MY SISTER'S KEEPER by Jodi Picoult
What an intriguing premise! Imagine your daughter has leukemia and needs a genetic match for blood, platelets, bone marrow, etc. No one in the family matches her. So you and your spouse create a genetically engineered baby who will be a perfect donor for anything your child needs. Everytime the sick daughter goes into medical crisis, part of the other daughter’s body is used to save her. When the book opens, 13-year-old Anna is fed up with her role as her sister Kate’s savior, especially now that her parents want her to part with one of her kidneys. Anna brings suit against her parents, fighting for medical emancipation.
It’s a brilliant plot and Picoult is a wonderful writer, bringing to life a family in perpetual crisis and a true dilemma in which there is no right or wrong, no black or white, only the cloudiest shades of gray in which a life hangs in the balance. You can’t help but imagine yourself trapped in the decision makers’ shoes. The ending will either bring a tear to your eye. . . or cause you to throw the book across the room. A delicious book for a discussion group! Four and a half lighthouses.
I love reading her books. I remember some of the discussion in a Yahoo group about a certain legal driving issue one reader thought she either wasn’t aware of or was misinformed.
Even though her books are wonderful, my newest favorite book is CEECEE. I don’t know how you’ll top that one!
Lorene
Thanks for the review. I am looking forward to reading it even more now.
I cried at the ending but also wanted to throw the book across the room-what a way to end it…not really fair…but reminded me somewhat of the book
THE LONELY BONES or THE LOVELY BONES…can’t remember what the title was-all I know is that my students were reading it when they didn’t want to read much else…
Life’s irony…
I ordered a book from our library (I am reading as many memoirs as possible because of my grad school project…) THE MEMORY KEEPER’S DAUGHTER by Kim Edwards–not sure if you rec. it, D.C., or someone else–but when I ordered it, I laughingly told the lady at the desk, “This is not OUR KIM EDWARDS…”
Our Kim Edwards is the show choir director at the local high school (I live near there but teach in other area of county). I had Kim’s mom in school for English and Choir…and watched Kim as a little girl–so cute. When I returned to the area after 35 years, she was grown up with a family and an award winning show choir.
Today in church, I saw Kim, and told her…she said…”Guess what? A friend of mine bought the book because of my name and the irony is there are twins in the book-one with a disability…Kim has twins and one with a disability…
SMALL WORLD…Now some of us think others will think Kim wrote the book…can’t wait to read it…
Also ordered HILLBILLY GOTHIC…simply because I can’t buy every book I choose…both sound great…
P.S. Lorene-my energy is flagging-and studying for my comps has not kicked in…I started back to grad classes this week and back to school teaching…think of me…
Lorene, I’m so honored that CeeCee is your current fave!
Cheryl, be sure to let us know how you like the Picoult book.
Brenda, THE MEMORY KEEPER’S DAUGHTER is the book I plan to read next.
It’s funny about author’s names. There is another author named Diane Chamberlain who wrote a book entitled YOU ARE NOT ALONE IN A LONELY WORLD. When you search for my books on amazon or wherever, it always pops up. I’m glad it sounds like a nice book and not like something that would really turn my fans off. LOL.
Ironically, again, I was ordering that book until I realized it was not you…I researched the author-does sound intriguing…
I will let you know how I like it, but still may not read it for awhile. after I finish the book I’m reading now, I want to read Bay at Midnight and I still have a book that was a Christmas gift last year that I need to read before it. I’m a little behind.
While reading the Brass Ring I severely wanted to bitch slap a few characters and tell them to wake up…then I reminded myself it was a book and relax. Sounds like this book would give me about the same reaction but I might have to check it out anyways. I have to finish Keeper of the Light first. I did enjoy the book though, had a hard time sleeping because I wanted to finish it so bad….
Krysia, you’re so funny. I wanted to “bitch slap” a few of those characters myself.
Cheryl, you go right ahead and read BAY before you read Picoult’s book. I won’t stop you!
Brenda, I did contact the other Diane Chamberlain and we shared the funny things that have happened because of having the same name. I’ve also had Diane Chamberlains come to my signings on two occasions!
And finally, although I said I was going to read THE MEMORY KEEPER’S DAUGHTER next, I just remembered I need to read THE NAMESAKE by Jhumpa Lahiri, for my bookgroup. I’ve read the first two pages and have a feeling I’ll love it.
Cheryl…I’ve read THE BAY AT MIDNIGHT and loved it so much I’m planning on re-reading it next week…I’m almost thru with SANDCASTLES by Luanne Rice and then will start THE BAY and believe me, it’s a GREAT book…Brenda and Diane, I bought 2 copies of MEMORY KEEPER’S DAUGHTER so I could give 1 copy to my friend Laura for X-mas…oddly enough she read Diane’s blog a week or so ago when Diane first talked about this book and others and Laura asked if I had bought it because she planned to…I reached in my cabinet drawer and gave it to her and said ‘merry x-mas early’…she was so excited!!…neither 1 of us have ever read this author but are looking forward to it…now I need to find some new ideas for Laura’s X-mas…
Cheryl
Please read D.C.’s Bay first…you will be glad…
When I read My Sister’s Keeper, I wanted to give that mother a good talking to…it was unbelievable…just the way I felt in The Crystal…whatever…that one about the girl who grew up in one of the poor parts of WV…the title escapes me…Maybe it was magical-anyway…those books are intense
BUT WE must remember MEMOIRS are often intense…they are TRUE…(although Sister’s is a novel)…it reads like a MEMOIR…
I am sure when/if I write my MEMOIR-it like some of my columns will be very intense.
Margo-I am still going to read from Library first-
Our library LEVY keeps failing, and I am trying to use it as much as possible for support.
My MONEY is going to tutition and books for grad school and to my own students…
However…there are some I have to buy.
Let me know how you like MEMORY-because I have a long waiting list at the library…
Brenda
Will do Brenda, however keep in mind MEMORY won’t be read for awhile because of my HUGE stack of ‘to read’ books…I think Diane mentioned she’s reading it soon and I’ll be anxious to hear what she thought…
After all this talk, I think I’ll read My stister’s keeper after Bay at Midnight and then I might read Memory keeper’s daughter. It sounds good too, so let me know what you all think of it when you’re done. Then, I’ll till have my one lone book from Christmas last year that maybe I’ll finish before Christmas this year! BAY comes first though because I’ve been looking forward to it for awhile. I don’t buy hard covers anymore since they discontinued my Barnes and Noble points on my credit card.