One Day by David Nicholls

I had high hopes for One Day, by David Nicholls, and most of them were met.  The story is about a man and a woman who meet on July 15, 1988.  Every chapter takes place on July 15, year by year, for twenty years.  Emma wants to be a writer who changes the world.  She's a bit of an idealist at times.  Dexter just wants to have fun.  He wants to travel and do things that are exciting.

Despite their differences, their friendship thrives.  They have years where they don't talk at all.  They have years where they lean heavily on each other.  There are some chapters when I hated Dexter.  I hated that he drank too much, partied too much, and didn't realize that Emma was there for him.  There were chapters where I hated Emma.  She was too complacent and accepting of her dull life.  I, being the hopeless romantic, wanted them to fall in love from the start.

As frustrating as the story was at times, I couldn't help but want to know what was going to happen next.  A year in their lives would go by as I moved to a new chapter, but talented writing filled in the gaps.  Ultimately, the book left me heartbroken - but in a good way.  I miss Dex and Em.  Em and Dex.  I look forward to meeting them again in the upcoming movie.

One Day is a very high concept novel that really works.  It's just right.

On Shadow Beach by Barbara Freethy

My mother is very picky about books, movies, etc.  When she likes something, I take notice.  She enjoyed On Shadow Beach, by Barbara Freethy, and I did too.  It's always nice to read a romance novel with some substance.  Solving a murder that took place thirteen years prior, is good substance, especially when you care about the characters and don't figure out who "did it" until the end of the book.  I didn't even read ahead!  That's an accomplishment for me.

Lauren returns to Angel's Bay thirteen years after her sister was violently murdered.  Lauren had turned her back on the town and the people in it, including her father and her ex-boyfriend, Shane.   When Lauren and Shane meet again, their old attraction remains, despite the rift between them, and the lingering suspicion that he had something to do with Abby's death.  They join forces to finally solve Abby's murder and clear Shane's name.

The book was a quick and very satisfying read.  I found out later that it is the second in a series which upsets me because I'm very linear in my thinking.  I don't like reading books out of order!  That being said, I will definitely be looking for the first book and will continue the series.  I'm excited to find a new author that I enjoy!

Out of Eden by Beth Ciotta

Out of Eden, by Beth Ciotta, is a typical romantic novel.  We’ve got instant attraction, misunderstandings, shoes, nosy neighbors, the long suffering best friend, and the Mafia.  Maybe the Mafia isn’t typical but the point is, there wasn’t anything surprising about this novel.  I was anxious to read a funny romance but instead I found myself just wanting to get through it. 

It’s well-written, there isn’t a problem with that.  The novel has a plot that moves along fairly quickly, but it just wasn’t interesting.  I found the main character to be rather annoying.  She ran her family’s shoe store and let her family walk all over her because she never expressed what she wanted.  She wanted adventure.  She wanted to travel throughout Asia.  She wanted to paint the shoe store!  I wanted to shake her and tell her to just do it!  I understand putting dreams on hold but the constant whining about it was annoying. 

And then there was Jack.  He’s not a very well defined character.  I know he was good looking -as all romantic leads must be - and was a police officer.  Other than his loyalty to friends and family, and his endearing affection for the dog that adopted him, he was pretty boring. 

I guess my thoughts are that I’ve read similar plots that were much more interesting.  When you really don’t care if the romantic leads get together, it’s a problem.  I was disappointed.  It’s not horrible, but it just didn’t get to the point where I’d call it good. 

One Amazing Thing by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

What is one amazing thing about your life?  If you were asked to share one amazing thing, what would it be?  That is the big question in the lovely book One Amazing Thing, by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni.  I immediately liked the premise of this book but didn't realize how much I really loved the characters until the book was over.  I miss them.  I wonder what happened.

The concept of the story is simple, nine people, most strangers, are trapped in a visa and passport agency after a major earthquake.  Seven are there to get their Indian visas.  Two work in the office.  With the ceiling threatening to fall in and the water rising, they face the fact that they may die.  To pass the time, and keep themselves sane, they each share one amazing thing about their life.  Their backgrounds are all very diverse.  Their stories for going - or leaving - India are varied.

Each story is captivating.  After Jiang, the old Chinese grandmother, tells her story, I wanted to know more.  I could have read a whole book just about her!  This continued with each character.  It's a wonderful book to read at the beginning of the new year.  All things seem possible and maybe we can find one amazing thing to share with someone this year.  I highly recommend this book.

One Perfect Rose by Mary Jo Putney

One Perfect Rose, by Mary Jo Putney, was a completely enjoyable read. As I mentioned on my teaser post from yesterday, I've had this book on my shelf for at least ten years. I went through a romance novel phase in my twenties and just stopped reading them at one point. I still hoped to get back to read a few so I kept a shelf of them. I was in need of an "O" book since both of my previous attempts turned out to be books that I didn't like from the start. I picked this off my shelf and was quickly absorbed into the story.

The story revolves around Stephen, a duke who receives life changing news and Rosalind, the daughter of traveling actors, who works as their stage manager. It is a romance with a lot of heart, a lot of humor, and a lot of wonderful characters.

One of my biggest problems with standard issue historical romance novels is the formula plot. Boy and girl meet. They immediately despise each other, despite their obvious chemistry. They finally fall in love and some misunderstanding/kidnapping/war tears them apart. The end of course is happy with the promise of lots of babies and long years of love. It's not bad overall but it does get boring.

One Perfect Rose didn't fit that formula at all. Stephen and Rosalind were smitten from the start. Both felt that they couldn't pursue a relationship because of separate issues, but they couldn't deny their attraction and while they wouldn't admit they were in love, they admitted their affection quite easily. There were moments when something would be revealed and I figured that the big break up scene would occur, but it wouldn't. That was nice. Yes, they had obstacles to overcome, but they did it together.

I highly recommend this book to fans of romance and to people who want to read a sweet story. It was great, one of my favorite books this year.

On Writing by Stephen King

I've been reading On Writing for a very long time but finally finished it last night. It was my back up book. I read it in between other books and on and off for months. It wasn't that I didn't want to read it, it just didn't have the immediacy that other books had (no plot basically). I learned so much from it though.

On Writing is part memoir and part instruction guide. The first part of the book is all about Stephen's life and how he started writing. I found it fascinating how he started out. He was always meant to write and he took initiative early on. His mother was supportive of him and allowed him to do his thing.

Stephen had a lot of difficult times, both financially and personally, and he addresses those very bluntly (sorry about the adverb Steve). He had little miracles, like getting paid for a story when he needed money to buy his daughter's medicine.

As for the writing guide, I really appreciated some of the things he said. He was in sharp contrast to a writing class I just took and I tend to agree with how he does things over my professor. Not that either is wrong, I just think some people work better one way. He doesn't tell the reader/writer what to do, he tells them what he does and how it works for him.

During the writing of this book, he was in that horrible accident and his narration of what happened was quite emotional. He's got a way with words. I'm so thankful he finished this book.

To be fair, I should mention that this is the first Stephen King book I've read. I'm familiar with some of the stories of course and I've seen some movies based on his books, but I'm not a fan of horror. I'm thinking of picking something up though. I've got a lot of respect for Mr. King and I'm thankful for his advice.