First Book of the New Year: The Last Song

You might remember my New Year's resolution last year. It was to read one book a month. Not a hefty goal for a lot of people out there, I know plenty of people who aim to read 50 books each year. I could never do that, so 12 is sufficient for me.

While I didn't keep that resolution, I was still happy with the results. It encouraged me to read more, and I really enjoyed myself. Now I'm stocked with a bunch of books that I purchased at garage sales or from the Doubleday Book Club, which I joined last year, so I decided to try again this year. I don't know if I expect to make it, since this summer I will be busy with a newborn and a toddler, but we'll see.

Last year, I sort of stopped blogging about my books. I think the last one I reviewed on here was Fahrenheit 451. Since then I've read a few more, which I hope to get to reviewing soon. For now, I will talk about the books I've read so far this year.

In January, I read The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks. I'll admit, I was pretty bored with the last few Nicholas Sparks books I've read, but I feel obligated to read all of his books for some reason. Maybe because at one point in time, I had read all of his books. Then he wrote more. Damn him. So I thought, "I'll just hurry up and read all his books so I can get to reading something else." BUT, I really enjoyed The Last Song. Don't get me wrong, it does follow his typical story line: two people meet in odd circumstances, and in a ridiculously short amount of time they are hopelessly devoted to each other, only to be torn apart by some out-of-the-blue situation. Then they either get back together and live happily ever after, or someone dies. Or both.

This one is about a 17 year old girl from New York City, named Ronnie, who along with her little brother, Jonah, is forced to spend the summer with her father in North Carolina. She hasn't spoken to her father in three years because she blamed him for the dissolution of his marriage with her mother. Ronnie's father is a former concert pianist, who passed along his talent to his daughter. Ronnie, however, refuses to play anymore due to the resentment she has for her father. She tries to stay as far away from her father's house as possible, and ends up hanging with the wrong crowd. After she realizes that her new group of "friends" is no good, she starts spending more time at home and starts to mend her relationship with her father. She also meets a local boy named Will and reluctantly falls head-over-heels in love with him. Turns out he comes from an extremely rich family who doesn't approve of their relationship. Chaos ensues. Then Ronnie and Jonah find out the real reason why their mother sent them to spend the summer with their father: their father is dying of stomach cancer and only has a few more months to live.

At the end of the summer Will moved away for college, Jonah went home with his mother, and Ronnie stayed in NC to take care of her father until his passing. As her father's health was declining, he had been writing one last song, but he couldn't quite get it right. Ronnie decided that she had to finish that song and play it for him before he died, which she did. After her father's death, she decided to live up to his dream for her to go to Juilliard, where she receives a scholarship. Then, out of the blue, Will shows up and tells her that he decided to transfer to a college in New York, and they will be able to be together after all. And every one lives happily ever after. Except Ronnie's father.

Now I'd like to see the movie. I always like to read the book before I see the movie because the books are usually better. Also, I have a hard time reading a book when I already know what's going to happen. Here's the problem I have with seeing the movie: some important movie-making people made the very bad decision to cast Miley freakin' Cyrus as the female lead. I hate Miley Cyrus. But the movie is already on my DVR, so I will force myself to watch it.

All in all, this book really captured my attention and sucked me in. I was pleasantly surprised after the last few Nicholas Sparks books that I've read. Maybe he got his groove back? We shall see. Two more Nicholas Sparks books to go...