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As some of you may have gathered, the three of us grew up in North Carolina. If you grew up in North Carolina, chances are you’ve had a beach trip at one point or another.
My grandparents lived in Atlantic Beach so I have many a fond childhood memories of long days spent posted up on the beach.
We recently rented a house on the Outer Banks and filled our days with reading, playing games, and lots of walks on the beach.
Now, I love the Outer Banks… but you know who loves the Outer Banks the most? Nicholas Sparks. The man is obsessed, and sets most of his books in the Outer Banks.
The Outer Banks are a series of barrier islands that separate the Atlantic Ocean from the mainland of North Carolina.
Every time I visit, I can’t help but think of Nicholas Sparks novels. Particularly since we were right next to Rodanthe.
Nicholas Sparks Books
Nicholas Sparks is the king of the novel turned movie. In fact The Last Song, he wrote specifically knowing it would be a movie.
I find him to be the master of eliciting strong emotions. He’s definitely lived a life with some hard moments, and that comes through in his books.
His back catalogue can be pretty overwhelming if you don’t know where to start.
So I’ve put together a list of his best books below! Obviously this is a matter of opinion and your mileage may vary.
Let us know if I missed your favorite in the comments!
Best Nicholas Sparks Books
Nicholas Sparks
Alright, I know, I know. This one is a classic for a reason. This is the books that introduced me to Nicholas Sparks. A walk to Remember walked so that The Notebook could run.
This book is based on Sparks’s sister and is beautifully told. The story of a high school rebel and a baptist ministers daughter is an opposites attract tale as old as time.
Nicholas Sparks
My best friend loves this book, and I for one love the movie.
Sparks has said that he ended up writing the screenplay first before the book.Which I think is one of the reasons this is his best book to film adaptation.
Seventeen year old Ronnie gets sent to Wilmington, NC to spend the summer with her estranged father. She finds young love and reconnects with her family on this fateful summer.
Nicholas Sparks
Alice highly recommends this one, and I’m actually planning on picking it up from the library today!
After her husbands death, a young widow finds out that he’s left her with a Great Dane puppy.
Four years later, she’s finally ready to find love again. As new love blossoms, jealousy turns this love story into a suspenseful thriller.
Nicholas Sparks
U.S. Marine Logan Thibault finds a photo of a beautiful woman buried in the dirt, his luck takes a turn for the better and his best friends credits the photo as his lucky charm.
Back home he can’t seem to get the woman off his mind so he sets out on a journey to find her.
Nicholas Sparks
Nights in Rodanthe is a beautifully quiet story about finding love after you’ve lived a life that has knocked you down a few times.
Adrienne Willis is tending to her friend’s inn for the weekend, looking for respite from caring for her sick father and raising her children alone.
Paul Flanner is a successful surgeon who no longer rocognizes his life. He’s sold his house and his practice and is trying to close a painful chapter of his life.
One fateful weekend will create the beginning of something that changes the course of their lives.
Nicholas Sparks
Ninety-one years old Ira Levinson doesn’t have much in common with college senior Sophia Danko.
However their lives will converge in the most poignant way. Told from the perspective of two love stories decades apart.
Further Reading: Best Beach Reads
Nicholas Sparks
But can their love survive John’s deployment and subsequent re-enlistment?
Nicholas Sparks
Katie settles in a small North Carolina town, determined to outrun her past.
She tries to lay low, but the town has other ideas. She begins to build relationships and forge bonds… but is the risk worth the reward?
As her feelings grow for Alex, a widowed store owner, she needs to know… can anywhere truly be safe for her?
Nicholas Sparks
Amanda and Dawson fell deeply in love, as deep as only young people can fall.
Despite their vastly different upbringings they found love, but it was torn apart and their paths diverged.
Twenty-five years later they are both summoned home to pay their respects to their late mentor Tuck.
In one weekend they are forced to confront painful memories of the past, and hard questions about their futures.
Nicholas Sparks
Does The Notebook need an introduction? Probably Nicholas Sparks’s most well known novel and most beloved book.
The Notebook follows along an unforgettable love story set in post-World War II North Carolina.
A young socialite and a working class boy try to make their love work, but the world has other ideas.
This book will hit you in the feels. Then you can watch the movie and experience it all over again.
Further Reading: Books Like the Starless Sea
There you have it, some of my favorite Nicholas Sparks Books. Which one is your favorite?
-Anne
Safe Haven will always top my list of Nicholas Sparks books! It’s so compelling!
Yes! Its such a good one! The Guardian has always been a favorite of mine since I’m sliiiightly dog obsessed:D