One Day - David Nicholls

On July 15, 1988, Emma Morley and Dexter Mayhew meet for the first time the day before their college graduation. Though they know that they will probably never see each other again after they graduate, neither can stop thinking of the other, and they stay connected over the years, developing a unique relationship. One Day chronicles this relationship, checking in on Em and Dex on July 15 of every year from 1988 onward.

I thought the premise of this book was very interesting and, at least to me, unusual. However, I did think it might be confusing to only "see" characters one day every year, and I was afraid that might make me enjoy the book less. However, Nicholls does very well in keeping the reader unconfused - while I didn't know everything that had happened to the characters at every point in the book, I was not in the least confused. Rather, I was captivated by the way that Emma and Dexter changed over the years, and yet remained the same people they were when they first met. I did experience a lull in the plot somewhere in the middle of the book. While I was still interested in what was going on, it just wasn't as exciting for me for 50 pages or so. Now that I think about it, though, that might be a good thing; I'm not sure that all-excitement-all-the-time would have been good for this particular book.

Also, I should mention that while I rarely very rarely very, very, extremely rarely cry while reading a book, I came very close toward the end of One Day. I won't say what happens, but there is one very touching scene that particularly affected me - luckily, though, I didn't cry, as I was in the middle of my library media class at school, which is not the best place in the world to start bawling. (Though my friend did start crying in there over Mockingjay...so I guess it wouldn't be a first.) Anyway, I absolutely loved One Day. It's unique and readable and interesting (and not depressing, so don't get that idea), and I've already recommended it to several people. If it sounds interesting at all, I'd encourage you to pick it up.

My Name is Memory - Ann Brashares

My Name is Memory is the most recently published of Ann Brashares' books. It is about Lucy Broward, a perfectly normal teenager who is about to graduate high school, and Daniel Grey, a mysterious boy who Lucy has been admiring from afar. On the night of the last school dance, Daniel and Lucy come together by chance, and Daniel tells Lucy that everyone has past lives, and that he is unique in that he remembers his. According to Daniel, he has been falling in love with Lucy (whom he calls Sophia, a name he once knew her by) for hundreds of years. As might be expected, Lucy is alarmed, frightened and disbelieving, and runs away. Daniel does not contact her again, but over the next several years, though, she begins to realize that things are not as they seem and that Daniel was indeed right.

I vaguely remember reading The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and its successors somewhere around eighth grade; however, I don't remember much except that I enjoyed them and that Bridget was the soccer player (I think). Probably at least partly because of this, I was quite surprised to enjoy My Name is Memory as much as I did. The fact that I read the book in one sitting gives testimony to how captivating and well-paced it is, and I found the relationship Lucy and Daniel is very compellingly written. I love the dynamic between Daniel and Lucy, as well as her previous incarnations, when he knows who she is and she doesn't know who he is - the nearest comparison I can make is seeing a high school sweetheart twenty years later and them not recognizing you, but that really is a pitiful comparison. It almost seems like My Name is Memory could have a few sequels as well, but it's not slated to as far as I know. Maybe that's just my wishful thinking; I would love to see more of Ben, the mysterious, memory-gifted (that's what I'm calling it) person who has lived many, many times and seems to know a lot more than he's telling.

Anyway, I'm getting off the point: I very much enjoyed My Name is Memory, and I will definitely look forward to reading (and perhaps re-reading) more of Ann Brashares' bookes in the future.

Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte

I first read Wuthering Heights about five years ago, and while I loved it at the time, I hadn't picked it up since. But because it was part of my AP English Language reading list, I read it again, and I must say that I don't like it half as well as I remember liking it the first time around.

According to the back of my tattered, school-issued copy, "There are few more convincing, less sentimental accounts of passionate love than Wuthering Heights," and it is "the story of a savage, tormented foundling, Heathcliff, who falls wildly in love with Catherine Earnshaw, the daughter of his benefactor, and of the violence and misery that results from their thwarted longing for each other." Well, then. First of all, I'm not sure what exactly makes Wuthering Heights "convincing"...what exactly am I intended to be convinced of? Anyway, the blurb is a pretty good summary as far as I'm concerned. Heathcliff is definitely savage and tormented, and there is plenty of violence and misery.

However, I would like to point out that from my point of view, their longing for each other was thwarted by no person or persons more than Heathcliff and Catherine themselves. If Wuthering Heights was real and set in present day, I would sent Catherine straight over to a little blog called How Not to Fall in Love - I have a feeling she might find it very useful. Throughout almost the entire book, the main characters seem to have the aim of being as utterly senseless as possible. In fact, the housekeeper, Nelly was the only significant character who seemed to have a lick of sense (pardon my colloquialism). While there was some reconciliation at the end, I was disappointed that the book didn't really follow the development of the two characters who did become friends. Rather, the reader jumps ahead a bit and finds that it has all already happened, and that he/she can only learn of what's been going on through a retelling. When a book doesn't have an action-packed, gripping plot, I find that I need some character development to keep me going, and I didn't find sufficient development in Wuthering Heights.

Perhaps I will like the book after studying it in English, but I doubt it. Maybe this will be one of those books that I read every five years and react differently each time. Have you read Wuthering Heights? What did you think?