In 1932, two North Carolina teenagers from opposite sides of the

tracks fall in love. Spending one idyllic summer together in the small

town of New Bern, Noah Calhoun and Allie Nelson do not meet again for

14 years. Noah has returned from WWII to restore the house of his

dreams, having inherited a large sum of money. Allie, programmed by

family and the "caste system of the South" to marry an ambitious,

prosperous man, has become engaged to powerful attorney Lon Hammond.

When she reads a newspaper story about Noah's restoration project, she

shows up on his porch step, re-entering his life for two days. Will

Allie leave Lon for Noah? runescape gold farmingThe book's slim dimensions and cliche-ridden

prose will make comparisons to The Bridges of Madison County

inevitable. What renders Sparks's (Wokini: A Lakota Journey of

Happiness and Self-Understanding) sentimental story somewhat

distinctive are two chapters, which take place in a nursing home in

the '90s, that frame the central story. The first sets the stage for

the reading of the eponymous notebook, while the later one takes the

characters into the land beyond happily ever after, a future rarely

examined in books of this nature. Early on, Noah claims that theirs

may be either a tragedy or a love story, depending on the perspective.

Ultimately, the judgment is up to readers?be they cynics or romantics.

For the latter, this will be a weeper.