Book F: LibraryLove April 17, 2011

Salem Falls by Jodi Picoult

Book description~ love can redeem a man…but secrets and lies can condemn him.A handsome stranger comes to the sleepy New England town of Salem Falls in hopes of burying his past: once a teacher at a girls’ prep school, Jack St. Bride was destroyed when a student’s crush sparked a powder keg of accusation. Now, washing dishes for Addie Peabody at the Do-Or-Diner, he slips quietly into his new routine, and Addie finds this unassuming man fitting easily inside her heart. But amid the rustic calm of Salem Falls, a quartet of teenage girls harbor dark secrets — and they maliciously target Jack with a shattering allegation. Now, at the center of a modern-day witch hunt, Jack is forced once again to proclaim his innocence: to a town searching for answers, to a justice system where truth becomes a slippery concept written in shades of gray, and to the woman who has come to love him.

Wow. Jodi does it again. And  yes, I do realize that I’m way behind as I’m reading this after all her other more recent works. But this,  as my friends hypothesized, is now one of my all time favorite Jodi books right up with 19 Minutes. She has such an amazing gift for nuance and amazing character depth. I’m glad to have enjoyed her evolving style and much prefer the way she gives each character their own chapters in her current works, where in her older novels she just separates with a bit of space. It’s a bit more distracting with just a new paragraph when the character’s voice changes, making me appreciate her current style that much more.

Regardless of your beliefs about the legal system, the way she incorporates true-to-life courtroom drama into her novels is something that truly fascinates me. Her ability to not “preach” but rather show the reader all sides of each story is so unique, and not done nearly enough by modern authors. I feel like I’ve learned so much about courtroom happenings just from her books. She does amazing amounts of research to bring this town to its knees over a very controversial and always current topic, incorporating Wicca, teen angst, hormones gone crazy, family struggle, redemption and vindication all in one.

I just adored the dynamic between Addie and Jack. The mystery. The passion. One of my favorite moments was when Jack took it upon himself to break the chain of hurt and changed Chloe’s room . I loved Addie’s open heart and the way Jack brought redemption to her lost soul. This book carried me away with it and I really enjoyed the long stretches of time I had to devote to this book while traveling in airports throughout the last few days. My flights  flew by (pun intended) because I was so intertwined in the characters of Salem Falls. Bottom line, this is a fantastic novel and timeless whether you read it when it was first published or 10 years from now. Th issues, the characters, the dynamics are forever apropos.

5/5 stars

7 down, 19 to go!

In progress, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother

xoxo,

Library♥Love

Book N: LibraryLove March 20, 2011

19 Minutes by Jodi Picoult

Book description~ In Sterling, New Hampshire, 17-year-old high school student Peter Houghton has endured years of verbal and physical abuse at the hands of classmates. His best friend, Josie Cormier, succumbed to peer pressure and now hangs out with the popular crowd that often instigates the harassment. One final incident of bullying sends Peter over the edge and leads him to commit an act of violence that forever changes the lives of Sterling’s residents.

Even those who were not inside the school that morning find their lives in an upheaval, including Alex Cormier. The superior court judge assigned to the Houghton case, Alex—whose daughter, Josie, witnessed the events that unfolded—must decide whether or not to step down. She’s torn between presiding over the biggest case of her career and knowing that doing so will cause an even wider chasm in her relationship with her emotionally fragile daughter. Josie, meanwhile, claims she can’t remember what happened in the last fatal minutes of Peter’s rampage. Or can she? And Peter’s parents, Lacy and Lewis Houghton, ceaselessly examine the past to see what they might have said or done to compel their son to such extremes.  Rich with psychological and social insight, Nineteen Minutes is a riveting, poignant, and thought-provoking novel that has at its center a haunting question. Do we ever really know someone?

Although it is now my favorite ‘Jodi book’, and the themes are chilling,  this book truly haunted me. I had nightmares. I gesture to say you cannot close this book unaffected. In honor of attending Jodi’s book release event this week, I wanted to sink my teeth into this first, before I receive Jodi’s newest book in a few days.

Written in 2007, the main premises of this book are both the long-term effects of bullying, and a high school shooting that takes place in just 19 minutes, hence the title, both inside and outside the walls of a small New Hampshire town, as a direct result. Peter Houghton is the main character who is bullied from the moment he sets foot on the kindergarten bus on the first day of school. Peter never truly fit in, no matter what he did or tried. Worst part? The teachers turned a blind eye throughout the years and his parents tried to toughen him up. Although some kids had the capacity to survive the school years and grow up to be successful despite years of bullying, Peter was unfortunately not one of them. This book dares to expose the long-term effect of bullying, unaddressed, on not only a boy, but those around him.

“I think everything you need to know about the law you learn in kindergarten. You know:  Don’t hit. Don’t take what’s not yours. Don’t kill people. Don’t rape them.  Oh yeah, I remember that lesson. Right after snack time. You know what I mean, it’s a social contract.”

Jodi takes us all the way from Peter’s early years to the repercussions of his actions and everywhere in between. She does a meticulous job, as usual, of gently crafting the story, building intensity just right. Every character was purposeful and well-developed. In perfect ‘Jodi form’, we feel woven together with each character, although the entire story is told from 3rd person narrative.  She is one of the most talented storytellers of our time. Unlike one of the many ‘Jodi books’ I read, I definitely did not predict how this story would end and enjoyed being along for the ride.

The story opened on the day everything changed, after the shooting occurred. The story quickly backed up. Seamlessly, chapter by chapter, piece by piece, from past to present, Jodi takes us from Peter’s first day of kindergarten, flipping back and forth, keeping the reader’s attention the whole way through. By the end, I was literally gasping for breath to know the truth about the sequence of events,  about Peter’s inner thoughts, and watch as the entire community of Sterling, NH was brought to its knees during the Superior Court proceedings.

“The rest of us, we’re all like Peter. Some of us jut do a better job of hiding it. What’s the different between spending your life trying to be invisible, or pretending to be the person  you think every one wants you to be? Either way, you’re faking. Alex thought of all the parties she’d ever gone to where the first question she was asked was ‘what do you do’? as if that were enough to define you. Nobody ever asked you who you really were, because that changed. You might be a judge or a mother or a dreamer. You might be a loner or a visionary or a pessimist. You might be the victim, and you might be the bully. You could be the parent and also the child. You might wound one day and heal the next.”

I can’t begin to fathom the depths of Jodi’s research for this novel; ballistics, legalese, detective work, child psychology, teen angst, and of course, the long-term effects of bullying and post traumatic stress disorder. There was certainly no shortage of controversy here folks. This book keeps you hooked from page one until the end and I cannot recommend it enough.   If you take nothing away from this book, please try to lend a helping hand or if you see someone being targeted, please say something to someone. No one should suffer their life away in silence the way Peter did.  Most of us were bullied at some point at different degrees. But we all handle stress and these outside forces differently. What if you could have only been the catalyst in someone’s life to change their path for the better? Hormones coursed through the halls in middle and high school all over the world. One action you take could have a ripple effect of positivity and hopefully prevent tragedy from happening to someone.

“It was simple to say that behind every terrible child stood a terrible parent, but what about the ones who had done the best they could? What about the ones, like Lacy, who had loved unconditionally, protected ferociously, cherished mightily, and still raised a murderer?”

We all have a favorite. What’s your favorite Jodi book?

5/5 stars

5 down, 21 to go!

xo♥xo,

LibraryLove

Book #32 LibraryLove June 10, 2010

Heart of the Matter by Emily Giffin

Book description~ Tessa Russo is the mother of two young children and the wife of a renowned pediatric surgeon. Despite her mother’s warnings, Tessa has recently given up her career to focus on her family and the pursuit of domestic happiness. From the outside, she seems destined to live a charmed life. Valerie Anderson is an attorney and single mother to six-year-old Charlie—a boy who has never known his father. After too many disappointments, she has given up on romance—and even, to some degree, friendships—believing that it is always safer not to expect too much. Although both women live in the same Boston suburb, the two have relatively little in common aside from a fierce love for their children. But one night, a tragic accident causes their lives to converge in ways no one could have imagined. Emily Giffin creates a moving, luminous story of good people caught in untenable circumstances. Each being tested in ways they never thought possible. Each questioning everything they once believed. And each ultimately discovering what truly matters most.

Having read each of Emily Giffin’s previous novels, I couldn’t help but have extremely high expectations of her latest release, Heart of the Matter. I met Giffin during her summer tour with some of my best girlfriends beside me. At her event, Giffin was endearing, hilarious, and so accessible as a wife and mother of three small children.

HOM stresses the importance of life’s subtle nuances and hammers home the idea of not taking life for granted, especially for Tessa and Valerie, whose lives intertwine as a result of a tragic accident and an even more tragic circumstance. Tessa’s husband, a top surgeon, is married to his job and must leave her side when his pager beeps to go tend to another family.  Valerie is a single mother struggling to give her son the life he deserves. Early on, the book draws you in as the character development begins. I was right there with Tessa, the eternal optimist, as the daily minutiae set in of such things as what snacks to pack for her child’s classmates and gossip around the school. It is while Tessa’s friend April shares the latest town gossip, that Valerie and Tessa’s stories become interconnected. I was still 100% on board until I predicted the outcome 100 pages into the 350+ page novel. The book was not only a bit too formulaic for me, but the subject matter is one that disgusts me. If you’ve read Something Borrowed, you know exactly what I’m talking about. And although it was bad in SoBo, what unfolds about 200 pages in to HOM is despicable. Every book needs a protagonist, a villain, I get that. But the situation in SoBo didn’t involve a married couple. Nick, Tessa’s husband, is so quietly self-contained that Tessa’s mother’s frenetic ways basically give away the plot early on, picking at their marriage and creating an aire of doubt within the reader, making it tough to fully commit to connecting with Valerie and Nick’s characters, knowing what’s to come. I just couldn’t help but feel like this story was one that was told 1,000 times before. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE Giffin’s writing style, so conversational. But pair the awful subject matter, which is completely unoriginal, with the way this book was constructed and it just went off the deep end for me. The story is written in Tessa’s first person POV and then switches back and forth between Valerie’s third person POV. I would have liked this book better if, as the reader, we could’ve been inside Valerie’s head too. Authors make very specific choices for a reason. The next time I get the chance to chat with Giffin, I’d like to ask her why she constructed the book this way. If you happen to know, please drop me a comment and let me know why you think it was done. I’ve seen it done before and it worked from authors like Jennifer Weiner, Jodi Picoult, and Anita Shreve; I just didn’t feel it this time. I’m sure she had a great reason and I’d love to find out what it is.  Regardless, Something Borrowed and Something Blue will still remain intact as my two favorite Giffin novels so far.

I look forward to hearing what my fellow book club babes think of HOM when we discuss next weekend.

While you’re here, make sure to enter our Second Sizzlin’ Summer Giveaway for your chance to win a copy of Beth Hoffman’s awesome novel, Saving CeeCee Honeycutt!

3/5 stars

32 down, 20 to go!

In progress- Wildwater Walking Club

Xo♥xo,

LibraryLove

Book #28: LibraryLove May 24, 2010

Traveling With Pomegranates: A Mother Daughter Story by Sue Monk Kidd & Ann Taylor Kidd

Book description~ Between 1998 and 2000, Sue and Ann traveled together to sacred sites throughout Greece and France. Sue, feeling her years and longing to reconnect with her daughter, struggles to find the wherewithal to enlarge a vision of swarming bees into a novel, that will become her bestseller, The Secret Life of Bees. Ann, just graduated from college, heartbroken and facing her future, grapples with a painful depression.

I’ve recently read a number of novels that flip back and forth from one character, in first person, to the next. It’s an interesting literary choice done EXTREMELY well by authors like Jodi Picoult (think My Sister’s Keeper, House Rules) and Jennifer Weiner (think Little Earthquakes). This book is the first memoir I’ve read where, as the reader, we hear both first-hand accounts of the two main characters. Usually, authors select to write one character in first-person narrative and the rest in third-person.
This memoir tells the story of a very tumultuous time for mother and daughter, Sue & Ann. Both ladies allow us direct access into the eye of their most vulnerable storms. The mother and daughter pair venture on a fantastic trip to Greece and through Europe after Ann’s graduation. We are introduced to Sue who is struggling with getting older and finding purpose, now that her daughter is graduating. Sue feels all alone. Then we are introduced to her daughter, Ann, who is struggling with getting older and finding purpose now that she is graduating and moving on in her life. Dramatic irony- most certainly! 😉 In the beginning, Ann is very silent about her depression. She doesn’t get accepted to the Graduate school she wanted to and is sent into a tailspin to figure out what direction her life should go in.

She eventually decides she has such a passion for writing that she cannot deny. Sue struggles to find the inspiration she needs for her idea to write a novel about bees. I was initially drawn to this book because of my enjoyment of her bestselling novel, The Secret Life of Bees. I saw this was a memoir and was curious to learn about Sue’s impetus behind writing that novel, which was written as a result of this life-changing and inspiring trip Sue took with Ann back in 1998. The parts of this book that I enjoyed the most were about how Sue’s creative process grew so organically, to form one of my all time favorite pieces of southern fiction.

Along their journey through Greece and Europe, Sue and Ann discover a new found appreciation for each other. They confide in each other and draw strength from the other’s struggle.

“At times it seemed beyond weird that we’d lived in the same house during those years- I’d known so little about what she’d struggled with inside. There had been hints- bits of conversation, or the piles of feminist theology books that were suddenly in the house. But mostly I knew her as my mother- the one who stayed up to decorate my Raggedy Ann birthday cake, who helped me pick out my cotillion dress, who taught me how to parallel park. I glimpsed her, for the first time, as a woman, like one of those beautiful Caryatids she’s standing with now,”~ Ann, speaking of her mother, Sue.

“For one elongated minute we sit there and listen to rain pelt the roof. The closeness we discovered in Greece seemed to solidify during the fall. We talked endlessly about the experiences we’d had, pored over our trip photographs, and picked up the conversations we started over there,”~ Sue, speaking of her daughter, Ann.

Unfortunately, I found myself wanting to rush through many of Sue’s chapters because she insisted upon including numerous Greek mythological tangents. I found the self-indulgence unnecessary to the story, lecture-ish and along the lines of a historical textbook, not a memoir. Sue’s writing style in this particular selection didn’t keep my interest as much. It was harder for me to relate to a menopausal woman’s struggles, something I’ve yet to experience, whereas Ann’s story I really enjoyed, as she is closer to my age.  I enjoyed the beautiful imagery of Greece and to hear the development of The Secret Life of Bees’ plotline. It’s also a nice reminder that we should be kinder, sweeter, and more understanding of the silent struggles we, our friends, and our mothers face on a daily basis. It is a good reminder to maybe check in with the women in your life in a different way- refocus conversations to real matters of the heart rather than just getting caught up in the minutiae of daily life. For Ann especially, their trip to Europe was a gift- the opportunity to re-acquaint herself with the person who baked her birthday cakes and sewed her buttons back on…

3/5 stars

28 down, 24 to go!

Xo♥xo,

LibraryLove

Book #27 LibraryLove May 17, 2010

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon

Book description~ Christopher John Francis Boone knows all the countries of the world and their capitals and every prime number up to 7,057. He relates well to animals but has no understanding of human emotions. He cannot stand to be touched. And he detests the color yellow. This improbable story of Christopher’s quest to investigate the suspicious death of a neighborhood dog makes for one of the most captivating, unusual, and widely heralded novels in recent years.

What an unexpected read- curious indeed! Immediately the reader is drawn into the world through Christopher’s eyes – a world where he doesn’t like the color brown, is a genius at the most complicated math problems, doesn’t like to be touched, and focuses on prime numbers to manage his anxiety when in certain social situations. This 15-year old has a type of high-functioning autism also known as Asperger’s Syndrome. Written in 2003, The Curious Incident reminded me a lot of Jodi Picoult’s House Rules. Both books’ main character was a 15-year old with Asperger’s who were each also fascinated with solving crimes and investigations. Christopher’s story was a much  faster-paced read told so simply yet so complex at the same time. I enjoyed every moment of Haddon’s novel. Usually, when writing characters with mental illness, authors describe characters with a disease like Asperger’s to explain a character’s quirks. Instead, Haddon invites us along for the ride, inside Christopher’s hear, every step of the way as he tries to solve the mystery of what happened to his neighbor’s poodle. I wanted to give Christopher a hug and tell him everything would be ok. I felt like Christopher was my little brother that I wanted to help and calm his nerves when he was scared. Haddon does such a meticulous job with Christopher’s character analysis, using Christopher’s voice in such a fresh and light way. Christopher’s life changes course in such a dramatic way and I enjoyed it immensely. He sets out on a trek to solve a mystery for his neighbor, and ends up in London on a mission to solve his own life’s mystery and unearthing some family skeletons in the process. As usual, my reviews are not meant as spoilers so I won’t give away the best parts. But I read this book in two days and if you need a quick read that will leave you with a smile, I recommend Haddon’s Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time.

4.5/5 stars

27 down 25 to go, over the hump!

Xo♥xo,

LibraryLove

Book #21: LibraryLove April 11, 2010

House Rules by Jodi Picoult

Book description~

Jacob Hunt is a teenage boy with Asperger’s Syndrome. He’s hopeless at reading social cues or expressing himself well to others, and like many kids with AS, Jacob has a special focus on one subject–in his case, forensic analysis. He’s always showing up at crime scenes, thanks to the police scanner he keeps in his room, and telling the cops what they need to do–and he’s usually right. But then one day his tutor is found dead, and the police come to question him. All of the hallmark behaviors of Asperger’s–not looking someone in the eye, stimulatory tics and twitches, inappropriate affect–can look a heck of a lot like guilt to law enforcement personnel — and suddenly, Jacob finds himself accused of murder. House Rules looks at what it means to be different in our society, how autism affects a family, and how our legal system works well for people who communicate a certain way–but lousy for those who don’t.

The first Jodi Picoult (pronounced Pee-koe, like the tea) book that I read was The Pact. Recently I read Change of Heart, My Sister’s Keeper and Keeping Faith. Jodi understands character development, proper pacing, the importance of rising action, and planting little “Easter Eggs” of information that excite when their significance is revealed to the reader, drawing them in right away. Jodi has an artistic way of taking the reader inside a handful of characters in one novel, each through first person narrative. Reading a “Jodi book” is like the feeling you get when the optometrist finally settles on your new prescription- you can see the world in a whole new and clear way. House Rules did almost all the above  for me. Jodi’s writing style is precise and careful. She bravely writes about controversial topics with such grace and consideration.

When I read, I want to be challenged. I want to re-assess the way I view the world, so I embrace the controversy her books can spur.

In House Rules, we spend the majority of the story hearing from Emma Hunt and her two teenage sons Theo, and Jacob Hunt. We also hear from the Attorney, and the local detective. Jacob is 18 years old with Asperger’s Syndrome (AS), a highly functioning form of autism. Most of us are vaguely familiar with autism through the popular movie Rain Man but our understanding as a society is very minimal. Before reading House Rules, I too, knew nothing about autism and AS. This book expanded my knowledge and opened my eyes to the misunderstood behavioral condition that is Asperger’s. This behavioral disease challenges the way justice is/will be served in our legal system, and how it’s limited scientific proof can affect judgments about right and wrong.

Theo, 15, has issues of his own. He often gets frustrated by how attentive his mother Emma is of older brother Jacob. Theo acts out to get attention or claim his place in the world by sneaking into houses and stealing things.

Emma has to cook all the food gluten and casein-free for Jacob, by color, by day. For example, on green food day, all the food served at the dinner meal must be green or Jacob will spin out of control. Dietary restrictions, rigorous vitamin supplementation and sensory quirks like Jacob’s hatred of the color orange, are just the tip of the iceberg for what it means to have AS.

Part of Jacob’s routine is to watch CrimeBusters everyday at 4:30pm sharp. He loves anything to do with forensic science and investigations. Unfortunately, the Hunt brothers end up in the wrong place at the wrong time and fall victim to unfortunate circumstances. I’ll leave it at that, as many of you have House Rules on your TBR lists!

I love “Jodi books” and always will. However, I felt a bit let down with this one, just by the ending. Maybe it’s the pressures of being one of the hottest modern writers of our time, being forced by her publisher to hammer out a book or more per calendar year? Regardless, I figured out the twist extremely early on, and felt like I was watching a rerun (because I knew how it would end). Despite the above, this book would be fabulous to discuss as a book club selection. The downside- the reader must wait unnecessarily long for the pay off at the end that left me annoyed. I know that part of Jodi’s MO is to leave the reader with their mouth agape and leave you wondering and pondering in your own mind. But I felt at a critical point in the book, pieces of vital information were left out until the absolute end, making the ending a bit too abrupt. I didn’t think it worked as well as it had in Change of Heart or My Sister’s Keeper. We, as the reader, need/want to know those morsels of detail. Let us in! It’s one thing to include twists and turns in a story, but it’s another to withhold vital information to the reader, almost like the story was redacted. It affected my sense of rising action and ultimate “pay off”, which left me a bit perplexed.

Despite my criticism, every single “Jodi book” I’ve read left me changed somehow. I love when books make a real impact on me, and I look forward to the thought-provoking discussions my book club babes and I will have over House Rules.  I am disappointed Picoult won’t be touring around in my area this time around. I can’t wait to hear about her creative process and how she juggles her responsibilities as wife and mother of 4. Jodi will always have a cemented place on my list of top 5 favorite modern authors. I look forward to reading many more “Jodi books” in the future and hope I don’t figure out their twists as early next time 😉

Which authors are your favorites?

4/5 stars

In progress: The Inheritance by Tom Savage

21 down, 31 to go!

xo♥xo,

LibraryLove

Book #5: LibraryLove January 26, 2010

Keeping Faith by Jodi Picoult

Book description:
For the second time in her marriage, Mariah White catches her husband with another woman, and Faith, their seven-year-old daughter, witnesses every painful minute. In the aftermath of a sudden divorce, Mariah struggles with depression and Faith seeks solace in a new friend — a friend who may or may not be imaginary. Faith talks to her “Guard” constantly and begins to recite passages from the Bible — a book she’s never read. Fearful for her daughter’s sanity, Mariah sends her to several psychiatrists. Yet when Faith develops stigmata and begins to perform miraculous healings, Mariah wonders if her daughter — a girl with no religious background — might indeed be seeing God. As word spreads and controversy heightens, Mariah and Faith are besieged by believers and disbelievers alike; they are caught in a media circus that threatens what little stability they have left. What are you willing to believe? Is Faith a prophet or a troubled little girl? Is Mariah a good mother facing an impossible crisis…or a charlatan using her daughter to reclaim the attention her unfaithful husband withheld? As the story builds to a climactic battle for custody, Mariah must discover that spirit is not necessarily something that comes from religion but from inside oneself. Fascinating, thoughtful, and suspenseful, Keeping Faith explores a family plagued by the media, the medical profession, and organized religion in a world where everyone has an opinion but no one knows the truth. At her controversial and compelling best, Jodi Picoult masterfully explores the moment when boundaries break down, when illusions become reality, and when the only step left to take is a leap of faith.

Passionate, convincing, logical and rational– these are all words to describe a person who is trying to sway you to drink the kool-aid you’re not buying. When I truly believe in something or someone, I tell everyone in my network, and with gusto. Now, those that know me would agree , even probably citing a few examples of products, places, things, ideas that I’ve been so passionate about, I’ve gotten them to drink that kool-aid as well, and they were thankful for it. Likewise, I have a minimal BS tolerance policy and consider myself a pretty good judge of character.

Imagine for a moment that someone you trust and love completely, told you they were communicating directly with God, just as you’d sit and talk over coffee with a friend or a co-worker, free flowing and back and forth. What would you say?

What then, if they started mysteriously healing people of HIV, resurrecting people, at the drain of their own health? Or suddenly experiencing stigmata for the first time in history since St. Francis of Assisi to the sheer and utter confusion of any/all medical professionals and modern scientific journals accessible? Oh wait, also try to imagine that said individual is seven years old and their parents are in the thick of a heated divorce and no one will listen to them…herein lies the plot for Jodi Picoult’s (pronounced Pee-KOE) Keeping Faith.

She paints yet another amazing work of art craftfully and gently, with the assistance from rabbinicals, Catholic priests and theologians of many spiritual walks so we may look inside ourselves and for once consider the following; “what if what you believed wasn’t as important as that you believed? What if we were all able to entertain someone else’s point of view about God?” Personally? I think the world would be a better place. We’d have a lot less war and killing and genocide. We could coexist, as Ghandi intended, freely practicing our beliefs, while compartmentalizing so as to not throw off the delicate balance of peace. Sounds simple right? Ha, think again.

Picoult’s thorough novel begs the question, in a thought-provoking yet socially responsible way– “Why can’t we be spiritual without being religious?” And why is keeping our own faith so damn difficult? This is now my 3rd Picoult novel and I’d recommend you try Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult, giving yourself a few weeks to read something else to cleanse your “reader’s palate”.

5/5 Stars
On deck: UnSweetined and The Alchemist (iPod Audiobook)
5 down, 47 to go…

xoxo,

LibraryLove