Nicholas Sparks has a talent for making you weepy. His 24th novel, "Counting Miracles," which leapt to the top of the New York Times bestseller list in its first week and is already slated for a film adaptation, is no exception. The story of an Army Ranger's search for the father he never knew — and of the woman who steals his heart along the way — is replete with the classic Sparks themes of heartbreak, tragedy, loneliness, second chances, plenty of emotional plot twists and of course, romance. Taking inspiration from the Book of Job, Sparks explained during a recent Salon Talks conversation that the novel "explores the question of why bad things happen to people. I certainly think that that is an experience that most people can relate to." Sparks's fans agree — a recent Goodreads review enthuses that "The snot bubbles were bubbling the entire time I was reading this book."
