my nicholas sparks marathon

I know I mentioned somewhere in this space before that I was embarking on a Nicholas Sparks marathon over the holidays.

When I mentioned I was doing this to people in the real world, 

some of them looked at me and said "who?"

If you are looking at your computer screen and saying "who?" too, I'll  tell you who he is.

I am sure most of you would be familiar with at least one of these movies:

 Message in a Bottle, The Notebook, Dear John, The Lucky One. 

Well Nicholas Sparks is the guy who wrote the original books.

Safe Haven that is due to hit cinemas next month is another one of his.

To be truthful 12 months ago I would have said the same thing if someone had mentioned Nicholas Sparks.

What happened to change this is that I saw some of The Notebook on TV one night and that led me to look it up on Wikipedia, which pointed me in the direction of the book and then I went and borrowed a copy of The Notebook from the local library and read it last year when we were on our beach holiday.

When on the library site I came across a book called The Wedding which was said to be a sequel to The Notebook, containing Noah and Allie's children. 

I think it was out at the time so I didn't borrow it.

Now fast forward 10 months and I finally got around to watching The Notebook DVD that I got a from a garage sale and that led me to wanting to read the sequel, 

and of course that led me to decide to read the rest of his books.

Now I have read all but two of his novels.

One The Guardian the library doesn't have and as they have a policy of only buying books that have been published in the last year they are unlikely to get it.

The other book The Last Song, I have reserved and am waiting on it to be returned.

I have enjoyed reading these books.

They are to use the term loosely, romance novels written by a man,

 but they are more than that , they are about people's journeys through life and how they come out the other side.

Would you my dear friends enjoy reading them I don't know, 

it depends on what sort of books you like to read.

If you like endings with a "and they lived happily ever after" feel then these books are not for you,

 while some end happily others do not.

If you like the typical boy girl meet fall in love, conflict arises, they split and then all is resolved and they get back together plot of standard romance novels- then these books are not for you.

If you like your novels to be light and fluffy, all sunshine and lollipops then these books are not for you.

If you are offended by people sleeping together before they are married then these books are not for you.

 (most sex scenes are glossed over, but in one book they are described in detail)

If you don't like a little supernatural then these books are not for you.

(this is only in a couple)

If you don't like people praying or going to church then these books are not for you.

(Nicholas Sparks is a practicing Catholic and this is reflected throughout the novels, 

his books are multi-denominational though)

If you like a good, well written, story that will touch your heart and stay with you after you have finished reading, then go ahead and by all means try some of Nicholas Spark's novels.

 Personally I really liked them.

I really liked all of them pretty equally but if I had to pick

my favourite would have been The Wedding  

 but you need to have read The Notebook to get the background.

Here is a link to his website with a full list of his novels.

Have you read any of Nicholas Sparks books?
Who's an author you really like?