The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks

[Ashley]

We will discuss The Notebook in this thread. Please remember to mark your spoilers. :)

[Ana]

i have a difficult time this month so i hope i can start this one soon

[April Lyn]

I read this book when I was younger, maybe 21 or so. I had been in an unhappy marriage for a couple years at that point, and I really didn't like the book at all. But I feel like that is because I was bitter and jaded. (view spoiler)[ You know how there are two guys in the book (I forget their names) - the one she loves from childhood and the one that she chooses because he is more-or-less "safe" - the guy that her family likes because he makes good money, and he loves her (or appears to) in his own way? I felt like I had made the wrong choice and married someone "safe" that I had nothing in common with. So the book hit a little too close to home. (hide spoiler)]
On a less personal note, I'll say that I've read a small sampling of romance novels in my time (mostly when I was younger) and even though it's not my preferred genre, I feel that Sparks is about as good as it gets when looking for a well-written, less-predictable romance. Dear John is the only other book I've read by him, and it wasn't bad.

[Ana]

just finished it:) it was a great book: nicely written, just a little unpredictability and i loved the ending

[Ana]

April Lyn wrote: "I read this book when I was younger, maybe 21 or so. I had been in an unhappy marriage for a couple years at that point, and I really didn't like the book at all. But I feel like that is because I ..."

i think i know what you mean. i observed that in general romance books leave a different mark on us depending on circumstances. we see a book differently when we are happy or at leat hoping, motivated than when we are dissapointed, hurt...