J Is For Jodi Picoult

Day 10 of my A to Z Challenge. J is for Jodi Picoult. 

If you don't know how this works, I've posted the link back to the rules of the challenge at the end of this, along with a link to yesterday's post. If you want to read my full alphabet, just keep following the links. Each day has a link back to yesterday's post.

I knew when I started this challenge, that I wanted to include an author somewhere along the way. There are a lot of great authors out there, and I have several favourites. I chose Jodi Picoult, because she is the one author who has never let me down as a reader. I have read all of her books and I’ve truly loved every one of them.

So, what is it that makes her so great? I think it’s a combination of things, but for me there are two main elements that keep me coming back.

1. Her books are realistic. The first book of hers I read (My Sister’s Keeper) I actually thought was a true story. She writes about what I think of as “normal people” experiencing things that really happen.

2. Her characters. The characters in her books are so well written. She has a knack for understanding people of all ages and all walks of life and this really comes out in her work. The characters are believable, and you can really imagine that that is how they would react to the situations within the books.

It’s hard to pick a favourite book and I can’t choose just one. My two favourites are My Sister’s Keeper and The Pact. I won’t spoil them for you if you haven’t read them yet (if you haven’t, you really should), but I found them both so moving, and so utterly real.

My Sister’s Keeper is a truly sad story. It centres around a family with 2 young girls, one of whom has leukemia, and the other who is a match for being a donor. The story is told from several viewpoints within the family, all of which have very different voices and all feel so real. It is a true moral dilemma story. As the parents, which child’s quality of life would you put first? Who would you sacrifice to save the other? As the healthy child, how far would you endanger yourself to save your sister? It truly makes you question how you would react in this situation.

The Pact is another sad story. It centres around Chris and Emily, two teenagers who have known each other all their lives. Emily dies from a gun shot wound to the head and Chris is found with the gun with one remaining bullet, and tells of a suicide pact the two had made. Chris finds himself on trial for murder. How would you feel if Chris was your son? How would Chris himself feel?

I think this is what sets Jodi Picoult apart as an author. Her writing makes you question everything you thought you knew about how you would react in a situation. She has an uncanny knack for making you wonder how you would really react, and the consequences of your decision, and makes you experience the emotions that go with it. And those thoughts don’t end when you finish reading the book. They will stay with you. I love thought provoking fiction, and Jodi Picoult is the queen of thought provoking.

If you haven’t read any of her books yet, I can’t recommend them highly enough.

What do you think? Do you find her books stay with you? Who is your favourite author?

As an aside, I would just like to point out that this isn’t a commissioned post, and I am in no way affiliated with Jodi Picoult or her publishers. I just genuinely believe that she is brilliant at what she does and deserves recognition for it.

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Link to rules: http://myrandommusings.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/a-z-challenge-whos-with-me.html

Link to I Is For Inspirational Songs: http://myrandommusings.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/i-is-for-inspirational-songs.html