Love Jodi Picoult? Watch her now as she answers questions in an interview moderated by Bethanne Patrick, regarding her newest novel Sing You Home and her other literary achievements Monday, March 7th at 7PM EST.
Additional Info regarding the event: Autographed books for purchase will be available before, during and after this web event by visiting http://bit.ly/SingYouHome. A portion of proceeds from each sale will be donated to Jodi’s charity of choice, The Trevor Project (http://thetrevorproject.org), the leading national organization focused on crisis and suicide prevention efforts among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) youth. The book also includes a compact disc of original songs created for the novel and sung by Ellen Wilber, who will also be performing on the webcast.
You can watch the livestream at www.facebook.com/Atriabooks. Please tweet any questions you may have for Jodi using the hashtag #singyouhome, or by posting questions to Atria’s Facebook page. Select questions will be answered live by JodiPicoult during the event.
One of my all-time favorite authors is Jodi Picoult. My Sister's Keeper was my first book review ever on Book Nook Club and every other novel of Jodi's that I've read since then has left me equally impressed. A couple of months ago I was contacted to have Book Nook Club participate in the Atria Literary Salon Series with Jodi Picoult. Part of that participation is featuring a live streamed interview here on Book Nook Club.
So check back tomorrow night as the Atria Literary Salon Series presents Jodi Picoult via live stream tomorrow night at 7PM EST. The interview will focus on Picoult's newest novel, Sing You Home, as well as I'm sure other more general questions about her novels. Sing You Home was just released on March 1st and I've got a copy on my shelf that I am just dying to read. I will for one be checking out the interview tomorrow night to get some great insight from one of my favorite authors and hope you'll all join me for the Atria Literary Salon Series.
Note from Atria: Autographed books for purchase will be available before, during and after this web event by visiting http://bit.ly/SingYouHome. A portion of proceeds from each sale will be donated to Jodi’s charity of choice, The Trevor Project (http://thetrevorproject.org), the leading national organization focused on crisis and suicide prevention efforts among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) youth. The book also includes a compact disc of original songs created for the novel and sung by Ellen Wilber, who will also be performing on the webcast.
I'm usually a huge fan of Jodi Picoult's novels. Each one that I've read has kept me interested with an engaging plot and well drawn characters.
For me, Second Glance didn't live up to my previous experiences.
Plot: Taking place in a small town in Vermont, Picoult introduces us to Ross Wakeman, a man who has lived through tragedy and is now searching for something just out of reach. He's a ghost hunter, and is brought into the town's strange occurrences surrounding a piece of land slated for development. Surrounding Ross is his sister and her son, a ghost, and an Indian tribe.
If it sounds a little scattered, well, it is. I'm not opposed to a good ghost story, but this was just a bit too far-fetched. Ross falls in love with a ghost to the point of spiraling him further into the depression he's faced with. All I could think was "who falls in love with a ghost?!?" I just couldn't get into the alternate-reality angle.
On top of that, the plot was a bit slow-moving. The love story between Ross and his ghost meanders along for far too long, while the actual mystery and circumstances surrounding the ghost doesn't get going until midway through the book. There are also several love stories that occur between humans that don't get going until you've already suffered through the faux love story.
All I can say is, a little less ghost/human love story, a little more mystery and love story that can actually work out.
Characters: Being in love with a ghost is just one reason I wasn't a fan of Ross. I felt he was weak and didn't like how his depression played out. It's not that I don't love a good sad sack, it's just that he was a little too sad sack. And if I can't get behind a main character, I'm most likely not going to love the book overall.
Structure: The chapters were endlessly long. 20+ pages each. And while there were some natural breaks within each chapter, I'm someone who prefers to tackle a full chapter, but it was so hard to wade through them.
The plot didn't move, most characters didn't move me, and I was stuck in the middle of endless prose. I'd encourage you to pick up a Jodi Picoult book, just not this Jodi Picoult book. 2 stars.
If you read my reviews about My Sister's Keeper and Nineteen Minutes you'll notice that Jodi Picoult is probably one of my favorite all-time authors. Mostly because she is really an incredible writer. Even if I don't love the book, I always admire the way she can get you into the head of all of the characters, heroes and villians alike. Really she can make you question who really is the hero and the victim in each of her books.
Handle with Care is no different. I still was given a glimpse into the life and views of each of the characters, but I wasn't as intrigued or attached to this story as I've been to others. Handle with Care is about a family whose daughter has a disease where her bones literally can break when she sneezes, hence the title of the book. The family really just can't do anything a normal family could do; in fact, on a trip to Disneyworld she slipped on a napkin and broke both of her femur bones. Maybe that's why I had a hard time with this book, I just couldn't imagine something so miserable. I'm sure it really happens, but it was really hard for me to imagine this little girl that could just snap in half with a pat on the back.
If you haven't figured it out yet, I didn't love this book. I was actually okay with it (still didn't love it) until the very end. Which. I. Hated. And I don't hate many books. I thought the end of the book completely ruined the rest of the book for me so I don't recommend this one to anyone. Picoult has so many great books out there, don't waste your time on this one. 2 stars.
I have grown very fond of the books by Jodi Picoult. It reminds me of the phase I went through in my middle school years when I was obsessed with reading Stephen King novels and would scour the flea market for titles I had not yet acquired for my ridiculous collection. I still remember staying up until 3 am one night just to finish Pet Sematary, or it might have been because I was too scared to fall asleep. The moral of the story is that once I find an author I like, I want to read everything they have written; the good, the bad, the ugly. That being said, I can safely say that Mercy was the first Picoult novel I have read that I didn't get completely enraptured with. That's not to say I didn't like it, because I did. However, I didn't love it and it didn't grab hold of me like, for example, My Sister's Keeper had.
Mercy is a novel about love. What does it mean to love someone? Would you do anything for that person? Would you kill for them? Is it possible to love someone too much? A woman dying of numerous forms of cancer who is suffering horribly asks her devoted husband to kill her, to put her out of her misery. He does what she asks him and the rest of the novel explores the aftermath of the murder and the question of what it really means to love someone, as well as the many definitions of the word "mercy." The subplot, which really operates on a level equal to the euthanasia plot, is the affair the police chief (and cousin of the accused murderer) has with his wife's assistant. Strangely, it was this plot that left me feeling more uncomfortable than the one that involved the murder of a woman.
Picoult's prose is good, as always. She writes in a very straight forward manner that the reader appreciates. This novel is written in a much more gentle manner than those I have previously read. It explores its subject matter with a certain sensitivity and grace. However, I felt this novel spent unnecessary page space on the obvious details of sexual encounters, but lacked a certain panache that may have made these scenes more interesting. Furthermore, this novel was very predictable. There were none of the twists and turns that keep you flipping the pages at a breakneck pace. Instead, you kept reading in an effort to confirm your suspicions about what you expected was going to happen, realizing that you were dead on.
With likable characters, a dash of Scottish Gaelic, and an interesting ethical dilemma, this novel is certainly enjoyable. However, the predictability of the plot that leads to the expected ending leaves something to be desired. 3 Stars.
Okay, so i think i may be the last person on the planet to have read this book. I don't know what took me so long, but i never really had any desire to read it. I had many friends tell me it was worth the read, but i just never really got around to it. Then a few weekends ago, i saw a copy of "My Sister's Keeper" in the Symphony Used Book and Music Sale for two dollars, so i decided to give it a go.
I realize that this book has probably already been reviewed umpteen times on this site, and on others. Sixteen year old Kate is dying from Kidney failure as a result of aggressive treatments for her rare form of lukemia, her thirteen year old sister Anna (who was concieved and genetically engineered for the sole reason of prolonging her sister's life) has been asked to donate her kidney to her dying sister and is now suing for Medical Emancipation from her family, and the rights to her own body.
What did it for me was this: It brought back that feeling of the need to devour a book from cover to cover! Since my son was born 10 1/2 months ago, i haven't had the time, nor the inclination to really read a book. Oh sure, i have read a few books during this time, but only in the stolen moments during nap time.
Reading, for me, has taken a back burner position in my life at the moment. Then, i saw this trailer for the movie:
I'm always wary of books that are made into movies, but after watching the ad i really wanted to see it. That's when i decided i had better read the book first; i remembered buying the book at the sale and i rummaged through my bookshelf to find it, picked it up and was taken away.
I was intrigued by Picoult's writing device of multiple narrators. When i went in, i thought she wouldn't be able to pull off so many characters effectively and was pleasantly surprised. Her writing style is very free and easy, you feel almost comfortable in the words... like a really comfy chair, and before i knew it i had read over half the book the first night, and believe me, if i didn't know i would be waking up in a few hours to feed my son i would have kept on going.
The theme of morality and ethics not being black and white, how there isn't always a clear line drawn in the sand, really causes the reader to think about what's going on. I know i did, especially as a new mother, and i found myself sympathising with both sides and placing myself in those impossible situations and wondering how on earth the author was going to resolve things.
She kept me guessing until the very bitter end, and while i do prefer a fairy tale ending, the end to this book was sweetly written and will leave you with a lump in your throat the size of Texas.
I would read this again, and for that reason i give it 5 stars.
My sister gave me Jodi Picoult's My Sister's Keeper: A Novel for Christmas last year. I came home Christmas Day, unpacked, kissed everyone goodnight and sat down and read it straight through. I've loaned the book out and have forgotten everyone's names, so I'll have to tell you about it with placeholder names. Sister A has cancer. The sort that requires an exact match donor to keep her alive. Mom and Dad arrange for an exact match donor to be born: Sister B. The novel opens with Sister B announcing that she is seeking legal medical emancipation, i.e. that she, not her parents, will determine if and when she donates more blood, marrow, organs etc. The story is -- obviously -- compelling. What would you do? as the sister? as the parents?
In addition, Picoult's writing is transparent; never once did I stumble or backtrack or in anyway become aware of the word-crafting. The story flew off the page and into me, and that is what I count as good writing. The never-saw-it-coming ending was another big plus.
DEAF parents should be allowed to screen their embryos so they can pick a deaf child over one that has all its senses intact, according to the chief executive of the Royal National Institute for Deaf and Hard of Hearing People (RNID).
It comes down to -- if parents are to be allowed to screen embryos: whose ideas of 'good' qualities should prevail? Clearly here the RNID folks have a view of what is desirable that differs greatly from the view of the hearing community. Very interesting . . . may have to revisit this in another post.
If you haven't figured it out already from reading my reviews, I'm a big Jodi Picoult fan. I like the way she takes a controversial issue and writes about it from multiple perspective. So when I got a Border's gift card from a blog giveaway, I picked up yet another Picoult book, Mercy.
I've stayed away from her books for a little while because sometimes I just need a light and fun read, and Picoult's books are anything but light. This one is no exception. The main point of the book is about mercy (hence the title). As the back cover puts it, "When does love cross the line of moral obligation. And what does it mean to truly love another?" I had high hopes for this book as I began reading it and those high hopes were upheld as the book began to picked up its pace as a man confesses to murdering his wife because she asked him to (to relieve her of suffering from cancer). The problem is that the book never really picked up its pace from there. There were no major twists or turns in this one that kept me intrigued. It actually took me a couple of days to read, which is a long time for me.
Out of all of Picoult's books (other than maybe Plain Truth), this was probably my least favorite. The story had a lot of potential, but it just missed its mark for me. The story was focused more on the relationship between the police chief and his wife rather than the relationship between the victim and her husband, which is what I think it should've been about. Either way, the writing was still good and the story intriguing. I would recommend it but only if you've already read her others. Don't pick this one up for your first Picoult.
I’m sure you’re all probably sick of my Jodi Picoult reviews by now, but I must admit that I’m not sick of her books. Every book is very similar but a little different at the same time, and I can’t get enough of her writing. She really has a way of making you feel like you’re really living the lives of the characters. 10th Circle is no different. Here’s a quick synopsis from a Jodi Picoult website:
When Daniel Stone was a child, he was the only white boy in a native Eskimo village where his mother taught, and he was teased mercilessly because he was different. He fought back, the baddest of the bad kids: stealing, drinking, robbing and cheating his way out of the Alaskan bush – where he honed his artistic talent, fell in love with a girl and got her pregnant. To become part of a family, he reinvented himself – jettisoning all that anger to become a docile, devoted husband and father. Fifteen years later, when we meet Daniel again, he is a comic book artist. His wife teaches Dante’s Inferno at a local college; his daughter, Trixie, is the light of his life – and a girl who only knows her father as the even-tempered, mild-mannered man he has been her whole life. Until, that is, she is date raped…and Daniel finds himself struggling, again, with a powerlessness and a rage that may not just swallow him whole, but destroy his family and his future.
This novel explores numerous types of relationships: father-daughter, husband-wife, boyfriend-girlfriend, friends, and is able to make you feel the power behind all of the different kinds. It also focuses on the power to change and move towards the future rather than being stuck in the past, all while making you wonder what really happened on the night of the rape. I would probably rate this book PG-13/R based on themes of violence, sex, and language so if you’re shy about any of those things, I would probably stay away from this one. Overall, I enjoyed this book and again, it was a Jodi Picoult I just couldn’t put down.
Salem Falls stuck to the typical Jodi Picoult writing style- part romance, part legal court drama, and part controversial topic - all wrapped up in a very real-life and intriguing story. Picoult typically deals with modern issues that are very real to all of us, and Salem Falls stuck to that same path.
In Salem Falls, a high school teacher is accused and convicted of sexual assault on one of his students even though he claims that he never did it. When he gets out of prison eight months later, he moves to Salem Fallls where he hopes to start over. He is given a chance by a diner waitress with whom he connects instantly. By law, he has to report himself to the local police station, and he does so. Word quickly gets around town about why he came to Salem Falls, and he becomes the object of harassement, grafiti, and violence. Four of the local high school girls have recently picked up practicing Pagan worship including the witch spells, seances, and celebrations. One night after drinking at a bar, the high school teacher ends up drunk in the woods and runs into the four girls having one of their celebrations. One thing leads to another, and one of the girls goes to the police and reports that she's been raped by the high school teacher, and the rest of the book is about the trial.
Like any other Picoult book, I couldn't put this book down. She develops her characters extremely well, and I felt myself sympathizing immensely with this high school teacher who'd been accused of rape and was being judged for something that he had only allegedly done. It made me think about what side I would take if I was a girl living in that town, if I was the mother of a teenage girl at that high school. I think that's why Picoult's book always intrigue me; they put me in a tough position and make me look at things from very tough perspectives.
I will start off by saying this was not my favorite Jodi Picoult book, but I still really enjoyed it. The novel is about two families that have grown up next door to each other and have been best friends since they moved into this small town. One family has a girl, and one family has a boy. Boy and girl are best friends and eventually fall in love. They decide to make a suicide pact- they are going to kill themselves together to keep life just like it is now. But something goes wrong, and the boy, Chris, faints before he has a chance to pull the trigger on himself, and the police arrive and accuse him of murder.
This book was written in typical Picoult fashion- jumping between different character's perspectives to get inside the head's of the characters. I really felt like I knew what Chris, Emily, and their parents were thinking. Another typical Picoult theme- I loved the law aspect of it (I guess that comes from being married to a future lawyer).
The only problem with this book is that I felt like Picoult maybe gave away a little too much. The reason I normally love her writing is because she always pulls some twist ending that leaves me thinking, "What??" This book didn't do that for me. As I neared the end of the book I could easily guess everything that was going to happen. There just weren't the typical twists and turns that make her novels so intriguing. It was still a great story and well written, but I would have liked for the novel to be a little less predictable. Or maybe I am just good at guessing.
One thing I did really have to think about from this book is how unfair our justice system can be. A lot of this book was written while Chris was sitting in jail for almost a year waiting for his trial to begin. He had been accused of murder and because of the accusation, that may or may not be true, he had to live through the pains and suffering associated with jail life. In her epilogue, Picoult explained that even if Chris did get out, his life would never be the same. I understand that accused criminals have to be controlled before proven guilty, but this boy's life was ruined for a crime that he may or may not have committed. It was a little hard for me to grasp, and I don't know what the right solution is but what happens if you're just in the wrong place at the wrong time? There's no giving back that year you wasted away.
So this was the third book I've read by Jodi Picoult, and I was little disappointed. It was okay but not what I've come to expect from her writing. It was like the title says, plain. Here's a quick synopsis from the website:
"Moving seamlessly from psychological drama to courtroom suspense, Plain Truth is a fascinating portrait of Amish life rarely witnessed by those outside the faith. When a young Amish teen hides a pregnancy, gives birth in secret, and then flatly denies it all when the baby's body is found, urban defense attorney Ellie Hathaway decides to defend her. But she finds herself caught in a clash of cultures with a people whose channels of justice are markedly different from her own… and discovers a place where circumstances are not always what they seem."I was very intrigued and hoping it would be another page turner, but I honestly was just bored. Maybe it's because I don't find the Amish lifestyle particularly relative to me, but I basically skimmed the last quarter of the book to find out what happens in the end. I won't ruin it for you, but the end of the book was somewhat of a letdown for me as well. I was hoping for more twists and turns as I found this novel actually pretty predictable.
I still really enjoy Jodi Picoult's writing and will definitely continue reading her work, but this wasn't one of my favorites. It was okay but definitely not a must-read for me.
I loved the last Jodi Picoult book I read, Keeping Faith, so I definitely wanted to read more of her stuff.
This one is about a youngish mother who works with a bloodhound rescuing missing persons, usually children who have been kidnapped or run away. Ironically, she discovers that she herself was kidnapped as a little girl by her father, who told her her mother was dead. Torn between the father she loved and the mother she'd always wanted to know, she is forced to testify at her father's trial and relive memories she didn't know she had.
Sounded good, but it was also very cheesy. It read like a Lifetime movie, full of melodrama and overreactions and stereotypes. Worst of all to me were two factual errors I found.
1. A child that was born in 1968 was identified on her birth certificate as "African-American." That term was not in use until Jesse Jackson popularized it in the 1980's. A birth certificate in 1968 would have read "negro" or "colored."
2. An Amber Alert is issued for a child that left home without leaving a note. Amber Alerts are only issued if there is evidence of an abduction. There was no evidence of an abduction, which would result in a Missing Child Alert, which is not the same thing.
These things are very commonly known, and if a peon like me knew them, surely she could have done a bit of simple fact-checking? I thought publishing houses paid people to do stuff like that.
Otherwise it was an interesting read, but not one I'd re-read or recommend.
I've been neglectful of book reviews lately, but I've been doing plenty of reading. I decided to simply do a few short reviews in one post, I hope that's alright with everyone.
Twilight, by Stephanie Meyer. The first in a very popular series. It's considered Young Adult, but it's Young Adult in the same way Harry Potter was written for children. In other words, it has universal appeal. It's very well written, though there were many gratuitous scenes that added nothing to either the plot or the appeal, and Meyer does not patronize her young fans as many YA writers (and many adult writers while we're on the subject) tend to do. It's a story about a teenaged girl who falls in love with a vampire, which I promise is not as cheesy as it sounds. Meyer rearranges some traditional vampire lore (i.e. fear of crosses and garlic), but does so believably. My only beef is that she fails to make Bella, her main character, likable. Bella is so consistently selfish and rude that one wonders how anyone would like her at all, much less a man as incredible as Edward. I am addicted. Can't wait to read the next three, and to see the film that is being cast right now.
Keeping Faith, by Jodi Picoult. A little girl caught in the midst of a nasty divorce begins to have visions and develops miraculous healing powers. This is especially remarkable considering that she has no religious background whatsoever. She soon catches the attention of the media, and of faiths and cults around the world. Her mother struggles to protect her daughter from this circus, while fighting her husband for custody, and is forced to confront her own beliefs, or lack thereof. Also very well written. While it explores the issue of faith in a very interesting way, it did fail to conclude on that issue. Probably Picoult wanted her readers to come to their own conclusions on that score, but I was hoping for closure of some kind.
The Virgin's Lover, by Philippa Gregory. When I checked this out at the library I was unaware of the new film based on another book by this writer, The Other Boleyn Girl. I enjoy well-researched historical fiction, and I've always especially enjoyed accounts of Elizabeth I, the supreme example of a strong female ruler with no male reliance. This book, an account of the first years of Elizabeth's reign, failed me in this regard. Elizabeth is depicted as a weak, hormonal, ignorant young thing; I often wondered if Gregory had confused her with Marie Antoinette. Elizabeth is incapable of making any kind of decision without a man around, and even then constantly changes her mind. Resolutions she passed are attributed to certain of her advisors, and in fact she never grows a backbone in this book. All she cares about is being with Sir Robert Dudley, and without him she is a simpering mess. I'm not swearing off this writer altogether, but I tell you that if this book had been written by a man, there would have been a great feminist outcry.
In nineteen minutes, you can mow the front lawn, color your hair, watch a third of a hockey game. In nineteen minutes, you can bake someone scones or get a tooth filled by a dentist; you can fold laundry for a family of five. In nineteen minutes, your world can change forever.
This is the second Jodi Picoult I've read, and even though I didn't like this one as much as My Sister's Keeper, I really enjoy her writing overall. In many of her novels, Picoult writes through the different points of view of many different characters rather than writing from the perspective of one narrator. Nineteen Minutes is no exception. The book takes you inside a usually safe and secure town and watches as it is shattered to pieces by a horrific act of violence. But rather than writing from only the views of the victims, Picoult dives into the life and thoughts of the murderer as well. By the end, you almost feel bad for the boy who ruined the lives of half the town because they'd ruined his life a long time ago.
I definitely recommend this book, especially if you're up for an ethically and morally challenging book. Picoult throws you to the edge and asks you to look at things just a little differently, to remember that someone once loved and still may love the killer.
So every once in a while, I read a book that really touches me; something that makes me really think about my life. This weekend I finished one of those books, My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult. Here's the first glimpse of the book:
In my first memory, I am three years old and I am trying to kill my sister. Sometimes this recollection is so clear I can remember the itch of the pillowcase under my hand, the sharp point of her nose pressing into my palm. She didn't stand a chance against me of course, but it still didn't work. My father walked by, tucking in the house for the night, and saved her. He led me back to my bed. "That," he told me, "never happened."
As we got older, I didn't seem to exist, except in relation to her. I would watch her sleep across the room from me, one long shadow leading our beds, and I would count the ways. Poison, sprinkled on her cereal. A wicked undertow at the beach. Lightning striking. In the end though, I did not kill my sister. Or at least that's what I tell myself.
It's a book that reaches the boundaries of ethics. Three children all crying out for help in different ways; a rebellious son burning down buildings, a 16-year old daughter with cancer silently screaming to be let go, and a 13-year old daughter speaking loudly through a lawsuit against her parents for the rights to her own body. Should one sister be forced to give over her body to save another? Should a mother be forced to choose one daughter over the other? How do you do what is right when it feels so wrong?
Picoult keeps you on the edge both literally and emotionally throughout the novel and doesn't let up until the epilogue. She writes through the views of seven very different perspectives as you walk through the life of this dysfunctional -- for good reason-- family, and live their past, present, and future. As the secrets come out and everything seems to fall into place, she shatters the puzzle over and over again to keep you guessing until the very last page.
I don't want to say anymore in fear that I'll give anything away that needs to be discovered on your own, but I wholeheartedly recommend the novel. I will warn you though, if I was not on a Vamoose bus surrounded by people, I would have shed more than the few tears.
for Christmas last year. I came home Christmas Day, unpacked, kissed everyone goodnight and sat down and read it straight through.
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