Book For The Week: Change Of Heart by Jodi Picoult

Change Of Heart

by

Jodi Picoult

Jodi Picoult's novel Change of Heart will be on my favorites list of books that I have read in 2012.   It is a book of many layers and as the August selection for my library reading group,  will offer an opportunity for discussion on many levels.   This is a story of a man on death row who is convicted of a double murder of a little girl and her step father.  The mother/wife of these victims was not at home at the time of the murders because she was at a OB/GYN appointment.  At the time the novel begins the baby is now an 11 year old girl who was born with a congenital heart and is now in desperate need for a transplant.   The death row inmate convicted for her sisters death hears of her need on the news and wants to donate his heart to her as it is time for his execution.   The story  introduces: a priest who became a priest due to sitting on the jury that sentenced the death sentence in this case,  a lawyer from the Civil  Liberties Union that is the daughter of a Rabbi,  doctors, a judge,  a warden,  fellow inmates,  correctional officers,  a conservative fundamentalist  preacher,  a grieving wife and mother,   a sick little girl,  and a burn victim from a case of arson.  The novel wrestles with the pros and cons of capital punishment,   the definition of religion,   the gnostic gospels,  medical ethics,  and legal ethics.    It is the kind of book you have to intermittently stop reading and ponder awhile.  Please enjoy the following video of the author and don't forget to click on the title and the author's name above to follow the links to more information.  I highly recommend this book.

Book For The Week: Best Friends, Occasional Enemies

Best Friends;  

Occasional Enemies

by

Lisa Scottoline

In the wee hours of this morning I finished reading the book selection for my library book group this month.  It is called Best Friends,  Occasional Enemies and is written by Lisa Scottoline.   This book would definitely come under the genre of "chick lit" and is an easy read.   While I would never have selected it as reading material,  one of the neat things about being in a book group is getting exposed to books you would never go out of your rut of interest without the push to read.  I enjoyed the book and do believe there is a time and a place for a fluff book.  If I ever do need a fluff book I will pick up another one of this author's books.  It is also a book that,  in the right circumstance,  would be an appropriate gift.

Lisa Scottoline also writes novels but some of her books,  like Best Friends, Occasional Enemies,   are collections of essays.  The following video is an audio presentation of the introduction of another one her essay books.  While it is not the book Best Friends, Occasional Enemies  that this blog is about,  it is similar in style and format.   Be sure and click on the title of the book and author's name above to follow the links to more information. 

Book For This Week - "A Breath Of Snow And Ashes"

A Breath Of Snow And Ashes

by

Diana Gabaldon

The sixth book in Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series is A Breath of Snow And Ashes.    Set in Colonial America on the eve of the Revolutionary War this novel takes place in a favorite time frame of mine.   The story of the families that live on Fraziers Ridge continues throughout the book with continual excitement,  adventure and sexual episodes to keep the reader,  or in my case,  listener,  very interested.    To learn more about the series click on the author's name and book title above.    But as this is my sixth post on this series I wanted to acknowledge the reader in the audio book series and I very much enjoy her presentation of the novels.  The following videos are two parts to an interview with the reader.  

Sign Talker by James Alexander Thom

Sign Talker

by 

James Alexander Thom

This evening I finished reading Sign Talker by James Alexander Thom.   It is about the Lewis and Clark expedition but it is told through the eyes of the Native American that did the hunting for the expedition and communicated with the many tribes of Native Americans that the party met along the way.   I thoroughly enjoyed this book and plan to read more of James Alexander Thom's works.   A friend recommended this author to me last winter.   James Alexander Thom lives in Southern Indiana.  He was a marine and is married to a Native American woman.   As I read this book I remembered some of the areas mentioned that I have driven though at various times in my life.   It was easy to imagine them as they were in the early 1800s as I read Thom's descriptions.   The people involved in the expedition came to life for me.  I was not that familiar with the details of the Lewis and Clark Expedition and found it fascinating.  I never knew that Merriweather Lewis had the mental health issues that he did and that he committed suicide.  I never knew that they even had a Native American along to hunt for the food that kept them alive.   I highly recommend this book.  As always, click on the  title of the book and the author's name to follow the link to learn more.