Picture Perfect by Jodi Picoult

OK, obviously still on my Jodi Picoult kick. Of course, reading time is few and far between, so it's taken me awhile to get through this book. Although, towards the end, I was up all night finishing it.

I would say that this book is a bit unlike other Picoult books, in that there is not really a mystery. I find that most of her books have a mystery-a secret, a whodunit-some sort of something that the reader is trying to figure out (and usually can't).

Cassie Barrett is married to Alex Rivers. Alex Rivers is like . . .Brad Pitt? Maybe Alex has the charm and fuckability of Brad Pitt, but the talent of Johnny Depp. Not that Johnny Depp isn't fuckable or charming, but more people are attracted to the classic looks of Brad Pitt (and I am soooooooooooo NOT one of those people-I deplore the man). Anyhow . . . The character Alex Rivers is one famous and talented guy. And he married Cassie-a non-famous, everyday anthropologist.

The books skips back and forth a bit. It begins with Cassie having amnesia and being found in the cemetery, only to be rescued and discover: Ta-Dah! You are married to the sexiest man alive! Towards the end of the first part, she begins to remember what caused the amnesia. The sexiest man alive, also has a mean right hook. Her uber famous husband beats the shit out of her.

In the next section, we learn all about their romance and how the abuse began. I found it very hard to read this, because I could be Cassie. She loves Alex so much-a very pure love. All she wants is to be there for him, take care of him-save him. She is willing to take the pain, so that he doesn't have to. I feel that kind of love (although, let's clarify-I am not being abused).

The biggest discovery is Cassie is pregnant. Which is the reason she left (before her head wound cause amnesia) in the first place. Once she realizes this, she leaves. Well, she disappears. She calls on Will-the man who found her in the cemetery-and he takes her to South Dakota to live with his family. She assimilates and has her baby. Meanwhile, back home, Alex (who has just won 3 Oscars) is in a downward spiral. He can't explain where his wife is, rumors are rampant and his latest film is a flop.

Eventually Cassie comes back and believes he will do whatever it takes to change. He doesn't change. She leaves him and tells the whole world the truth-not out of spite. She tells them because it will make him hate her-the only way he will finally let her go. The ultimate sacrifice because she will still love him and have to deal with the pain of the hurt she caused.

I have to say, this is definitely one of my favorite Picoult novels. You can really see that she understands the complexity of relationships and writes them well-not text book, lifetime movie.

Vanishing Acts by Jodi Picoult

I am back on my Jodi Picoult kick. I have about 4 of her books waiting for me.

Vanishing Acts is the story of a woman, Delia, discovering that her father kidnapped her when she was 4. After her best friend-unintentionally-tipped the police to her and her father's whereabouts, Delia, her daughter and her fiance head to Arizona to prepare for her father's trial.

There, Delia meets her mother and begins to unravel the missing years of her life. Meanwhile, her father is dealing with being a 60 years+ man entering the prison system. It's not pretty. Delia's fiance is an alcoholic and her best friend is in love with her.

Although I thought it was a good novel, it was not one of Picoult's best. She uses multiple characters to tell the story and although it works, it usually my least favorite way to read a book. In addition, I felt that the description of prison life, as told by Delia's father, was completely unnecessary to the story. I found myself skipping most of these sections.

All in all, I think it's an OK story, but if you are going to read a Jodi Picoult book, make another choice.

You're Not You by Michelle Wildgen

I read You're Not You by Michelle Wildgen while in Hawaii. It has taken me so long to write this review, because . . . I am not sure what to say. I am not sure I liked it, but I didn't dislike it.

The main character, Becca, begins to do part-time home care for a woman, Kate, with ALS. As time goes on, Kate and her husband divorce and before you know it, Becca is living with her.

In the book, we see Becca learning from Kate, but I also saw Becca losing much of herself to Kate. The title of the book comes from the fact that Becca often has to translate what Kate is saying to other people. Becca is not herself in these cases-she is Kate, speaking Kate's words. It makes sense that it would be easy to lose yourself in this case.

I just don't have much to say. It's an interesting read, but I don't feel I learned much or that it was very thought provoking.

Bitter is the New Black by Jen Lancaster

Thank God for travel-otherwise I would never get to read books. I even got to read TWO on this vacation!

So-Bitter is the New Black is a book by Jen Lancaster based on her blog Jennsylvania. Actually-the book is more about how the blog came to be.

Jen was making oodles of money. Jen was living the high life. Jen thought it would last forever. Not so much. 9/11 happened and then she lost her job. And couldn't find another one. FOR TWO YEARS. Pretty much she was either over qualified or there were no jobs or friends stabbed her in the back. To make things even better, her boyfriend (whom she lived with) lost his job too. I'd be bitter too.

I think Jen is a great writer. She is funny and self-deprecating. I love that. It doesn't hurt either that memoirs are my favorite kinds of books and blogs-well, clearly I am obsessed. So, put the two together and you can't go wrong by me.

Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult

Just as an opening here, I will probably spoil the ending in this review. I also highly recommend this book. So-if you want to read and don't want to know the ending, don't read this review. I will say, however, that I read the last page long before the end of the book and it didn't ruin the story for me in any way. So . . . .to each their own.

Well then. Part of the reason I have two book reviews so close together is what I like to call "travel time". I went to Colorado last week and had plenty of airport and plane time to read a book. That and I stayed up until 2 AM last night finishing this story.

The Jodi Picoult pick of the week is called Plain Truth. In this story, a young Amish girl gets pregnant out of wedlock and the baby is found killed a few hours after it's birth. The girl is accused of murder and her attorney end up having to move in with the Amish family whilst she prepares the case.

There is just something about this book. I think part of it has to do with the fact that I knew someone, many years ago who was pregnant and hid it from her friends and her family. No one knew! She even had the baby and hid it with her boyfriend's mother and still no one knew! They didn't find out until someone (OK it was me) told her family the truth. Of course there are a few differences. For example, the girl I knew wasn't Amish. She also didn't have a mother or sisters-someone who might recognize the signs. Katie (the girl in this book) had a mother whom has gone through many pregnancies and as we come to find out, DID know her daughter was pregnant.

The real touching thing, for me, wasn't the story in itself, but was learning about the Amish way of life. How truly forgiving they are. It was so touching to me. Too often in the "English" world (as the Amish call it) do we NOT forgive (even when we say we do). We hold grudges and judgment against people for months and for years. Despite the strong religious background most Americans seem to have-not many of us can truly forgive. Forgive the way that word is meant to mean.

Make no mistake-I know, being such a city girl, I could never survive the Amish way of life. But I can take things I learned in this story. Forgiveness being the biggest and best lesson.

I am not sure how I rank this against Picoult's other books. As always, she give a controversial issue-teens killing their babies-and makes it real. So real. Something in this story touched me deeply. I am not sure if it's the story itself, the insight into the Amish or something else, but it is sitting in me.

This is definitely a book I recommend. At the same time, I wouldn't make it the first Picoult book to read-maybe the third or fourth. Build a bit of rapport with the author and how she writes. It will make this book all the more pleasant.

The Pact by Jodi Picoult

So, at the strong urging of Tim (OK he only mentioned it once or twice), I finally got around to reading The Pact by Jodi Picoult. As we all know, I am totally into Picoult right now and I might as well just change the title of this blog to the "Jodi Picoult Book Review Blog".

In this Picoult novel, the issue being dealt with is Teen Suicide. There are also side issues, such as teen sex, childhood molestation and the grief of losing a child. It was a great story. Chris and Emily grew up next door to each other. They are best friends. Their parents are best friends. As they get older, they fall in love. Everyone is happy. Except Emily, isn't quite as happy as she should be.

There are so may reasons why she isn't happy, but I think most of it can be summed up in the word: expectation. The expectation of her parents, the expectation of her teachers, and most of all, the expectation of Chris. Her wants, her feelings, and her needs can't compare the expectations of those others. She spends her time living up to that, as she slowly dies on the inside. Ironically, committing suicide is the most selfish thing she did. She finally does something for herself-and it devastates those others in a way her not living up to those expectation ever could have.

It's funny, as a person who feels like she constantly puts others before herself, I can relate to Emily. It's exhausting knowing people expect so much out of you. It's exhausting knowing you are going to fail. It's exhausting never getting to put yourself first.

Not that I think suicide is the answer. But what do you do when you thrive on pleasing others and then realize you can't? That you are going to fail.

Most of us just accept failure. Sometimes, like with Emily, though we are too young to know how to do that.

There are many great moment in this book (and apparently there is a Lifetime movie). I definitely recommend it, but I am not sure I think this is Picoult's best work.

I have a few more books to go. I'll let you know.

A Wedding in December by Anita Shreve

Look at me! Another book in just a week's time. The internet is so lucky!

So, Dawn gave me A Wedding in December by Anita Shreve many moons ago. However, I just haven't had time to read it. I mean, the other day I found a book I didn't even know I bought. They are just everywhere.

In any case-Anita Shreve is one of my favorite authors. Everything she has written, I've just loved. Except this book. B-O-R-I-N-G.

First of all-we have some ridiculous other story that is being written by one of the characters in the main story. It is painful to read and really pointless. I am sure it was supposed to enhance the main story in some way, but it didn't do that for me. It just helped me fall asleep when I couldn't.

The main story is a reunion of sorts-a group of friend's, who haven't really seen each other in 27 years-get together for a wedding of two of those from the group. There is the "big secret" that no one talks about to the very end.

The whole thing is thoroughly predictable. Skip this Shreve story.

Mercy by Jodi Picoult

So, after a brief stint into non-stop Augusten Burroughs territory (which included re-reading a few of his books), I am back to my Jodi Picoult reading. I figure I am just going to end up reading all her books before the year is out. Which doesn't make this blog seem very eclectic, but oh well.

It took me just the weekend to read Mercy, but that's not saying much since it's been in my possession for months now. The book has two stories intertwined in it-the first, main story, is about a man named Jamie, who kills his wife suffering from Cancer. And it's not just the beginning of Cancer-this is full-blown, spread all over the body, radical mastectomy Cancer. His wife-with whom he shares a love most of us will never know-ask him to kill her. He doesn't take on the request lightly, but he eventually carries it out. We then go through the months leading up to the trial. The other story line has to do with Jamie's distant cousin, Cameron, and his wife Allie. Cameron meets a woman-Mia-and feels as if he's known her his whole life. He inevitably cheats on Allie with Mia.

The story with Jamie asks some good questions-could you love someone so much you would kill them? No worry of the consequences. Is that selfless or selfish? Did he do it because he loved her or because she wasn't the person he fell in-love with anymore? To be honest-if someone I loved dearly-say my sister-was in so much pain and wanted to end it-I believe I could. If I truly felt it was what she wanted-if she was in a hopeless situation (such as Jamie's wife, Maggie), then yes. I believe I could do it. Of course, that is all well in good in theory-much like abortion-we can all say what we would do in the theoretical-but when it comes to real life, really being in the situation, it's anybody's guess. I don't believe we can ever know ourselves well enough to know what we would do in those situations until they become a reality.

The story with Cameron, Allie, and Mia tie in with Jamie's story. Cameron loves Mia from the second he lays eyes on her-soul mates, so to speak. But he also loves her wife-her consistency, her un-wavering faith, HER love. As in most all affairs-Mia loves Cameron for who he is in his life with Allie and vice versa. If they were to run away, neither would be the person the fell in love with-would the relationship last?

Jamie makes a very poignant remark to Allie and we see it crop up throughout the story:

"You know it's never fifty-fifty in a marriage. It's always seventy-thirty, or sixty-forty. Someone falls in love first Someone puts someone else up on a pedestal. Someone works very hard to keep things rolling smoothly; someone else sails along for the ride"

This is one of the truest things I've ever read in a novel. Every relationship I have ever been in; every relationship I have ever seen-this rings true. I don't, however, think this is bad thing. As the person who loves "more", I realize that is wired in me. It makes me feel GOOD about the relationship-not more than 5 minutes ago Michael said to me "You know when you are the happiest-when you are taking care of me." He is 100% correct.

As with all of Picoult's novel-there is much to consider-to think about. She writes about societies taboos-and makes you consider it from a real life and human perspective.

I wouldn't have it any other way.

Possible Side Effects by Augusten Burroughs

Oh the joys of a new book by your favorite Author.



Even better-when the new book is all you wanted it to be and more!

It's so good. Another collection of stories from Burrough's life. It's not one of those things where he has just had a more interesting life than the rest of us (but let's face it-he has); mostly he just sees the humor in life and is able to tell us about it in a way that has you rolling on the floor. And believe me-I was.

He is just so honest. How can you not just drink it in? Being able to laugh at yourself and be vulnerable at the same time . . . it's a thing of beauty.

One of my favorite stories in the book talks about a vacation he took with his husband, Dennis. I have heard him describe how much he loves Dennis many times before and it always touches me to my core. It is the kind of love I want:

"I watch him pee sometimes and I actually sigh with joy because I won him,
somehow. Happily, GLEEFULLY, would I live in dire poverty with him, if it meant
we got to live to each be one hundred years old. The next morning, a tree could
fall on top of our cardboard box and crush us both to death at the same instant.
Bliss"

There is another story that I LOVED because it reminded me of my best friend, Tim. He talks about his hands and how they are just bloody, dry, cracked and hideous. You got to respect a person willing to share that mess.

I'm telling you-don't miss this book. Or any of his books for that matter.

**Check out my Main Blog to hear about his book signing.**

Salem Falls by Jodi Picoult

OK . . .so I am on a Jodi Picoult kick. I read my first book by her on a friend's recommendation. I wasn't going to keep reading her, but then Tim recommended The Pact (which I still haven't read yet, but is on my Books Free list) and I decided to give all of her stuff a go. In fact, the next 6 or 7 books on my Books Free list are from her.

So, Salem Falls. Pretty much it's a modern day The Crucible. Jack, who was wrongly accused of rape the previous year, comes to Salem Falls after being released from jail. The local diner owner gives him a chance and he becomes a dishwasher there. A local teenage girl, Gillian, is the typical pretty, popular, and rich kid-meaning she is all fucked up. This generalization comes from books and movies-not anything I have seen in real life. Well, except Paris Hilton.

Gillian has a crush on Jack. Being a witch (meaning she and her friends are wiccans), she casts some spells to try and attract Jack to her. Jack, being convicted of rape of a minor in the past, stays far away. Then he catches her and her friends in the middle of a wiccan celebration. He rebuffs her advances and boom-she accuses him of rape.

I've decided that Picoult's books aren't captivating enough to keep me up all night reading (like Anita Shreve does), but they are really good books. The one lesson I have come to learn is: there is always something Picoult leaves hanging. In the last book-I didn't know whether or not Faith had really seen God or was making it up. In this book, I can't figure out if Gillian's father knew that she was lying (and provided the semen left on her thigh) or if he believed her (and where exactly did the semen come from). I also think that the last page of the book implies that he has been molesting her (maybe even sleeping with her) since her mother died. Things like that bug me. Maybe that's her personal touch, they way she likes to write-blah, blah, blah. I hate it. I want things to be tied up at the end. I don't want to spend anymore time wondering. I finished the book. My reward should be closure.

It's a good book. All her books are good. I will probably keep reading them. I guess I am going to have to suck it up and get over the whole "no closure" thing.

Keeping Faith by Jodi Picoult

So, after reading My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult, I decided I liked it enough to give her other books a whirl. That's saying a lot, considering I hardly ever decide to read the author's collection after one book. So, I got onto Books Free and added her to my list.

The first book I got-Keeping Faith-is about a little girl who supposedly sees God. There are a lot of extenuating circumstances in it all-for example, the little girl, Faith, was not raised any religion, yet can recite Hebrew and verses from the bible. This isn't just-I see God in my grilled cheese sandwich-we have Faith resurrecting the dead and curing AIDS.

The best part about the book is it doesn't preach to you. Although it's the center of the story, the God thing takes a backstage to the characters and what they are going through. In the end-you are left to wonder (at least I felt this way) if it was all a scam or if she really saw God. In fact, I had to read the last part 3 times and I still couldn't figure out if she was doing it for attention or if she had been seeing God, but now, no longer.

I think what was most interesting was this was all (in my mind) directly related to her parent's divorce-or more specifically, walking in on her Father with the "other woman". For obvious reasons-this speaks to me and my experiences. I begin to wonder about how Joe, Dawn and I all dealt with our parent's divorce. I have never asked her-but I am certain Dawn's memories are much different from mine and Joe's-as we had each other and she was an only child. To that end-Dawn ended up receiving a real Father, while Joe and I really never had a Father figure growing up. But did any of us begin speaking to God? Or make up an imaginary friend. It's fascinating that you can take 100 people, put them in the same situation and there will be 100 different reactions and actions.

All in all-I loved the book and I am excited to continue reading Picoult's work. Now, if I could only find the time.

Rescue Me by Gigi Levangie Grazer

Well, I bought this book, mostly because I LOVED Grazer’s book Maneater. I love that book. I first “read” it when I moved to Seattle, listening to it on my long commute between Olympia and Bellevue. I have listened to it many times, as well as finally buying the book (Dawn-do you have it?) and reading that a few times as well.

Rescue Me is no Maneater. Where as Maneater was deliciously sarcastic, Rescue Me is thoroughly predictable. Don’t get me wrong-it was a good book. It had all the good elements. It just didn’t have enough POP for me. I wasn’t laughing out loud and I wasn’t desperate to finish it. I probably wouldn’t read it again.

It is a love story. Girl has boyfriend, he goes away to college. Girl meets new Guy and falls madly in love. There are obstacles (her drug dealer brother and his baby). Girl and Guy are broken apart and reunited 10 years later. The End. There is also a POINTLESS side story about the Girl’s boss. He leads a meaningless and empty life. We don’t even find out what happens to him.

For the most part, I don’t mind books that are fun, filler books. I don’t need to be soul shaken and moved every time I read. However, I would like to feel something and this book-nothing. I felt nothing.

There probably won’t be as much lag time between books this time, as I already started the next one.

The Photograph By Penelope Lively

There is a strange story about this book.

I ordered it off of Books Free . . . awhile ago. I am not sure how long ago I put it on my list. Books Free works just like Netflix and I normally have about 10 books on my waiting list to be sent. I don’t remember adding the book to my list, nor do I remember why I would have. Once I received the book it sat on my counter for about a month. During Thanksgiving, my sister was visiting and noticed it on the counter. She told me that she too had this book from Books Free and hadn’t read it, although she had had it for awhile. She also mentioned that her husband saw it on the dresser and randomly commented that the book “freaked him out”. It’s very weird for me to have books for so long without reading them, but suddenly I felt that there was a reason we both had the book (without consulting each other) and knew that there was probably a message-from who or what I’d rather not say. In any case, it was still January before I picked the book up to finally read it-making sure that my sister did the same. I finished it, though I am not sure she has started. It was with these preceding events that I read the book.

The story is told from multiple perspectives: a husband, a sister, a lover/brother-in-law, a niece and friends. Kath is the main character, though Kath is dead. Her husband, quite by accident, finds a photo of her holding hands with another man-her brother-in-law. As the new information comes to light-everyone that knew Kath is finding that their memories are being re-written. They now have to look at their past, their relationships and themselves in a different way.

You do not find out until almost the last chapter how Kath dies, though I guessed about half-way through the book. Today someone told me “Perception is reality” and although I am not sure I agree with that thought, it certainly brings to mind this book. Kath was perceived by the people in her life a certain way. Everyone saw her differently, but in the end, it turns out they had it all wrong. Suddenly the characters memories of their times with her are no longer happy. I don’t think, though, the memories were sad-I am not sure what the memories were changed to. I had to wonder-should the new information change the happy life you had? From her husband’s perspective-Kath and him led a wonderfully happy life and had a great marriage. Perception is reality? Should he now be devastated that their marriage wasn’t what he thought it was? Should the peace he made with her death and his subsequent life without her be ruined?

I don’t think our minds work that way. As my sister always says-you can’t UN-know something. Once we have that knowledge it will color everything we know-it can’t be erased. Perception is changed, therefore the reality is changed.

I really liked this book. Lively does a wonderful job at building all of the characters so you understand the why and the how. In the end, I felt like I still had a few unanswered questions about Kath-but I felt like it was supposed to be that way. Dead men tell no tales. You can never really know the “why” after someone is gone.

You have to make peace with your new perception.