My first James Patterson book, from years ago. So very sad, but still a very good read

It has been 6 months since I read this story, and I still have not recovered. There are no words to express this emotional rollercoaster. The characters are family, and their fate belongs to you.
The book becomes a piece of you. Once you read the first page or two, you will be lost until you are forced to close the book. You will be tempted to reopen to page one...you can't let go.

Predivno napisano sa mnogo emocija .

Perskaičiau per du vakarus. Trumpi skyreliai. Labai maloniai skaitėsi. Gražus, romantiškas, šiltas romanas, bet pagalvojus, jog tai rašo vyras - sužavidar labiau. Ir rašytojas, kuris pasirodo kiek detektyvų ir trilerių parašęs! Ne kiekvienas vyras taip jausmingai ir šiltai parašytų. Todėl norėsiu perskaityti ir kelis jo kitus romanus.
Bet taip - buvo saldoka. Ne per ikyriai, bet pabaiga turėjo būti prailginta, o visos meilės seilės - patrumpintos. Reziumė - gražus ir vertas dėmesio romanas!

I adored this book. It was, to me, a beautifully written story which describes a mothers love for her child and husband in the most colourful fashion. The only criticism I have, is that the conclusion felt a bit blunt. All in all, a good read which touches the heart.

All I know is that it was a love novel written by a man. Yep, this didn't work out one bit. Basically it felt like a book written by one of the guys off of "This Old House." Damn they are good with building things but expressing love and the intricacies of the heart... yeah no. Stick to his crime novels because this one leaves you wanting to kick yourself in the balls for even had read it, if that was possible.

Dar viața, oricât de mult noroc îți dă, îți mai aruncă și cate o greutate; Suzanne încearcă să treacă peste toate cu curaj și cu zâmbetul pe buze. Am iubit-o pe Suzanne, cunoscând-o prin intermediul jurnalului. Nu prea citesc eu cărți romantice, dar aceasta mi-a atins o coardă sensibilă – poate pentru că a fost sub formă de jurnal, poate pentru că a fost scrisă cu o sensibilitate aparte, poate pentru că Suzanne, Matt și Nicholas au avut o poveste atât de emoționantă. Am simțit cartea ca pe o ploaie de vară, deși previzibilă, mi-a încântat sufletul cumva.

„Imagine life is a game in which you are juggling five balls. The balls are called work, family, health, friends and integrity. And you’re keeping all of them in the air. But one day, you finally come to understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. The other four balls – family, health, friends, integrity – are made of glass. If you drop one of these, it will be irrevocably scuffed, nicked, perhaps even shattered. And once you truly understand the lesson of the five balls, you will have the beginnings of balance in your life.”
https://mbuubooks.blogspot.com/2019/0...

This was a very fast read. I wanted to read a sappy book, and this was sappy at its worst form. However, that being said, I like my sap to be a little more realistic. I want sap that resonates with real life, not one that is so full of perfect people that it never comes across as true.

There were so many things wrong with this book. I hate reading books that I am picking apart as I read them and this book was like that from start to finish.

The book title was a bit misleading for me. I thought this book was going to be about a dying mother (Suzanne) who writes her son (Nicholas) a diary so he can have something to remember her by, but really what this story is more about is the love story between Suzanne and Matt...and Katie. But back to picking the book apart:

--You can basically throw out the diary part of this. Why? Nobody writes in their diary like this. Not that I keep one, but I definitely cannot see anyone writing in their diary like this. Mental dialogue is written down, descriptions of sex (I thought this was a diary for your son, Suzanne) are noted, narrative descriptions of objects (such as a car speeding down the road). It would have rang more true if the author had stuck to a narrative-type format.

--Every charachter is simply beautiful. And even when the character claims they are not beautiful, you know the reader is supposed to think they are and that the character is even more beautiful on the inside because they possess a humilty about their looks. I can't stand this in a book. There's an art about being subtle in describing characters in a book, but I really hate when a book starts off by letting you know you will be reading about gorgeous people who's only flaw is the drama they will be faced with as the story goes on.

--I hate quirkiness that sounds contrived. People here quote Walt Whitman in normal conversation, have dogs and cats named Gustavus and Guinevere (and yes, it's two separate owners). One can't help but roll their eyes when reading this.

The drama in the book was too maniopulative for me. We were supposed to like both Suzanne and Katie and Matt. Oh, what a dilemma! There were no characters to really hate. None of the characters rang true and so I could never be brought to care about them.

Not quite sure why I gave this two stars. Maybe cause it read fast and so I'm grateful that I did not have to yawn through the story. These one teetered between a one and a two, closer to a one.

I have never read any James Patterson books and after reading this one I don't think I'll ever read another. There were so many things wrong with this book I don't know where to begin. This book is a love story, and I usually love a good romance, but it was so saccharine-sweet it made it unbelievable! I didn't find it at all touching, okay, maybe when the second twist was revealed, but everything before and after that was so sappy and overly sentimental that it was hard to stand. Thank goodness this was a quick read! For me, a love story has to at least give me a good cry for it to be any good and this one left me unemotional.

Most of the story is about a woman writing a diary to her newborn son. The diary contains how her and her son's father met and their undying love for each other and their newborn son. I like this idea but even the way this was written made it unbelievable! There were times where I asked myself, "Who is she writing this diary to?", "Is she really writing in this diary about how her son's father unbuttoned her blouse, slipped her blouse off, put his hands on her hips and bed her?", "Really, is that something you would tell your son?" I was confused.

I think Patterson also meant for this book to me somewhat inspirational leaving us with cheesy metaphors and quotes, like those you'll find in fortune cookies, inspirational daily calendars or mass chain emails. Like I said, completely unmoved. I was left only with its sticky, syrupy sweetness that I can't seem to remove. Yuck!

I first find James Patterson's way of telling a love story in the movie version of Sundays at Tiffany's, where its story is very much different with Capote and Audrey Hepburn. It was about the spirit of a man taking into human shape, given a mission to make a woman happy, but fell in love eventually, torn between his mission for another and his mission for reaching happiness.

In my personal way of browsing the shelves of Book Sale in Market-Market, I was lucky to have found this book. Compromising the price of Php145 to the quality of the book not being in mint condition, I believed this is going to be a goodread.

And it was.

Crying is so refreshing, especially if you are uncontrollably sympathizing to the characters of the story.

The story started with Katie, knowing that she is irrevocably in love with Matt, questionably left her broken hearted. I tend to ask why as my way of participating as a reader, but the initial answer was open the package and read the diary, Katie. Matt never expected to fall in love with her, but he did.

The ink and the epistles that consist the entries of Suzanne to her Nicholas stung Katie. Who is Nicholas? Why Matt warned her that some entries are so hard to read? Why insist on reading it rather than explaining some things in her face?

And so me and Katie as the readers started turning the pages.

Review and Reflections:

The first entry started with simple introductions of Suzanne to his son, Nicholas. As a woman whose parents died of early age, she wanted to write a diary to her son to be reminded of her when he grew up. Suzanne wanted to be remembered as a mother. In this simple way of opening up to a kid full of innocence, this is her way for her kid to remember love. May it be not only with words and actions, but also with a keepsake.

Wouldn't you be grateful that your mother is by your side as you grew up? I was, and still I am. I remember her songs, her biblical parables, her sermons, life lessons, and girl talks. I remember her tips in shopping, her sense of direction, and her heart in explaining her disposition.

But it is not only a communication between Suzanne and Nicholas; it is also a heart-to-heart talk with Katie. That she feels the same. Moving along the diary entries we learned that Suzanne has a successful career, broken up with a career-driven man, changed her whole life and made new beginnings, and eventually fell in love - with a painter and a writer.

I also remember my mother's story of The Cat Race. When we complicate things, we become problematic, and at one point, we may experience a heart attack. Suzanne emphasized the story of five balls - where career is a bouncing ball, while the rest are glasses, breakable and vulnerable. I even remember telling this to a bookworm that career is just a career. LETSENG CAREER YAN, iinom na lang natin yan. hahaha

I won't go into details and twists of Suzanne's love story because this is part of the treat Patterson wanted you to read, especially if you are simply romantic. Just read them along. And let me point it out: it is not only the love story element that made the novel gripping, but also her simple language conveying lessons to Nicholas and eliciting memories with Matt.

There are quotable quotes in this book, and let me mention a few (together with my reflections).

Love between two people can last a long time if the people love themselves some and are ready to give love to another person. We are not here needing love, we are needing to be belonged. Before we love our lovers we should be whole and love ourselves first. We should feel the purity and intensity of it. After all, When it is true, when it is right, love can give you the kind of joy that you can't get from any other experience... Because to be without love is to be without grace, what matters most in life.

And as we see Suzanne's challenge in her workplace and in her own life, we see that Life doesn't go on forever. We are here to savor every moment of it, breathing it all in, feeling lucky and grateful.

In one of her sharing of an experience with her patient (and I will not disclose even there is a spoiler alert), we realize that we are fragile, and we are to remember how life can be like walking on a high wire. Falling seems a tiny misstep away.

The heaviest part of the story is where we all thought this is only a heart-to-heart talk between Katie, Suzanne, and the non-talking Nicholas. Life can be unforgiving sometimes. When I saw a leaf containing n  Matthewn, my heart skipped a beat. WHY DID MATT MADE A DIARY ENTRY? It is for me as a reader to find out.

I WAS CRYING IN MY WORK DESK DURING MY DOWNTIME and my colleagues saw me. A laughing matter, yes, but I cannot control it. I felt betrayed.

Where was he? Why did he write that? What to do now? I asked with Katie. Katie made her move, grabbing the lessons of the five balls as her weapon, deserving her own happily ever after.

I don't wish to have a life like Suzanne's or Katie's, I wished to live it full or wishes and dreams coming into life. This emotional rollercoaster story made us realize that we a simply lucky to live each moment everyday, keeping these little things as our keepsakes, weaving our own bracelets, or writing our own diary entries.

This story got small good parts, but it's mostly boring, has laze plot, and too sweet for my taste(too sappy, too perfect people and love, meaningless details).

Why this book was New York Times Bestseller, I have no idea.
I wonder that movie would be better?

Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas is an amazing love story, for me it was a page turner that I read in less than 24 hours (quite a feat with a nursing baby)! It is an incredible fictional love story set in New York and Martha’s Vineyard. Part of the book includes experiences from the author’s life.

It starts out with Katie, whose lover of 11 months, Matt, (from whom she thought a marriage proposal imminent), unexpectedly leaves with no explanation. He sends Katie an apologetic letter, saying he is to blame and that he hopes she can understand better by reading Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas.

We feel a tremendous amount of joy and heartache sharing in Katie’s experience reading Suzanne’s diary for her son Nicholas. Throughout the novel, one is anxiously reading on to find out the mystery of why Matt would leave, and what happened to turn upside-down a once picture-perfect life. There are so many interesting twists in the plot which capture one’s interest. In addition, the book imparts some important life lessons along the way. Messages that come from it are the importance of a balanced life, the importance of finding the right person to be with, and the importance of family and love. As a mother to three young children, I wholly related to Suzanne’s feelings toward her son, Nicholas. I also related to the loving relationship between Suzanne and her husband.

I think I might want to name my next son Nicholas after reading this book (if I have another)!

Here are sweet poems written to Nicholas which imparts the joy of having a beautiful, innocent, baby:

1)
You’re my little Nicky Knack
I love you so, you love me back.
I love your toes, your knees, your nose,
And everywhere a big kiss goes.
I kiss you tons, and know what then?
I have to kiss you once again.

2)
Nickels and dimes
I love you in rhythms
I love you in rhymes
I love you in laughter
Here and ever after
Then I love you a million
Gazillion more times!

Here is the story of the 5 balls:

Imagine life is a game in which you are juggling five balls. The balls are called work, family, health, friends, and integrity. And you’re keeping all of them in the air. But one day you finally come to understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. The other four balls- family, health, friends, integrity- are made of glass. If you drop one of these, it will be irrevocably scuffed, nicked, perhaps even shattered. And once you truly understand the lesson of the five balls, you will have the beginnings of balance in your life.

Other good thoughts:
“Life doesn’t go on forever. Enjoy every moment of it.”

“Isn’t it lucky?”

“You are growing up before our eyes, and it is such a glorious thing to watch. I savor each moment. I hope all the other mommies and daddies are remembering to savor these moments and have the time to do so... I love watching you grow, but at the same time I don’t like seeing this time fly by so fast. It’s hard to explain; I don’t really know how. But there’s something so precious about watching your child day after day after day. I want to hold on to every moment, every smile, every single hug and kiss. I suppose it has to do with loving to be needed and needing to give love.”

“It’s late, and Daddy and I are being silly geese... We couldn’t resist, so we sneaked into your room and watched over you for several moments. We held hands and blew you kisses... [we] hugged each other as we watched you sleep- which is one of the greatest pleasures in the word- don’t miss watching your child sleep.” [Eric and I LOVE to watch little Michael sleeping... we can’t help going in to look at him several time between when he goes to bed and we go to bed.]

“Oh my dear little boy, my innocent little sweetheart, my baby son forever. I miss you so much...I miss you so much, I miss you so much, sweet baby. I always will. But isn’t it lucky that I knew you, held you and loved you, for the [time] before God took you away? Isn’t it lucky that I got to know you, sweet little boy, my darling, darling son?”