Handle with Care by Jodi Picoult

Published in 2009. 477 pages.


Just over two years ago, I read my first Jodi Picoult novel, My Sister's Keeper. Since then I've read twelve others - there are just three still on my to-read list - and I was eager to read her latest novel, Handle with Care. Here's the book trailer:

Handle with Care has all the things I love about Picoult's work: thought-provoking, even controversial topics, alternating points of view, and the use of symbolism. (The symbolism in this case primarily comes through the discussion of various aspects of baking - such as folding, tempering, and weeping - as ten recipes are inserted throughout the book.)

Unfortunately, Handle with Care just didn't quite do it for me. I was distracted by the way that each character told his or her story to the daughter Willow. While I understand that the technique is intended to put me, as the reader, in Willow's place (as "you"), I often found it to result in awkward constructions or revelations. This novel also reminded me a lot of My Sister's Keeper, so in some ways I felt like "been there, done that." I am not unhappy that I spent most of my "free time" this week reading Handle with Care, but this one won't be near the top of my Picoult favorites list.

Picoult's website has book club discussion questions (be forewarned, though, because there are lots of spoilers!) as well as information about Osteogenesis Imperfecta.

2009.18

Picture Perfect by Jodi Picoult

Published in 1995. 369 pages.


Why I read this book: Since reading My Sister's Keeper last year, I have become a big fan of Jodi Picoult. Of her fifteen novels to date, I've now read twelve. Last month my sister Elicia wanted to pick one of Picoult's novels for our book club for May, and she was kind enough to choose one that I hadn't read yet - so she picked Picture Perfect, even though it's not one of her favorites. Unfortunately, I discovered that it's not one of my favorites either. In fact, I might put it dead last in a ranked list of Picoult's work. That isn't to say that I hated it. In fact, if I didn't really love so many of Picoult's novels, I probably would have found this one to be just fine.

What was good about this book: Domestic violence is an important societal issue, and Picoult does a nice job of addressing tough, even controversial topics in the course of telling a good story. The three main characters - Cassie Barrett; her movie star husband, Alex Rivers; and the half-Sioux police officer, Will Flying Horse - are well-developed with detailed backgrounds that help us to understand them. I also liked the three Native American legends that introduced each of the main sections of the novel.

What wasn't so good about this book: The use of symbolism that I like so well in Picoult's work was not developed well enough in Picture Perfect to make a great impact on me; I think the potential was there - for example, her website says that "hands figure significantly and symbolicly" in the book - but it didn't quite do it for me. Another thing I usually like about Picoult's novels is that she tells the story from varying viewpoints. That was here to some extent but not used as effectively as it could have been; a few times, Cassie's story slips into second-person, which I found to be simply distracting. Finally, there was no major twist, like I've come to expect from Picoult, and, subsequently, I found the ending to be weak. (I guess a strong ending doesn't require a twist, but I just needed something more.)

Celebrating the author: Jodi Picoult's birthday is May 19, so I've "celebrated" her this month by reading Picture Perfect. To learn more about Picoult and her work, visit her website here.

Happy belated birthday, Jodi!

P.S. If you've reviewed Picture Perfect, I would love to link to you. Please leave me a comment!

2008.29

Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult

Published in 2008. 447 pages.


Change of Heart is Jodi Picoult's fifteenth novel. Of the fifteen, I've read eleven to date, and Picoult has become one of my favorite authors. Here is the book trailer:

Change of Heart has all the things I love about Picoult's work: thought-provoking topics, alternating points of view, and the use of symbolism. Coincidentally, the Picoult novel I read most recently before this one was Keeping Faith, which also dealt with religion, and one of the primary characters from Keeping Faith is featured in Change of Heart.

Picoult has written an interesting "story behind the story" for her website. That same webpage also has book club discussion questions and references for more information about both the death penalty and the Gnostic Gospels.

There are several interesting epigraphs for sections of the book. And, given my name, I just have to share the epigraph for the whole book:

Alice laughed. "There's no use trying," she said. One can't believe impossible things."
"I dare say you haven't had as much practice," said the Queen. "When I was your age I did it for half an hour a day. Why sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."

- Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking-Glass

Here is a favorite quote from the book:

Finding God's grace wasn't like locating missing keys or the forgotten name of a 1940s pinup girl - it was more of a feeling: the sun breaking through an overcast morning, the softest bed sinking under your weight. And, of course, you couldn't find God's grace unless you admitted you were lost.

2008.24

Reading the Author Wrap-Up

The host of the Reading the Author Challenge, verbivore, has some questions to wrap up the challenge that she'd like the participants to answer. So here we go!

Why this particular challenge? Well, besides being generally challenge-addicted, I really enjoy "getting into" an author. I've done it multiple times in the past, and I'd done a similar challenge earlier in the year when I created my Summer Reading Challenge list - choosing five novels by Jodi Picoult.

Which author and why? I decided to carry on with my Jodi Picoult experience, since I'd read seven of her fourteen (to date) novels and want to read them all. An American writer, Picoult, who is currently 41, lives in New Hampshire with her husband and three children. (By the way, I found site with a pronunciation guide for "Picoult" here.)

Which books did you read? Specifically for this challenge, I read the following:

• Harvesting the Heart (1993)
• Keeping Faith (1999)
• Salem Falls (2001)

(Links are to my reviews.) I've read a total of ten Picoult novels over the past year.

Which would you recommend for someone trying this author for the first time? My first Picoult novel was My Sister's Keeper, and I think it remains my favorite. Therefore, that's the one I'd recommend. (The book club of my church women's group is reading My Sister's Keeper for January. I don't think many of the women have read Picoult before, so it'll be fun to get their reaction.)

How would you characterize this writer or the books? In Picoult's own words:

I hate being pigeonholed. I have always been called a women's author, but I have loads of male fans, and I think you can legitimately label my novels as legal thrillers, mysteries, romances, or plain old fiction. I think you can consider my books literary, because they make you think, or commercial, because they are a compelling read. Marketing departments like to label authors with just one tag, so that they know how to promote a book, but I think the best books straddle genres and attract a variety of readers. I'd like to think this is one reason my books appeal to people - because I give them something different every time.

Does that answer the question? If I have to pin it down to a few words, I might use a phrase from the back cover of Keeping Faith: "controversial and compelling." In my review of The Pact, I included a quote from Picoult about the idea of using fiction to examine moral and ethical questions - and that is what she does.

A big thanks to verbivore for a fun challenge!

Keeping Faith by Jodi Picoult

Published in 1999. 422 pages.


I was determined to finish a tenth Jodi Picoult novel in 2007 - to reach a total of 77 books for the year and to complete the Reading the Author Challenge. (Challenge host verbivore actually already gave me credit for finishing the challenge, since I'd read nine Jodi Picoult novels this year - but since I had read only two of those since the official start of the challenge, I really wanted to finish the challenge "fair and square.") I was even willing to cheat just a little, and if I finished Keeping Faith last night after midnight but before I went to bed, I was going to count it for 2007. But, alas, I was too sleepy - and I ended up reading the last forty or so pages this morning after I woke up. I am going to consider that I completed the Reading the Author Challenge - and my wrap-up post will be here - but since my policy has been to record books in the month I finish them, Keeping Faith will be my first book of 2008!

I had planned to read Picture Perfect for this last challenge spot - but since a friend had lent me Keeping Faith, I decided I ought to read it first, so I can get it returned. From the description on the back of the book, I wasn't sure how well I was going to like this one. This is an excerpt from the description:

In the aftermath of a sudden divorce, Mariah struggles with depression and [her daughter] Faith begins to confide in an imaginary friend. At first, Mariah dismissed these exchanges as a child's imagination. But when Faith starts reciting passages from the Bible, develops stigmata, and begins to perform miraculous healings, Mariah wonders if her daughter - a girl with no religious background - might actually be seeing God.

I guess I worried - as a believing person - that the religious aspects of the story might not be approached with respect. I should have realized that I did not have been concerned, since in all of Picoult's books that I have read to date, she has handled well a variety of sensitive and difficult issues.

I ended up enjoying Keeping Faith very much. I particularly liked that in Faith's vision of God, God is female. I'm not quite sure about the ending; in some ways it was anticlimatic. But I do think that Keeping Faith makes the top half of my Picoult novel rankings.

2008.1

Harvesting the Heart by Jodi Picoult

Published in 1993. 453 pages.


My enjoyment of Jodi Picoult's novels continues with Harvesting the Heart, which was her second novel and the ninth I've read. While I think it is apparent that this is one of her early novels, it still contained the elements for which I enjoy her writing: the switching of perspective between characters, and the use of symbolism.

This one explores a topic with which I have first-hand experience, that is, postpartum depression. But the storyline goes well beyond that, exploring the relationship between parent and child in many ways. Evocative and compelling, this was a great read for my Thanksgiving vacation. (Yes, I'm a little slow getting the review up.)

I read this novel for the Reading the Author challenge. As I started reading, it occurred to me that this was on one of the lists for the "Something About Me" challenge too - so I'm counting it "double."

2007.71

Salem Falls by Jodi Picoult

Published in 2001. 434 pages.


I started reading Salem Falls very late last Saturday night when I couldn't fall asleep. I sat down with it again on Sunday evening - and I had to keep reading until I finished!

First sentence: Several miles into his journey, Jack St. Bride decided to give up his former life.

Basic plot summary: Just released from prison after being wrongfully accused of the sexual assault of a teenage student, Jack St. Bride lands in the quiet town of Salem Falls, hoping to build a new life. Addie Peabody is struggling to rebuild her own life, following the death of her daughter. Together they face the ignorance and arrogance of those who live in a town where bad things just don't happen.

Literary connection: Picoult says she was looking to write an update to The Crucible, which I read in high school, "because so many of the themes in Arthur Miller's play are still so timely: the concept of a town excluding someone they don't believe to be fit; the way lies spread so much faster than truth."

Connection to other Picoult novels: Jordan McAfee, the attorney from The Pact, is back in action in Salem Falls. (He also plays a role in Nineteen Minutes, which occurs subsequent to Salem Falls, although I read it first.)

Contribution to the Reading the Author Challenge: This is the first of three Picoult novels I need to read for Reading the Author. It is the eighth of Picoult's books that I've read so far this year - so I definitely am "reading the author"! Luckily, I find her books to be compelling, so I'm sure I'll get at least two more read before the challenge ends.

Appropriateness for the R.I.P. II Challenge: This was not on my original R.I.P. list, but with a ghost and a coven of witches, I think it qualifies. I'm still going to try to read The Historian this month - and I've got to get a review of Gossamer posted - but I'm going to count this one for the challenge too. By the way, the book cover of the copy I picked up at the library (top left) helps create an atmosphere of creepiness better than other covers I've seen around the internet. Don't you agree?

 

2007.59

Books Are Like Chocolate

Just what I need: another challenge! The Reading the Author Challenge, hosted by verbivore, starts today - and I just have to play along! (Like I just have to eat chocolate!)


The requirement of this challenge is to read a minimum of three books by a single author between the beginning of September and the end of December. I did a similar thing when I created my Summer Reading Challenge list - choosing five novels by Jodi Picoult. Although I've read seven of her books this year, she has published fourteen (to date). I'd like to read them all, so I've decided to use Picoult as my author for this challenge as well.

I will read at least three of the seven of Picoult's novels that I haven't yet read:

• Harvesting the Heart (1993)


• Keeping Faith (1999)


• Mercy (1996)


• Picture Perfect (1995)


• Second Glance (2003)
  (This one looks like it'd qualify for R.I.P. II as well.)
  
• Salem Falls (2001)


• Song of the Humpback Whale (1992)

I'm thinking that the three I'll definitely read for this challenge are Harvesting the Heart, Picture Perfect, and Salem Falls - but I reserve the right to change my mind and I just may get to more than three. Off to the library I go!

Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult

Published in 2000. 405 pages.


Stephanie suggested that my low expectations of Jodi Picoult's The Tenth Circle lead to my overall satisfaction with the book. (My review and her comment are here.) Unfortunately, I think it was the reverse with Plain Truth: I had heard so much good about it that I ended up being disappointed.

This novel still had Picoult's successful character development with various viewpoints to tell the story. The storyline, as those she always chooses, was not a particularly easy one to consider - in this case the murder of a newborn baby in an Amish community - but yet compelling. As a fan of mysteries, I thought I would enjoy that aspect of this novel too. And yet I can't say that Plain Truth was one of my favorites of the seven Picoult novels I have now read.

As a whodunit and a courtroom drama, it had a few holes. But more significant, I think, was that it wasn't as emotionally engaging for me as her other novels have been.

As I was reading Plain Truth, my husband looked at the cover and said, "That doesn't look like a Jodi Picoult book." This cover is definitely different from those of the others I've read. Perhaps that should have been a sign that the book would be different too.

2007.42

The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult

Published in 2006. 387 pages.


Reading a Jodi Picoult novel is not easy. She always deals with difficult topics - and sometimes as a wife and mother, they are topics I'd rather not face. The Tenth Circle - with date rape, and adultery, and suicide - was, obviously, no exception.

To date I've not found anyone who particularly liked this novel. In fact, several people have commented to me that they've liked all the Picoult novels they'd read except this one. I thoroughly planned, therefore, to not like it. Because the time remaining in the Summer Reading Challenge is nearly over and I had two Picoult novels left on my list, I even contemplated reading Plain Truth, which lots of people have said they liked, and skipping The Tenth Circle all together. Last night, however, after I finished Vanishing Acts, I decided to start The Tenth Circle because Plain Truth hasn't yet come in at the library (there are lots of holds on it) and I own a copy of The Tenth Circle (I bought it at a fundraising auction at Jelly Bean's school last fall). Then today, because it's a state holiday here in Utah and Jelly Bean and Sugar Plum have been spending the day reading Harry Potter, I read the rest of The Tenth Circle.

I was pleasantly surprised by the book. The topics were difficult, of course, but I found the novel to be extremely well crafted, except for the somewhat slow and predictable ending. I loved the use of Dante's circles of hell and comic book superheroes - which were the basis of the careers of the parents in the story - for the numerous metaphors they suggest. I also enjoyed the insights into the Eskimo culture in which the father was raised. Despite the ending, I would recommend The Tenth Circle - but it is not comfortable reading.

2007.41

Vanishing Acts by Jodi Picoult

Published in 2005. 418 pages.


I've completed another Jodi Picoult novel, one of the five on my Summer Reading Challenge list. (That's three down, two to go - with seven days left in the challenge!)

Picoult continues to impress me with her ability to address difficult social issues with a compelling plot, written from the viewpoints of many of the characters and with liberal use of metaphor. Of the five of her novels I've read so far, I think I'd rank this one second or third. (My Sister's Keeper is still my favorite.) This one tugged on my heartstrings, too, even bringing me to tears while I was sitting at the optometrist's office waiting for Sugar Plum.

2007.40

Perfect Match by Jodi Picoult

Published in 2002. 353 pages.


I've just completed another Jodi Picoult novel for the Summer Reading Challenge. This is the fourth of her books that I've read, and while I did enjoy it, I think that I'll rank it fourth in that short list. The things I like about Picoult's writing were there - well-developed characters, telling the story from varying points of view, and, of course, addressing difficult social issues - but for some reason this one just wasn't as compelling for me.

One of the things that I did particularly enjoy about Perfect Match was the use of metaphor to explore some of the themes, including relationships and truth. For example, the father/husband of the story builds stone walls as a profession and part of the story takes place on Halloween.

2007.38

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult

Published in 2007. 455 pages.

This is Jodi Picoult's latest novel, and like those I've already read (and the others I'm planning to read for the Summer Reading Challenge), it deals with difficult topics. The focus of this one is a high school shooting, not unlike Columbine. My son Sugar Bear was born the day of the Columbine shootings, so in some way that'll always be part of my consciousness. The connection between Nineteen Minutes and Columbine is even more evident for me because during the week that I was reading the book, I saw a presentation by Rachel's Challenge - an organization that spreads the message of kindness and compassion espoused by Rachel Scott, the first person killed at Columbine.

Picoult's books are not easy to read from a emotional standpoint - maybe especially for a mother. But her characters are well-developed - and "real" - and she presents the reader with a view of the world through the eyes of many of them. In Nineteen Minutes, this enables us to relate to everyone from the detective to the shooter to his parents. There is not much that is black and white - which, in my opinion, is an accurate depiction of the world.

Here, on Picoult's website, is more information about Nineteen Minutes, including a Q&A with Picoult about the novel and book club discussion questions.

By the way, readers of some of Picoult's other novels might like to know that Nineteen Minutes features the return of two characters - defense attorney Jordan McAfee from The Pact (which I read earlier this year) and Salem Falls, and Patrick DuCharme, the detective introduced in Perfect Match (which is up next for me in the Summer Reading Challenge).

2007.36

Summer Reading Challenge

I'm currently trying to finish my Spring Reading Thing list by the June 21 deadline.* But the seasons start to change, whether we're ready for it or not, and the Summer Reading Challenge starts today! I have posted my list over at the SRC blog, where I will also be periodically posting about the things I'm reading. (By the way, if you're not already participating, you can still sign up through June 7.)


In attempting to create my SRC list, I considered several possibilities for a theme: biographies/autobiographies, time travel books (since i've been interested in those lately), and selections from my piles of books purchased from the local library surplus sales, among other ideas. I finally decided to pick five novels by one author - Jodi Picoult. You may have noticed that I've read two of her books already this year - My Sister's Keeper and The Pact - and I'm very interested in reading more of her - so my Summer Reading Challenge list is as follows:

• Vanishing Acts (2005)
• Nineteen Minutes (2007)
• Plain Truth (1999)
• The Tenth Circle (2006)
• Perfect Match (2002)

Like I said, for the next 20 days, I'll remain focused on the SRT list, and then on June 22 I'll start to tackle my SRC list.

*I doubt I'm going to succeed, as I realize now that the goal I set was a bit too challenging!

The Pact by Jodi Picoult

Published in 1998. 389 pages.


I read My Sister's Keeper a few months ago and wanted to read more of Jodi Picoult's novels. Several people recommended this one, and I finally got to it. (I've been down with the stomach flu this week, and the upside was that after the first 18 hours or so, I felt well enough to read!)

The Pact was a difficult book to read. Especially as the mother of a teenage daughter with perfectionism issues, I found much of it heart-wrenching. I'm glad I read it though, and I definitely want to keep reading Picoult.

At the back of the copy of The Pact that I borrowed from the library is an article Picoult wrote in 2005 in response to a challenge that this book is inappropriate for a high school curriculum. She says:

While I can appreciate a good beach read as well as the next person, I also think there is a place in modern fiction for the sort of book that exercises one's moral compass and asks questions that cannot - and maybe should not - be answered. For the record, I'm not the first commercial fiction writer to try to address social issues through the vehicle of fiction: Charles Dickens was a master of the technique. He realized that most people shy away from difficult issues, which is why nonfiction about these topics rarely attracts an audience. However, write a book with compelling characters and a driving plot, and readers won't notice that a serious moral or ethical issue is being served up, too. They are swept along for the ride and wind up examining big questions almost by accident.

This type of book is definitely one I enjoy. I look forward to reading many more of Picoult's books. (By the way, Chris Bohjalian is another favorite author in this genre.)

2007.30

My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

Published in 2004. 448 pages.


I'd been meaning to read this for almost two years but for some reason hadn't got to it. Yesterday I was sitting at the library waiting for Sugar Plum to finish her writing workshop and I decided to start the book. I couldn't put it down! I definitely want to check out more of Picoult's work.

Here and here are some discussion questions and other information.

2007.17