House Rules - Jodi Picoult

HOUSE RULES

ISBN - 978-0-240-97908-2

FIRST PUBLISHED - 2010

PAGES - 630

GENRE - Fiction

BINDING - Paperback

AUTHOR - Jodi Picoult

BEST-SELLERS - Songs of the Humpback Whale, My Sister's Keeper, Keeping Faith, Sing You Home

SYNOPSIS - When your son can't look you in the eye . . . does that mean he's guilty? 

Jacob Hunt is a teen with Asperger’s syndrome. He’s hopeless at reading social cues or expressing himself well to others, though he is brilliant in many ways. But he has a special focus on one subject—forensic analysis. A police scanner in his room clues him in to crime scenes, and he’s always showing up and telling the cops what to do. And he’s usually right.

But when Jacob’s small hometown is rocked by a terrible murder, law enforcement comes to him. Jacob’s behaviors are hallmark Asperger’s, but they look a lot like guilt to the local police. Suddenly the Hunt family, who only want to fit in, are directly in the spotlight. For Jacob’s mother, Emma, it’s a brutal reminder of the intolerance and misunderstanding that always threaten her family. For his brother, Theo, it’s another indication why nothing is normal because of Jacob.

And over this small family, the soul-searing question looms: Did Jacob commit murder?

QUOTES - 

“Sometimes I think the human heart is just a simple shelf. There is only so much you can pile onto it before something falls off an edge and you are left to pick up the pieces.”  

“when you [lose someone], it feels like the hole in your gum when a tooth falls out. You can chew, you can eat, you have plenty of other teeth, but your tongue keeps going back to that empty place, where all nerves are still a little raw”  

“It's never the differences between people that suprise us. It's the things that, against all odds, we have in common.”

FL Speak - Do you have a favourite brand of chocolate? The brand that's readily available at the nearest shop? The one that you constantly find nibbling? The chocolate that you're addicted to? You know the feeling? Jodi Picoult is my heroin. I'm addicted to her. I'm addicted to her words, her tale, her writing. Even though I know, reading her books would break my fragile lil heart into a million pieces, I can't stop myself.

Meet Jacob. Socially awkward, mentally awesome. Jacob is a walking, breathing CSI Encyclopaedia. He also has Aspergers. People with Aspergers are people, but with a little different view of things than others. Jacob has a routine. You mess with the routine and the day is gone to hell. Jacob hates change and his family has to adjust to it. Food in the house are colour-coded. You can't eat a yellow food on a day that is meant for green or red. You can't change the timing of his classes or appointments in the last moment without bringing hell forth. 

And Jacob is special. He solves CSI mysteries on television before the actors do. He creates fake crime scenes in his house, much to the bewilderment of his mother and anguish of his older brother. He's a genius in solving crimes. And the local police department's thorn in their feet. 

So when his tutor goes missing one day, Jacob decides to find her and solve the case. When her body is discovered covered in a quilt Jacob's mother made for him, the missing person's case turns to homicide. As Emma hunt takes her son, Jacob to the police station to find answers, little did she realises that she's setting her son up for murder. 

Emma Hunt is a gem. She's every bit the mother we wished we had. You can't help but feel for her as she sacrifices everything for the younger son with special needs. Her life is set up, she doesn't complain. Moms seldom do. And then there is Theo. Jacob's older brother and complete normal in contemporary sense. How long can you stay with someone whose mood swings are more frequent than the advertisements between tv shows? How much can you cope when your mom is always at your younger brother's side leaving you to fend for yourself? The emotions coming out of Theo are raw and everything you might expect from an outsider who has no clue what Aspergers is. Theo loves his younger brother and is more confused. He knows his childhood is almost over and he worries that he might have to take care of his younger brother for life and yet he simply cannot walk away as their father did when he realised Jacob's condition.

With the local police set to make Jacob the scapegoat, Emma and Jacob must fight it out to prove his innocence. But will it be enough? Specially when Jacob is not saying everything he knows.

A sterling piece of writing. To write a 600+ novel and yet making sure that you never feel like skipping one paragraph, that's Picoult for you. You'll love Jacob. You'll laugh at his reactions, you'll cry at his sufferings, you'll be the shoulder he needs, the silent hope he requires. Reading Jodi Picoult is like watching a movie. You're God. You look down and see them in the living room. You follow them around without them knowing you're watching them. Reading Jodi Picoult is a blessing.

My Rating - 5/5 stars

PRICE - INR 350/-

Songs of the Humpback Whale - Jodi Picoult

SONGS OF THE HUMPBACK WHALE

ISBN - 978-0-340-89731-7
FIRST PUBLISHED - 1992
GENRE - Fiction
PUBLISHERS - Hodder Headlines
BINDING - Paperback
PAGES - 346

AUTHOR - Jodi Picoult

BEST-SELLERS - My Sister's Keeper, Sing You Home, Keeping Faith

SYNOPSIS - [From the back cover]

For years, Jane has lived in the shadow of her husband, renowned oceanographer Oliver Jones. But during an escalating argument, Jane turns on him in an impulsive fit of rage. In anger and fear, Jane leaves with their teenage daughter, Rebecca, for a cross-country road trip guided by her brother Joley to his Massachusetts apple farm, where surprising self-discoveries await.

Now Oliver, an expert at tracking humpback whales across vast oceans, will search for his wife across a continent - and find a new way to see the world, his family, and himself - through her eyes.

QUOTES - 

“I believe in love. I think it just hits you and pulls the rug out from underneath you and, like a baby, demands your attention every minute of the day.” 

“If you want to love a parent you have to understand the incredible investment he or she has in you. If you are a parent, and you want to be loved, you have to deserve it.” 

“I don't know the first thing about holding together a family, especially one that resembles an heirloom vase, shattered but glued back together for its beauty, and no one mentions that you can see the cracks as plain as day. ” 

“The apple . . . came before Adam and Eve in the story of creation. It had to have been there at least three years because that's how long it takes for a new tree to bear fruit.” 

FL Speak - Look what I found? Picoult's debut novel :D

I've heard people crib about the quality of writing in this one. It seems people aren't happy with her first book as compared to her later ones. Bah! People are never satisfied. As for me, this was certainly different from the others I read and I loved it more.

If you've read the synopsis above, you know this is going to be one memorable read. Since this is Picoult's first novel, published when she was just 26, there are bound to be a few deviations from the Picoult we now know. But to expect that this one would disappoint, was never in my mind.

Songs of the Humpback Whale has five POV's. And the timeline is completely jumbled up. You'll actually have to pay attention and/or in my case, go back to a previous chapter again to see if you read what you read. By the end of page 50, you know the end of the story. And this is when Picoult starts writing.

The book starts with a crash. Rebecca is only a child and her plane crashes while she's flying back to her father. That fatal crash serves as the much needed bridge to close the differences between Jane and Oliver as they start being a family again. Fast forward the novel to the last chapter. DAFUQ!

Yes. And now watch Picoult magically weave the story together. For e.g., if A is chapter 1 and Z is chapter 2, the 3rd chapter is B and the fourth is Y. The 5th chapter is C and the 6th is X until they all come down to a common point of time where the timeline merges. Its beautiful, its poignant. You'll actually have to read the tale to be stunned.

Jane and Oliver. Oliver and Jane. When Oliver, who has more love and time for his whales than his family, threatens to walk about of their child Rebecca's birthday party due to work, Jane thinks she's had enough. Thus begins a road trip across the United States to her brother's place. And Oliver, only in their absence, does he realise, what he took for granted. Its easy to love Jane and hate Oliver. And its easy to connect to Oliver and hate Jane. Picoult proves again that no one is perfect. Who do you side with when you know Jane has been the perfect home maker and Oliver was having affairs? Who do you side with when Jane starts falling for a much younger man at her brother's apple orchard while Oliver is doing everything in his power to find his way to her? Who do you side with when 15 year old Rebecca and 35 year old Jane, fall in love with men who are both 25 years old? Who's love is right?

As i said, you'll know the tragic tale in the first few pages itself. What will help you to read on, is how they survive the coming storm. I'm reading one Jodi Picoult a month now, so as to make sure I don't run out of her. Also, there is only so much you can do to survive her books. Too many in few days will leave me crippled.

Vanessa is stunning in this novel. She's a 15 year old with the maturity of a 25 year old woman. Until love comes knocking ofcourse. The mom and daughter bondings across the width of America makes this book extra special. Not to forget the sights they witness along the journey. When am in the States, along with the tourist guidebooks, this novel will be my companion. If only to traverse the road travelled by them.

And then there are WHALES :D Oh, you'll love them! 

Reading Jodi Picoult is a blessing. That blasted woman picks up the outrageous topics and makes sure you'll end up loving and cursing her at the same time. Reading Jodi Picoult is also very fatal. You're bound to trip or bump your head in the wall because you simply can't put the book down while walking.

My Rating - 4/5 stars

PRICE - INR 350/-

Keeping Faith - Jodi Picoult

KEEPING FAITH

ISBN -  9780060878061
FIRST PUBLISHED - 2006
PAGES - 502
GENRE - Fiction
BINDING - Paperback

AUTHOR - Jodi Picoult

BEST-SELLERS - My Sister's Keeper, Salem Falls, Sing You Home

SYNOPSIS - [From the back cover]

When the marriage of Mariah White and her cheating husband, Colin, turns ugly and disintegrates, their seven-year-old daughter, Faith, is there to witness it all. In the aftermath of a rapid divorce, Mariah falls into a deep depression - and suddenly Faith, a child with no religious background whatsoever, hears divine voices, starts reciting biblical passages, and develops stigmata. And when the miraculous healings begin, mother and daughter are thrust into the volatile center of controversy and into the heat of a custody battle - trapped in a mad media circus that threatens what little stability the family has left.

QUOTES - 

“The truth doesn't always set you free; people prefer to believe prettier, neatly wrapped lies”  

“Sometimes you can see things happen right in front of your eyes and still jump to the wrong conclusions.”  

“This is love, I think. A place where people who have been alone may lock together like hawks and spin in the air, dizzy with surprise at the connection. A place you go willingly, and with wonder”  

“What's worse ...?The devil you don't know ... or the devil you do?”  

“If it is possible to die of grief then why on earth can't someone be healed by happiness?” 

FL Speak - Remember what I said about Jodi Picoult? Well I do. Do not pick her up unless you know you're going to be shaken to your roots and probably stay up all night wondering what the heck did you just read.

Well, I threw caution to my own advice and picked her book up. Again. 3 books in as many months and now am numb. A 4th book is calling me from the shelf above my head. So far, I'm resisting. So far.

What to expect in a Picoult novel? A broken family, legal stuff and a whole lot of unbelievable awesomeness that you cannot put down. The more tragic and complex a plot is, the more Picoult writes it better. In this, we have an ass cheating on his wife. Wife finds out and the guys moves out. Its here that the story truly begins. Faith, their seven-year-old daughter watches her dad come out of the shower with another woman. She's seven, she doesn't understand. But she knows that her mom is terribly upset. Few days later, she makes an invisible friend. Mariah, her mom is worried. [I would be too, unless the friend was a tiger like Hobbes]. Nevertheless, doctors assure her that a child may seek solace in an imaginary friend and it is completely natural. What's unnatural is when she starts reading from the Bible. Something, that she never read before.

Meanwhile, Ian is on a country wide tour disproving anything that has to do with God. And then he hears about little Faith who talks with God. A God who is a female.

Bam! People start flocking to Mariah's house. Mariah still tries to act normal until the day when her daughter brings back her grandmother back from the dead. One miracle after another and Faith starts showing signs of stigmata.

With Ian trying to prove it a hoax and her ex-husband, Colin trying to take Faith away on grounds of Mariah being mentally unstable, the mother-daughter duo must face a trial by fire and more to survive the coming storm. And maybe God won't be enough this time for a miracle.

Hell! I should stop now! Lest I give away any major spoilers. Let me tell you one thing though. Faith is utterly adorable. The last paragraph literally blew me away. I had to read it thrice! THRICE!! And I was still left shaking with goosebumps all over me. Read it! READ THIS BOOK!

My Rating - 4.5/5 stars

PRICE - INR 350/-

Sing You Home - Jodi Picoult

SING YOU HOME

ISBN - 978-1-444-72456-1

FIRST PRINTED - 2011

PAGES - 460

GENRE - Fiction

BINDING - Paperback

AUTHOR - Jodi Picoult

BEST-SELLERS - My Sister's Keeper, The Pact, Keeping Faith

SYNOPSIS - [From the back cover]

Zoe has spent ten years trying to get pregnant. But as she's about to get her heart's desire, tragedy destroys her world.

In the aftermath of loss and divorce, she throw herself into her career as a music therapist. Working with Vanessa, she finds their relationship moving from business, to friendship, and - to her surprise - blossoming into love. When Zoe allows herself to start considering children again, she remembers there are still frozen embryos she and her husband never used.

But Max, having sought peace at the bottom of a bottle, has found redemption in an evangelical church, and Zoe needs his permission to take his unborn child...

QUOTES - 

Anxiety's like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do, but it doesn't get you very far.

The only difference between a wish and a prayer is that you're at the mercy of the universe for the first, and you've got some help with the second. 

When you want something bad, you'll tell yourself a thousand lies.

For better or for worse, music is the language of memory. It is also the language of love.

FL Speak - What to expect when you read Jodi Picoult? A tear jerker of a tale, a story while will keep you wondering and characters that touch your heart.

Sing You Home is the story of a married couple, Zoe and Max. It is also the story of Vanessa.

Zoe and Max are desperately trying to have a baby. After years of being married, a baby is all they need to be a perfect family. But with Max being infertile and Zoe's miscarriages, not everything is perfect. Except maybe their love for each other. But when Zoe finally is pregnant with the frozen embryos she and Max saved, their happiness knew no bounds. Only, happiness didn't last. Zoe gave birth to a stillborn and Max served her divorce papers when he realized that Zoe wanted a baby more than she wanted him.

What I love most about Jodi Picoult's books is that there are hardly any villains. Yes, not even Max. Her characters may not be perfect, but they're a thousand shades of gray. And when Zoe finds herself in love with Vanessa and Max starts romancing the bottle, the real trouble starts.

Homosexuality is still seen as a sin in many states, religions. When Max discovers himself in an evangelical Church and walks the path of enlightment, he cannot come to terms with the fact that his ex-wife is a homosexual.

I loved the Zoe/Vanessa romance. There was something so pure and innocence in their love, that it made me angry and upset at the protests against gay people in the book. I won't admit that I won't watch lesbian porn again, but its good to know that there is more to same sex romance than just some mindless coupling.

Max is the anti-hero. He actually believes that the Bible speaks against homosexuals. And the sad thing is that many, many Christians in the modern world still feel so. So when, Zoe has a chance to raise a kid with Vanessa, she remembers the frozen embryos still saved. And she needs Max's permission. It's quite touching to see him argue with himself regarding the decision he needs to make. Should he give her the embryos knowing that she will be happy or keep it away from her believing that a child brought up in an homosexual family is a grave sin, as he/she will have the same tendencies.

But when his brother and his wife fail to conceive a child, he finds a way out of the mess. And therein lay the trouble. Now Max and Zoe must go to court again. With the Church and the pastor and their followers behind him, Max has decided to fight for the right for his embryos. With only the love of Vanessa and a few sympathetic folks for gay rights, Zoe must be brave to see this through.

Phew!

Absolutely loved this book! I loved Zoe! She's a music therapist. Now I know, that in a parallel universe, I'm one too.

For thousands of marriages that ends in divorce, being raised by two moms or two dads is a privilege indeed. I'm proud to be friends with some of them. I go out with them. I party with them and they're wonderful. They're human. Are you one?

The world needs to open their minds. Jodi Picoult, I love you.

My Rating  - 4.5 stars

PRICE - INR 350/-

VIDEO TRAILER -

P.S| This book even has a soundtrack. And yes, its awesome.

My Sister's Keeper - Jodi Picoult

MY SISTER'S KEEPER

ISBN - 978-0-340-91862-3
FIRST PUBLISHED - 2004
PAGES - 407
GENRE - Fiction
BINDING - Paperback

AUTHOR - Jodi Picoult

BEST-SELLERS - Keeping Faith, Salem Falls, Second Glance

SYNOPSIS - [From the back cover]

Sara Fitzgerald's daughter Kate us just two years old when she is diagnosed with a rare form of leukaemia. Reeling with the helpless shock of it, Sara knows she will do anything - whatever it takes - to save her child.

Then the test results come back time and again to show that no one in their family is a match for Kate. If they are to find a match for the crucial bone marrow transplant she needs, there is only one option: creating another baby, specifically designed to save her sister. For Sara, it seems the ideal solution. Not only does Kate live, but she gets a beautiful new daughter, Anna, too.

Until the moment Anna hands Sara the papers that will rock her whole world. Because, aged thirteen, Anna has decided that she doesn't want to help Kate live any more. She is suing her parents for her rights to her own body.

EXCERPT - 

"It is about Kate. Sort of." I press the newspaper clippings into my brother's hand; they'll do a better job explaining than I ever could. He scans them, then looks me right in the eye. His are the palest shade of silver, so surprising that sometimes when he stares at you, you can completely forget what you were planning to say. 

"Don't mess with the system, Anna," he says bitterly. "We've all got our scripts down pat. Kate plays the Martyr. I'm the Lost Cause. And you, you're the Peacekeeper."

QUOTES - 

“true love is felonious… You take someone’s breath away… You rob them of the ability to utter a single word… You steal a heart.”

 “It is the things you cannot see coming that are strong enough to kill you.” 

“I didn't want to see her because it would make me feel better. I came because without her, it's hard to remember who I am...” 

FL Speak - *pause*

Ever felt goosebumps rise up your arms the moment you read the back cover of a book in a store? You realize it would mean you might end up not only reading the book but actually living every emotion, no matter how painful and yet you stride up to the payment section and buy the book. This is what happened with me and Jodi Picoult. 

I have always wanted to read Picoult but something always came in my way. And THIS IS NOT THE BOOK i wanted to romance Picoult with. But as fate would have it, I picked this one up. Thank you Polo aka @CreepyBangalan for recommending this one.

Meet the Fitzgerald family. Sara and her husband Brian are doing everything to save their eldest daughter Kate. And in the family struggle are their two other children, Jesse and his sister Anna. Jesse and Anna have their own issues, but as usual they're swept aside for the greater problem, Kate.

What can a 13 year old do when the parents she loves wants her as a tool for their elder daughter. Kate needs blood, Anna provides. Kate needs bone marrow, Anna provides.....but when is it enough? How long are you willing to go for your own sister without thinking about your future? How can you carry on every single day knowing the parents who love you and you sister equally will never understand how you feel...

The Telegraph got it right when the praised Picoult. She doesn't just write a gut-wrenching novel, she writes humanity. Being a reader, you don't know whom to feel sorry for...the dying girl, the sister who's the keeper, the brother who couldn't save her life or her parents who think they are making the right choice.

There are moments when you can just close your eyes and picture every scene so clearly....just like when Kate is in hospital and falls in love with another guy of her age who's in for treatment.....or the moment when Sara and Anna go bald so that Kate don't feel awkward while going out shopping. 

Watch out for Jesse though....He's a huge huge surprise in the book and its easy to think he's in the background when the book is practically about Kate vs Anna vs Sara.

Don't get me wrong.....Anna love Kate to bits....Sara and Brian love both their daughters and the wayward son....Its this love, that threatens everyone... Anna has to choose between what is right and what is wrong....and what is right may not necessarily be right. She's stuck between doing what's right and what needs to be done and you can heave a sigh of relief knowing you're not in the position of that 13-year old girl. As the story nears its ending, Anna springs a surprise that shocks everyone in the book as well as me.....

*deep breathe*

I thought I figured it out...until that moment. And then I close my eyes and think ahead of the ramifications from this unexpected twist...and as I finally make a conclusion, I read again. The next shock blew me away. 

There are times when you simply cannot stop reading even though tears are rolling down your cheeks. Being a guy, I'm attuned to physical pain...its the emotional ones that betray me...and Jodi Picoult just turned up the magnitude. I want to read all her books but I fear what I would turn into when I'm done with them.

Jodi Picoult is a frigging genius. Her writing is a beauty in itself and forgive me, but she's absolutely heartless the way she squirms your heart out.

My Rating - 5/5 stars

PRICE - INR 350/-