What I'm Reading

Dear John

I have to start by saying that when I bought this book, I picked it up partly because it was on a discount shelf. I did not consciously remember ever hearing of Nicholas Sparks before and certainly did not know the long list of Best Seller's he had written.  I just recently saw a movie trailer that previewed this very title. I was surprised because I rarely ever chose a book to read that later becomes a movie. It was then that I took a closer look at the book, who it was by and what he had written prior to this. I decided to make this my next pick because I wanted to read it before the movie came out.

I have to say the first third of this book held my interest as it was this amazingly descriptive story of electric first love. I remember reading it and being able to put myself in those moments, reliving the moments when I too was truly in love for the first time. I actually enjoy the fact that Sparks made it romantically perfect and let you truly enjoy what these two characters shared. As I started the second third of the book I lost interest. Unlike the first section, he wrote about large periods of time with little detail and I found myself missing the slowness and intimacy that he wrote with in the beginning. But as the book wrapped up, it moved back into that more intimate writing and I realized it was meant to parallel what the main character was going through. Life stood still when he was with her. Every moment lingered. The time in between meant nothing and that is why the author chose not to dwell on it. 

As predictable as parts of this book are, it touches on several unexpected topics that kept me on my toes. There is more then one relationship to follow in this book and they are all touching in their own ways. This book has definitely peaked my interest in reading more of Nicholas Sparks' works.