Finally Friday - By Any Other Name by Jodi Picoult

Jodi Picoult is a reliable writer.  Here in By Any Other  Name she introduces us to  two women, centuries apart.  One is the real author of Shakespeare's plays. The other hides behind her name to get published. 

Melina  Green has written a play about an Elizabethan ancestor, Emilia Bassano. The theater world  is tough for  women. But  her best friend submits the  play to a festival under a male pseudonym. 

Meanwhile, Picoult also  explores Emilia's  life in  1581. She becomes a mistress to a wealthy man and  sees the workings of  the art/ theater world.   Her plan - pay an actor  named  William  Shakespeare to front  her work. 

cover blurb. 

Picoult weaves the two  tales and interlaces the issues of ambition, creativity, and prejudices for women.   Should a writer  do whatever it takes  to see her story live on...no matter the cost? 

I enjoyed this book a lot and the rich characters along with current day and historical backdrop. 
 

Whatever Wednesday - Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult

 You just can't go  wrong with a Jodi Picoult book. She is SO on top of topics and Mad Honey  (written with Jennifer Finney Boylan) hits a hot topic - trans issues. 

Olivia McAffee starts over with her son, Asher, after a picture perfect marriage that goes dark.  She moves home and takes over the family beekeeping business. 

Lily Campanello relocates for her senior high school year. 

Paths cross. Asher and Lily fall in love. But trust...

cover blurb: Then one day, Olivia receives a phone call. Lily is dead. Asher is being questioned by police.  Flashes of temper by Ash (so much like his father??).  Lily's secrets....?

Secrets, risks, love, suspense.  Mad Honey is a darn good read, with twists and turns I did not anticipate. 

Book Review - The Book of Two Ways by Jodi Picoult

 Jodi Picoult always writes a timely, perceptive, issue related, character driven book. Her formula is distinctive, her quality remains impeccable. I watched a streaming author talk with her and she basically said that "If I start phoning it in, living off my laurels, then I will stop."  She truly pours a ton of blood, sweat, tears, and  research into her writing.  The  Book of Two Ways is her newest piece of evidence that she can hit the high notes for a book that makes you think, that entertains, and is very pertinent to our times. 

front cover blurb: Everything changes in a single moment for Dawn. She's on a plane - prepares for a crash landing. She braces herself as thoughts flash through her mind. The shocking thing is, the thoughts are not of her husband but of a man she last saw fifteen years ago: Wyatt Armstrong. 

The book then diverts into two.  Water/ Boston is her life there as a death doula - she helps families dealing with death. Her own marriage - on the brink of demise, though Brian truly helped her after the death of her own mother many years ago. And she has a teen daughter dealing with issues. 

Land/Egypt chapters takes us to a tomb dig and discovery - we go to the past when she was a student with Wyatt, and in current days when she seeks answers to what could have been and what is now.  Love? Competition? Connection?

cover blurb: Two possible futures unspool, as do the secrets and doubts long buries with them. What does a life well lived look like? Do we make choices...or do choices make us?

The Book of Two Ways can be convoluted, yet it's powerful. I've always liked the idea of sliding doors - if this, then that.  Jodi Picoult digs deep into Egyptian history, the path for death into the afterlife, and explores the depth of marriage and love and choices.  Entertaining and deep! 

Book Review: The Storyteller

Jodi Picoult’s The Storyteller introduces us to Sage Singer, a baker. She works nights hiding her scarred face, her loneliness, and the memory of her mother’s death. In grief counseling group she meets Josef Weber, a 90 year-old man, who becomes a friend. And then he asks her to help him die, because he was a Nazi.

 

Sage’s journey begins. She meets Leo, a man working for the USA department that deals with Nazi criminals. With Leo, she interviews her own grandmother and hears her tale of a happy life that was destroyed – surviving the concentration camps, enduring brutality, and seeing a best friend shot. Sage had no idea about her Jewish legacy. She questions ” punishment and justice, forgiveness and mercy.”

 

Cover blurb – In this searingly honest novel, Picoult gracefully explores the lengths we will go in order to protect our families and to keep the past from dictating the future.

 

It is obvious that Picoult did a lot of research for this book and she indeed presents a brutal yet honest tale with characters that ring true. She treats the subject with respect.

 

 

P. 8  “Loss is more than death, and grief is the gray shape-shifter of emotion.”  The Storyteller is a powerful story that moves between the past and present, and brings rich characters to life, even as they face death.

 

Book Review: Lone Wolf

Jodi Picoult knows how to write an engaging tale. Lone Wolf is no exception. I like her method of intertwining stories, so the book pulls together from multiple perspectives. Voices are distinctive, characters are human, motives are muddled at times, and the reader will keep turning pages.

From the book blurb: In the wild, when a wolf knows its time is over, when it knows it is of no more use to its pack, it may sometimes choose to slip away. Dying apart from its family, it stays proud and true to its nature. Humans aren't so lucky.

Lone Wolf is about Luke Warren, a scientist who's studied and lived with wolves his whole life. His bonds with a wolf pack are almost tighter than with his own family - ex wife Georgie, son Edward who fled to Thailand for a new life, and daughter Cara, who lived with her father and is fiercely loyal. But she was in the pivotal car crash that brings them all back to the hospital to make life/death decisions.

Here's Cara talking about her father to a court psychologist: "Have you ever been swimming in the summer when a cloud comes in front of the sun. You know how, for a few seconds, you are absolutely freezing in the water. But, then all of a sudden the sun's back out and you're warm again and when you tell people how much fun you had swimming you wouldn't even think to mention those clouds." Cara shrugged. "That's what it's like with my father."

Family secrets, motives, relationships, and love are written in the layers of this story. Picoult writes human emotions in depth, and it's easy to sympathize and empathize with each character. Lone Wolf will keep your interest and keep you guessing as to whether this family can pull together for tough choices.

Picoult Rules

I confess to Jodi Picoult burnout. It lasted a year. I read a slew of her books, was up on her every hot topic in the news, and then my brain exploded. I did this for awhile with Oprah - dvr'd her show, read her magazine, and then said, "I'm choosing slothdom."

However, I currently have Oprah's April magazine issue featuring poetry sitting open on the kitchen table. And Jodi Picoult's House Rules jumped into my arms at the library. Guess I'm an addict and there's no cure.

Picoult is an excellent writer. Her characters are flawed but likeable. Her storytelling style - various viewpoints - keeps your interest and heightens pace and tension. It's obvious she's done research on her topic - in this case, autism. All in all, House Rules, has Picoult in fine form and I'm hooked once again.

Jacob Hunt, high schooler, is autistic. Theo, the younger teen brother, is resentful and yet, looks out for Jacob. Emma, the mother, constantly runs interference on Jacob's life. As a reader, you will gain a huge appreciation for what a mother of an autistic child goes through each day. It's exhausting. Jessica (college student) is Jacob's social worker and has helped him immensely. Unfortunately, Jessica is found murdered and the key suspect is Jacob. Oliver, a new lawyer, takes on the case and the trials and tribulations of Jacob, who deals in black and white, no shades of gray. Oliver has to convince the judge and jury that Jacob is innocent, but is he?

P. 7 Emma discusses Jacob: If you talk to him, you'll have to be the one to start the conversation. He won't look you in the eye. And if you pause to speak to someone else, for a brief moment, you might turn back to find that Jacob's left the room.

p. 12 Theo's view: I'm no saint. There are times I'll do things to drive Jacob crazy, because it's just so darn easy.

House Rules by Jodi Picoult is a worthy read. She's smart and definitely raises awareness on autism issues through solid fiction. I recommend this, but then step away from the "P" aisle in the library for awhile. You don't want Picoult burnout.