#3--Dear John

My third book I read for the challenge was Dear John by Nicholas Sparks. This is my second book by him for this so I can only include one more....

Dear John is about John a rebellious high school graduate that enlisted in the army to turn his life around. He doesn't have a good relationship with his father, they just don't seem to understand each other, and he doesn't enjoy coming home. One one of his trips home from Germany (where he is stationed), he meets a college student named Savannah who is working in his area with Habitat for Humanity. He helps retrieve her bag from the ocean and ends up hanging out with her for the remainder of his leave. The book highlights their long distance relationship through their letters and feelings. After reenlisting after 9-11 the two begin to fall apart since he now will have another 2 years before he can return home. After returning home to visit his sick father, he finds out that Savannah has moved on and he is faced with several hard decisions in his life, and difficult situations with both her and his father.

This is a very good book but it is also quite sad as well. After seeing the movie adaption, I think I enjoyed the ending and the flow of the movie better than the book, there are a few small adoptions but the movie is pretty accurate to the book. I really enjoyed both the movie and the book and would recommend it to everyone!

Now moving on to the next book....I think I'm going to read Confessions of a Shopaholic next...it's a bit more fun and upbeat then my previous choices! :)

Picture was found here.

#2--The Rescue

My second book is by one of my favorite authors EVER, Nicholas Sparks. The name of this book was The Rescue and it didn't disappoint! I was up half the night just to finish!

The Rescue is about a young woman named Denise who is forced to move back to her hometown in North Carolina after quitting her job to help her four year old son Kyle with his special needs. As a single mother she could no longer afford their life in Atlanta. They are driving home from a doctors appointment when a huge storm hits and they end up in a ditch. When Denise wakes up Kyle is gone. A volunteer fire fighter named Taylor comes to her rescue and helps to find her son in the wilderness. From that moment they have a bond and slowly get closer throughout the summer and Taylor helps Kyle and Denise through their hard times. The story highlights their hard times and struggles but also about love.

This is one of only 3 Nicholas Sparks books that I can use for this....I would definitely recommend this one!

2 down....98 to go....

Picture from:andreasbookclub.blogspot.com/

#1--Born to Run

Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Christopher McDougall was the first book that I read for the book challenge and it also knocks out one of my 10 non-fiction books!

The book is about the author's (McDougall) quest to find out the secret to running. He goes to visit the Tarahumara Indians of Mexico to find out how they run, this group is known for their ability to run long distances without resting and in a hot climate. In the book the author includes chapters on the science to running and side stories that all come together at the end, when the author himself trains for a 50 mile race with the Tarahumara Indians as well as the best he could find from the US to come down to race.

This book is not something that I would normally read but it was very enjoyable and I would recommend it for anyone that is a runner or would like to get motivated to try it.

Picture courtesy of http://borntorun.org/