Author: Katie Ganshert

It’s long past due for another NYT Best Selling review!

The reason they’re taking so long is because the books have a long wait list at my local library.

Go figure.

Okay, so let me recap how this works.

I choose a book from the NYT best sellers list and commit to reading the first fifty pages, after which, I vlog two reviews–a review for readers, and a review for writers.

The reader review is your standard review.

The writer review, however, is different. This is where I attempt to figure out how the book landed on the coveted NYT best seller’s list.

Let’s get started, shall we?

A Review for Readers:

Video Cliffs Notes:

• This was my first attempt to read a Nicholas Sparks novel.

• When Katie, a mysterious newcomer shows up in Southport, North Carolina, she catches the attention of a widower named Alex, who’s raising two young ones on his own. A romance ensues and secrets about Katie’s not-so-happy past are revealed.

• I wasn’t enthralled, but the book did help me pass the time during some long flights home from Africa.

• At page 150-something, I convinced my husband to watch the movie.

• I wasn’t a fan of the movie, so I lost momentum with the book too.

A Review for Writers:

Video Cliffs Notes:

• Craft books tell us to start our stories with a sense that all is not well. Sparks does this well.

• Right from the get-go, hints are subtly sprinkled throughout, eliciting questions that string the reader along.

• Curiosity is an author’s best friend. Curious readers keep turning pages. –> Click to Tweet

• Sparks gives us a sympathetic male lead.

• Just when the story might start to lag, Sparks throws in an action scene that grabs our attention.

• Know thy audience. Romance readers tend to like those small, southern town settings.

Verdict?

Okay, so I didn’t technically finish this book. But to be fair, it wasn’t Nicholas Sparks fault that I didn’t like the movie. I bet if I would have waited to watch it, I would have stuck this book out.

Next book in the NYT best-selling experiment?

The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick

Which also happens to be a movie.

Let’s Talk: Do movies influence whether or not you read a book?