Sunday Salon: Jodi Picoult and things to come

Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers out there! To celebrate the holiday, I spent the day winetasting with my boyfriend and his parents. It was beautiful up in Amador County today and I discovered a lot of great new wineries. And the best part? I finished my latest book on the drive up and in between wineries, which means I get to start on some new books this week on the commute to my new job! Lots of changes this week so I don't know how much time I'll have to blog (or to run), but I'm going to try to keep it up.

Just in case though, I thought I'd include a review of my most recent book in today's Sunday Salon (my first!). Originally I'd planned to do a review every Monday, but I've been reading books faster than I'd planned and as it turns out I have more time on Sundays. Who knew?

OK, OK, on to the review: Today I finished my second Jodi Picoult book, Plain Truth. The book is about an Amish teenager who has a baby out of wedlock and is accused of murder when the baby is found dead near the barn where it was birthed. The teenager, Katie, is represented in court by her non-Amish cousin Ellie who happened to be visiting their ex-Amish aunt at the time of the birth. Ellie had just finished a high-profile case and had been trying to get away from a bad relationship and rethink her life while staying at her aunt's house. Instead she found herself thrown right back into work, only this time it required her to stay on an Amish farm, where she was ordered by the judge to babysit her client.

A lot of people take issue with Picoult's writing because she uses similar visual images in all of her books (curling up in the shape of a comma, etc.), but I honestly wouldn't have noticed it if nobody had ever pointed it out to me. (So sorry to now be the one to have pointed it out to you!) Personally, I really enjoyed both of the books I've read by Picoult (My Sister's Keeper and now this one). She picks incredibly interesting plots on current issues and she always includes turns that make her work unique.

As for Plain Truth, it is the first book I've ever read about the Amish and I was glad she included a ton of background on them (background gleaned from her own experience living with an Amish family as part of her research for the book). I find the Amish way to be incredibly interesting, although until now I had remained extremely ignorant about why and how they live the way they do. This book helped me to understand them a little bit better. I also enjoyed watching the relationship grow between the two cousins, who were unknown to each other before the trial. The ending didn't catch me off guard as much as in My Sister's Keeper. I kind of knew what was coming from the hints earlier in the book, and also because I'm sort of a law media junky (I have been known to watch reruns of Law & Order and CSI for six hours straight). Overall this was a great read and very quick, which I love.

If you enjoy books about law, I think you'd enjoy Picoult's books. Sometimes I think of her as the female John Grisham, even though I know that their writing styles are very different. Grisham tends to be more of a thriller law writer, while Picoult's are more about the characters and their underlying reasons for going to court. When I was younger John Grisham was my second author love (Roald Dahl was my first), and I devoured everything he wrote. I think Jodi Picoult will probably take his place for me, as I now have three of her books on hold at the library. What can I say? Once I like a writer, I feel like I have to read their entire body of work. So I guess I'll be alternating between Margaret Atwood and Jodi Picoult for the next few years. At least I finally have some favorite female authors.

This book has also been reviewed by:
Trish at Trish's Reading Room

As for other reading, today I started Dematerializing: Taming the Power of Possessions just to break away from all of this fiction I've been reading lately. I've also been reading High Infatuation by Steph Davis and, of course, our book club selection, Year of Wonders. What are you reading this week?

The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy

Well, aren't you just so lucky, you get two posts by me today! I finished The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy last night and just have to write about it before I start another book and forget all of the things I wanted to say about this one. So here goes:

The God of Small Things may well be the saddest love story I've ever read. Arundhati Roy unravels the story almost painfully slowly, then hits you in the end with the sad truth of what she has been trying to say all along. The story is based in India and told from the perspectives of two-egg twins (fraternal twins), Estha and Rahel. It is almost poetic in its telling, sometimes sections even reminding me of the chorus line in a song.

The real core of the story is about how one day changed the entire trajectory of the twins' lives. It all begins on the day their cousin, Sophie Mol, comes to Ayemenem, their home town. It's the week of Christmas and Sophie Mol's step-father has just died. Her arrival, and other events that happened in Cochin while the family awaited her arrival, led the twins on an adventure with irreversible consequences. Although, throughout the book the reader knows something terrible is going to happen, nothing prepared me for the ending it had. I don't want to say much more about the plot because I'm afraid I'll spoil it.

I do recommend reading it, though this is a book I feel (at least for me) needs to be read more than once in order to gain the full meaning of the words. Personally, I found the language to be confusing. And I found myself getting mixed up about some of the relationships among the characters in the beginning. Instead of trying to figure it out at the time, I decided to just go with it. In the end it all made sense, but a second read will help me clarify some of the things I may have missed.

This book has also been reviewed by:
Juli at Can I Borrow Your Book?
Books I Done Read

P.S. If any of you have reviewed this book, please leave a comment or email me (bexadler at yahoo) so I can link to it here. Thanks!

P.P.S. Don't forget to leave a comment here if you're interested in a free copy of He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not. Deadline to enter is May 11.

Booking Through Thursday: Manual Labor

Writing guides, grammar books, punctuation how-tos . . . do you read them? Not read them? How many writing books, grammar books, dictionaries–if any–do you have in your library?

Hm...I've read a couple of the other responses to this questions and was surprised to find quite a few people who aren't interested in reference books in the least. Some people say the English language makes sense to them so they don't need to look things up, while others prefer to look things up online.

The problem arises, though, when you are working with a specific writing style (MLA, Chicago, AP) that requires exact uses of certain words. For instance in AP Style "website" is actually "Web site" and it must be written exactly this way - because it's actually proper English. The problem I have with using the Internet (another AP particularity) as a resource for spelling and punctuation is that it's often written by laypeople who aren't interested in looking up correct punctuation and spelling. Nor do they bother to wonder whether they are using the right word for what they are trying to say. Oh, and what about the constant misuse of "their, they're and there" and "your, you're"? With actual reference material, these mistakes are more easily avoided. Yes, these are simple mistakes that wordy people likely don't make, but there are plenty of times when I see big vocab being misused.

As for me, I have a ton of reference books. I actually have more of these than of regular books because for me to actually buy a book I have to see a value in it. I have to either not be able to get it at the library OR I have to know that I'll go back to it again and again and again. I own one English dictionary, at least two French-English dictionaries, one Italian-English dictionary, one Spanish-English dictionary, a German-French dictionary, several French grammar books, a French verb conjugation book, a German grammar book, at least two AP Style guides (the newspaper writer's bible), an MLA style guide (left over from my college years), and an English thesaurus. I probably own more, but these are all I can think of at the moment.

In addition to these reference books, the question asks about writing guides. I actually only own one of these - a how-to guide for writing children's books - and have never read it. However, I do have two books on hold at my public library about how to write, and I have several on my TBR list. The reason I don't usually get into these books though is because they take time and effort. I can't just say, "Hey, I think I'll pick up that book on writing memoirs today," and voila! a memoir is made. It'll probably take me a good couple of months to get through these type of books because they include writing assignments and creativity. But I feel if I ever really want to be a writer, I'm going to have to figure out how to grow my creativity first. So, the books remain on my list, waiting out their time, hoping one day I'll finally pick them up and let them be read.

Weekly Geeks #2 - Linking Up With YOU

I'm a little late posting my second Weekly Geeks assignment, mostly because I had to put a lot of thought into it. Straight off, I liked the idea of all us book bloggers linking to other reviews of books we have reviewed. I love reading what other people have to say about books, especially when they don't agree with me. I think it gives me a better understanding of the books. Not only that, I think it is a benefit to my readers because they can get several opinions/reflections of one book, giving them more to use when deciding whether to pick up the books themselves.

So, you're asking, with me being so optimistic about this option, why did it take me so long to jump on board? Well, it's the logistics of it. I was worried I'd forget to remind people to send me links to their posts or that I'd get lazy with the follow-through. But after thinking about it a little more, I realized I have way less work to do than some of you other book bloggers. After all, I've only been around for 4 months so I don't have that many past links I'd have to catch up on if everyone sent me links to all of my past reviews. Also, I decided, as a back up, to post a note over in my sidebar >>>> to let people know they can send me links to their posts about the same books I've reviewed. This way if I forget to remind you, you can't say I didn't have it posted. (I know, I'm a cheater, but at least I've got my back covered).

SO, with that said, start sending me links to your reviews so I can get this thing updated! :-)

My email: bexadler at yahoo

Giveaways Galore!

I'm still catching up on my sleep from my week with my sister, so I'm going to be a lazy book blogger today and give you all some links to go visit. But come on, who doesn't love giveaways? So here are a couple of recent giveaways I've entered:

Oh, but first, don't forget to join my first giveaway! You can get my copy of He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not by leaving a comment here by May 11.

Want some free giveaways for your book club? Visit Lisa Daily's site for her new book Fifteen Minutes of Shame and get a cool swag bag (includes t-shirts, bookmarks and postcards for everyone in your book club). Sorry no free copies of the book though.

Over at A Book Blogger's Diary, you can get up to three free books and book-related items. You have to scroll through the whole page and leave comments on each of the items you're interested in. And you have to do it before Mother's Day (May 11). So check it out.

And lastly, you can get a free review copy from Blog a Penguin Classic. A couple of caveats though: 1. You don't get to pick which book you get. 2. You have to agree to write a review of the book within 6 weeks of receipt of the book. Still, it's a free book, right?

He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not by Trish Ryan

Trish Ryan's book, He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not, is billed as a memoir of finding faith, hope and happily ever after, which left me a little worried about how well I'd like it. I approach most overly Christian books with some degree of incredulousness, however I found Ryan's perspective to be a bit refreshing. The parts about God or Jesus talking to her were a bit weird, which even she admits, saying "It seems hokey, it was hokey" at one point. But all the same her faith in Jesus Christ made her happier than she had ever been before in her life, and I commend her for taking that leap of faith. The book made me think a lot about my own faith and I decided I just wasn't willing to give up all my sinful ways - at least not yet.

The book begins with Ryan's first engagement, which ends badly. She goes through a series of other relationships, along with other faiths. She's into all of the new age type spirituality, from tarot cards to spirit crystals. After a horrible marriage and scary runaway episode, then another bad relationship, Ryan gets a message from God telling her to take Jesus seriously if she wants to find a man that will treat her right. The second half of the book is about her discovering the Christian religion and giving up her other forms of spirituality so she can find a good man.

Overall the book is a good read and was a fun love story. Ryan includes a lot of funny episodes from her first days visiting Christian churches, referring to it as an anthropological study on Christianity. She, like many of us, had been put off the Christian religions by overzealous Christians, but what she found was a wonderful community and a faith she could get down with. I loved reading her struggles to understand the faith.

The weirdest part for me was that I was reading this book while visiting my sister in Utah for her wedding. It was interesting because I felt like I was getting a real-life dose of what Ryan was talking about. I even though a few times about my decision to leave my religion, but in the end I remain a "recovering Christian."

One thing that bothered me about this book was Ryan's obsession with finding a husband. I think that's my own issues coming into play though. Anyone who's hung around me a bit knows about my feminist rants, and I think this book would have made for a good one had it not been for Ryan's ability to look at both sides of the coin, whether she was talking about her husband obsession or Jesus.

There were also some great quotes in the book, but I don't have it with me so I can't put them down here. I'll try to add them later on today.

Also, if anyone's interested in reading Ryan's book, I'm going to hold my very first giveaway! Leave a comment below by MAY 11 if you'd like to have my copy of this book.

Booking Through Thursday, and May Book Club Selection!

Q: "Quick! It’s an emergency! You just got an urgent call about a family emergency and had to rush to the airport with barely time to grab your wallet and your passport. But now, you’re stuck at the airport with nothing to read. What do you do??

And, no, you did NOT have time to grab your bookbag, or the book next to your bed. You were . . . grocery shopping when you got the call and have nothing with you but your wallet and your passport (which you fortuitously brought with you in case they asked for ID in the ethnic food aisle). This is hypothetical, remember…."

A: Heh. There have definitely been times when I've gotten to the airport without a book, but mostly because I consider the time I spend waiting for a plane as my "browsing" time. I say "browsing" because I usually end up buying at least three books (mostly because there are usually deals, but also because I can never decide on just one). Past airport buys have included Three Junes, The Da Vinci Code, Shopaholic and Harry Potter. I loved them all.

Also, if you have a super long flight and only one book to tide you over, you can always consider trading with the person next to you once they've finished what they're reading. I did this once on a trip home from France. The woman next to me was flying home to Seattle from India and had been in transit for nearly 24 hours. As soon as she saw me turn the last page of my book and shut it, she asked me what it was about, then politely asked if I'd be willing to trade. I remember my book was The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella, but I can't remember what I traded it for. Anyway, I usually leave finished books on the plane anyway. I figure the stewardesses or the next traveler could use some new reading material.

And NOW for our May book club selection!

This month our selection comes from LisaMM over at Books on the Brain. She suggested Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks, and I was convinced because I find the plague to be a really interesting time period, I'm out of my own ideas, and she had the only suggestion. So thanks Lisa for throwing in your two cents. I'm really excited about this book because I probably wouldn't have chosen it on my own, but it sounds like it will be really great. One of the things I love most about being a part of book club is reading new things that I probably wouldn't otherwise pick up. And, as always, here is a short synopsis of the book from Amazon:

Geraldine Brooks's Year of Wonders describes the 17th-century plague that is carried from London to a small Derbyshire village by an itinerant tailor. As villagers begin, one by one, to die, the rest face a choice: do they flee their village in hope of outrunning the plague or do they stay? The lord of the manor and his family pack up and leave. The rector, Michael Mompellion, argues forcefully that the villagers should stay put, isolate themselves from neighboring towns and villages, and prevent the contagion from spreading. His oratory wins the day and the village turns in on itself.

Cocooned from the outside world and ravaged by the disease, its inhabitants struggle to retain their humanity in the face of the disaster. The narrator, the young widow Anna Frith, is one of the few who succeeds. With Mompellion and his wife, Elinor, she tends to the dying and battles to prevent her fellow villagers from descending into drink, violence, and superstition. All is complicated by the intense, inexpressible feelings she develops for both the rector and his wife. Year of Wonders sometimes seems anachronistic as historical fiction; Anna and Mompellion occasionally appear to be modern sensibilities unaccountably transferred to 17th-century Derbyshire. However, there is no mistaking the power of Brooks's imagination or the skill with which she constructs her story of ordinary people struggling to cope with extraordinary circumstances.

OK then, I hope to see more people at our online book discussion this month. It should be good! Also, if any of you are in the Sacramento area, let me know and we can plan a live book club meeting. Happy reading!