My favourite Jodi Picoult book is...

greenapplesea

Hi all,

I'm new to Boards.ie so this is my first post

I'm also quite new to reading Jodi Picoult books- I started reading her stuff last month and am now on my 4th. I've read My Sister's Keeper, The Pact, 19 Minutes and am currently on Plain Truth. I was wondering what is your favourite and could you recommend what I should read next?

Thanks guys, hope to hear from ye soon!!

ncmc

I have to say i'm not a Jodo Picoult fan, I started off with My Sisters Keeper and enjoyed it and then tried, Plain Truth, Tenth Circle, Salem Falls and some other one that I can't remember the name. I thought all of them except for My Sisters Keeper were pretty awful! Especially Plain Truth, it was the pits. So I would have to say that My Sisters Keeper is my favourite... but only cos I hated the rest!!!

gogo

I quiet like Jodi Picoult book's, My sisters keeper was by far the best, there a bit more interesting than your usual chick lit crap. The tenth circle is also good.

Hey op, whats with the roll eyes :rolleyes:on all your posts?

claire h

I liked Second Glance a lot, and if you liked the medical/ethical bits of My Sister's Keeper, it might be worth reading. (Change of Heart, her latest, has that sort of stuff but also a lot of faith/religious-y stuff, which I'm not sure is her strongest point.)

Also: The Tenth Circle and Salem Falls. Maybe Vanishing Acts as well. I haven't really read one that I didn't enjoy, though a lot of them are quite thematically similar or overlap a bit the more you read, apart from Perfect Match. I do like her writing, though, definitely a fan.

JeanetteG

I was given three Jodi Picoult books at Christmas. The titles seemed quite intriguing although I know one shouldn't judge a book by its cover/title. The books were Perfect Match, My Sister's Keeper and Vanishing Acts.

I started Perfect Match but after ploughing halfway through it I just didn't want to read any more, so that and the other two books have remained in the cupboard since then. I may go back to them, but I really think they'll end up at the charity shop.

orchidsrpretty

I have only started reading her books in the last month or so too. The ones I read myself are : 19 minutes- this one got me hooked, I found it really hard to put down,
the tenth circle: was a bit dissapointed with this overall.
Salem falls- I thought was brilliant, also found that really hard to put down. The last one I read was Mercy, which was alright. Imo when you start to read her books, they seem great, but all her books seem to follow the same pattern, which can get a little boring. But she is a fantasic writer, really knows how to draw you into her story.

ncmc

orchidsrpretty wrote: »

I have only started reading her books in the last month or so too. The ones I read myself are : 19 minutes- this one got me hooked, I found it really hard to put down,
the tenth circle: was a bit dissapointed with this overall.
Salem falls- I thought was brilliant, also found that really hard to put down. The last one I read was Mercy, which was alright. Imo when you start to read her books, they seem great, but all her books seem to follow the same pattern, which can get a little boring. But she is a fantasic writer, really knows how to draw you into her story.

I 100% agree, her books start off great, but then I always find the end a bit of a let-down. She really has a format that she sticks to: Crime or incident, followed by lots of flowery language about how the characters feel, followed by a love interest, followed by a court-room battle, followed by a rushed disappointing ending.

In saying that, I just finished 19 minutes and I quite enjoyed it, the end was a bit rushed and obvious, but overall, I thought it better than most of hers I have read.

(You're prob wondering why I continue to read her books when I obviosly don't like them; I always see them in a bargain shop, can't resist buying, leave them for a year until I'm really stuck and then curse myself for buying them in the first place!):D

greenapplesea

Ah...since my very first post here I have realised that this guy :rolleyes: means sarcastic! Sorry about that!

I've been reading Keeping Faith by Picoult for the last TWO MONTHS (longest time ever getting through a book!) and cannot seem to finish! I hate to give up on it because I've heard that it's one of the best of her books...

Anybody read it and liked it?

BAM!

greenapplesea wrote: »

Ah...since my very first post here I have realised that this guy :rolleyes: means sarcastic! Sorry about that!

I've been reading Keeping Faith by Picoult for the last TWO MONTHS (longest time ever getting through a book!) and cannot seem to finish! I hate to give up on it because I've heard that it's one of the best of her books...

Anybody read it and liked it?

Reading this too Greenapplesea, finding it tough to finish too. Stick in there eh?

Mellor

The only one i've read was The Pact, and while I enjoyed it, there where huge omissions in my opinion. I think the concept in general appealed to due to the fact that I suffer from suicidal ideation at times,
I thought the view from the girls side was far more interesting and alot was left out (no reason once the facts become clear halfway through). Also, the mothers reaction to the diary and the knowledge of what the paintings mean is left out, almost ignored. Shame really

bigmouth

Absolutely agree with Mellor; sometimes think she goes away from writing for chunks of time and forgets where she was going with something. In saying that though, I did enjoy the Pact (my first Jodi Picoult book) enough to buy a couple more. Read Plain Truth which had the potential to be decent, but she threw it away with the ending. Felt utterly deflated on completing the book.

Attempted to read Mercy but halfway through felt frustrated at the lack of progression of the story. Stopped caring about the plot ad found myself butchering the book by skipping whole chapters to find out what was happing in the subplot, Mia's story.

I had also purchased Salem Falls and My Sisters Keeper but at that stage I'd had enough. I understand that authors like to stick to a formula to a certain extent, because the buying public want to know what they're getting, but she takes the 'formula' idea too far. It's almost like she has a checklist:

An attempt at complex characters -check!
An incident - check!
A moral dilemma - check! (which wouldn't be so bad if you really questioned yourself while reading, but the books are written in such a way that you don't feel the conflict, you are supposed to, and probably do, side with a certain character or point of view)
A court case - check!

But in answer to the question I would say the Pact. Don't watch the film though - terrible!

ChewChew

I first read My Sisters Keeper and thoroughly enjoyed it. I have pretty much all of her books and enjoyed them except The Tenth Circle. I really felt it was a story that was kind of awkward. I didnt enjoy it as much as the rest of her books.

I really enjoyed Plain Truth, Salem Falls and keeping faith. I recently started to read Mercy but I got bored after about 100 pages and now cant get back into it.

My sisters keeper was, by far, my favourite read but I'm not looking forward to the movie coing out because the last I heard from the jodi news letter, the production company that bought the rights to make the movie have changed the ending!!! I cant imagine any other ending for that story tbh.

Gillybeans1

I have only recently got into Jodhi's books. I enjoyed My Sister's Keeper but my favourite was 19 minutes great book, for anyone that enjoyed it I would recommend 'We need to talk about Kevin' by Lionel Shriver' which is in the same vein. I'm currently in the middle of Plain Truth. Oh and a warning avoid flicking to the question and answer section at the back of her books!!! :mad: gave away the twist of 19 minutes but it's a great book so i kept on reading!
If having trouble deciding what one to read I always check out the ratings on Amazon.co.uk, a good indicator what ones are the best and which ones to avoid!!

~me~

i just finished reading handle with care (amazing!) and the pact.

I had seen my sisters keeper in the cinema without reading the book so i cant really comment on the book but ive a feeling handle with care is pretty much the same! the mother in both stories seems to be the same strong willed, will do everything for my daughter type. but i could not put the book down, it was a disappointing and predictable ending, which is ironic as i think it was meant to be a 'twist'!

the pact was really good! a few things were really kind of... out of place..as in they didnt fit the story but if they had been elaborated they would have made the story- like the diary ems mam found. also did anyone else wonder if donna the jeweller was the same donna that chris talked about or if it was just a coincidence that jodi used the same name? i was confused about that for a while, wondering when it'd come up!:o

the parents in the pact where similar to that in handle with care as well! they had the same roles and issues going on.

im thinking of getting salem falls, is it as good as the pact?
i like the more soppy ones than the law ones but i like 'realistic' types as well so im running out of options!

Mink

I've only read two of hers - My Sister's Keeper & The Tenth Circle.

I really enjoyed Tenth Cirlce, I loved the graphic novel that was threaded throughout. Not many mention this book of hers but I thought it was great.

Lost interest after Sister's Keeper. I think my expectations were too high & I'd already had a lot of the plot told to me

Sativa_soul

She's one of the best authors that I've encountered in awhile - and considering how much I read (too much! constantly!) - that spans quite a spectrum - and I keep returning to her books over and over again - and anxiously awaiting the next!

My two favourites have been 'Mercy' and 'Change of Heart' - two magical reads I highly recommend!

SeekUp

Ones I liked best: Perfect Match (the first one of hers I'd read), Change of Heart, and Plain Truth -- I thought these were very strong stories. Change of Heart is one of the endings that I remember, tbh.

Ones I liked Least: The Tenth Circle, Second Glance, and Vanishing Acts. I didn't car about anything that was happening throughout any of these. M-e-h.

greenapplesea wrote: »

I've been reading Keeping Faith by Picoult for the last TWO MONTHS (longest time ever getting through a book!) and cannot seem to finish! I hate to give up on it because I've heard that it's one of the best of her books...

Anybody read it and liked it?

I read it and didn't like it . . . I thought it left the reader hanging, and I felt that nothing really penetrated below the surface.

dogbert27

Finished My Sisters Keeper. Thought it was ok. I would only give it 5/10. It's the kind of book you'd read on a rainy afternoon to pass the time. I didn't find the love story believable. I di like the whole thing with the dog but again it was fairly easy to guess what the problem was at the start of the book so it wasn't a surprise when it actually happened.
The relationships between the family could have been evolved more to make it a better book.
All the twists and turns were predictable throughout but I have to say I guessed the wrong ending! Even with that though it really wasn't that shocking.
As stated by other posters, it was fairly obvious that this book was written to a specific writing formula and I can imagine how her other books will go so I can't see myself investing any more time in her books.