Part travelogue, part memoir, Three Weeks With My Brother gives us a fascinating glimpse into the world of international best-selling author Nicholas Sparks. Stalled during the writing of a novel, Sparks starts daydreaming about the possibility of a three week world trip he read about in a brochure. The more he contemplates it, the more excited he gets. Since he and his wife Cathy have five young children, she decides that the trip is not feasible for her, but encourages Nick to invite his brother Micah.

Intermingled with accounts of the exotic locales the brothers visit, Sparks relates the story of his life beginning with his childhood. The reader gets a true sense of the connection of the family. The deep relationship that Nicholas, Micah, their sister Dana, and their parents share survives tough times, marital discord, poverty and rebellion. The three weeks away gives both Micah and Nick the chance to look at their lives in the context of the places they visit. They are awed by what they see and hear, and are able to work through their grief at the losses they have endured.

I was especially appreciative and moved at how open Nicholas Sparks was to revealing his experiences of dealing with a son with autism. Nick and Cathy's long struggle for a diagnosis, the intensive therapy, and the joys and heartaches with their son's progress (and frustrating lack thereof) made me identify with them in a very real way. When the tendency is to put an author up on a pedestal, this real transparency can help us all to realize that famous people have difficulties just like the rest of the world.

The places Micah and Nick visit on their trip around the world - Roratonga, Easter Island, the Taj Mahal, and Machu Picchu (just to name a few) - are described with such vivid language that readers really don't need the beautiful pictures included with the novel. In fact, my first reading of this book was on audio, and I could imagine the places as if I were there with them. My second reading, of a print version, was enhanced by the photographs that allowed me to put faces to the names.

Although in many ways the Sparks lived in the typical American dysfunctional family, their experiences will allow readers to look at their own upbringing with fondness and wistful reminiscing. Many emotions are evoked during the reading of Three Weeks With My Brother - sadness, a good share of tears, joy, and loads of laughter. Heartache comes with life, but so does humor. When Nick explains about the brothers' obsession with weapons and the fact that it was a wonder they didn't kill themselves, I could see so much of my own family mirrored in their experience.

I cannot begin to describe how much this book has meant to me. The beauty of the portrayal of family, faith, and the love between two brothers, is touching. The main characters became familiar companions, and I was sad that this compelling tale had to come to an end.

Moving and inspirational, and more revealing than any interview. If you really want to know the person behind the romance novels he's written and a fan of Mr. sparks, you gotta read this one.

Three Weeks with My Brother is a heart-warming story about, well, two brothers. These two brothers, Nicholas and Micah, can not be more different. What I loved about Three Weeks with My Brother is that it had two plot lines. One was following the childhood of Nicholas and Micah. The other followed what the reader assumed to be "the present"- Micah and Nicholas's trip around the world. Threading two plot lines into one story can be a challenge to some writers because it is difficult to connect the two tales. In Three Weeks with My Brother, the connection is seamless. You flow in and out of each storyline effortlessly. Some of the transitions are very matter-of-fact and entertaining. It takes a lot of skill to pull this type of writing off, but Nicholas Sparks sticks it. When one writes a memoir, there is a personal touch to it. Throughout the book, Nicholas gives us a portal into his life and let's the reader know what he thinks about in everyday life. We get to know his kids and how much he adores his wife. The readers get to peek into the life of an author: the deadlines, the editors, the ideas. We get to witness all of the behind-the-scenes action that goes into writing a best seller. At the end of the book, Nicholas explains the other books he has written. Jamie Sullivan in A Walk to Remember was based off of his sister, who had several cancerous brain tumors. Like A Walk to Remember, a lot of Nicholas's books were based on one of his family members. We also get to see Nicholas change throughout the book-and not just in his childhood. Before going on the three week long trip with Micah, Nicholas is stressed out and worried about things he can control, and even some things he can not control. By the end of the trip, Nicholas is relaxed, open minded, and more appreciative of what is around him. As the book goes on, I became fond of some of his family members. They all played a different, but crucial role in Nicholas's life and helped make him the person he is today. One reader said that the story of Nicholas's life was a distraction from the main plot line of the story. I say that the story of Nicholas's life added more meaning to the story as a whole and gave a better understanding as to what made Nicholas and Micah the way they are. Another reviewer said they found themselves more indulged in the story of Nicholas's life than the story of the trip. I agree, Nicholas's life story had more content and more of a story than that of the trip. All in all, Three Weeks with My Brother was definitely a good read that kept me interested and curious as to what would happen next. It is a book that makes you take a step back and realize how important siblings are and how much you should value them.

What a great discovery. I was looking for something new to read at the library and ran across this book. I loved it.
Nicholas Sparks, author of The Notebook and numerous other novels wrote this book with his brother Micah. The book is about a three-week trip around the world they took together. I was hooked from the first few pages and couldn't put it down.
Their journey takes them to places like Easter Island, Cook's Island, Machu Picchu, India and and the Taj Mahal, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Norway.... Seeing the things they saw through their eyes and hearing about their experinece was really wonderful. I learned many interesting facts about all the things they saw and experienced. It was exciting.
The travel experiences, however, were only a portion of the book. Mixed in with all the travel experiences, Sparks tells us the story of his family. I always tend to think that famous and successful people live fairy tale lives. The Sparks borthers have had many, many hard times and many ups and downs in their lives. Through his memoir, you really get to know and love his family - mom, dad, Micah, sister, wife, children.
This isn't a book with only happy endings. There are real life experieces that will make your heart ach, make you cheer, make you laugh and most of all give you hope. I loved this book so much and finished it having so much respect and admiration for Nicholas Sparks that I now have a desire to read his books. (Many of them are based on people from his life and his family experiences.)

I wish I would have known that this is the dude that wrote the Notebook before I bought this book. Quite possibly the sappiest, corniest, shittiest book I've ever read. Don't waste your time.

سيرة ذاتية دافئة، وشيقة ، و لم تخلو من الألم.

Three Weeks With My Brother by Nicolas Sparks, Micah Sparks

I presume you know what the book is about. I'm letting you know what I liked or disliked about it.

How funny this is the first book I've read of Nicholas Sparks. I picked it up because it looked like a great true-story. He references being an author and all in this book but I had noooo clue who he was or what he'd written.

I liked the book very much. It made me laugh, it made me cry, and it made me glad I took the time to read it and to learn more about the relationship of two brothers in a family that was ordinary in an extraordinary way.

I wish I had a brother like Nicholas Sparks. One so aware, caring, feeling, and active in expressing all the thoughts and emotions he carries. I be he writes a hell of a romantic love letter to his wife. deep sigh.

It wasn't until almost a year or so later when I read "Dear John" that I made the connection. Can you imagine how surprised I was to find I knew a lot about his work I just hadn't made the connection.

Life can be funny that way.

This is my third book of Nicholas Sparks. I bought this because this is his only non-fiction book and it is partly his biography as well as a travelogue so it is like buying 2 books at the same time. I remember that the reason why I bought Message in the Bottle was that I saw the movie and I wanted to read and further enjoy the letters in the bottle. I bought his other novel The Lucky One last year in LAX because I saw that it topped the New York Times Bestsellers List and I had to kill time in the airport.

Sadly, I am still not a fan. Okay, I shed a small tear in the part when Dana (his sister) and Micah (his brother) were talking after all (medicines, chemotherapy, etc) had failed to cure the former’s brain tumor. The scene was brief but moving and it was early this morning (around 5 a.m.) so I was tired reading this and was in a hurry to finish this in less than two days. One is a slow-reader if you do not finish a Nicholas Sparks book in a couple of days. The reason why I am saying this is that there is nothing complicated in terms of plot and no big words in all the three books that I read so far. I never had the chance to pick up the dictionary and expand my vocabulary courtesy of Nicholas Sparks.

I think this is exactly what I hate about the books of Nicholas Sparks. You feel moved, your heart felt warm, you might shed a tear but after you have closed the book and think it over, you will feel cheated. The story feels false. Then reading this book, you understand the reason why. - Nicholas Sparks was not born with the talent in writing. He was a A student and it was because has the middle-child syndrome, i.e., he wanted to get the praise and attention of his parents. He also read novels (didn’t I write in my The Great Gatsby review that the character Noah of The Notebook constructed a house for his lost love just like what Gatsby did for Daisy?) but his career prior to hitting it big with The Notebook was that of a medical representative. He was hardly making ends meet and he had to take his share in taking care of his 5 kids so he had to look for a way to earn money while staying home so he tried writing novels.

His novels have been topping the New York Times Bestsellers list. Why? Because he writes so simply that even morons can understand. Then he makes sure that he has the formula that worked in the Notebook. (His two earlier unpublished novels were not with that formula as the first one was the usual whodunit). There must at least one character who is dying or sick and there must be love in all the characters. Then there must be some positive family values that must give that good feeling for all women and Republicans. No wonder, Nicholas Sparks has made his first million with just The Notebook and continue laughing on his way to the bank!

This same formula is here in this book. All the 3 children, Nicholas included, are just cry-babies and he is not ashamed to tell that. They just all cry and cry. Then tragedies and sickness are all in the family. Then there was Micah rebelling in his high school days and the parents still had to love him no matter what. It just feels so contrived. Too formulaic.

As a consolation, even if Nicholas Sparks has been earning million from his books, unless drops this formula, I am sure that he will not win any Pulitzer, Booker Man or Nobel Prize. His novels will never land in any Must Read Books that will be considered as classics that will transcend generations. Common, before reading this book, I read and enjoyed every page of Elizabeth Strout’s Olive Kitteridge, and the comparison is too obvious. This book is a just disappointing.

Sparks beautifully weaves stories from his childhood with a trip around the world with his brother. Have tissues on hand. It'll make you cry.

By far my favorite!!

I've actually read this before when it first came out, but I was younger then and both my parents were alive. Listening to it (why put music in an audiobook? Stop! It's so annoying!) gave me a whole new appreciation for this story, and a deep love and respect for Nicholas Sparks, an author with whom I have a love/hate relationship. I always read his books, but I don't always love the stories. What I do love about them all is the deep faith and morality they are rooted in which glows from the page. I love his characters, his settings, his ability to make you feel like these people are real and these events actually happened. He's a great writer with depth and soul. Now that I'm reminded of the backstories behind his early novels I'm inclined towards a Nicholas Sparks binge, movies, and books. I only gave The Wish 3 stars, only because of the subject matter, not because it's not a really well written book. It will be good to go back and read a few of the 5-star novels, watch some of my favorite movies again, and be reminded that the world is a better place because Nicholas Sparks is in it.