I’ve avoided The Notebook for years. Finally read it, and I simultaneously don’t know what I was afraid of, and don’t understand the hype.

Sparks is a gifted writer, of course, and paints some beautiful imagery of the NC coast. And there is some tension in the uncertainty of where relationships will go. Other than that, I don’t see what so many people love about this story. Allie is unlikeable, there’s not much character development, and the underlying sense of dread of the end made the whole thing uncomfortable for me. All I felt at the end was relief that I was done reading. ( )

Hard hitting, real and confronting. ( )

It’s probably fair to say that most of us in our middle age and older have seen The Notebook in movie form. Today, however, I read the book, and while it has the same concept, the book is so beautifully written with such lovely visuals, it should be required reading before marriage licenses are given.

Noah and Allie found each other as teenagers, separated by circumstances and parents for fourteen years; Allie finds Noah three weeks before she is to marry Lon, a nice attorney in North Carolina.

As the story goes, Allie ditches Lon and she and Noah live happily ever after until Alzheimer’s steals Allie’s memories. Noah spends the last of his days reading, daily, a notebook that contains the story of Allie and Noah’s life before the mind-stealing disease takes Allie.

The Notebook is the ultimate pull at your heartstrings story and a reminder that the line is ‘until death do us part,’ not ‘until I’m bored and ready to move on.’ ( )

short and sweet. perfect for a rainy day on the couch ( )

Adversity