The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks

In honor of the 10th anniversary of my favorite romantic movie of all time, I will highlight the actual book.  I know.  I hear your feigned sigh over the audacity to feature such a cliché love story.  I personally question your cold beating heart.  As a romance book lover, how can you not love The Notebook!

Even with the popularity of the movie, I encourage each and every one of you to read the words behind the story.  It’s a rather short book.  Just roughly 52,000 words. Sounds like a large amount of text but in the world of fiction, it barely makes the cut from novella to novel.

The Notebook is a classic love story at the core.  Boy from the wrong side of town. Girl from an upscale family. They fall in love only to be forced apart. However, Sparks took the book to a different level by incorporating the ending. The emotionally riddled finale made it different.  Made it unique.  Made it personal to the point the story engrained in your mind and heart years after the first read.  The final chapter allows the reader to experience what happens after the boy gets the girl.  For Noah and Allie, the real ending is both beautiful and heartbreaking creating the ultimate book hangover.  A story doesn’t get much more tissue crusted than that image.  I’m tearing up right now as I type.

Reason for being on the Rack:

I love stories that make you feel something which makes it easy to love Nicholas Sparks books. Many people blab on and on about reading his books while others are closet Kindle lovers.  None the less, we all fall into the same magical world he creates on the pages.

Sparks sells the feeling. One of grandeur set in beautiful southern coastal cities. Sometimes a feeling of love and sometimes a feeling of heartbreak. That’s the twisted thrill of a Sparks book. How will the story end? Is someone going to die? Can I read this book on a plane without embarrassing myself in front of total strangers? Will I throw it on the ground and be haunted by the characters for days? Will I love every bitter-sweet piece of the story?

As for The Notebook, the movie and the book are intermingled together for most people. I read book before the movie but I can no longer picture Noah and Allie without the iconic actors in those roles. The rugged smile of Ryan Gosling and the beautiful Rachel McAdams. Not to mention Oklahoma’s own James Marsden and James Garner.  I fell for the whole package both book and movie.

If you have never had the pleasure of getting lost in a Nicholas Sparks story, start with The Notebook. After-all, it was his first published novel and that accomplishment alone earns this slot on The Book Rack.   Get the Kindle copy here and no one ever has to know why you are snotty mess in the airport.