I read “My Sister’s Keeper” in the summer and finished it off in about 4 hours. And, although I hate to admit it (I’m a book snob), I really, really enjoyed it. So, when I felt like a read that could really tug at my heartstrings, I knew I should head to the Picoult section of my local bookstore.

Yes, she gets her own section.

“The Pact” revolves around two families: the Hartes and the Golds. They have lived by each other for seventeen years and their children, Emily and Chris, have literally known each other since they were born. Both families live fairly normal, suburban lives until one night they both get a phone call at 3am saying that their child has been brought to the hospital after a shooting incident. When they arrive, they find that Chris Harte is doing alright, but Emily has been shot in the head.

Immediately they assume it was a drive-by, but their whole world is shaken when Chris confesses that Emily was shot because of a suicide pact made between the two. As Chris is charged with Emily’s murder, the two families are ripped apart, although both are grieving the loss of not only Emily, but also their friendship. Marriages and families are tested as Chris waits for nine long months in jail before his trial. Read More »

It is still shocking to me that in 2009, when freedom of speech is as widely practiced as brushing your teeth every morning, books are still being challenged, placed in restricted sections of the library, or banned all together. But we are sadly reminded, as another Banned Books Week comes around, that censorship is still in full swing (or at least trying to be).

When considering books that should be banned, I think perhaps “How to Make a Bomb” could have a logical reason for not being permitted in school libraries. But when I took a look at the 2008-2009 list, I seriously think I felt my jaw hit the floor. Most of these books are top selling, award winning novels that have secured a permanent spot in our present day pop culture.

So, these books are being “challenged”, which suggests that there is a group of people somewhere that is wagging their finger at us as we sit curled up in our bed drooling over every page.

But do we college students ever follow the rules? To be honest, we have a little too much fun breaking them.

So let’s do what we do best and rebel, people!

Here are a few of the books from the list that should most definitely be read, if not held out our dorm room windows in an act of defiance (if your lucky enough to see daylight in that cell of yours, that is).

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I know, I know. I’m a little bit slow on the uptake. “My Sister’s Keeper” by Jodi Picoult has been a favorite read for a couple years now, and despite hearing nothing but good things, it never really interested me. Being a bookstore employee, you develop a bit of a superiority complex and when a book becomes “mainstream” you turn your nose at it.

So I turned my nose at “My Sister’s Keeper” and, quite honestly, missed out.

This past weekend, I went to my boyfriend’s camp and found a copy of “My Sister’s Keeper” kicking around. One rainy afternoon, I picked it up and flipped through the first couple pages. I was instantly hooked. I read all 423 pages of that book in about 4 hours in a single afternoon.

It was that addictive.

For those of you who haven’t heard about the book (or haven’t seen the insanely popular trailer for the film), the novel revolves around a family whose eldest daughter, Kate, has been battling a rare form of leukemia (cancer of the blood) since she was 2 years old. Because Kate required donations of blood to survive almost immediately and their son, Jesse, was not a donor match, they decided to conceive a child, Anna, whose sole purpose was to save her sister’s life. When Anna is 13, after numerous blood and bone marrow donations throughout her life, she is asked to donate an entire kidney to Kate. Anna has finally had enough and decides to sue her parents for the rights to her own body.

Besides having an interesting and controversial subject, “My Sister’s Keeper” features beautiful characters and a skilled writer. Picoult is seasoned and knows what will hit her readers hardest and really make an impact. No detail goes overlooked; from how Kate’s sickness rips her parents apart, to the feelings of the forgotten sibling, Jesse. The book is written from multiple points of view, so the reader really gets to know what each character truly thinks and feels. Read More »

If it’s one thing we’ve learned here at CC, it’s that all people are fascinating (Yes, even your econ professor). Let’s face it – people love to glimpse into the lives of other people. Disagree? Then please explain why you’re currently looking at your friend’s brother’s girlfriend’s cousin’s photos on Facebook. Or reading about the latest Madonna/Jesus dramz in this week’s tabloids. Yeah we thought so.Fact is we connect to others by learning about them. And everyone has something to share (even if it is a story about that time you stayed in the library for 18 hours straight…)

So to give you yet another reason to procrastinate, we started ‘The Five Questions We Ask Everyone’ (and five just for that one person) because we know whether we’re schmoozing with an A- list celeb or your local bartender, you’ll be equally entertained. 

Let’s be honest here: who hasn’t read at least one Jodi Picoult book? Most of us, in fact, grab ‘em and read ‘em as soon as they hit bookstore shelves. Picoult has a knack for writing that most authors dream about. Her combination of research and talent come together seamlessly in books that are impossible to put down: My Sister’s Keeper, The Pact, Salem Falls… and those are only a few of the 15 books she’s written.

Jodi Picoult is smart (Princeton for undergrad and Harvard for her masters!), she’s talented (Um, have you read her books?!) and we got to talk to her! Read on to get inside our favorite author’s head. Read More »