Book Review: "Three Weeks with My Brother" by Nicholas Sparks and Micah Sparks

Sparks, Nicholas and Micah Sparks. Three Weeks with My Brother: New York: Warner Brothers, 2004. Hardback, 356 pages.

Even though I have loved every Nicholas Sparks book I've read, I didn't read this book until recently because it is nonfiction and the summary of it made it seem like a combination of travel log and autobiography. I really don't like autobiographies because I just don't like name calling, name dropping or look at what I did and aren't I important books. I'm also careful of the type of travel logs I read, I don't want the kind of book that let me know the author is so much more special than me because he/she went to this exotic place that I have no hope of ever seeing with my own eyes. So I avoided reading "Three Weeks with My Brother" until now. I wish I had read it when it came out.

This book is hard to describe. "Three Weeks with My Brother" starts off in a quiet unassuming manner that in no way prepares you for the heart wrenching insights into the Sparks family history. Let me warn you now, you will need more than one hanky to read this book. I'm not a crier, but this book made me cry more than three times. I stopped counting after three, because I went into denial. I'm not a crier so therefore I'm not going to cry over this book.

You see I haven't really described the book yet, it is that hard to do. Let me try again. It begins with how the round the world trip for the brothers evolved. Next the Sparks' brothers describe in brief detail some of the places they visited. Sometimes it was the history of the place and others it was their reaction to it. That's how all the chapters started, but they always end in a revealing tale from one or both of the Sparks' past. As a writer I liked learning how Nicholas Sparks got started on his writing career and where he got his inspiration for some of his novels. I both enjoyed and was horrified by the stories from their childhood. I loved reading how they met their wives and learning about their children. As I read over this I realized I still haven't told you the book also has a lot of humor running through it.