The Lucky One — by Nicholas Sparks

I'm a Nicholas Sparks fan. Not only does he weave a brilliant love story, but he is able to do so without the pervasive language and graphic smut that his contemporaries so often do. With that in mind I was happy to hear about the newest book and movie (starring Zac Effron) by Sparks- The Lucky One.

The basic story line is about Logan Thibault (pronounced T-Bow) who discovers a picture of Beth in the Iraqi desert. With nothing but a few clues in the photograph, he starts on a cross-country trek of self-discovery, determined to help the woman in the photo who has become his lucky charm. As seems to be the M.O. of Sparks, each chapter of the book is written from one character's perspective, and is therefore titled the name of that character to differentiate the narrator.


What I liked about the book:

• The characters are likeable but flawed.
• I'll say it again, few curse words, and a love story that didn't go into the graphic details.

What I didn't like about the book:

• We're introduced to Beth/Elizabeth at her best friend's house, but after that the friend is never mentioned. And she never introduced her later boyfriend to the friend.
• The ending of the book, where there is a major action scene, is a bit confusing.
• I didn't feel like the end of the book had a good enough of a resolution. I know that life continues on for these characters after the last page, but I don't like wondering too much about what happens to them.

With that being said, I give the book 4 1/2 out of 5 stars. I liked the book a lot, I'll likely enjoy the movie too. For more information on the story, check out this trailer/interview with the actors and the writer himself. Based on the trailer the movie is a lot steamier than the book though, so I can't tell you for sure how "clean" it is.

The Wood Queen — by Karen Mahoney

For this blog posting I was excited to read the second book in the Iron Witch series, The Wood Queen by Karen Mahoney.

In this book, Donna Underwood (dubbed the Iron Witch, due to her iron-tattooed forearms) must figure out how to free her mother from a spell and work with the Wood Queen. Although still facing a trial from her actions in the first book, she must find a way to get the other alchemists to trust her and determine what is really going on with the alchemical order of the Dragon.

While I generally like the book, I did find that the 'The Wood Queen' did not refer back to the happenings in the first book enough for my liking. I frequently found myself trying to remember what had happened before, and why that would have impacted the main character in a certain way. As with any good 'heroes journey' style book, Donna picked up a few friends along the way, strengthened relationships with some previous friends, and stumbled a little with other friends. While I was hoping that The Wood Queen would be a solid 5 stars, I grudgingly give it only 4 stars.