Book #11: The Pact by Jodi Picoult

I have read a few different Jodi Picoult novels and typically enjoy them, so when I saw this at the library a couple of weeks ago, I snagged it.  If you don't want to think, don't read her books.  Picoult picks a morally controversial topic and runs with it.  Her books are ideal for book clubs because they are ideal for discussion...fascinating.

Picoult's style of writing has you wondering exactly what has happened right up until the end and even then you may not have the FULL story.  This story tells of a teenage couple with a supposed suicide pact that goes awry, with one dead and one still alive.  We read different possibilities of what has transpired and the main character's ordeal in jail and in court.  Picoult uses flashback throughout to tell the tale and to develop the relationship of the two teens as well the friendship between their families.

No matter your beliefs on the "hot topics" in the novel, I recommend The Pact.  It is very thought-provoking and well-written.  A made for television movie was created based on the novel.  I haven't seen it yet so I cannot comment as to how it compares to the novel, nor can I recommend it.  Once I watch it, I will try to remember to update this blog.

The Pact

Study Guide for The Pact

Watch the movie online (untested)

Book #10: Blockade Billy by Stephen King

Stephen King is known for his very long, horrifying novels (or his horrifyingly long novels).  Blockade Billy may be the antithesis to that.  It is a mere 112 pages long (and a few of those pages either have an illustration or are blank).  I knocked this one out in about an hour.

Personally, I am not a fan of baseball and wouldn't normally select a book about baseball, however, I am a fan of Stephen King, so I gave it a shot.  I was not disappointed despite all the game details included.  The story is about a ball player who is called in to help out the NJ Titans' 1957 team when they lose their two catchers for the season and are desperate for a replacement at the last minute.  From the very first game, the reader knows that something is not at all "right" with the lead character but up until the very end we don't know what it is, just that something big and bad is going to happen.  The foreshadowing is phenomenal without giving anything away.  It is written in an interesting style as well:  from the point of view of a teammate speaking directly to none other than Stephen King himself, many years after the fact.

Since I hate it when someone gives something away in a story (as my husband would attest), I will not give anything away either.  You will just have to read it yourself!

Blockade Billy Promo

Blockade Billy

Stephen King: The Official Website

Book #9: Elephant Girl: A Human Story by Jane Devin

Since purchasing my Kindle, I have taken to downloading massive numbers of free books that look interesting in one way or another at first glance.  I figure I'm not losing any money and if the book isn't any good I can just delete and move on to the next one.  Elephant Girl was one of those freebies.  When I first started reading it, I almost stopped due to the graphic nature and topic, thinking that it was fiction.  After taking the time to look up the book online, I discovered that it is an autobiography, so I decided to continue.

The book details the author's abusive childhood and less than pleasant early adulthood.  It shows the importance of early intervention in the life of abused children and the need for counselling and lots of love.  Jane's life was thoroughly harsh and unimaginable for the average person.  It is good to see that she seems to have overcome her past hardships through no easy feat although it took her over 46 years to do so.

That being said, Elephant Girl is not an easy read.  The story sporadically jumps around in time including early childhood, teen years, young adult, and older adult.  There doesn't appear to be any rhyme or reason to the order that she tells her story and is confusing to keep up with what time period she is writing about at any particular juncture of the book.

While I don't recommend this, her first book, Jane Devin currently has a blog that is much better written, and I believe that over time, future books of hers may be worth a read.

*WARNING* If you are a survivor of child abuse or sexual abuse, Elephant Girl contains many possible triggers, so you might wish to avoid this book.

Elephant Girl: A Human Story

Jane Devin's Personal Blog

Jane Devin's Blog on Huffington Post

Book #8: Don't Put Headphones on the Cat and Other Life Lessons by Rose Godfrey

Rose Godfrey, a mother of 11 and former speech pathologist, writes humorous anecdotes of her experiences in parenting and ends each chapter with a question or comment designed to make you reflect on your own life related to that chapter.  This book is an easy, quick read.  It is very amusing and thought provoking without being particularly "deep".  Any parent can relate to and appreciate the author as she tells her tales.  One of my favorite chapters is the one about her Louisville Slugger.

Don't Put Headphones on the Cat and Other Life Lessons

Book #7: 11/22/63 by Stephen King

This book was quite the undertaking near the end of the school year...849 pages.  It took me a lot longer than it should have but, alas, it is finished!  Stephen King has been one of my favorite authors for decades.  Many people are under the impression that all he writes is horror, but that is untrue.  This novel, for example, is historical fiction with a sci-fi twist:  time travel.  

Quite a fascinating topic:  if you could travel back in time and change one significant historical event, would you do it?  What would be the repercussions of the change?  In this novel, the event is the assassination of John F. Kennedy.  The story is very engaging and involves the changing of other, less historically significant events as well.  A side topic:  what would you do for the person/people you love?

The novel is written in a completely believable way and a tremendous amount of research was done in order to keep as much of the historical data accurate, including information about Lee Harvey Oswald and the people with whom he associated. Although, King does take some liberties that he freely admits to at the end of the book.

11/22/63 is a great read (this from a person who typically does not enjoy history even in a fictional setting) and I highly recommend it.

11/22/63 A Novel

Book #6: The Secret Holocaust Diaries by Nonna Bannister

As a child, Nonna Lisowskaja Bannister, kept diaries of her life in the Ukraine and in her unwanted travels during the war.  For approximately the first half of the book, Nonna describes the events of a carefree child who delights in her family and holidays.  At a young age, her father teaches her other languages which will come to benefit her as the war continues.  By age 16, Nonna is fluent in 4 languages.  In fact, her diary is written in different languages which she translates into English (not one of her original 4 languages) as she is in her final years.  The second half of the book details the loss of several family members.  She and her mother end up in the Nazi labor camps.  Ultimately, Nonna's ability to speak multiple languages gets them transferred to "better" camps and ultimately to a hospital to work.  Nonna is kept safe at this hospital which is run by nuns who give her a less conspicuous name.  She remains here and receives training as a nurse as well until the end of the war.  A few years later, Nonna immigrates to the US where she meets her husband who she will remain married to for over 50 years.  She does not share her childhood experiences even with him until they have been together for about 50 years.

While this story is no Diary of Anne Frank, it is a compelling read.  The first half is very slow and took me a long time to get through which is why it has been over a month since my last blog.  Once the author begins writing about her wartime experiences, the story picks up pace.  It is difficult to imagine the atrocities that young children both saw and experienced during those years.  Reading about this topic through the voice of a child is eye opening.  It's worth the read.

The Secret Holocaust Diaries

Book #5: The Help by Kathryn Stockett

I have finally read The Help and watched the movie (book first, though).

As for the book, when I first started reading it, the style of writing bothered me.  The entire chapter was written as if the character were speaking and used her dialect.  Now, I don't mind when authors use this tactic in writing dialogue.  That makes perfect sense to me, but for all writing, it was a bit much.  Then, the point of view switched to another character, and so did the writing.  Ah ha!  Now it was clear and I was no longer annoyed with the style.  It actually helped in differentiating between the three characters from whose point of view the story was being told.  As soon as I got past that initial issue, I thoroughly enjoyed this book.  Even though it is a fictional story, there is a ring of truth in it, probably due to the fact that the author grew up in the deep south and was brought up by a maid (which surprised me given that she appears to be around the same age as I am and I didn't know anyone with a maid growing up).

My favorite characters were Aibileen for her deep love and concern for Mae Mobley; Miss Skeeter for not following the conventions of the particular time and place where she lived, but trying to do what is right; Celia Foote for seeing Minny more as an equal even though she was her maid.  Oh, yes, I almost forgot, Hilly's mother simply because she found "the terrible awful" to be so hysterical.  Speaking of "the terrible awful", (which I will not put in a spoiler here) I thought it was well thought out to leave that as a surprise until near the end of the book.  No one had spoiled it for me, so I had become very curious about that by the time it was finally revealed.

I watched the movie last night.  It always interests me to see how close a movie is to its book.  I was pleased to see that it remained true to the novel but I did notice some differences and an omission that needed some explaining to a friend who hadn't read the book.  The reason for the $200 check that Hilly receives at the end of the movie is not given so it only makes sense to the people who have read the book.  The scene with Constantine and her daughter was changed, I assume to either save time in all the background explanations that it would require, or to avoid the additional topic of multiracial individuals.  The movie also makes it look as if Skeeter didn't spend much time working on the book.  She was interviewing all the maids all together.  Meanwhile, in the book, it's a very painstaking procedure and she spent many nights at Aibileen's house interviewing individuals.

All that being said, I enjoyed both the movie and the book.  They are both worth the time (but read the book first, of course).

The Help

The Help Trailer