attend to certain aspects speech and not all of it. For this reason, we can assume that no adult will have taken the trouble to see what their children are reading for compulsory schooling and for pleasure, but, carried away by the picture on the cover, say nothing, continue with their routines without worrying about anything but their own problems.

 Narrative Resource 

One can see a way of separating the texts somewhat rare, so rare as it is divided into:

* The names of the young, which in turn is a common name followed by the first letter (for example, Eduardo E or Silvia S).

* These were our dreams: This describes the dreams of youth, narrated by themselves, but anonymously, without knowing who wrote what.

* They / Them: Here we read about the feelings of men or women, but also from an anonymous

 Esteban Valentino 

Esteban Valentino (born December 11, 1956 in Castelar) is an Argentine writer and teacher specializing in children's literature.

His arrival was children's literature through poetry. At the request of her friend Silvia Schujer (renowned author of books for children and young people) wrote a poem for children whose theme was "The Flag". As the result, then asked Schujer a story about "transportation". As Valentino tells:

Then I wrote "If I did my flag," which enjoyed considerable success. Then Silvia called me again and said "now I want to write a story." It was about transportation. That is more interesting. I wrote a story about a crippled boy leading to his school friend and puts a sign that reads: "This unit has a place for a non-disabled person." Then the baby in her wheelchair with little engine takes you to your partner school. And that was very successful. They even published the Ministry, went everywhere. Following these two events the publisher called me and asked me Kapelusz a novel. That was another of my dreams, a publisher called me to ask me a book.

The novel was The man who believed in the moon and was not liked by Kapelusz. Valentino presented later in the publishing Books Quirquincho which was well received by Graciela Montes and published.

 Awards 

*National Poetry Prize for Young (1983)
*Alfonsina Storni Award (1988)
*Amnesty International Award I tell you your rights for the story "Pobrechico" (1995)
*His book Red Riding Hood II was considered "the best of the year" by Alija (1996) as sometimes the *Shadow in 1998 and a crowded desert in 2001.

 Works 

1977 El Cantar del Mio Cid (Spanish version now)

1980 El Principito, de Antoine de Saint-Exupery (Spanish version)

1984 Septiembre literario (collectively, the work for adults)

1987 Story: "Una historia sin colectivos grandotes", included in the book Messenger 3.

1987 Poem: "Si yo hiciera mi bandera", included in the book Messenger 4.

1990 El hombre que creía en la luna (novel)

1990 Las lágrimas nacen en Grecia (novel)

1992 Poem: "La gente de Quemimporta" y cuento: "A la hora señalada", included in your pocket Words

1992 Poem: "La canción del buen trato", included in Readings in ink 6

1993 Story: "No siempre hay buen aire bajo tierra" and "Un papá, un nene y un río", included in a travel book 5

1993 Story: "La noche tenía algo de nocturna" and "Futuros eran los de antes", including Arts in orbit

1993 Sobre ruedas (Story)

1994 Mañana tiene nombre (Story)

1995 Caperucita Roja II (Story)

1996 Pahicaplapa (Story)

1996 Perros de nadie

1997 A veces la Sombra. Historia de un monstruo solitario (novel)

1997 Story: "Pobrechico", included in the anthology I tell you your rights

1998 Historias de otro tiempo... pero no tanto (Story)

1999 Todos los soles mienten (novel)

2000 El hombre que creía en la Luna (novel)

2002 Las lágrimas nacen en Grecia (novel)

2002 Un desierto lleno de gente (Story)

2003 El cuerpo de Isidoro (Story)

2003 El mono que piensa. La Historia Universal da risa (Story)

2004 Sin los ojos

2005 Mañana tiene nombre

2006 Los guerreros de la hierba

2006 La soga

2008 El mono que piensa II

2010 Es tan difícil volver a Ítaca

 Review 

"I recommend this book because it is a compelling science fiction story for adults and youth, especially for teenagers, because of its content and subject matter addressed in this case, the concerns of a typical young, like love, family , the insecurity is experienced at this stage. It is narrated in a very deep, yet easy to understand, perfect for any age recommended for the whole family. It would call it a novel, since it is not separated into chapters, but a narrative, or story. Actually very good, especially for anyone who enjoys science fiction in the style Bradbury (Fahrenheit 451), or a drama style Maritano Alma (Cowboys and braids, the visitor, Crossing the street, etc..)"

Beautiful Phrases

"The books taught me to think, and thought me free."

- Ricardo Leon

"The purpose of reading is not getting that sell more books, but readers will enjoy life more."

- George Holbrook Jackson

"If in exchange for my love of reading to see my feet, the thrones of the world, refuse to change."

-Fénelon

Have a date with someone who READS

Go out with someone who spends all his money on books and clothes, and has problems of space in the closet because you bought too many. Asks out a girl who has a list of books to read and from the twelve years has had a subscription card to a library.

Find a girl who reads. You'll know is an avid reader because in his case always take a book that has not yet begun to read. Is that always looks lovingly shelves of bookstores, the crying in silence when you find the book you wanted. See that girl a bit strange smelling the pages of an old book in a used bookstore? It is the reader. Never can resist smelling the pages of a book, and if they are yellow.

Is the girl sitting in the cafe down the street, she is reading while she waits. If you take a look at his mug, lactose-free cream texture has acquired a somewhat skinny and floats above the coffee because it is absorbed in reading, lost in the world that the author has created. Sit next to her. You might take a look of outrage that most readers hate to be interrupted. Ask her if you liked the book she has in her hands.

Invite her to another cup of coffee and say what you think of Murakami. Find out if it was able to finish the first chapter of Fellowship and you be aware that if she tells you to understand Joyce's Ulysses is doing it to seem smart.. Ask him if he loves Alicia or would like to be her.

It's easy to date a girl who reads. Give her books on her birthday, Christmas and on each anniversary. Give a gift of words, either in poetry or song. Give Neruda, Pound, Sexton, Cummings and let him know you understand that words are love. Understand that she is aware of the difference between fact and fiction but nonetheless will look to his life resembles your favorite book. Not your fault if you do.

At least have to try.

Tell her a lie , if you understand the syntax also understand your need to lie. Behind the words there are other things: motivation, value, hue, dialogue, not the end of the world.

Disappoint her. The reader knows that failure leads to the climax and that everything has an end, but also understands that there is always the possibility of writing a sequel to the story and you can start over again and again and still remain a hero . It is also aware that during the life will have come across one or two villains.

Why be afraid of what you are not? The girls who read know that people mature, like characters in a story or a novel, except for the stars of the Twilight saga.

If you arrive to find a girl you read, keep it close, and when at two o'clock you find her crying and hugging the book to her chest, prepare some tea and consent to it. Is likely to miss for a couple of hours but always coming back to you. Discuss the book's protagonists as if they were real and that is, for a time, always.

Will you ask marriage during a balloon ride or in the middle of a rock concert, or perhaps the question will formulate absolute chance the next time you get sick, you may even be using Skype.

Will smile so hard that you wonder why your heart has not exploded yet causing blood roll down your chest. Write the story of you, have children with strange names and likes even rarer. She will read to your children The Cat in the Hat and Aslan, and can even do it the same day. Walk together the winters of old age and she will recite the poems of Keats in a whisper while you shake the snow off your boots.

Go out with a girl who reads because you deserve it. You deserve a woman who could give you life more colorful than you can imagine. If you only have to give monotony, time-worn and half-baked proposals, you will better be alone. But if you want the world and worlds beyond, asks out a girl who reads.

Or better yet, one you write.

Hush Hush - Becca Fitzpatrick

"Falling in love was never so easy... or so deadly.

For Nora Grey, romance was not part of the plan. She's never been particularly attracted to the boys at her school, no matter how much her best friend, Vee, pushes them at her. Not until Patch came along. With his easy smile and eyes that seem to see inside her, Nora is drawn to him against her better judgment.

But after a series of terrifying encounters, Nora's not sure who to trust. Patch seems to be everywhere she is, and to know more about her than her closest friends. She can't decide whether she should fall into his arms or run and hide. And when she tries to seek some answers, she finds herself near a truth that is way more unsettling than anything Patch makes her feel.

For Nora is right in the middle of an ancient battle between the immortal and those that have fallen - and, when it comes to choosing sides, the wrong choice will cost her life."

 Summary 

Nora is a sophomore in high school who falls hard for a mysterious new boy in her biology class. But strange things begin happening, and when she finds herself in danger she can't help but suspect him. She is stalked and then attacked by someone dressed in black and wearing a ski mask; her best friend Vee is attacked. Nora suspects two other boys they recently met, but her friend suspects Patch. Then there is the suspicious new therapist digging into Nora's life. When a homeless person is murdered while wearing Nora's coat and her bedroom is ransacked, the danger escalates, but Nora can't avoid the feelings she has for Patch. As she learns more about fallen angels and a deviant race called the Nephilim, she gets closer to Patch and to unravelling the mystery.

 Sequel 

The sequel to Hush, Hush is titled Crescendo. The sequel focuses on Nora's Nephilim bloodlines and the search for her father, who might not be as dead as everyone believes. The third book is Silence. The last book, called Finale is said to come out in Fall 2012.

 Becca Fitzpatrick 

Becca Fitzpatrick (born February 3, 1979) is an American author, best known for having written the New York Times bestseller, Hush, Hush.

Raised in North Platte, Nebraska, she graduated in April 2001 from Brigham Young University with a degree in Community Health, and went to work as a secretary, teacher, and accountant at an alternative high school in Provo.

In February 2003, her husband enrolled her in a writing class for her 24th birthday. It was in that class that Fitzpatrick started writing Hush, Hush.

Other books

• Crescendo
• Silence
• Finale
• Kiss Me Deadly: 13 Tales of Paranormal Love

 Review 

"This story drew me in immediately. Even though there were some similarities to Twilight (the science class partnership) and Fallen (angel element) I really think Hush, Hush was set apart from these by the depth of the characters and the engaging writing style. There was an eerie feel to the story and a darkness that captivated me from the very beginning. I expected to read another typical YA paranormal novel but was pleasantly surprised by the standard of Fitzpatrick’s writing.

Nora Grey is a strong female character who is not only intelligent but also a little fiery which added vigour to her interactions with Patch, the new school transfer who is the cliché tall, dark and handsome with a mysterious past. Nora is drawn to him against her better judgement, but it wasn’t just because he had great abs and was good-looking, there was something more that drew her to him.

I really loved the fallen angel storyline and even though in some ways it was predictable (i.e. the romantic development) there were many aspects that kept me on my toes which made it so much more enjoyable. The angel conflicts unfolded slowly but steadily and had me guessing right up until the very end who on earth was the bad guy and what was going on.

As soon as I closed Hush, Hush I immediately started reading Crescendo to find out what happens next!"

Stargazer - Evernight Saga - By Claudia Gray

To see the first book in the series, Midnight, click here!

"Evernight Academy: an exclusive boarding school for the most beautiful, dangerous students of all - vampires. Bianca, born to two vampires, has always been told her destiny is to become one of them. But Bianca fell in love with Lucas - a vampire hunter sworn to destroy her kind. They were torn apart when his true identity was revealed, forcing him to flee the school. 

Although they may be separated, Bianca and Lucas will not give each other up. She will risk anything for the chance to see him again, even if it means coming face-to-face with the vampire hunters of Black Cross - or deceiving the powerful vampires of Evernight. Bianca's secrets will force her to live a life of lies." 

Yet Bianca isn't the only one keeping secrets. When Evernight is attacked by an evil force that seems to target her, she discovers the truth she thought she knew is only the beginning…"

 Summary 

Stargazer is the second outing for Lucas and Bianca the young star-crossed lovers of Claudia Gray’s Evernight series. Written for the YA market, the Evernight series has all the right ingredients to be a hit with its target audience – vampires, vampire hunters and seemingly doomed first love. Gray writes confidently in Stargazer, delivering a well constructed story that builds upon the strengths of Evernight, her debut novel. These books really need to be read in order so if you haven’t read Evernight yet stop reading this review here (now!) because there be spoilers…

Stargazer begins at the start of a second school year for Bianca at the vampire-run Evernight Academy. Bianca’s first year was somewhat eventful. She found her true love in the form of Lucas, a fellow Evernight pupil. Unfortunately for Bianca, he turned out to hiding an important secret – namely that he was a Black Cross vampire hunter who had secretly infiltrated the school to spy on its vampire teachers and students. This was unfortunate for Bianca for two reasons – firstly because she is the living vampire child born of two vampire parents and secondly because once his secret identity was discovered he had to leave Evernight Academy in a dramatic style and their love became forbidden.

Lucas not being allowed anywhere near the Academy grounds does put something of a crimp in his continuing (now secret) romance with Bianca but where there is a will, young love can certainly find a way, and soon Lucas and Bianca set up secret meetings off campus. The absence of Lucas from most of the story leaves a bit of a gap where romantic relationship development would usually be and sometimes, as a reader, it’s hard to remember exactly why Lucas is the love of Bianca’s life. Yes, he has all the attractions that go with a forbidden lover, a powerful lure for any girl let alone a sheltered vampire child in the flush of first love, but his noticeable absence from the majority of the story means that their relationship stagnates during the course of this book. Over the duration of Stargazer Bianca spends a lot of time with a fellow vampire student Balthazar, and their conflicted relationship – neither of them being the one the other truly wants – was of much greater interest to me than the main feature.

Creepy mystery and drama are added to Stargazer’s plotline in the form of increasingly dangerous ghosts that start to haunt the Evernight Academy. It isn’t long before Bianca uncovers/reveals another terrible truth about her heritage as a vampire child and this is done in the same way it was revealed that she was a vampire in Evernight – as the narrator she knows, has probably always known, but hasn’t revealed the secret to the reader and doesn’t until the drama is heightened to maximum level.

While romance in Stargazer maybe a little lacking the plotline is put to good alternative use revealing more about the vampire world. There are many original ideas in Gray’s vampire mythology – one of the most fascinating being that vampires who are turned at young human ages never fully grow-up. Change being impossible for them because they are dead and essentially can’t change or grow further. The idea behind Evernight Academy – that it is a place to give sanctuary and rehabilitation into modern-day life for ancient, yet young looking, vampires who have lost touch with the modern world – certainly sparks the imagination. Combined with dangerous ghosts, a sneaky murderous vampire and the constant intrigue that surrounds the undead inhabitants of Evernight Academy there is plenty of vamp-centric excitement in Stargazer for readers to enjoy.

 Reception 

Stargazer was listed as "The # 1 New York Times Bestseller". Seventeen magazine praised Claudia Gray's Stargazer writing: “If you like Twilight, this book has even more drama.”. Kirkus Reviews wrote critically of the book saying "Bianca’s tendency to belabor every point, particularly the depth of her love for Lucas, makes for a dull narrative style, and three-dimensional characters are pretty much nonexistent. Despite the predictable romantic entanglements and the constant telling, the plot races along with a search for a crazed renegade vampire, threatening ghosts, uncovered secrets and a flaming climax with a significant body count. Fans of the first volume will be satisfied; insufficient back story means no one else will know (or care) what is going on." Stargazer received a rating of 3.96 on Goodreads.com which is the highest rating of the series.

 The review 

"The first book in this four-book series was a surprisingly strong read for me.  It was on the dramatic side and I had expected something that was simply a rehash of every vampire story I've ever read, but what I was most shocked about was that this book was fun.  This series has the serious love and the heightened emotions that make up the most entertaining stories.  With how much I enjoyed Evernight, I came into Stargazer with the expectations of meeting the same level of enjoyment, and the second book holds its own in the series as a whole.  Gray has established herself with this and some strong short stories as a solid writer in my book.  Her second book doesn't disappoint and makes the reader eager for the third installment.

 Teens Bianca and Lucas met at Evernight Academy.  Lucas was there for the first time, and Bianca's parents were establishing themselves as live-in professors like the rest of the educational staff.  Boarding school was not looking strong for either of them, but one thing they did come to like about Evernight Academy was their relationship with each other.  Bianca and Lucas fell in love the way starcrossed teenagers do, and it seemed like their relationship would be fairly normal until their reality started to unravel.  Bianca, as well as a majority of Evernight's population, was a vampire.  Lucas was a vampire hunter.  Things did not go according to plan.

Now, Bianca and Lucas are still in love, but they are no longer together at good-old Evernight Academy.  Lucas is stationed with the Black Cross, the most deadly and prominent of the vampire hunting groups, and is presumably far away from the goings on at Evernight Academy.  Balthazar seems ready to pick up the pieces and take over where Lucas left off, but Bianca can only think of the older vampire as a brother.  Balthazar has trouble accepting the fact that Bianca won't be his, but he can continue to hope as Lucas is out of the picture...or is he?

Evernight Academy has more in store for Bianca, Balthazar, and Lucas than they could have ever anticipated.  As tension between the school for vampires and the Black Cross heats up, so does the tension between Bianca and her love interests.  Bianca and Lucas find difficult ways to see each other, but the ultimate risk is worth it if it means being together.  The family Lucas knows at the Black Cross still doesn't realize that the mysterious Bianca isn't a trapped human student at Evernight, and a ghostly apparition that begins showing itself at the school also spells bad tidings.  Can Bianca and Lucas ever overcome the odds and be together, or is there more than just human/vampire tension that's keeping them apart? 

Claudia Gray does a great job of keeping Bianca interesting and relative in this sequel.  It had been about a year since I read Evernight, so my direct details of Bianca were fuzzy on the reading, but I easily slipped back into her narration as I started Stargazer.  Gray does a great job of establishing who Bianca was when the last book left off and then moves on.  Stargazer is a very important story in the series concerning separation between the protagonists.  It helps strengthen their relationship, but at the same time it helps quell the feelings of insta-love that Bianca seemed to give off in Evernight.  Bianca's a very likable character that is fun to read about because of the drama and stakes that she has going on in her life.  She's very sneaky and willing to go big in order to get what she wants.  It leads to her making some very teenage decisions.  However, I find her realistic as a teenager in regards to the rash decision making, and when things are important she's willing to fight for herself and for what she loves.  Bianca gets pulled in many directions because of the good people she sees in the Black Cross and the good vampires she sees at Evernight.  The moral conundrum that Bianca faces is what really makes her stand out for me in this book.  She faces this complex tug between the human and vampire sides, and the gray area that it actually is doesn't feel like an authorial tempt at a moral lesson for teenagers.  Everyone is the same, stop with the misunderstandings!  Bianca isn't afraid to question her beliefs, the people around her, and even Lucas and his beliefs.  Gray makes her a really great character in that regard.  Bianca is naturally suspicious and used to drama, and it allows her to show readers and herself that questioning is needed, even if it does make things more complex and difficult to deal with in the long run.

The characters that accompany Bianca in this volume really start to show themselves in terms of their complexity in the plot.  Some of them are merely there as villains and plot-needed people, but Gray manages to make them feel like real characters instead of just plot devices.  Balthazar is still just as rugged, sexy, and brooding as ever.  It may seem odd that he isn't the love interest at first, but I love that Gray is able to show his complex friendship with Bianca and hint at the darker parts of his past in Stargazer.  We as readers really get a stronger connection to what his character is supposed to have in terms of motivation.  Lucas was still quite heroic in this volume, but Bianca's questioning of his issues regarding vampires is very welcome, and I liked that their relationship wasn't shown as something that was without internal struggles.  Lucas is still on the "ridiculously perfect" side, but I have come to find him a good character despite the definition he seems to fit.  Bianca's parents, Lucas's family, and some of the vampire students (new and old characters) return with a sense of strong place as well.  Gray has a lot of side characters that I can remember (names non-withstanding - I'm bad at remembering names outside of the main characters) by personality and action, and I find that really great.  These characters don't all have a lot of complexity beyond their place in the plot, but they all work together very well and leave a good enough impression on me that I remember their personalities and interactions with Bianca, Balthazar, and Lucas.

 Gray's writing is really the biggest reason why I've come to find this series positively amazing.  It's a style that incorporates a fair amount of description and word use without overusing either one, and it really encapsulates the drama and intrigue of the world.  As a reader, I can also tell that Gray had fun writing this series.  That is what makes it so fun to read.  Gray's style sucks you in and gets you invested in the characters and story.  Whenever she pulls out a new twist, the reader immediately gets a sense of heightened excitement.  Gray knows how to take a book that in all reasoning should have been slow and make it fast paced by the way her style and the plot flow.  She turned Bianca's drama and moral problems into something that could also be addressed with a plot and with actual events that go on.  The middle books of series tend to focus so much on the character that they lose the sense of plotting, but Gray avoids that.  Stargazer felt fast and well-paced despite the higher focus on Bianca's struggles compared to the previous book.  Ultimately, the style is just something that is infinitely entertaining with this story.  Gray's won me over with it, and I've since come to enjoy the various short stories I've read from her because of it.  (In case you were wondering, she writes a really solid short story as well.) 

I can't be happier with the progress in Claudia Gray's series.  I know it's completed now (at four books) with a spin-off novel coming out in 2012 based on Balthazar (heck yes), and I aim to finish reading it in time for the spin-off.  Gray's writing is fabulous, and I always find it satisfying without losing the entertainment value it holds.  Gray really captures the readers emotions and gives them a story high in drama, characterization, and pure romantic fun.  It's got its share of angst and love-interest-confusion, but Gray makes it stand out with her voice and the ability to twist cliches into things that benefit the overall plot and the characters within it.  For anyone that wants to read a solid paranormal series for the YA set, I have to turn them towards this series.  It has its faults - and its vampires, which are as much a deterrent as a selling point these days - but I love it and that love only gets stronger as I read through it.

Cover:  I really love these covers, although the similarities to the first book in terms of how the face is positioned and what-not make it dull.  I like that the style is uniform, though, and it's an appealing uniformity."

My three favorite female authors of present

My three favorite female authors are:

1. J.K. Rowling: Why? Well, She is who brought me into this world. She demonstrated me how wonderful reading is. She teach me about the importance of friendship. And of course, taught me to never lose faith. 
2. Stephenie Meyer: Why? Well, She showed me the importance of true love, She taught me to give all for LOVE. She taught me the importance motherhood, and above all, to never reject this wonderful experience. She stressed the importance of this planet. We only have one and must be looked after, and that only a few do. But mostly SHE taught me how important it is LIFE. In every way.
3. Suzanne Collins: Why? Well, She taught me how terrible and terrifying it can be war. She taught me to fight for your ideals, although go against the rest of people. She showed me what it is real pain and how to overcome it. She showed me how cruel humans can be, but also the goodness inside those who are pure.

They are women who taught me to face what I touch me, both good and bad things. They taught me to have to be a woman with a lot of perseverance to succeed in a world that is still sexist. A world that claims to accept the differences and believe to be modern, but the only thing it does is to go against such acts. They taught me that if I want to achieve something, with all perseverance and good will you can! They have taught me to be my strong until the end, and win with much honor. Because the only battle is lost, Is the is renounced before even attempting to WIN.

The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks

"When her mother forces her to spend the holidays with his father in a village in North Carolina, Ronnie Miller a 17-year-old can not imagine a worse torture. Three years ago his parents separated, but she never got over it.

His father, concert pianist and piano teacher, living away from everything in a house near the beach, where Ronnie and her younger brother go to a holiday. In this idyllic setting, Ronnie discover the importance of different kinds of love that can populate a person's life: the one between parents and children, love for music and the most important to her first love for a boy ."

 Summary 

Veronica “Ronnie” Miller’s life was turned upside down when her parents divorced and her father, Steve, moved to Wrightsville, North Carolina. Three years later, she remains distant from her parents, particularly Steve, until her mother decides it would be everyone’s best interest if she and her brother spent the summer with him. Resentful and rebellious, Ronnie rejects Steve’s attempts to reach out to her and threatens to return to New York before the summer’s end. But soon Ronnie meets Will, the last person she thought she’d ever be attracted to, and finds herself falling for him, opening herself up to the greatest happiness – and pain – that she has ever known. Ronnie finds out that Steve has stomach cancer.From here she must overcome her fears, but above all should think about how to recover the time with his father.

 The Film Adaption 

The film version of The Last Song was released in the U.S. on March 31, 2010, Unlike previous adaptations of Sparks' novels, Sparks participated in writing the film's screenplay; after agreeing to the project, Sparks invited his college roommate Jeff Van Wie to co-write the script. With Van Wie's help, Sparks finished the screenplay before he began writing the novel. The Last Song is director Julie Anne Robinson's first feature film. The film stars Miley Cyrus as Ronnie, along with Greg Kinnear as Steve, Liam Hemsworth as Will Blakelee, Kelly Preston as Kim, and Bobby Coleman as Jonah.

 The Review 

"The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks is a ‘beautiful’ novel. Yes, that is the word that comes to my mind to describe the story. As I flipped through the last pages of the novel my eyes glittered with tears, of sorrow and of joy and after reading the book amidst the tears, I had a satisfied smile on my face, the kind one has after reading a good book. The book will take you through a journey of all these different emotions. Sparks has this innate ability to get to the heart of relationships and bring out the complexities therein. This novel touches an aspect of parent- children relationship, girl friend – boy friend relationship, brother-sister relationship and friendship in general. The novel has also been made into a movie. In fact, it was written to be made into a movie. The Last Song is perhaps one of the best of Sparks’ books and a must read for all who enjoys his writings.

The story might seem predictable but still it will move you to tears. All the characters seems real and are well defined. As Ronnie’s life changes, the readers can feel the way she matures from a rebellious teenager to a young woman of substance. I loved the character of Jonah too. He is intelligent, adorable and a witty child and the way he cares for his father and sister is simply moving. Steve, too as a father does his best to spend meaningful time with his children. His unconditional love for his children, patience with Ronnie and his belief in her and finally his love for music is remarkable.

The story gives an important lesson to its readers too. Forgiveness is the key to happiness. Life is too short to hold grudges against others. So, forgive and forget and move forward in life."

 If you want to know about its author, Nicholas Sparks, Clic here!

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

"A man has the ability to travel in time and revisit their love story ... Clare and Henry form a seemingly normal couple, they love and try to be happy. However, Henry suffers from a strange illness that led him to travel back in time, which allowed him to meet Clare when he was a child and sentenced him to face his uncertain, and perhaps tragic future. A very original and charming story about the passage of time and the endurance of love that surely fascinated from the first page."

 Summary 

Using alternating first-person perspectives, the novel tells the stories of Henry DeTamble (born 1963), a librarian at the Newberry Library in Chicago, and his wife, Clare Anne Abshire (born 1971), an artist who makes paper sculptures. Henry has a rare genetic disorder, which comes to be known as Chrono-Displacement, that causes him to involuntarily travel through time. When 20-year-old Clare meets 28-year-old Henry at the Newberry Library in 1991 at the opening of the novel, he has never seen her before, although she has known him most of her life.

Henry begins time traveling at the age of five, jumping forward and backward relative to his own timeline. When he leaves, where he goes, or how long his trips will last are all beyond his control. His destinations are tied to his subconscious—he most often travels to places and times related to his own history. Certain stimuli such as stress can trigger Henry's time traveling; he often goes jogging to keep calm and remain in the present. He also searches out pharmaceuticals in the future that may be able to help control his time traveling. He also seeks the advice of a geneticist, Dr. Kendrick. Henry cannot take anything with him into the future or the past; he always arrives naked and then struggles to find clothing, shelter, and food. He amasses a number of survival skills including lock-picking, self-defense, and pickpocketing. Much of this he learns from older versions of himself.

"It's hard being left behind. I wait for Henry, not knowing where he is, wondering if he's okay. It's hard to be the one who stays."

-Clare-

 Genre 

Reviewers have found The Time Traveler's Wife difficult to classify generically: some categorize it as science fiction, others as a romance. Niffenegger herself is reluctant to label the novel, saying she "never thought of it as science fiction, even though it has a science-fiction premise". In Niffenegger's view, the story is primarily about Henry and Clare's relationship and the struggles they endure. She has said that she based Clare and Henry's romance on the "cerebral coupling" of Dorothy Sayers's characters Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane.

Time travel stories to which the novel has been compared include Jack Finney's Time and Again (1970) and the film Somewhere in Time (1980). Henry has been compared to Billy Pilgrim of Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five (1969). Science fiction writer Terence M. Green calls the novel a "timeslip romance". The Time Traveler's Wife is not as concerned with the paradoxes of time travel as is traditional science fiction. Instead, as critic Marc Mohan describes, the novel "uses time travel as a metaphor to explain how two people can feel as if they've known each other their entire lives".

 Audrey Niffenegger 

Audrey Niffenegger (born June 13, 1963 in South Haven, Michigan) trained as a visual artist at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and received her MFA from Northwestern University’s Department of Art Theory and Practice. She has exhibited her artist’s books, prints, paintings, drawings and comics at Printworks Gallery in Chicago since 1987. Her first books were printed and bound by hand in editions of ten. Two of these have since been commercially published by Harry N. Abrams: The Adventuress and The Three Incestuous Sisters. 

Initially imagined as a graphic novel, Niffenegger realized that her idea for a book about a time traveler and his wife would be difficult to represent in still images. She began to work on the project as a novel, and published The Time Traveler’s Wife in 2003 with the independent publisher MacAdam/Cage. It was an international best seller, and has been made into a movie. 

Niffenegger helped to found a new book arts center, the Columbia College Chicago Center for Book and Paper Arts. Niffenegger was part of this group and has taught book arts and fiction writing there, as well as the Newberry Library, Penland School of Craft and other institutions of higher learning. 

Niffenegger is a founding member of the writing collective Text 3 (T3), who publish the litmag little Bang. Niffenegger’s second novel, Her Fearful Symmetry, was published in 2009. In 2008 she made a serialized graphic novel for the London Guardian, The Night Bookmobile, which was published in book form in September, 2010. She is working on her third novel, The Chinchilla Girl in Exile. She has lived in or near Chicago for most of her life.

 The Review 

"The first time I saw the book's title could not help thinking something like "here we go again with the typical story about time travel" so I did not pay any attention. Only after a while I decided to start reading it, not because he had a special interest in him, but because my list of outstanding books and was running out.Novels and stories that deal with time travel so there are many, in my opinion, the difficulty of addressing this issue is no longer talking about what's happening in the past, if this can be changed, how it could be the future and so on., the difficulty really is to deal with a matter that we have all heard and making it practically new. I believe that this novel approach has succeeded in giving the matter quite original.The first thing we find is an unusual character, one who just do not want to relive the past, much less face the future. To Henry his "ability" often a curse because it can not control what you do or where to go. To give it even more interesting when Henry travels in time lose the clothes and all that carry over into the time so each time shift also becomes a struggle for survival.The co-protagonist of this novel is also very important because everything revolves around it. Since childhood, Clare, has had the opportunity to talk and meet a mysterious man who has always refused to answer questions about what will happen in the future. All he knows is that he will be her future husband and all that she is living, the real Henry will not know where they are known as all her past trips to be made where they are already married. Is not it interesting?To really see if it is original or not, I think he's talking about a plot of this book and I will divide it into three and I will explain briefly what it's each to yourself you can decide.The first part focuses primarily on the growth of Clare and the strange relationship with Henry, which will be for her a father, a mentor, a friend and eventually her partner and husband. How does this affect the life of the young? How does the condition? These and many other things raised in this first part enganchándote from the first page.After all these years finally the inevitable happens is that Henry meets Clare and the two marry. This, very briefly, the start of the second part of the story which will mainly focus on the difficulties that have to be happy. This is when you actually see it back in time for the protagonist is not so happy as to see his wife as a child. Unable to control it always runs the risk of disappearing at the most inconvenient thing that greatly hinders their attempts to live a normal happy life with the girl he wants.Nor is it easy to accept the "disease" of her husband and constantly living with the uncertainty of not knowing whether Henry will this time or not and does not know what state you'll find when you return.The novel continues to flow unabated, telling you everything you need to get to know the characters, to understand them and worry about what might happen. So without realizing it leads to the third party, where everything comes together the mosaic finally ending in a shocking end which I will not reveal. Obviously.If the story itself grabs the reader and forcing him to read more and more, the way it is written is the perfect support for giving strength to finish the novel.All that is told, is written in first person, from the point of view of Clare such as Henry. This dual perspective on things, it helps to understand things and see how they think the characters and how they feel. Another equally interesting thing is that in this way, we see only what someone is telling us by giving us a demo of the facts, which might then be complemented by the other partner.Finally another thing worth noting is how well the novel is structured and how well designed they are temporary breaks. The author manages to keep the suspense as they often know what will happen in the future but why not and vice versa.In conclusion, this novel would recommend it to all science fiction readers who want to read something original, why not also to all those who, although not of this kind, want to read a beautiful love story. 100% Recommended, I do not regret having read it and I encourage everyone to read"

The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks

"First there were fourteen years away, stolen cards, social impairments, war. Then an awkward compromise, sweeping passion, love improbable. Now, although the gulf that separates them is much deeper, Noah does not lose hope of being reunited with the only woman he has loved. Thus, through the pages of this mysterious book, we discover the story of a love that overcame all barriers imaginable and now, perhaps, can surmount the wall of oblivion."

 Summary 

The Notebook is a contemporary love story set in the pre- and post-World War II era. Noah and Allie spend a wonderful summer together, but her family and the socio-economic realities of the time prevent them from being together. Although Noah attempts to keep in contact with Allie after they are forced to separate, his letters go unanswered. Eventually, Noah professes his undying and eternal love in one final letter. Noah travels north to find gainful employment and to escape the ghost of Allie, and eventually he goes off to war. After serving his country, he returns home to restore an old farmhouse. A newspaper article about his endeavor catches Allie's eye, and 14 years after she last saw Noah, Allie returns to him. The only problem is she is engaged to another man. After spending two wonderful reunion days together, Allie must decide between the two men that she loves.

 Nicholas Sparks 

Nicholas Charles Sparks (born December 31, 1965) is an internationally bestselling American novelist and screenwriter. He has 16 published novels, with elements including cancer, death, pirates, and love. Nine have been adapted to films, including Message in a Bottle, Nights in Rodanthe, Dear John (2010 film) , A Walk to Remember, The Notebook, The Last Song , and most recently The Lucky One.

 Writing career 

Still in school in 1985, Sparks had penned his first (never published) novel, The Passing, while home for the summer between freshman and sophomore years at Notre Dame. He wrote another novel in 1989, also unpublished, The Royal Murders. After college, Sparks sought work with publishers or to attend law school, but was rejected in both attempts. He then spent the next three years trying other careers, including real estate appraisal, waiting tables, selling dental products by phone and starting his own manufacturing business. In 1990, Sparks co-wrote with Billy Mills Wokini: A Lakota Journey to Happiness and Self-Understanding. The book was published by Feather Publishing, Random House, and Hay House. Sales for this book approximated 50,000 copies in its first year after release.

In 1992, Sparks began selling pharmaceuticals and in 1993 was transferred to Greenville, SC. It was there that he wrote another novel in his spare time, The Notebook. Two years later, he was discovered by literary agent Theresa Park, who picked The Notebook out of her agency's slush pile, liked it, and offered to represent him. In October 1995, Park secured a $1 million advance for The Notebook from Time Warner Book Group. The novel was published in October 1996 and made the New York Times best-seller list in its first week of release.

With the success of his first novel, he moved to New Bern, NC. After his first publishing success, he wrote several international bestsellers. Six of his novels have been made into films: Message in a Bottle (1999), A Walk to Remember (2002), The Notebook (2004), Nights in Rodanthe (2008), Dear John (2010), and The Last Song (2010). A seventh, The Lucky One, starring Zac Efron, was released in 2012.

According to his website, he has also sold the screenplay adaptations of True Believer and At First Sight, though it is uncertain whether either film will be made. His latest screenplay turned novel, The Last Song, has been turned into a film produced by Offspring Entertainment for Touchstone Pictures featuring Miley Cyrus.

Sparks began his 16th novel, Safe Haven, on February 17, 2010, and it was published on September 14, 2010. Film producers asked Sparks on August 4 for rights to release a movie adaptation of this new novel and the deal was closed the next day.

On June 17, 2011 Nicholas Sparks stated on his official website that Warner Bros. had bought the movie rights to his new book The Best of Me, which is coming out October 11, 2011. The production date for the movie has not been verified, although Sparks believes that filming of the movie will start in 2012.

On August 2, 2011, Sparks stated via his Twitter page that Safe Haven should begin production some time in October 2011.

 Novels 

-The Notebook, 1996, adapted.

-Message in a Bottle, 1998, adapted the eponymous film.

-Walk to Remember, 1999, adapted the eponymous film.

-The Rescue, 2000.

-Bend in the Road, 2001.

-Nights in Rodanthe, 2002, adapted.

-The Guardian, 2003.

-The Wedding, 2003.

- The Weeks with My Brother, 2004 by Micah Sparks (non-fiction).

-True Believer, 2005.

-At First Sight, 2005.

-Dear John, 2006, adapted to film.

-The Choice, 2007.

-The Last Song, 2009, adapted for the screen.

All his novels have reached the top spot on bestseller lists (bestsellers) in the U.S., which puts Sparks as one of the world's most popular authors, and several of his novels have been adapted to film.

 The Review 

"To some extent this book is something more special than the others I have read from Sparks. It has had its good parts and bad parts. In a tale rich vocabulary I can say I've gained a lot ( ^.^ ). The story is beautiful, tender, like life itself. Sparks presents two well-defined characters contrarastan with each other; Allie: passionate, joyous, overwhelming as a wind that sweeps wherever it goes, but that just is very aware of their obligations and the expectations we all hope her and Noah: eternal romantic willing to do anything for the woman he loves, quiet and peaceful as a lake at sunset, all he asks of the life is enjoy little moments like an afternoon at the porche for listening to the birdsong. The beginning of the story promises that nothing good can happen and as expected, the end leaves us this bittersweet aftertaste in the mouth. Not that I did not like, on the contrary, I loved, but with books of this man always happens the same, just hoping that everything will end well even though you know in advance that it is not. The pace is steady and not too fast nor too slow. In summary, it has all the elements to become the best-seller. It already is. Without hesitation I recommend it, especially if you're a lover of the impossible love stories, because with this you'll be captivated by the characters and end of the book will want to know a little more than the story of Allie and Noah."