Book Friday – The Pact, Jodi Picoult
21 August 2009
When I started blogging, I was a judge for a contest so I couldn’t talk about the books I was actually reading at the moment. Well, the problem is I chose to talk about some books I planned on reading soon, like Emma. So I’ve been reading Emma for the last couple weeks, but don’t really have anything fresh to say about it. I still find it hilarious, and it’s still one of my favorite books.
Last week I talked about The Signature of Jesus which I’m reading in my morning quiet time. The only other book I’m currently reading is my chronological Bible, so for this Book Friday, I walked over to my shelf of favorites and made a random selection.
It’s been a couple years since I read The Pact by Jodi Picoult, but there are still times when my mind wanders to Chris and Emily. Now that’s a sign of a killer book. The Pact was my first Jodi Picoult book, and the thing I love most about it is how it was nothing like I expected it to be. I thought it would be a romance that built up to the murder-suicide thing, but instead she opens with the murder-suicide and we bounce around in time a little. The mystery of it really captured me, and I think that’s partly because I didn’t expect there to be so much mystery.
Another thing I love about The Pact is how we lived in Chris and Emily’s minds, but also in the minds of their parents. In books, there’s often a choice made to either focus on the teenagers (these are predominately YA books) or to focus on the parents. I love that Jodi Picoult somehow does both so effortlessly. She also does this in My Sister’s Keeper and Plain Truth. Maybe others as well, but those are the ones coming to mind.
I think Jodi Picoult is one of those rare writers who lives up to the acclaim she receives, and The Pact was an excellent introduction to her.
OK – I’m adding it to my good reads list. Have a great weekend!
Posted by Debbie McCool on 21 August 2009