by Nicholas Sparks
In the beginning, there is a man in a hospital, faithfully reading a faded notebook to refresh his wife's memory who suffers from Alzheimer's Disease - theirs is a love story that will prove love can cross beyond boundaries. As the old man reads the notebook, another story unfolds between young lovers Noah Calhoun and Allie Nelson.

Set around summer in the beautiful quaint town of North Carolina in 1946, Noah and Allie were teenagers madly in love. Allie's parents liked Noah as a person but they were downright blunt saying he wasn't fit for her because of his social status. They want someone from a well-known family and has a stable lifestyle that could sustain Allie's future life. When the Nelsons leave the town (they stayed there just for a vacation), Allie has also left her image impressed in Noah's heart. Little did they know that the old house in the place they frequently visit will change the course of their life forever.

Years later, Allie got engaged to a man named Lon while Noah who still remained in North Carolina renovated the old house to perfection. He was the talk-of-the-town in the newspapers and so one day, as Allie was preparing for her wedding she saw a clip ad on the newspaper heralding Noah's success.

Now the question for this is, "will Allie give in to the call of love's second chance? And how will Noah react if Allie comes back to town?"

I had watched the film first before reading the book and I must say that it had given me a decent amount of visuals to help me imagine how the whole atmosphere should be. Reading the context however, was more detailed - the town is as beautiful as it was in the movie, but Allie and Noah (Rachel McAdams & Ryan Gosling) were much alive now in my mind thanks to the film. I cried, laughed, ached and rejoiced all throughout. There was easy connection with the characters as Allie was a painter (I deal with the field of arts) and Noah was a poet (I used to be a writer way back when I was in highschool) so to say, I had a smooth ride reading the story.

As the climax builds up, the flow of narration will hold your breath in suspense and surely you'll end up cheering for both love stories (the old couple + Noah & Allie) which are intertwined by the notebook.

Rating: 5 stars - Nicholas Sparks has done it again. He has been my favorite author and based from the handful of novels I read from him he doesn't disappoint. If you haven't seen the film, the movie or whichever, I recommend you to start with this or A Walk To Remember to give you a clear idea of how great of a writer he is.

by Ann Cameron

I bought this book for a cheap price at National Bookstore, just planning to list it at Bookmooch but somehow at a later time I got myself to open and read it.

It's about a girl named Tzunún, who was nicknamed Colibrí by her mother. The story begins when at a young age of four she was kidnapped from her parents in Guatemala. Since then she has been with Uncle, an ex-soldier and a vagabond beggar who claimed to adopt her and then changed her name to Rosa. Uncle was determined to keep Rosa in his custody with the belief that she will bring him big fortune as predicted by the fortuneteller from one of the towns they settled in.

Rosa, who later realized that Uncle is doing bad things (lies, thefts, connivance with a criminal) and is using her to make up his living tried to escape him and sought help from the fortuneteller; she even asked to adopt her to keep her safe from Uncle. Her adventure and experience as a child will move you in ways, each page leading to the truth about her real life.

Rating: 3 stars - I recommend this book to everyone especially for teens aged 10-12 - there are lessons to be told, and values to be picked up. The flow of the story is quite fast-paced and then slow-mo at times. The ending's a bit cliché yet it will manage to get to your understanding how everything comes in full circle.