Book #17 - A Perfect Day by Richard Paul Evans - This book was pretty good. I enjoyed most of it. Here is a little blurb from Amazon:"Almost 10 years ago, Evans's first novel, The Christmas Box, became an enormous bestseller, thrusting him into the international spotlight. In his present novel, good guy protagonist Robert Harlan writes a novel titled A Perfect Day, about his wife, Allyson, and her relationship with her beloved father. The book comes out to popular acclaim, rockets up the charts and thrusts Robert into a new life of fame and fortune. An extended book tour, constant interviews, the adulation of millions of women, and a greedy Hollywood agent soon begin to erode his perfect marriage to the patient, loving, beautiful Allyson. There have been other books about authors self-destructing after great success-Youngblood Hawke by Herman Wouk, to name a notable example-but it's a story that seems timeless, still able to enthrall readers. Evans freshens the material by bringing in a hipster angel with attitude ("Actually, angel folklore is the height of nonsense, right up there with the Easter Bunny") and some bad news for Robert: in 40 days he's going to die. Robert begins to see his life in a new light, realizing that his pre-fame love for his wife and daughter is what he has wanted all along. But is it too late? Robert learns man's purpose on earth ("It's about learning how to love") and returns to hearth and home, hoping Allyson will take him back before he dies. The inevitable twist is clever, the writing throughout assured, the sentiment unapologetic and the author confident that he knows just what his readers want and that he's the man to give it to them."
I did find parts of it a little too much. Who the "angel" actually turned out to be was pretty irritating. I was actually pissed off for the main character in the book. I actually really enjoyed the book up until that point and then I was just mad. It is hard for me to decide if I enjoyed the book enough to look past the crappy part or if the crappy part kind of ruined a really good story for me. At least I don't feel like I wasted my time reading the book though.
Book 18 - Alone, Together by Jack Weyland - Here is another blurb from Amazon:"This heart-wrenching and heartwarming story about the challenges of growing up will have you rooting for two struggling young people in their search for happiness and for each other. Madison, the only Mormon in her high school, isn’t part of the in-crowd. But when she wins a free makeover, she learns some skills that give her the self-confidence she has always lacked. What she has to decide now is whether it is more important to look good or to be good. Josh, a substitute on the high school basketball team, makes an unlikely last-second shot to help his team win the state championship. But unexpected hardships and an untimely death in his family mar his senior year and leave him wondering if there isn’t more to life. Can these two youth who grew up basically alone find happiness together?"
Book 19 - Adam's Story by Jack Weyland - And another Amazon blurb:
"Elder Roberts knows that he and his companion are out of their area. But he has only a few months left on his mission in New Jersey, and there’s one door he just has to knock on. His mom’s parents, who haven’t seen him since he was a baby, live there. Maybe, just maybe, he can get them to accept the gospel like their daughter, Charly, did more than twenty years ago. And maybe he can find out something about his mother who died when he was a baby, and discover a little more about himself in the process. In this humorous and tender sequel to the novels Charley and Sam, best selling author Jack Weyland finally reveals what happened to Adam their only son. "
I saved my review of both books for the end because it is more of a discussion about the author than the individual books. Growing up I loved Jack Weyland and all of his books that he read. All of his books have the same formula. LDS person has a fairly good life, does something "bad" or against church teachings, learns lesson and becomes a better person, lives happily ever after. Growing up I loved a story that had a clean, happy ending. I loved that all of the people in these books lived happily ever after. I guess the one exception that I can think of would be in Charly. That one didn't end as happily.
I checked these books out remember how I loved to read his books growing up. I found that now that I am in a different place in my life, the formula really irritated me. I noticed that the stories are pretty much all the same formula, which I didn't notice back when I loved them, and it bugged me that I loved them so much growing up. I don't feel like I wasted my time really, but I do feel like I'm done reading his books. Normally I don't mind authors who have a "typical formula" but for some reason this one really irritates me right now.
So, now for the books that I have started and not finished. This honestly doesn't happen to me that often. I usually enjoy most any book enough to at least finish reading it. I don't know what caused my funk, but I seem to be in one. I started "Little Earthquakes" by Jennifer Weiner. I think that if I were in a different frame of mind, I might have actually enjoyed this one more. I enjoyed some parts of it, but I just couldn't get into it. Then I started "The Gargoyle" by Andrew Davidson. I had heard on a few different reading threads on some forums that people really enjoyed this one. It started out so good. I loved the beginning parts and I had such high hopes for it. I finally had to stop reading it though. The author is one of those that puts way too much detail into the story. My enjoyment of the book got bogged down in all of the details. I would be reading along and it would just feel so tedious to keep going. Then I would get to a part that would just flow and would really keep my interest. That would last through that bit of the story and then the boggy details would return. It took me more than a week to go about 100 pages into the story. I am a very fast reader, so this was not normal. I actually found myself dreading reading. That was not normal and I did not like that feeling. I love to read and I don't want to dread it. So, I finally just stopped reading it.
Now I am reading "The Pursuit of Happyness". This one is going pretty good so far. I also just bought the newest Nicholas Sparks book. I can always lose myself in one of those books, so I'm looking forward to reading that one. I know that some people don't like Nicholas Sparks or his "formula" but I find myself loving his books and formula. Hopefully one day I won't look back and really dislike it like I have done with Jack Weyland's. Hm....
