back when we were grownups by anne tyler

Summary :

The woman is Rebecca Davitch, a fifty-three-year-old grandmother. Is she an impostor in her own life? she asks herself. Is it indeed her own life? Or is it someone else's?

The discovery of this realizes that she has done nothing with her life since a party at colllege when a charming young man came up to her and said 'I can see your'e having a wonderful time' (when she wasn't). She later married that man, and now, many years later, nothing has happened since.Not that she isn't happy with her stepdaughters Patch, No-No, and Biddy. And her own family Min Foo. But when Rebecca decides to change her life and the way people look at her, she finds out what she never knew was really there all along.

My Thoughts:

"Once upon a time, there was a woman who discovered she had turned into the wrong person."

I have this book quite some time and decided to read it after I read her biography on the web that she won a Pulitzer prize years ago. But mind you, this is not the book she won the prize. So, I just gave it a try.

There's not much conflict only that Rebecca have just realized how wrong she turned out to be. At first, I think the 'what if' she thought really boring. How she tried to remember what she have done in the past and what about she is going to do when she was 19. As far as I read, then I realized that how she figured things of what she have done, she's doing and will do is another exciting step of reading this book. There's a part which she sets out to find out who she really is by looking up the fiancee she gave up for the life she made. She thought she is a woman who fears she has lost her true self, but only to discover that she has been living the life she deserved all along. This is just wonderful because I thought it is actually better not to look too far back.

This is a wonderful book. The story is very light read, and I finished it in one go. It was almost lyrical. It has it's funny moments, it's sad moments but at the end, I just like it as it is.

My Rating: 3.5/5

suzanne's diary for nicholas by james patterson

the summary (J. Patterson website):

Katie Wilkinson has found her perfect man at last. He's a writer, a house painter, an original thinker-everything she's imagined she wanted in a partner. But one day, without explanation, he disappears from her life, leaving behind only a diary for her to read.

This diary is a love letter written by a new mother named Suzanne for her baby son, Nicholas. In it she pours out her heart about how she and the boy's father met, about her hopes for marriage and family, and about the unparalleled joy that having a baby has brought into her life. As Katie reads this touching document, it becomes clear that the lover who has just left her is the husband and father in this young family. She reads on, filled with terror and hope, as she struggles to understand what has happened-and whether her new love has a prayer of surviving.

my thought on this:

He's a tear-jerker! Sorry, but I cried a lot last night after spending 4 hours reading the novel..It's totally like 'don't you aver dare to put me down, Darlyn!'. I never thought James Patterson did a love story at all! Well, I read The Lake House and Cat and Mouse a few years back. When most blogger buddies keep warning me I should have to get ready with Kleenex, I thought, is this book that heartbreaking..?'. Well, the book was exactly more than that. It's a heartwreching and heartwarming..

Once I continued reading from page 40, I just couldn't stop myself. I suppose to sleep at least at 1 am, so that at 6 am I'l be ready, off to the lab like every other day. But last night, was an exception. I think my eyes puffy caused by crying, and look also like another panda bear, for not enough sleeping.. (slept at 3.30 am).I just could't bare to stop, I want to know how it ends badly that I think sometime I just hold my breath.

I'm jealous of Suzanne and Katie to be in love deeply with Matt. He wasn't pictured or portrayed as a perfect guy. But that's made him the perfect guy. The one. He love his woman endlessly and
deeply that loosing them will break his heart, and he did. Suzanne was such a poor woman, I feel so so sorry for her. When she thought that she's lucky to have Matt and Nicholas and hopes that they will be together; like forever, it ends rapidly that she can't even finish her diary for Nicholas. Unfortunately, by the time I knew why Nicholas will never read Suzanne's diary, my eyes cannot hold the tears back anymore..I was sobbing! The whole story of Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas is a touching piece that shows people that there are a few things so important in life. Love, is one of it. Though love may break your heart by loosing someone you love most, there is no reason you give up life. It makes you appreciate what you have then, now and in future..and eventually, the second chance to hold happiness at the end.

James Patterson displays the characters' emotions excellently as he slowly reveals the events that led to the beginning of the story and, eventually, to its ending..I know he is an excellent thriller or suspense writer, but never thought he could do this as a romance writer..A few times while I was reading this, I thought as if i read a Nicholas Sparks novel. =) He moves from a mystery/ thriller writer toward more of a romantic writer in this book, and he did it in an excellent way as the writing is great and of course this is a book that you could read over and over again. I really recommend this book =p

p/s: I wonder if the movie as good as the book ;p

my rating: 4.5/5

Christina Applegate (Suzanne) and Johnathan Schaech (Matt)
in Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas movie.

a painted house by john grisham

the summary (Goodreads):

Until that September of 1952, Luke Chandler had never kept a secret or told a single lie. But in the long, hot summer of his seventh year, two groups of migrant workers — and two very dangerous men — came through the Arkansas Delta to work the Chandler cotton farm. And suddenly mysteries are flooding Luke’s world.

A brutal murder leaves the town seething in gossip and suspicion. A beautiful young woman ignites forbidden passions. A fatherless baby is born ... and someone has begun furtively painting the bare clapboards of the Chandler farmhouse, slowly, painstakingly, bathing the run-down structure in gleaming white. And as young Luke watches the world around him, he unravels secrets that could shatter lives — and change his family and his town forever....

my thought on this:

This is totally unlike other stories by Grisham..I knew it will be different as i bought this book in a car boot sale a few months ago and i wasn't surprise.I love his books, you name it, the pelican Brief, the client, the Partner, a time to kill and etc.they were awesome, but this book is just another different perspective of Grisham. I read a a lot of reviews or comments from a lot of people about this book, some like it, and some don't..Our expectations on books might differs form each other right?

But as for myself, I absolutely like it..the storyline, I have to admit that it was very simple, as it was told by a seven years old boy from his mind..This book had a lazy start, but it picked up pretty quickly. It isn't a legal thriller like most Grisham books, but instead a story of a cotton-farming family in 1950's Arkansas. The characters and story were well developed, and the ending left me wanting to read more books about this family..

I especially loved the main character..Luke Chandler is a precocious, wholly lovable young narrator whose voice rings authentic and true..it doesn't have the characters were more real and really engaging to me..for the first time, i really appreciate his easy-to-read, well-paced, w/o getting mixed up by side issues and details along the way..and also, I have never read a book where the author is able to capture how a child mind works better than this book..

You probably will think it's a little weird/boring/whatever you might feel at first but when you finish it you will find out that it is actually a good read with a suprising twist towards the end of the book.. =)

p/s: I know there was a movie based on this book, but never have the opportunity to wacth it =(

my rating: 4/5

practical magic by alice hoffman

The Summary (copied from alice hoffman site):

For more than two hundred years, the Owens women have been blamed for everything that went wrong in their Massachusetts town. Gillian and Sally endured that fate: As children, the sisters were forever outsiders, taunted, talked about, pointed at. Their elderly aunts almost seemed to encourage the whispers of witchery, with their darkened house and their love concoctions and their crowd of black cats. All Gillian and Sally wanted to do was escape. One would do so by marrying, the other by running away. But the bonds they shared brought them back to each other, and to the magic they couldn’t escape. A delicious novel about witches and real love, family life and everyday spells. A literary incantation.

What i think about the book:

ehmmm..(clear my throat..), i think the book is a good..but i dont really expect much as i read quarter of it..because right ahead, i know the movie is a lot better than the book..maybe because i already watched the movie, then i'll sum up with this kind of confessions on the book.. naturally, the book is readable and i like how the story goes..simple, but also a bit captivate..i love fantasy plus a little romance in it..magic is sometime cool, but will cost you a lot if you don't aware of it's danger..sally and gillian knew that their life will never escape from the witchery lineage that they have since 200 years ago from maria owens, but they also longed for a normal life like others in non-magic way which people will accept you as who you are..sally is kind of timid, and gillian is very messed up, pretty but really messed up..like all problems revolved around her..and sally is like her life saver..

hoffman thought of some cool love and magic conflict here..she made the love as the trigger of the owens's curse (one who marries owens will die when the time comes--this is very tragic idea), however, love also the obvious thing that conquers all in the end and in fact, break the curse..the only flaw i can find in this book is that, there were so much information/description's overlapping..the redundant of info's made me sometime confused, e.g; hoffman was telling what sally was thinking about gillian's problems and at the same time hoffman also described whatever gillian was thinking of jimmy angelov in sally's thinking.. and there's so much parts like that..

my thought on practical magic movie:

practical magic is kind of my favourite movie..i can watch it all over without bored..sally (sandra bullock) and gillian (nicole kidman) were awesome..later, after i knew that the movie was based on alice hoffman bestseller book, i hoped/wished that someday i can read the book..now i already read the book, my curiosity of how the book might be is answered..it's only that, what they showed in the movie was only half of the book, and another half was made up..but whenever i watch it, i think it just goes with the flow and sometimes, made it even better than the book..like everything was made sense..and now i think both of the movie and the book are just that good.. =p

My Rating: 4.5/5

handle with care by jodi picoult

The Summary: (the synopsis totally from picoult's blog)

When Charlotte and Sean O’Keefe’s daughter, Willow, is born with severe osteogenesis imperfecta, they are devastated – she will suffer hundreds of broken bones as she grows, a lifetime of pain. As the family struggles to make ends meet to cover Willow’s medical expenses, Charlotte thinks she has found an answer. If she files a wrongful birth lawsuit against her ob/gyn for not telling her in advance that her child would be born severely disabled, the monetary payouts might ensure a lifetime of care for Willow. But it means that Charlotte has to get up in a court of law and say in public that she would have terminated the pregnancy if she’d known about the disability in advance – words that her husband can’t abide, that Willow will hear, and that Charlotte cannot reconcile. And the ob/gyn she’s suing isn’t just her physician – it’s her best friend.

My thoughts on this:

well, i don't how to put it in words, totally..once, before i start to read this, i asked shy what's her opinions on picoult's work( i never read any of hers by the way)..and she warned me to be ready as i will be totally absorbed by the book..that can be possible i guessed because it always turn out that way many times..and i end up believing that she's right..

handle with care is well written, it’s conscientiously researched, exciting lawsuit to pull you along and so much information regarding to medical procedures, terms and sometime i googled it to find what does it means..i have to agree that this story really succeed to make me pull myself together and read it till the end..but there was time when i was reading, i had to stop because i couldn't continue to read the next line..and it took me a day to carry on the reading..her story is not boring, it is just that, it's heavy..too emotional..picoult has her own style to to elaborate, make us believe what she's telling and twist everything around and make me don't understand at all..the story was full of complication and emotions mixture between the disabled child, the wife, the husband, the other child, the best friend, and everyone around them..

it made me stress to read her story, really..it's not like other books that i've read..when i read novels, i really hope at least there is a happy ending..even it is a thriller, crime, world saving, or anything close to that kind, but in hers, i can't find any..after so much obstacles they had to face, end up like they actually gain for nothing?is this for real? i have to ask myself over and over again..

i love the book..i love the way it was written, and have to admit, there are so much in there that i love..it is a good read after all, (only i think that it is not a light read..it is way too heavy less then reading stephen king..) the only flaw i can find is me, that i hate the ending..i hate to figure out that there is actually not a slightest happy ending in this book.. and i hate when it comes to that dead end..it just like, what?is this the end?are you joking me?

this is what i sincerely think about the book..picoult may be a great author, she has great story to tell, only that (for this book) i hate the fact that the story absolutely made me disappointed because it has no happy ending like i hope for..and that is why people think she's a remarkable author indeed..succeed to make a person like me to hate the book, but cannot resist or stop me to read her other books after all.. =p

My rating: 4/5

the guardian by nicholas sparks

The summary:

Julie Barenson is just like any other ordinary girl. Except, he lost her husband when she was still young at age of 25 years old. Fortunately, her husband left her with two unexpected gifts; a Great Dane dog (Singer) and a promise that he will always be watching her. It took her some time to recover from her husband death but having Singer around really help her to be herself once again. And also ready to accept someone new in her life, again. There are two guys that really take her attention, after a few are just wasting her time. It’s either Richard Franklin, a handsome engineer who really treats her like more than a woman or Michael Harris who is her husband's best friend. The choosing thing supposes to lead her to happiness that she long awaited. It is normal when you get to choose but it’s way not normal if the one of you has to choose is a psychopath..

My review:

It took me quite some time before I wanted to read his book. This is my first time to read Nicholas Sparks novel. And to tell the truth I’m a bit picky when it comes to read other new authors works. However, the guardian really takes my heart away.. i like how the story was established. Sparks really know how to attach readers to read the books till the end without a minor flaw..the first half of the book tells you the development of julie and richard, as well as julie and mike's relationships..i thought it just like another mills and boons story instead you are not going to believe what will happen next, after julie turned richard down..it really scared me to death imagining richard (the psychopath) hunting and tracking her down to make her his..i'm really angry with richard all the time, whenever i read his doings to hurt people, unimaginable..it catches my nerves when it is the richard part..moreover the way he tried to kill singer, the clever dog! apart from that, the romance creation between julie and mike were really sweet, how they joked and teased each other...i found the story is really excellent..a combination of romance and suspense, and a worth reading =p

My rating: 4.5/5