The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks

The Last Song…another excellent story as Nicholas Sparks “sparks” emotions through his real characters who deal with tragic & compelling life events. Another keeper..but his books always are! 

Nicholas Sparks has become one of my favorite authors…I have seen him use so many emotions & situations that are “real” that sometimes I use his books as therapy to get through difficult situations.

Told from the perspectives of the  4 main characters : Steve (the father) Ronnie(the teen daughter) Will( Ronnie’s boyfriend) and Marcus (the “evil character”) their views of how the summer in Wrightsville Beach transpired. Ronnie and her younger brother come from New York to North Carolina to visit their father for the summer.

This story is one of love & forgiveness not just forgiveness of another but of yourself and how this helps to make new beginnings possible. I would recommend this to teens as well as adults.

Page – Rock Hill                                    ISBN  9780446547567

The Defector by Daniel Silva

The Defector is the latest action packed spy thriller featuring the enigmatic art restorer and Israeli assassin, Gabriel Allon.  Six months after the dramatic conclusion of Daniel Silva’s previous novel, Moscow Rules, Allon returns to Umbria to resume his honeymoon with his wife, Chiara, and finish restoring a 17th century altarpiece for the Vatican.  Gabriel soon receives shocking news from London that will once again throw his idyllic world into turmoil: the defector and former Russian intelligence officer, Grigori Bulganov, who saved Gabriel’s life in Moscow, has vanished without a trace.  British intellegence fears Grigori was a double agent all along and has redefected to Moscow.  Gabriel investigates Grigori’s disappearance and proves Grigori was coerced into returning to Russia by the muderous Russian oligarch and arms dealer, Ivan Kharkov. 

At a time when western leaders are pursuing economic diplomacy with Russia, Gabriel’s prepation to undertake the near impossible rescue of Grigori finds disfavor with both Britain and the United States.  A terrible event soon forces the two allies to join Gabriel in his quest for Grigori’s release.  Gabriel and his team of operatives find themselves in a deadly duel of nerve and wit that will take them from London and the shores of Lake Como, to the glittering streets of Geneva and Zurich and finally reach a climax in the snowy birch forests outside of Moscow.  Gabriel will be tested in unimaginable ways and his life will never be the same. 

I have long been a fan of Daniel Silva’s books but I think The Defector is Silva’s best book yet.  I simply could not put this book down and I highly recommend adding this title to your reading list!

Mary Beth – York                                    ISBN  0399155686

South of Broad by Pat Conroy

In his South of Broad, Pat Conroy brings us a wonderful man in the character of Leo King.  Leo is so many things, but always kind, sensitive, smart and smart-mouthed, the product of the gentlest of fathers and most determined of mothers. Haunted by his brother’s suicide, he is considered peculiar and not very good looking, suffering the cognomen, “Toad.” His mother, the high school principal where he attends, forces him to befriend newcomers, with whom he ultimately forms a loyal and diverse coterie that survives the years.  They see each other through AIDS, Hurricane Hugo, infidelities, children, parents, racism, and some crazy situations. It is melodrama written in gorgeous prose, the plot at once disturbing and facile.  I once read a review of Sally Fields’ acting in Steel Magnolias.  Paraphrasing the critic, “Oh boy. Here it comes.  Ms. Fields puts on those little acting shoes and you know you’re going to get it.”  That’s Conroy—-he hauls out his heavy duty pen and lets go.  The whole shebang (Sheba is actually one of his main characters who, of course, becomes a metaphor).  There are mythical mystical animals and the tragic nutcases, the main character included, and the smiley-face killer.  One surprise is in the character of the narrator’s father, in whom Conroy creates a prince of a man, unlike in his previous work.  Ironically, it is one of the victims of the smiley-face killer who comes to Leo in a dream and convinces him to cure himself by smiling. 

    The book is wonderful, yes, and especially so for me, because while I was reading it, I visited Charleston, and walked her lovely streets amidst a load of other tourists, lunched at 82 Queens, stood on the deck watching the ferry we had just missed on its way to Ft. Sumter, visited the ecology-oriented aquarium where my little grandson was to pull the fire alarm and evacuate everyone but the fish, and chatted with the librarian at the Charleston Library Society—third oldest library in the country.  Rainbow row.  Sultry heat.  Perfect. South of Broad is vintage Conroy, where Charleston is the main character, in whose embrace Leo would choose to wake every morning of his life.

Rita – York                  ISBN  9780385413053

Ice Land by Betsy Tobin

Betsy Tobin’s second novel, set in Iceland, A.D. 1000, takes a journey into the ancient past and myths of the gods.  Tobin relies upon variations of Norse mythology to recreate a past age where the gods were not so distantly perceived.  The main character is Freya, an Aesir (god) and the Norse goddess of love, but the mortal characters also play key roles in this entertaining tale.  Christianity has just begun to introduce its “authority” into the lives of the rugged Icelanders.  Amid the untamed beauty of the Iceland’s landscape, the rumblings of Hekla the volcano are becoming edgy and irritable.  There’s sex, love, blood and passion, and the story is both sensual and violent.  Complete with dwarves, the god Odin and a dangerous band of giants, one reviewer writes that Tobin “aimed squarely at the Mists of Avalon audience and hits it big.”

Jennifer L. – York                          ISBN  9781906021344

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

A different type of book…and not different meant in a bad way…Told through the murdered character, a 14 year old girl Susie Salmon…it isn’t just about the murder…it is about how a family deals with or doesn’t deal with grief, it is about the mind of a killer, a different view what heaven may be like so many things rolled into one interesting book. Having lost a step-child who was a teen I see how others deal with grief and understand the emotions. Looking forward to seeing the movie!

Page – Rock Hill                          ISBN 0316666343