GIVEAWAY: Nicholas Sparks' Novel Learning Series (NLS), including Dear John and A Bend in the Road

If you know me, you know I'm a huge fan of Nicholas Sparks' books, and the book-to-movie adaptations as well. I've reviewed The Best of Me and The Last Song on this blog, and I believe I reviewed The Last Song movie on my film blog as well. So I was excited to hear that Sparks has a teen reading series that takes his novels and adds questions and writing prompts within them so that students can use them to prep for college and the SAT/ACT.

It's called the Novel Learning Series (NLS), and Sparks is including three more books in it this summer: Dear John, A Bend in the Road, and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.

More info about the series:

• Each book contains study guides and "question and explanation" sections
• NLS was launched in 2013 with four of Sparks' books: The Notebook, A Walk to Remember, The Last Song, and Three Weeks with My Brother. The Notebook, Dear John, and The Last Song will also be a part of Walmart's back-to-school promotions.
• Each book also contains standard test questions, which will help students prepare for standardized tests like the SAT and ACT
• Sparks has future plans to publish more of his own titles as well as other "classic works" by authors (such as Mary Shelley, with Frankenstein)

One lucky Books I Think You Should Read reader has the opportunity to win two of Sparks' new books in the series, Dear John and A Bend in the Road! Enter via the Rafflecopter form below. The contest will end on Wednesday, August 7th, at 11:59pm EST, and the winner will be contacted on August 8th and have 24 hours to respond, or an alternate winner will be chosen. U.S./Canada only, please.

Good luck!





a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Quick Pick: The Longest Ride, by Nicholas Sparks

• Opening lines: I sometimes like to think to myself that I'm the last of my kind.
  
  My name is Ira Levinson. I'm a southerner and a Jew, and equally proud to have been called both at one time or another. I'm also an old man. I was born in 1920, the year that alcohol was outlawed and women were given the right to vote, and I often wondered if that was the reason my life turned out the way it did. 
• Reason I picked up the book: I'm a big Nicholas Sparks fan, and also the movie is coming to theaters this April. 
• And what's this book about?
Ira Levinson is in trouble. At ninety-one years old, in poor health and alone in the world, he finds himself stranded on an isolated embankment after a car crash. Suffering multiple injuries, he struggles to retain consciousness until a blurry image materializes and comes into focus beside him: his beloved wife Ruth, who passed away nine years ago. Urging him to hang on, she forces him to remain alert by recounting the stories of their lifetime together – how they met, the precious paintings they collected together, the dark days of WWII and its effect on them and their families. Ira knows that Ruth can’t possibly be in the car with him, but he clings to her words and his memories, reliving the sorrows and everyday joys that defined their marriage.

A few miles away, at a local rodeo, a Wake Forest College senior’s life is about to change. Recovering from a recent break-up, Sophia Danko meets a young cowboy named Luke, who bears little resemblance to the privileged frat boys she has encountered at school. Through Luke, Sophia is introduced to a world in which the stakes of survival and success, ruin and reward -- even life and death – loom large in everyday life. As she and Luke fall in love, Sophia finds herself imagining a future far removed from her plans -- a future that Luke has the power to rewrite . . . if the secret he’s keeping doesn’t destroy it first.

Ira and Ruth. Sophia and Luke. Two couples who have little in common, and who are separated by years and experience. Yet their lives will converge with unexpected poignancy, reminding us all that even the most difficult decisions can yield extraordinary journeys: beyond despair, beyond death, to the farthest reaches of the human heart.

• Recommended for: Anyone who likes Nicholas Sparks books as well as those who like historical fiction. The book was split between Ira's POV and Sophia's, Ira being a 90+ year old man who has been in a car crash and Sophia being a 21-year-old college senior who meets a cowboy, Luke, after a bad breakup.
• Something to know: The movie will be out in theaters on April 10th, 2015! Just from the trailer, it looks like Luke + Sophia's "meet-cute" has been changed - she meets him at a bull-riding rodeo.
• What I would have changed: Not sure. Some parts of the novel were a little slow, but I was interested and engaged in the novel for most of its almost-400 pages.
• Overall rating: 4 out of 5 stars.
• Where can I buy this book? Click here.
  

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The Best of Me

The Best of Me, by Nicholas Sparks.

Neither one of them was able to move or speak as surprise gradually turned to recognition. Dawson's first thought was how much more vivid she was in person than in his memories of her. Her blond hair caught the late afternoon light like burnished gold, and her blue eyes were electric even at a distance. But as he continued to stare, subtle differences slowly came into focus. Her face, he noticed, had lost the softness of youth. The angles of her cheekbones were more visible now and her eyes seemed deeper, framed by a faint tracing of lines at the corners. The years, he realized, had been more than kind: Since he'd seen her last, she'd grown into a mature and remarkable beauty.

I am a huge fan of Nicholas Sparks' books, and this one was no exception, except the ending was much more sad than his usually are.

Amanda and Dawson were deeply in love and were going to move in together after high school, but Amanda's parents forbade it, since his family was from the "wrong side of town." They threatened to not pay for college if Amanda continued seeing him, so she went to Duke and they broke up. Now, twenty-four years later, their mutual mentor Tuck has died, and they both return to their small town of Oriental, and end up seeing each other again. They must decide if what they have is worth jeopardizing Amanda's marriage and home life for, and if it even IS still true love, after all of these years.

As all his novels are, this one was beautifully paced and descriptive. I had an inkling of what the (sad, but kind of bittersweet) ending would be once a few key events happened, and I was thinking "Oh no," and then it ended up playing out that way. The ending is more of a Jodi Picoult type, I thought, but it still works with the novel. The characters and their actions are all very believable, and you will finish The Best of Me in one or two sittings if you have time.

A few of Sparks' novels have been turned into movies, and I was trying to think of a few actors who could play Dawson and Amanda, but the way they are written in the book is very specific. Another of his novels, The Lucky One, features Zac Efron and will be in theaters this April 2012.

4 stars out of 5.

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The Last Song

The Last Song, Nicholas Sparks.

There's a reason why four of Nicholas Sparks' books have been made into movies - they are just THAT good. Granted, I have read almost all of his books, save for the one he wrote with his brother, so I am a bit biased, but I thought that this book was as good as all of his previous ones, and could definitely be made into a movie as well.

Ronnie (Veronica) is in North Carolina for the summer visiting her father, and as a New York City girl, she is not happy to be there. She then meets Will, however, who turns out to be her first love, and summer seems to be looking up; until she finds out a secret her father has been keeping from her. The ending itself was bittersweet, but Ronnie's ending is overall happy, if that makes any sense.

4.5 stars out of 5.

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Year in Review: The Best and Worst Books of 2015

2015 is now gone and done, and although I didn't read as many books as I wanted to (57, according to Goodreads), I still managed to read and publish a good amount of reviews this year.

Here's the list sorted by rating and also alphabetical order, as well as an Amazon link if you're thinking of purchasing/reading any books.

* = guest review

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