The Longest Ride by Nicholas Sparks

Despite my lack of blogging, I still read books.  Most of the time I am reading cheap picks on Kindle.  Free or .99.  My reading is on a budget.  Surprising how giving up a nice salary can put a pinch in the budget.  Anyway.......
I spent the big bucks on Sunday to get the new Nicholas Sparks book, The Longest Ride.  He is one of the few authors I will pay full price to read.  He had me at The Notebook.  I thinking my favorite was, The Wedding.  Eventually, I get tired of reading same old, same old from authors.  So far, that has not happened with Nicholas Sparks.  He has interesting story lines.  His books are not completely predictable.  I can usually see where the story is going, not always able to figure out how it is going to get there.
Yesterday I spent the day reading, The Longest Ride.  Obviously, it was a slow day at Coco's.  In addition, there was not too much I had to watch on TV last night.  I shut the TV of so I could finish my book.  I really enjoyed the store.  There were two stories that were running parallel and at the end came together.  It was obvious they were going to meet, but that did not hurt the story.  One story was about a 91 year old man.  He was in a car accident and was remembering his relationship with his wife.  It was a great love story.  The second story was about a young couple that just met.  I know not everyone likes love stories.  I do.  As long as they do not get too sappy.  Who am I kidding, I enjoy sappy every once in a while!!
I enjoyed how the stories were told.  They were told through three characters.  It was never confusing.  Each character developed easily.  It was like watching the movie in my mind.  Found out today it is being made into a movie.  Many of Nicholas Sparks books end up movies.  I have watched two. That is unusual for me.  Did not realize so many of his books ended up movies.  Might try to watch a couple more.  When the writing is great there are times I think I watched the movie and really I just read the book.  Good writing is so vivid in my mind.  I see the characters clearly.  It is like watching a move.  Only, much better. 
If Coach knows I am reading a book that is a movie, he will say, "why don't you just watch the movie?"  I tell him I am, in my head.  For some reason I am not a movie watcher.  Much rather read a good book.  The Longest Ride was a good book.  I give it a strong 3.  Old Lady, you will want to read it.