Ponder: Remain

It has been quite a while since I have read a book I truly enjoyed. Finally, my drought is broken! I give Remain five stars. Remain is co-authored by Nicholas Sparks and M. Night Shyamalan. Sparks is well known for this love stories, most notably The Notebook (1996).  Shyamalan's talent shines brightly in the 1999 movie The SixtheSense. I was beginning to lose interest in Nicholas Sparks but I am so glad I gave him yet another chance and read Remain, a love story with a supernatural twist.

Remain is the story of Tate Donovan, an adult man depressed at the death of his sister and tainted from an unaffectionate childhood. Remain has the classic features of a love story in Sparks' inimitable style, coupled with the tension and uncertainties of Shyamalan's talents. A successful architect, Tate comes to Cape Cod to design an elaborate summer home for a wealthy college friend. He stays at an old, ornate but deteriorating house, once a thriving bed and breakfast, but now closed. The setting can be quaint, but also eerie. A special relationship develops between Tate and a woman called Wren despite Tate's cold upbringing and polluted attitude about love. I hint at no spoilers here. Read it for yourself. I enjoyed it immensely.

Nicholas Sparks is a very prolific author and I have read all of his books and written a blog post about nearly half of them. I do not know if I grew tired of him, if each novel became too predictable, or if he changed his writing style, but never-the-less, he fell out of favor with me as a desirable author. However, I think I still persisted in reading his novels because of some pernicious obsession that once I had a perfect score going, I did not want to mess it up.  There is a psychological term for that feeling — loss aversion.

Here is a list of all Nicholas Sparks' novels in order of publication date. The ones with stars in front are novels I reviewed in my Wander Or Ponder blog. There are a clickable links to these posts at the end of each line.  The other ones, noted with a preceding series of asterisks, I read most likely before I started blogging. I published my first WanderOrPonder post on 8/20/13. Among the reviewed books, I noticed I gave only two or three stars. Although I have no proof, I believe I liked Sparks' earlier works better, hence my determination to read all his books. Sparks' first novel, The Notebook, though short, was great.

 1.   ************ The Notebook ©1996

 2.   ************ Message in a Bottle ©1998

 3.   ************ A Walk to Remember ©1999

 4.   ************ The Rescue ©2000

 5.   ************ A Bend in the Road ©2001

 6.   ************ Nights in Rodanthe ©2002

 7.   ************ The Guardian ©2003

 8.   ************ The Wedding ©2003

 9.  ★★★☆☆ Wokini ©2003 02/23/17

10. ★★☆☆☆ True Believer ©2005 10/23/22

11. ★★☆☆☆ At First Sight ©2005 10/23/22

12.  ************ Three Weeks with My Brother ©2004

13.  ************ Dear John ©2006

14.  ************ The Choice ©2007

15.  ************ The Lucky One ©2008

16.  ************ The Last Song ©2009

17.  ************ Safe Haven ©2010

18.  ************ The Best of Me ©2011

19.  ************ The Longest Ride ©2013

20. ★★★☆☆ See Me ©2015 04/01/16

21. ★★★☆☆ Two by Two ©2016 12/19/16

22. ★★★☆☆ Every Breath ©2018 11/18/18

23. ★★☆☆☆ The Return ©2020 12/27/20

24. ★★★☆☆ The Wish ©2021 10/18/21

25. ★★☆☆☆ Dreamland ©2022 11/22/22

26. ★★☆☆☆ Counting Miracles ©2024 10/06/24

27. ★★★★★ Remain ©2025 (this post, 2/13/26)

Remain, with five stars was a real winner for me. I will most likely read the next Nicholas Sparks book whenever it is published. Gotta maintain that streak!

★★★★★ Great! Read it!

O Gauge Train Show

On Sunday Feb 1st, Frank, Alex and I went to a model train show in Mountain View, CA, about 50 miles south of Alex's home. This show featured hobbyists who specialize in O gauge. The gauge of Frank's model railroad layout at home is HO but, he still enjoys the vendors and layouts at this show of a larger scale. O scale is 1:48 and HO scale is 1:87.  HO informally stands for Half O.

The show is held inside the I.F.E.S. Hall. I wondered what the initials stood for and if it related to trains. It does not. Also, if this is Hall No. 1, just out of curiosity are there others? A quick Google search tells me no. But perhaps, in the future...? Per the ifes website

Many people ask us what IFES stands for. It stands for Irmindade da Festa do Divino Espirito Santo, which translates to Brotherhood of the Feast of the Divine Holy Spirit. Located in Mountain View, California, we are a Portuguese organization that has been carrying on the traditions of the Azorean Islands and serving the local communities since 1926.

At least the sign pointed us to the correct direction to enter. At the check-in table Alex got a hand stamp which made him grin, quite pleased with himself. Once inside there were tables upon tables of model railroad O-gauge paraphernalia. Frank bought two power supplies, a killer deal at about 90% off the retail price. But even in a hall as humble as this, there is room for elegance. There were several chandeliers scattered about, gracing the acoustic tile ceiling.

We enjoyed a large train layout assembled by the members. It is modular and specification are decreed for the edges of each segment so that, once in the hall, the various contributions of the members Golden Gate Lionel Railroad Club can be joined into one continuous set of tracks. Alex liked watching the moving trains, peeking in to anticipated when each would emerge from the tunnel.

We got Alex a blister pack card of tiny barnyard animals that he carried around with him, pointing out each animal and telling us the sound it makes. He got a bag of chips which always puts a smile on his face and orange dust on his fingers. But by far, Alex's favorite part of the show was the high-powered blower hand dryer in the bathroom. It was so LOUD!! and he laughed gleefully as he held his hands under it for way longer than was necessary. The sound reverberated throughout the entire hall, extending way beyond the boundaries of the bathroom walls. It is heart-warming to see such great pleasure coming from from such mundane items.

After the show we all went to dinner at Clementines, a Cajun-themed restaurant in San Raman. Alex loves their Jambalaya and practically inhales it. Note that he is wearing a shirt his sister Robin made for him. The card of barnyard animals is also visible in the foreground. Sunday had a been a low-key, enjoyable day.