Tag: nicholas sparks

The Longest Ride by Nicholas Sparks

Leave a comment

I’ve been meaning to read The Longest Ride by Nicholas Sparks for awhile, and even bought a paperback copy from the bookstore when I went about a year ago, but it’s taken me this long to finally pick it up and read through it. I’m so glad I finally did.

I think in order for me to really enjoy a book I have to either be really interested in what it’s about or I have to be able to somehow relate parts of the story to my life. With this one in particular, there were a lot of things in the story line that I felt I could relate to.

Although I was  a journalism major in college, I took an art major class and actually had considered switching my major because I enjoyed it so much. Still kind of wish I would have done something with art in college. I kind of admired that Sophia had chosen it with her background and having immigrant parents who worked really hard just to survive in a new country. I know she’s a fictional character, but I feel like if she were real it would be a really difficult decision to pursue something you’re passionate about rather than something that will help you land a good job. I respected her for that.

Ira and Ruth’s art collection was also a fascinating part of the story for me. Almost makes me want to start collecting art, but I’m not sure I have the eye that Ruth had. This kind of ties in with me wanted to be an art history major. I just have always had an interest in the arts and it’s cool to think that there could’ve been a couple who lived and met all these amazing artists in their lifetime. Again, I know it’s fictional, but I really loved this part of the story line and how it tied the two couples together in the end.

And, of course, I’ve fallen for the guy who would work himself to death to help out his family. I could definitely see a lot of him in Luke, so that kept me interested. Being a hard worker and family-oriented is something that I absolutely find attractive in a man, so I could understand why Sophia would fall so hard. Definitely been there.

Plus, who doesn’t love a good love story in general? This one had a lot of depth to it and you could tell that Nicholas Sparks did a lot of research while writing. I’m honestly surprised it took me this long to read it and I feel like I should definitely read more of his work.

Any recommendations for what Nicholas Sparks book I should read next?

Dear John by Nicholas Sparks

Leave a comment

I’ve been going through this weird sort of dating thing with a guy for the last two years. It really doesn’t make any sense to my family and friends, and I know that it isn’t healthy for me anymore, so I’m working on ending it completely and letting go.

I’ve avoided love stories for this reason, but I actually think reading Dear John may have been what I needed.

John is in the army and has really struggled throughout life. He meets Savannah, they fall in love quickly, but then he has to go away. They write letters, but eventually the distance becomes too much and she ends it. She moves on, gets married, but it’s obvious that they both have a lot of love for each other.

I think reading this book made me really think about how you can have these intense feelings for someone, but that they might not be the right person for you, or that the timing may not be right and it just might not work out for that reason only.

I think it’s important to recognize this and use that as closure so that you can move on. John wanted the best for Savannah and was okay with letting go of his own desires so that she could move on and hopefully be happy. I really like that. I like that they didn’t have their happy ending together, but they both could be happy with how things ended up. It’s more realistic than the fairy tale stories about love.

The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks

Leave a comment

I’ve been on a bit of a Zac Efron kick lately and this is probably one of my favorite movies that he’s starred in, so of course I decided to read the book.

This was actually a really nice break from some of the longer, more serious books that I’ve been reading lately. I actually read the first half of this book so fast that I really delayed finishing it because I didn’t want it to be over.

It was nice how there were little differences from the movie like Logan meeting Keith at the beginning. This was actually really interesting because it set up the hatred Keith had for Logan even before he was with Beth.

The different perspectives for each chapter really worked to tell the story from all sides. When authors do this in books a small part of me always thinks about how I had professors in my writing classes say that this is lazy storytelling. I don’t really care about it though or think that it’s lazy, Game of Thrones does it and that’s one of my favorite series. It’s almost necessary sometimes and helps to bring a story together from different points of view.

The end had me freaking out. I almost cried when Zeus was in the creek. I was seriously more worried about him that anyone else, and they made it seem like Logan died too! I was actually really angry that they would do this in the book and almost put it down. Super relieved when I kept reading and found out that he had survived.