David Nicholls

My Five Favourite Books For Valentine’s Day

Harper, 2012 edition

Harper, 2012 edition

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. I am not against Valentine’s Day although I am usually so disorganised, I end up joining the people who go to the shop to collect something last-minute. For me, it’s a perfect excuse to avoid all the overcrowded restaurants and to curl up with a book instead (especially as this year, my husband is at work.) It was hard to pick but I wanted to share five of my favourite love themed books that I think are perfect to be reading over this weekend, especially on the 14th itself.

Which books would be in your list? Let me know in the comments section.

 

P.S I Love You by Cecelia Ahern. 

Holly has a guardian angel; her husband Gerry who has recently died of a brain tumour. Letters from him mysteriously appear giving her advice and teaching her how to move on. This book is such a beautiful love story for me and is perfect for February. This is the book where I fell in love with Holly and Gerry and with Cecelia’s novels. There is just something magical about this story which is why it is in my top five favourite love stories and will remain there for a long time.

Everyone needs a guardian angel…

Some people wait their whole lives to find their soul mates. But not Holly and Gerry.

Childhood sweethearts, they could finish each other’s sentences and even when they fought, they laughed. No one could imagine Holly and Gerry without each other.

Until the unthinkable happens. Gerry’s death devastates Holly. But as her 30th birthday looms, Gerry comes back to her. He’s left her a bundle of notes, one for each of the months after his death, gently guiding Holly into her new life without him, each note signed ‘PS, I Love You’.

As the notes are gradually opened, the man who knows Holly better than anyone sets out to teach her that life goes on. With some help from her friends, and her noisy and loving family, Holly finds herself laughing, crying, singing, dancing – and being braver than ever before.

Life is for living, she realises – but it always helps if there’s an angel watching over you.

 

Sphere, 2007

Sphere, 2007

The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks. 

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A Moment With… David Nicholls.

Wordsworth Editions, New Ed: 1993

Wordsworth Editions, New Ed: Dec 1993

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Penguin Classics, January 2003

As part of Booktober, one of the books I’ve been reading is Us by David Nicholls. We asked David the following question: if he were only allowed to own three books, which three would he pick? Here are his choices…

The first would be a Dickens – if not a single volume complete works then ‘Bleak House’, his masterpiece, a great, brilliant, rich and endlessly complex novel that’s also endlessly moving.

The story is told partly by the novel’s heroine, Esther Summerson, and partly by an omniscient narrator. Memorable characters include haughty Lady Honoria Dedlock, the menacing lawyer Tulkinghorn, the realistic John Jarndyce, and the childish and disingenuous Harold Skimpole, as well as the imprudent Richard Carstone. At the novel’s centre is long-running litigation Jarndyce and Jarndyce, which has far-reaching consequences for all involved. This case revolves around a testator who apparently made several wills. Dickens’ satirization of the English judicial system is based in part on his own experiences as a law clerk, and in part on his experiences as a litigant seeking to enforce copyright on his earlier books.

Secondly, I’d probably go for Shakespeare’s complete works, including the sonnets.

Finally, Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, simply because I’ve never read it and always pretend that I have.

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Novel Kicks attends An Audience With David Nicholls

rp_David-Nicholls-300x199.jpgI was very excited to hear that David Nichols was returning to his home town to host ‘An audience with.’ I was very fortunate to be able to attend this recent event at The Point in Eastleigh, Hampshire (In association with Eastleigh Library 25th Anniversary events.)

When we arrived, we promptly found our seats in the main auditorium. I have to admit, I didn’t quite know what to expect. I had never been to The Point before despite having lived near Eastleigh for nearly two years. I have quickly become a fan of the venue. It’s big enough to not feel cramped and small enough that I didn’t feel a million miles from the stage area where two chairs and a table had been placed in the middle.

To begin with, David talked about how Libraries play a huge part for him and how he will often find himself writing in the British Library as well as the London Library. He then chatted about his time in theatre and how through working there he found his love of words.

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Events: An Audience with David Nicholls

Picture credit: Hal Shinnie

Picture credit: Hal Shinnie

If you’re a fan of One Day and Us, there are still tickets available for An Audience with David Nicholls.

In association with Eastleigh Library 25th Anniversary events, David Nicholls will be at The Point on Saturday 24th January 2015.

He will be talking about screenwriting and his novels, including One Day and his latest bestseller and Booker shortlisted novel, Us. David will also be available for a book signing after his talk which will then be followed by a screening of One Day (12A.)

The event starts at 3pm and tickets are still available for £8. One Day will be shown at 4.30pm.

For more information or to book tickets, visit The Point’s website: http://thepointeastleigh.co.uk

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