I was slightly disappointed in The Best of Me by Nicholas Sparks. I'm not saying that I thought it was a bad book, by any means, but I just found it way too predictable. I love a good twist, and while many people would say that there was one, I found the "twist" way too obvious. Now, I am fully aware that I tend to make judgements about the books I am reading based on many different emotional and personal factors and not on the actual quality of the writing, but I feel like that's how many people base their opinions, anyway. I know that many die-hard Sparks fans would disagree with me here, but I just never felt fully invested in the story line or the characters, which makes me sad considering how incredibly connected I have felt to many of his other characters (especially Noah and Allie). I never really cared about Amanda or Dawson, didn't appreciate the journeys that they had to take, nor did I think either of them tried hard enough at anything. Harsh, I know. But it's my blog.
At any rate, when I finished reading, I decided to go back to Oprah's list. Admittedly, I did take the safe route, choosing a book that I had already read and knew I would like to read
again. I picked She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb, which I had read in high school. After reading it again, I have to say, I definitely do not remember it being that depressing and heartbreaking. Maybe it didn't seem that way to me back when all I did was read, write, and watch that kind of material, but all I just wanted this girl's life to get better! And it was just blow after blow, heartbreak after heartbreak, it was just so difficult to see how much one person can endure (although after reading Unbroken, this was really just a ride on a carousel, comparatively). Don't get me wrong, though, it's a great book and I definitely recommend not only the book, but also the author (I've read his other books and they are equally as powerful). But I definitely picked my next book with care...something not as intense...something a little more carefree. Enter Sarah Dessen.
I just picked up What Happened To Goodbye by Sarah Dessen, my favorite young adult author
and the only one whose books I still read, last night. And I just finished it about 5 minutes ago. Yes, it was a good book, but the only reason why I was able to read it so quickly was because my boss stuck me down at the engraving machine for the last 2 days at work. All I do is program the machine to print new tags and then I had nothing else to do but sit there and read until it finished printing and I had to reset it. I spent last week and this week training my replacement at work and my boss wanted to see her do everything alone, without my help, so he stuck me on these machines. It really hasn't been to terrible, since I was basically getting paid to read all day, which was fantastic, but I still have one more week left in this soul-sucking environment. I wish I was exaggerating. But that is one of the many reasons why I quit. But I digress.
Ridiculously excited that I have the whole weekend to NOT be at work, I will head to the library tomorrow to choose my next book. Not sure what it will be yet, but I am quite excited at the possibilities.
