The Notebook [Book Talk]

It's been a while since I've talked books here the ol' blog.  To be honest I've kind of slacked off on my reading lately.  But I still have a book or two I haven't reviewed yet so I figured now would be a good time to do it.

This is now my third Nicholas Sparks book in a row.  You can almost never go wrong with a Nicholas Sparks book.  Remember True Believer?  Yeah, you can skip over that one.

I have seen The Notebook multiple times and loved it.  This was my first time reading the book though.  Even though I'm sure most of us know what the book is about I'll give you the synopsis from goodreads.com.

A man with a faded, well-worn notebook open in his lap. A woman experiencing a morning ritual she doesn't understand. Until he begins to read to her. The Notebook is an achingly tender story about the enduring power of love, a story of miracles that will stay with you forever. Set amid the austere beauty of coastal North Carolina in 1946, The Notebook begins with the story of Noah Calhoun, a rural Southerner returned home from World War II. Noah, thirty-one, is restoring a plantation home to its former glory, and he is haunted by images of the beautiful girl he met fourteen years earlier, a girl he loved like no other. Unable to find her, yet unwilling to forget the summer they spent together, Noah is content to live with only memories. . until she unexpectedly returns to his town to see him once again. Allie Nelson, twenty-nine, is now engaged to another man, but realizes that the original passion she felt for Noah has not dimmed with the passage of time. Still, the obstacles that once ended their previous relationship remain, and the gulf between their worlds is too vast to ignore. With her impending marriage only weeks away, Allie is forced to confront her hopes and dreams for the future, a future that only she can shape. Like a puzzle within a puzzle, the story of Noah and Allie is just beginning. As it unfolds, their tale miraculously becomes something different, with much higher stakes. The result is a deeply moving portrait of love itself, the tender moments, and fundamental changes that affect us all. Shining with a beauty that is rarely found in current literature, The Notebook establishes Nicholas Sparks as a classic storyteller with a unique insight into the only emotion that really matters.

As always, the book is different than the movie.  I found the story focused more on the characters in the "now" and less on looking back when they we young, basically the opposite of how the movie told the story. 

I rated this book 4/5, I really liked it.  I'm glad I finally read the book.  This one definitely goes on my books to recommend list.

My next book was supposed to be A Walk to Remember, another movie I've seen many many times but I never borrowed it during the 72 hours it was on hold for me.  It's still on my to-read list but it will have to wait.  I'm currently wrapped up into the Delirium trilogy by Lauren Oliver.  I've finished Delirium (review coming soon!) and am currently reading Pandemonium, which I need to finish soon as my loan has expired.