The Best of Me by Nicholas Sparks and The Choice

While I'm not normally a sappy romantic, I have recently finished two books by Nicholas Sparks, The Choice and The Best of Me. 

When choosing books, I usually look for a good writer rather than a good story because I feel like a good writer can write any story and make it good.  Mr. Sparks is just such a writer as every book I have read by him has me on the edge wanting more and I always have this feeling of wanting to hurry up and find out what happens next.  

In The Choice, each of the main characters must make a choice.  One must choose between two men and the other must choose whether or not to pull the feeding tube on a coma patient.

In The Best of Me, high school sweethearts are reunited but their destiny is uncertain and, I must say, totally unpredictable.   This one is reminiscent of The Notebook.  

Like I mentioned before, I'm not usually into romance type novels but these are very well written and also very suspenseful.  And both will keep you up late at night trying to find out what will happen next.    I enjoyed them very much and I highly recommend anything by Nicholas Sparks.  All of his books are National Best Sellers and three of them have been made into motion pictures.

Both were published by Grand Central Publishing.

Gerald's Game by Stephen King

Gerald's Game by Stephen King

First let me say, I did NOT finish this book.  I got one third of the way through and I just couldn't finish  it.  Too much head noise for me.  

The book is a psychological thriller about a couple who have been married for 20 years and have taken a romantic trip to their remote lake house in Maine.  During a kinky sex episode, the wife is handcuffed to the bed against her will and accidentally kills her husband.  She is now alone with her thoughts and fears and her husband is dead.  Page after page we read how she feels, hear the voices inside her head, and I guess we are supposed to be scared but I was anything but.  Unless of course you count the mangy hound that came in and started feeding on the the dead husband.   I was actually bored throughout the few chapters I did read because of the monotonous details of thought and pain and misery.  And if that isn't bad enough, I didn't even like the woman.  

Way over the top!!

But if that is your thing, then you might enjoy it.  By all means, go for it.  

I want to add that this is the first book by Mr. King that I didn't enjoy.  He is the author of one of my all time favorites, The Green Mile. 

Published in 1993 by Signet.

The Reunion by Dan Walsh

The Reunion by Dan Walsh is a story of an Vietnam veteran who has been all but forgotten.  After returning home from Vietnam, Aaron Miller loses everything, his family, his home and his old life as he struggles with depression while the whole country turns their backs on the war and the soldiers who fought in it.  Aaron turns to the streets and drugs and alcohol.  After several years he finds God and gets himself cleaned up but his family still refuses to accept him.  

Dave Russo is a reporter who is writing a book about Vietnam vets.  He contacts a famous vet to interview him for the book but the vet, John Lansing, tells Dave that the story should not be about him but about a war buddy who had saved the lives of three men in their platoon and who had won the Congressional Metal of Honor.  His name was Aaron Miller.  John and his two buddies insist that Dave find Aaron and bring him to their reunion. 

Dave agrees to search for Aaron and is excited about including such a hero in his book.  But what he doesn't know is that his life and the rest of the men's lives will be forever changed.  Especially Aaron Miller.  

Dan Walsh pens a story as if he is telling it to his best friend. There is heartbreak, love, and faith and eventually hope which will pull at your heartstrings throughout.  The book left me with such a good feeling that I highly recommend it. I couldn't put it down.  I love a good book that captures your interest right away and captivates you until it's all you can think about until it's finished.  I cried and I laughed. I really loved it!  I hope you check it out!

Published in September 2012 by Revell.

For One More Day by Mitch Albom

For One More Day by Mitch Albom is the story of a mother and son and the relationship that covers a lifetime and beyond.  

Charley "Chick" Benetto was told by his father that he could either be a mommy's boy or a daddy's boy and of course he chooses to be a daddy's boy playing baseball and spending most his time with his father until one day his father leaves home unexpectedly.  Chick grows up with just his mom and sister but has irrefutable damage to his psyche due to the divorce and becomes a bad husband, a bad father and an all around broken man who is even shunned by his own family.

He begins drinking heavily and one day decides to just end it all and commit suicide by driving his car off an embankment and into a billboard sign but his plan goes awry and he is thrown from the car and knocked unconscious.  While unconscious, he gets a visit from the spirit of his dead mother where he learns of things about her life and the sacrifices she has made for him.

What would we all give for just One More Day with a loved one?  I have personally wished for it many times.

Published in 2006 by Hyperion, For One More Day, despite mixed reviews from critics, made it to the top of the New York Times Bestseller list. 

Calling Invisible Women by Jeanne Ray

Calling Invisible Women by Jeanne Ray is a novel about Clover, a mom in her early fifties whose family never looks at her face.  They speak to her and have meals with her but they never actually see her.  This predicament becomes evident when she wakes up one day and she is gone.  She literally disappears.   And if that's not bad enough, weeks go by before her family members, particularly her husband, even notice.  Luckily, her neighbor  and best friend Marjorie, notices right away dismissing her feelings of insanity.   Clover goes about her days as usual, unnoticed by the general public until one day she finds an ad in the paper for an "Invisible Women's Club" which she attends and learns that her invisibility is caused by certain medications she has been taking.  

The Invisible women then form a plan to force the pharmaceutical company to take the meds off the market and research a cure for their newfound disease.  

This book is insanely humorous and reflects the feeling of being invisible by most middle aged women who feel overlooked or faded into the background.  I liked it very much. 

Published in 2012 by Crown Publishing.  Go read it!

The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom

The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom is a story about the meaning of time and the first man who tries to measure it.  

It's the beginning of the history of man, when Dor, a young boy, discovers time and invents the world's first clock.  But such a discovery comes with a price and not only is he banished from his town for a time but he is also punished by God and sent to live in a cave for centuries where he must hear the voices of all who desire more years, more days, more minutes....

Eventually he is offered a chance to redeem himself by saving the souls of two earthly people, one who wants to end her life and the other who wants to live forever.  And so he appears in modern times with an hourglass that when turned upside down, can stop time and attempts to save these lives and in turn end his eternal curse. 

This book is fantastic and the characters are likable and relatable as well.  It's a fast paced page turner and I liked it very much.  Another great story from Mitch Albom.

Some of my favorite quotes from the book:

“It is never too late or too soon. It is when it is supposed to be.” 

“There is a reason God limits man's days.” 

“When you are measuring life, you are not living it.”