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.

Dear America: I Walk in Dread, The Diary of Deliverance Trembley Witness to the Salem Witch Trials by Lisa Rowe Fraustino

Dear America:  I Walk in Dread, The Diary of Deliverance Trembley Witness to the Salem Witch Trials, Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1691 by Lisa Rowe Fraustino

The story unfolds through the eyes and voice of twelve year old Deliverance Trembley, an orphan in Salem Village, Massachusetts in 1691.  Deliverance, or Liv as we come to know her, lives with her seventeen year old sister, Mem, in the house of her uncle who has left them to go on a whaling expedition with instructions that they are not to tell anyone in the village that he is away.  

During his absence, Mem becomes ill and Liv must care for her as well as do all of the chores.  The girls try to attend church when they can.  One Sunday they learn that four girls from their church have become possessed and claim that some of the good ladies of Salem Village are witches and have cursed them and damned them to the devil.  Liv is friends with one of the accused but doesn't believe the good Christian woman she knows could possibly be a witch nor does she believe in witches.  

Soon, the town becomes privy to the fact the uncle has been away and threaten to take action for the orphans.  Fortunately, their brother Benjamin, who has been in the militia returns and saves the girls from an uncertain future.  

Meanwhile, the accused witches are tried and eventually convicted.

While Liv and her sister are fictional characters, most of the other characters are real and the events portrayed in the story are real and given to the best of the writers research and knowledge.

While, I hardly ever read children's books or young adult fiction, I loved this book!  I read the whole thing in one night. Ms. Fraustino really did her homework and gave us an historical ride through the times and lives of the people during the Salem Witch Trials.  I can't wait to read more of the books in her Dear America series!  

Published in 2011 by Scholastic Books.

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.

Electric Barracuda by Tim Dorsey

This is Tim Dorsey's 13th book starring the ever practical yet psycho Florida fugitive, Serge Storms.  This time Serge takes on us on a fun and frolicking "fugitive tour" of Florida.  He keeps a blog and of course he has his faithful, yet stoned sidekick Coleman by his side every step of the way.

Serge is, as usual, being hunted by Federal agents, a bounty hunter, a whole caravan of characters, and his ex-wife in a Turquoise colored T-bird.   We take a trip throughout the sunshine state to see the back streets and "under belly" of Florida including The Everglades, Orlando, Venice, Myakka River, Tampa, and so on.

Besides the "fugitive tour", Serge has a mission this time to help his Grandfather's old gang on the Loop Road to recover funds stolen by a shady lawyer.  Will Serge complete his mission? Will the trackers catch up to him this time?  Will Agent Mahoney, his nemesis, track him down?  Go get this fun, laugh out loud, comedy and found out for yourself.

I can't help but wonder who would play Serge and Coleman in a movie?  Or Agent Mahoney?  I think it would a great movie!

Tim Dorsey is an ex-writer for the Tampa Tribune.  Electric Barracuda was published in 2011 by William Morrow.

The Magic(The Secret) by Rhonda Byrne

In the book's predecessor,  The Secret, Rhonda Byrne teaches us about the Law of Attraction.  Like attracts like.  So if you think positively, you attract positive things to you.  If you think negatively, you attract negative things to you.  It's the law of the Universe.

In The Magic, Rhonda advises the reader to practice saying "thank you" and meaning it.
Say thank you deliberately and with meaning.
The more you say thank you, the more you feel gratitude.
The more gratitude you give out, the more abundance you will receive.  

With practice, the book could teach you how to improve your life in the areas of love, health, wealth, and happiness. 

If you think, "I don't like my job," "I haven't got enough money", "I can't find my perfect partner," "I can't pay my bills," "I think I'm coming down with something," "My child is a problem," "My life is a mess," or "My marriage is in trouble," then you must attract more of those experiences.

But if you think about what you're grateful for, like, "I love my job," "My family is very supportive," "I had the best vacation," "I feel amazing today," "I got the biggest tax refund ever," or "I had a great weekend camping with my son," and you sincerely feel the gratitude, the law of attraction says you must attract more of those things into your life.  It works the same way as metal being drawn to a magnet; your gratitude is magnetic, and the more gratitude you have, the more abundance you magnetize.  It is Universal Law!

I believe and I think you should read this book.  What could it hurt?