One Day

One Day

David Nicholls

Emma and Dexter meet on July 15th, 1988, the day the graduate from University, and the rest is history. We follow Emma and Dexter on every subsequent July 15th for the next 20 years. We see bad jobs and great vacations, one night stands and sad serious relationships, but mostly we see two great friends trying to live life as best they can.

I had been hearing great things about One Day for a while now and it seemed like the perfect summer read. It definitely lived up to it's reputation. By the end I felt like I had been on a long and emotional journey with a girl not unlike myself and a guy a little to attractive for his own good. Only seeing people one day a year was interesting. It was obvious that things had happened, sometimes big things sometimes not, but regardless we got all the important information without all the little details. It was a great representation of the times it travels through.

My only issues with One Day aren't really plot or structure related. Dexter is pretty self centered and obnoxious and at times it is hard to care for him, but that is kind of his purpose. Never the less it is still a little trying to get through his "I'm only twenty (blank)" phase.

If you've got the time I'd definitely recommend One Day. I feel like I was taught a huge lesson about life after finishing it, though i'm still not sure what that lesson is. This one will stay with you for a while!

My Rating:

4/5

Juliet

Juliet
On Sale 8.17.2010

Anne Fortier

The story begins with one Julie Jacobs. Julie has been entranced with Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet her entire life. When her Aunt dies and leaves her a letter explaining that she is in fact Giulietta Tolomei and that her mother died while investigating a family treasure Julie/Giulietta leaves on the first plan for Siena, Italy. While in Siena she learns that family ties run deep, and that no only were Shakespeare's most infamous lovers real, she is related to the real life Juliet.

When I got Juliet in the mail last week I was both excited and a little concerned for what it would turn out to be. The story itself seems forced. Julie is not likable. Having her goals in live grow from her desperate need to be different from her sister Janice made them both petty and unrelateable.

The story of Siena, and the flashbacks to 1340 were helpful and interesting, but they felt like, with a little more detail they could have been their own novel. This was also a case where I would get to an end of a chapter and be upset that there was a drastic change in time and situation. It would only take a few pages to get back into the groove of that specific story but still, it's never fun to "suffer through" a chapter just so you understand what is going on. I was frustrated all through the middle of the novel, when there was little being discovered and much whining and disbelief.

The romantic elements were definitely the strongest in both storylines. The Romeo and Juliet love through time was less creepy then I thought they would be. In a way modern day Giulietta's journey to love is sweet and understandable, and while it's hard to get into a 1340's mind frame, the original Romeo and Juliet story has its own charms.

All in all, a good summer read, but it took far longer and a lot of suspension of disbelief to get through.

My Rating:
3/5

A huge thanks to the LibraryThing early review program for the copy.

Top Ten - Love Stories

Top Ten Picks is a meme hosted by  Random Ramblings! Every week, there will be a different and specific topic given.For this week, the topic is on our all-time favorite love stories. For this topic, we can include love stories from multiple -- and unlimited -- sources; books, TV, films, plays, etc. So in no particular order, here are my picks!

**
Top Ten Favorite Love Stories Of All Time

Books and Plays :

Beatrice and Benedick
By nature I'm sarcastic, and so are these two. They are one of my favorite couples of all time. The fact that they go from absolutely hating each other to being tricked in to love serves as a reminder that sometimes others can see what is better for us than what we really think. Plus Shakespeare's great, and these two are hilarious. 

Elizabeth Bennett and Fitzwilliam Darcy 

What girl hasn't wanted of being Elizabeth Bennett? What has always struck me about Pride and Prejudice is how drastic feelings can change. Even as a reader it is hard to like Darcy the first time you meet him. They're both so proud that they destroy almost all chances of having a real relationship but somehow end up together in this happy world where he saves her sisters and she overcomes her negative perceptions of him. They're really just adorable, and Darcy's proposal is one of my favorite speeches ever

Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger 

I'm a huge Harry Potter Fan. Ron has always been one of my favorite characters. I love how their relationship develops. I love how hurt he is when he sees her with Krum and how upset she gets when he is with Lavender. It's the perfect transition from friends to lovers. I think the one thing that really puts them on this list for me is how different they are. Ron is pretty lazy, into sports and by all accounts and purposes average. Hermione is smart, accomplished and and always nagging.

Landon and Jamie

This is the first book that ever made me cry, and I can garentee that wouldn't have happened had Jamie and Landon been anything but ordinary. They're young, They find themselves in love. What I love the most about A Walk to Remember is how Jamie brings out the best in Landon. She teaches him that he can be more than just one of the cool kids. If you've just seen the movie I really recomend the book, it's a million times better and also one of the only Nicolas Sparks novels worth reading (also, if you must read Nicolas Sparks, avoid the Notebook.)

Leo Gursky  and Alma

Without them, The History of Love doesn't exist. Their story is all told in the past. However, nothing is more romantic to me than the fact that Leo wrote The History of Love for her.  I think this passage will describe it better than I can.

 "He died alone, because hew as too embarrassed to phone anyone.

 Or he died thinking about Alma.

 Or when he chose not to.

 Really there isn't much to say.

 He was a great writer. 

He fell in love. 

It was his life."

TV:

Jim Halpert and Pam Beasley

PB&J! Watching Jim hopelessly love Pam from across the office for three full seasons was heartbreaking. These two could not catch a break. When they were finally able to get together it was so obvious that they really are perfect for each other.  Their pranks, turbulence and occasional run ins with Dwight put them on this list. 

Robin and Marian

I'm not a big fan of the actual folktales but I love how they were portrayed in the BBC series. They both want the same things out of life. They both want to help others. The only difference is how they go about doing it. Marian is Robin's Achilles heel. He loves her more than anything, and that is always apparent. Best Scenes: End of Season 1 when Robin declares his love for the supposedly dead Marian. All of Season 2. 

Movies:

Holly Golightly and Paul Varjak

She's damaged, he's reasonably normal. She's a little crazy and he's infatuated. Who couldn't love Holly Golightly? Their story isn't about mushy love, but he learns from her and she from him.  I love that they run around doing things they've never done. I love that he is willing to let her go because he can't reason with her, but that she goes back. Really I just love the rain scene at the end. 

Guy and Girl (Once)

They're both poor, they're both still in love with someone else and they never kiss. None of this matters, I think they have one of the best love stories of all time. She inspires him to record his music and get his girlfriend back, he inspires her to contact her estranged husband but really they do love each other. I think that's what makes their story so great. The best love stories are the ones where no one kisses, no one confesses their love or makes a huge, outrage romantic gesture, they're the ones that are all about the feeling, and because it's just about the feeling they don't need to be together. That doesn't mean it doesn't kill me every time I watch, but still. 

Amélie Poulain and Nino Quincampoix

I love that Amélie's attempt to bring happiness to others is what leads her to Nino. I love that they're both slightly crazy but mostly I love that Amélie is just like me. She's painfully shy, slightly weird but still a hopeless romantic. I like that her games don't deter him.  They're both so odd that they're a perfect match. 

Alright, I'm done being slightly vague for now!

A Vintage Affair

A Vintage Affair

Isabel Wollff

Meet Phoebe Swift. She has just left her job to start a high end vintage clothing store, Village Vintage. She's in the middle of a bad break-up, her best friends death and her parents drama. With her Village Vintage taking off she is introduce to two very different but interesting love interests, meets a fascinating old woman and buys some awesome clothes.

Not being one who typically reads chick lit I am always surprised by how easy it is to get absorbed by the few good story's that exist in the genera. The characters are all pretty typical, but the Vintage shop is a nice touch and really makes the story interesting. There is an underlying World War II story that stretches throughout the novel and gives it more depth then expected. Overall it was a fun, super quick read (I read it in two days and it's 340 pages). If you're looking for the next great novel, you'll be sadly disappointed but if you're looking for a great escape for summer you're in for a good time.

My Rating
4/5

Thanks to the LibraryThing Early Review program for the book!

The Time Traveler's Wife

The Time Traveler's Wife

Audrey Niffenegger

The Time Traveler's Wife is a different kind of love story. Clare and Henry meet when she is 6 and he is 43. Henry is a Time Traveler, moving in and out of his past and sometimes future, and those of his loved ones.

I'm having a hard time writing anything about this book. I read Niffenegger's latest book, Her Fearful Symmetry last fall and fell in love with it, but The Time Traveler's Wife didn't seem like something for me. About two weeks ago I was really in the move for something like chick lit with more substance, and picked it up. I loved how fully Clare and Henry's stories were intertwined and I loved both of them as characters. They were both flawed, but were good for each other. I loved Henry's past and it's complexities. However, as they aged (in real time, not Henry's moving time) Clare seemed more dependant, and Henry seemed more sheepish.

It was a good read, well written and well organized. These characteristics saved the book, as it could have been a hellish experence of sorting out where in time Henry was and if it was real time or not. It was definitely worth the time spent reading, but in hindsight I would have rather just picked it up at the library and saved the $13

My rating:
3/5