One for your Summer Reading List

 

I've just finished my 3rd Jodi Picoult novel entitled Plain Truth. I have also read House Rules and My Sister's Keeper by the same author.

The three books are very similar but very differet. They all end up playing out in a courtroom. They all deal with a small, socially misunderstood part of our culture- a sister genetically engineered to save her sister from cancer, an autistic boy, and an Amish girl. It makes the book more interesting when a main character is sort of the innocent misunderstood type. They all have a mystery that needs to be unwrapped. That is where Jodi's great writing skills come in. She unwraps the mystery at a good pace, while keeping you interested in what might happen next.

The most recent book I read was pretty good. (Although I can't say that about House Rules. It was way too long and I figured out the ending 100 pages before it actually did end.) Plain Truth is about an Amish girl who gets pregnant and then has a baby who dies. The book debates how the baby dies and classically has an English person living on an Amish farm trying to figure out the Amish ways. It was pretty good. There were some twists and turns in the plot. Jodi did a good job of keeping the action going, making you guess what came next. About halfway to three quarters of the way through, she strongly hints at what turns out to be the outcome- how the baby died- which she reveals at the end of the book. Classic. On the last few pages.

I would recommend this book to you friend, you if you are looking for some good summer reading. I would also recommend My Sister's Keeper (which I bawled through the last quarter of) and I would strongly suggest you avoid the book House Rules by the same author. It was well written, but way too long. You will most likely get bored before you finish or be like me and make yourself read the last 100 pages. Only to end up mad at the ending and thinking-- this should have ended 100 pages ago!

I would like Jodi to make a series of books. She does such a great job developing her characters, I would like to know what becomes of them. The ones she hasn't finished with in her books. In the book Plain Truth, there is a lawyer character whom I would like to know more about. Do things work out for her in the end? Is there more conflict? Jodi could write a whole new novel on this character.

Do you have any summer reading recommendations?

I just Googled the book title to get an image for the blog and came across this movie that was made out of the book, Plain Truth. I'll have to see if it's on Netflix.