Writing his Alex Cross series brilliantly, filled with mystery, murder and racy detectives made it almost impossible to imagine this skillful writer taking on a romantic story of loss and love. Patterson blew my assumptions away with the first compelling chapter and kept me riveted until the very end.
The only novel I almost cried for as the ending connected with me on such an emotional level as I held my first born close. I won’t give away the ending but I will admit that Jennifer’s methods pulled at my heart strings as I am doing much the same in my life.
To connect with a fictional character and their grandmother and walk away wanting to follow in their footsteps is something not many authors can make me do. Patterson did it with Sam’s Letters to Jennifer and was such a different type of novel that made me respect his writing ability so much more.
A must read for any romance or Patterson fan if only to take away the talent of one writer.
Thanks for reading,
Sarah Butland
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I absolutely adored this novel and cannot wait to read another one of Rice’s books. The characters were easy to relate to which made the story impossible to put down. Following Sarah Talbot through her journey of cancer made me hope for miracles and pray silently for her. Even though I knew she was a mere character on paper I recognized that this could be any young woman suffering through any life changing illness.
To see her dream despite her chances of living very many more years was heartbreaking as well as awe inspiring. To read about someone, fictional or non, living each day as if it was their last because it very well could be is something everyone should do in order to recognize how precious their own life is.
I will not tell you whether or not Talbot dies or fixes the relationships she becomes entwined with – you’ll have to read Cloud Nine for yourself and find your own island to run away to. You won’t regret it.
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Now to find time to discover another one of her brilliant novels. Any recommendations on which one to get next?
Thanks for reading,
Sarah Butland
A fan of Mary Higgins Clark I was eager to read what her daughter had to say on her own and was surprisingly very disappointed. Burned had so many characters that I found myself not caring enough about any one of them to be curious about the outcome.
The story had great potential but I found the characters did not have enough depth to them to engage me and, although a story isn’t necessarily character driven, I find it so much more enjoyable if I can relate to one of the main characters, especially if their are so many.
Complete with stolen leis, romance, travel and passion Burned takes its readers on a journey from snowstorms to sunny beaches and back.
This novel was well written and is a quick read, especially for someone more interested in the details of the story versus the people in it. I do plan to read another of Carol Higgins Clark’s books but I have plenty of more interesting ones to read before I do.
Thanks for reading,
Sarah Butland
You can’t judge a book by it’s back write up but when time is limited I often do. The first thing that caught my eye, of course, was the cover of this book, the title and the subtitle “Deep underground, evil awaits its prey and then I read the back and immediately knew I had to buy it. Overall a pretty decent read but with several hiccups that took away the stories potential brilliance.
A fan of the mysterious and intermingled religions, Saul had me intrigued in the very beginning and then lost me when evil wrote its own chapter and was continually portrayed as its own character. I can handle, and love, creative brilliance and fictional freedom but, although I finished the book to know if it redeemed itself, my admiration and interest was lost very early on.
I did find myself caring about the well-being of the main character, Ryan McIntyre, and his mother Teri but the predictability of the story line was enough to make this a quick read for me.
For fans of John Saul and readers new to him this novel just might be the one for you as it is for many but I cannot say I’ll be picking up another of Sauls novels in the near future.
Thanks for reading,
Sarah Butland
Once I read The Pigman
I had to read the sequel, The Pigman’s Legacy
.
I found this a great follow-up to a fantastic read as it continued the story and format of Lorraine and John who could be anyone you know, even yourself. Everyone has a Pigman in their life, I’m sure of it, and it’s the legacy the pigman leaves you with that will last forever.
I wish these were the kinds of books they had me reading in school – I would have read and thoroughly enjoyed them more than one they had us read in particular.
Thanks for reading,
Sarah Butland
A friend just reintroduced me to the good works of Raffi, a Canadian writer, singer and entertainer who believes in Children Honouring and so has started his own organization to promote this. He also stands by not promoting his work to children as they do not need to be inundated with marketing ploys.
Raffi is someone I’ll now be looking further into not only for his positivity but also for his devotion to children – our future.
Thanks for reading,
Sarah Butland
A novel my husband read in school and couldn’t stop talking about many years later I had to read The Pigman and I’m absolutely glad I did. Not only is it a fantastic read I feel it gave me even more insight to my awesome husband and the past I was never a part of.
Written from two points of view, a teenage boy and girl, the reader follows their meeting and bonding with a complete stranger and the innocence of once trusting your fellow neighbour. It’s a great feeling to know that there are still good people out there who will open the door to strangers for the mere benefit of an innocent relationship.
This was definitely a novel that sparked mixed reviews but one that I will have my child read when he is older. Paul Zindel surprised me as an author I never heard of and has me hooked on his quick reads.
Thanks for reading,
Sarah Butland
With so many books on the shelves for children how do you know which one is the right one for your own child? I have a newborn and have been given many books already (people know I’m a fan of reading) and have found some “classics” to be books I don’t want to read a second time to my own family. Without first reading the book how do you know which ones you’ll want to read again and again and choose the ones your children will want read to them continuously?
Help Me!
Thanks for reading,
Sarah Butland
Giving birth to my first child was a daunting experience even though I made every effort to remain positive throughout the entire pregnancy. I put forth the best of intentions to have everything go smoothly – concentrating on the date of birth and how long the delivery would take. I was surprised by the outcome for both – one more pleasantly than the other but I made it and now have a wonderful little boy on my hands.
When talking to him, as I am constantly doing, I put forth a great amount of effort to be extremely positive and feel that, for the most part, I’m doing a great job of this. There are times, of course, I say something negative and only realize it when it’s out into the universe. It makes things more difficult when people around us are constantly telling him negative things.
So far I’ve said “life is tough, isn’t it”, “what’s the trouble?”, “you’re so angry”, “why so sad?”, and these are just what I recognized and can remember (being sleep deprived makes you forget things). I’ve heard others say things like ‘life is terrible at this young age’, ‘doesn’t life suck?’ etc. It baffles me every day how negative of a world we live in especially when people (including myself) know how great things are when you remain positive.
If you have any advice at all for how to give little William the best chance of picking up only positive vibes please let me know. Every effort is greatly appreciated.
Thanks for reading,
Sarah Butland
When I was reading Digital Fortress I had friends telling me how much better Deception Point was but I remained doubtful. A huge fan of Dan Brown for many different reasons I enjoyed reading each of his books and can’t wait to get Matter, his book of poetry.
Deception Point took me on a ride around the world, through politics and NASA that won’t soon be forgotten. It’s difficult to know what to believe and yet we have to believe in something to keep our own sanity. As the reader follows Rachel through trying times and her even more testing father, deceptions are clear and some unclear throughout this stories entirety.
A must read for any mystery or Dan Brown fan. Don’t just take my word for it…
Thanks for reading,
Sarah Butland
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