Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult- Picoult is my favorite author. Every March I look forward to the new release she will be putting out. Somehow I forgot what month it was this year and ended up ordering this book too late from the library so it took awhile for me to get it. This story was about a unique family that was divided up many years ago but has to come together when the father is in a car accident and on life support. The father was an expert on wolf packs and was famous for living in the woods with wolves for a couple years as well as having a wolf sanctuary. He was very good at communicating with his wolves, not so good at communicating with his family. The parents divorce and the mother remarries. The son essentially runs away on or around his 18th birthday and ends up volunteer teaching in Thailand. The daughter moves back and forth between her fathers and her mother and new stepfathers home. When the daughter and the father are in a car accident the son has to come home from Thailand for the first time in many years and confront what made him leave and all his legal responsibilities since his sister is only 17 and cannot make the decisions. The book was very informative on alternative living and interesting animal information. The story line was interesting enough but just didn't have the same flow and direction that most of Picoult's novels suck readers in with. Overall it wasn't my favorite of hers but I'll still be waiting for next March to roll around for another read, assuming I don't forget again!
Book 2 will not be blogged about.
Good Christian Bitches by Kim Gatlin This is the novel of which the new abc show GCB is based on. I actually really liked the show when it first started a few months ago so I got the book. I didn't really like the book. It's the same characters and basically the pilot episode has lots in common with the book but thats about all. Maybe because I had seen more than one episode, the book felt lacking. Also though the show sort of started going a little downhill in my opinion towards the end of this season. Perhaps it will pick up again with season two but it just doesn't seem like there is much room for growth. It's the same storyline repeated week by week which is sort of how the book felt chapter by chapter.
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins I tried very hard, not even really sure why, not to get into this new popular series. I saw the preview for the movie though and really thought it looked interesting, so of course I wanted to read the book first. I guess I can say I see what all the hype is about. It's a very interesting plot line, the author sucks the reader in very quickly, and although you may know the ending pretty quickly, the twists and turns to get there are still interesting enough to keep you turning the pages. I also love that the female character is the heroine and hopefully stays that way throughout the series. I am, slightly impatiently, waiting for the next two books from the library, but am hoping this series doesn't turn into a love triangle romance series, and instead can stay true to the originality of this first book. Also as a side note I read some negative comments about the movie/book and one of them was about the "glorification of child sacrifice" and how we should not have anything to do with that. I totally disagree with this comment as lots of classic novels, short stories have had similar themes. I truly don't believe the author was glorifying or even hinting at "hey lets start doing this." She just had a unique story to tell and put it to paper. My favorite short story is Shirley Jackson's The Lottery and although perhaps it was controversial it's just a unique well told story. Here's to continuing to hope Collins continues with the adventure and keeps the love crap out of it...
I Know this Much is True by Wally Lamb I really like this author. I've read many of his books and I had attempted to read this one a few times last year. It's long and I got the discs to listen to and gave up a few times before actually finishing it this month. I'm not sure why I kept stopping and restarting but I think perhaps because a lot of this books themes hit too close to home. In any case I'm glad I finally listened to it start to finish. The book starts with the narrator explaining a horrific incident in which his schizophrenic identical twin brother cuts off his own hand at a local library. We then get to hear the back stories of their horrifically abusive childhood, and the struggles of the narrator to both help his brother and put his own past to rest. The brothers do not know who their father is and that defines much of the book. The narrator's own child sadly dies and he loses his marriage as well. The irony of being an identical twin who is whole while your twin is so split makes for such a wonderful read. There were some predictable parts, but the biggest mystery of the novel, who the boys father is, is set up in such a way that you think your so smart to have figured it out right away and the author lets you think that for some time until dispelling it and leaving you just as puzzled as the boys have been. I really love this author and how he weaves the intricate stories he creates. Oh and I loved loved loved the ending. When I really like a book it's so hard to see it come to an end and always makes me sad to see it ending, but the way he wrapped this novel up was exactly as it should have been done.
All There Is by Dave Isay- This was a collection of love stories from StoryCorps. These were real stories from people who were interviewed for StoryCorps. The book was divided into three parts, the first one about finding love, the second about losing it, and the third about finding it again/holding on to it. It was a cute quick read that shared so many stories on the many many many ways and from different people that love can come into one's life from.
