I’ve been trying hard to read a book a week again. Some weeks I do well,
and others, not as well. But reading is really important to me. It’s my
way of recharging, escaping, learning and growing. So I am working to
feed this need. I wanted to make sure to track all the books I’ve read.
So here’s a post about my last few books that I haven’t posted about.

Marley
and Me was a book I’d been meaning to read for a long, long time. I
finally checked it out a few months ago and was mostly disappointed.
Maybe that’s why I’d been putting it off for a long time. I sort of had
a hunch that it wouldn’t be great. I can’t even put my finger on what I
didn’t like about it and it was heart-warming and all that. It just
didn’t do it for me.

Once I discovered Picault, you knew I was going to read so very much
more of her, and of course, I did. I first read Vanishing
Acts and wasn’t nearly as impressed as I’d been with My Sister’s
Keeper. I wondered if that book was an anomaly, an exceptional book, a
formula that can’t be repeated. I wasn’t sure but I so badly didn’t want
it to be true. This is not to say I didn’t like Vanishing Acts. It was
so-so. If I hadn’t already read the other one, I probably would have
loved it. But I’d seen what she was capable of and I wanted more. So
much more.




So then I picked up Ninteeen Minutes which was fabulous. Made me feel good about Jodi
Picoult again. The story was gripping and even though I knew there would
be a twist at the end, I was still surprised and loved every moment of
reading this story. Kudos to any writer who can take a really difficult
issue like school shootings and making an amazing story out of it so
it’s about how hard it is to be yourself. How much we need to fit in.
How much it can hurt to be teased and mercilessly made fun of. People
who haven’t had the abuse on that level can never understand how
life-changing and soul-changing it can be. This book illustrates it
wonderfully from many points of view. All interesting. Still not as good
as My Sister’s Keeper but quite a fantastic book.

I can’t even remember where I read about Welcome
to Oz but I am glad I did. The techniques shown by the author look
easy here but they are not. I loved all the details about the light and
the black and white techniques. Shows me that I have a long, long way to
go before I can call myself a Photoshop connoisseur. I love his effects.
I love his patience. I love his work. The drama, the story, the color.
It’s all quite wonderful. This is one book, I’ve checked out multiple
times just to make sure I can master his skills.

The Palo Alto library has a special section reserved for new books and
when I go in to checkout a hold, I always try to visit this section,
just to see. That’s how I discovered The
Lavender Hour and while I wouldn’t call it literature, it was a
wonderful read. I loved the writing, the story, and the characters.
Controversial topic, maybe, but mostly just a love story. If you need an
easy, little book, this one isn’t the worst choice.




Some
Nerve was another pick from the library’s new books section. It’s
nothing special. Easy, quick read about a gossip magazine writer who
tries to write about an actor, can’t and gets fired. Returns back to her
hometown, only to find that the same author is checked into the hospital
where she volunteers. Isn’t that a lovely coincidence? Life’s full of
them. But books have even more. Not the worst book I’ve ever read but
also not the best. A sweet, little book.

The
Life You Longed For was creepy, scary and a blazing fast read. The
worst possible subject ever: a mother hurting her kid, taken to an even
more terrible level: not actually hurting the kid but accused of doing
so. This is a perfect example of how good intentions can go bad and ruin
lives and be the wrong thing to do. It sad, scary and very engrossing.

I read Still
Life with Husband really quickly, which would normally imply that I
loved it. Fact is, when I finished, I didn’t know how I felt about it.
It took me a couple of days to really hate the book. Now, I am pretty
certain, I absolutely abhorred it. Terrible story. No plot worth
mentioning. Unrealistic, stupid ending. No empathy or even sympathy
towards the characters. Just could not enjoy this book.




Dark
Oval was another really fast read. About loss and sadness. The idea
of losing Jake is so tremendously scary to me that I wanted to be
finished with this book quickly just so I didn’t have to think about the
possibility of his death. Life can be depressing, ironic and so very
frustrated. I thought this book was realistic. Depressing but realistic
and a wonderful read.

Considering the fact that The Kite Runner was my favorite book of 2005,
it was predictable that I would buy his second book the second it came
out. A
Thousand Splendid Suns is a wonderful, wonderful story. While it can
never be as good as Kite Runner, this one has its own special place
since it’s about women and not men. It’s about the friendship of two
otherwise very different women. It’s touching, thought-provoking,
depressing, heart-wrenching. It’s amazing how much he can educate his
readers about Afghanistan without any preaching or anything boring. I’m
from the area, I normally dont’ enjoy reading stories about the Middle
East. But he is an exception. I love his books. I devour them. I can’t
wait until the next one.

Next to my family, my favorite way to spend time is to read. With the
exception of horror and fantasy, I read and enjoy almost every kind of
book. But every now and then there’s that one book that comes along and
stops my whole life. When I find one of those, nothing else much
matters. I completely fall into the story. I take the book with me to
the bathroom. I take it in the car. I read it while I am waiting for the
microwave. I read it as I walk from room to room. I don’t put it down
for a second. I am so engulfed in these characters’ lives that I don’t
want to miss a moment of it.



Today was one of those days and My
Sister’s Keeper was that book. I can’t even remember why I put this
book on hold. I think I saw it at Walmart (in one of the very rare
occasions I sadly visited this establishment whose politics and employee
treatment I vehemently oppose) and I had heard of the Jodi Picoult many
times before and wanted to read her. I can’t tell you what made me pick
up the book last night over the 22 books I have checked out. But I can
tell you that since I picked it up, I didn’t put it down until I
finished it. I spent a good time crying afterwards just to get all the
pent up emotion out.



Jodi Picoult has a way with words. Not only does she create the most
relatable characters, but she knows how to take emotions and wrap them
around such simple, natural words that you wonder why no one else
thought to express that emotion in that exact way before. It’s like you
know exactly what she means.

This story is tragic. It’s horrifying. It’s a situation no parent ever
wants to be in. From the outside, you can take sides, you can judge. But
when you see the story from all the points of view, you can see the
conundrum so well. You know there’s no easy answer here. Even from the
very beginning, you know it’s not going to end well. But still, like the
parents, you keep hoping. But the author doesn’t disappoint. She doesn’t
cop out. She doesn’t create a Hollywood ending. To the contrary, all the
way to the very twist at end, the story holds true to its point.



Life is too short and no one gets to have a say at how things turn out.