Do YOU read Jodi Picoult?

Back in my earlier blogging days, I did a section on my blog about my recent reads and reviews of the reads. It's an area I would like to open again and maybe not deal specifically with what I am reading but explore authors and their styles of writing as well as articles that really pique my interest and cause my opinions to start spewing at the mouth. :)  So, if any of you have books or articles you have read or authors that you love, leave a comment or email me about them and we can explore those further.

A few years ago my friend Rosa introduced me to an author whose books she enjoys reading.  That was when I was first introduced to Jodi Picoult. (Click on her name to view her webpage.) Maybe some of you have read her books and those who haven't, I would suggest reading at least a couple of them. I'll say it upfront, her writing style and topics will not be everyone's cup of tea. The reason I'm encouraging everyone to at least pick up a couple of her books is because of something I'm going to call "The Why."

"The Why" is dynamo and adds so much more to her fiction novels compared to the average fiction book. Jodi Picoult has an amazing talent that stretches beyond just writing novels--which is a feat in itself.  What Picoult does with each novel is chooses a moral issue, or a controversy, and she creates a great story where the reader becomes emotionally involved with each character and his/her decisions and experiences throughout the novel. Her writing puts the reader, indirectly, in the story which allows you to, maybe not agree, but understand, all the different sides to these moral issues or controversies that are affecting the characters of the story.  The brilliant part happens when the book is over. The reader finishes the book and places it back on the bookshelf and then the reader begins to think. That is correct my friends, the reader thinks.            

After finishing a Picoult novel, the reader realizes that prior to reading the book, he/she already had preconceived, specific opinions about the "moral" or "controversial" issue that was presented. But now, after finishing the novel, the reader has been fitted with a new set of emotions that allows them to see and empathize with all sides of the moral issue.  You can still come to your own opinions about the issue but the brilliance is that Picoult has just, without you fully understanding that it was happening, allowed you to better understand the various components of the moral issue at hand. Whereas before, you quite possibly had already made up your mind without diving into the various facets of the issue. Without your full comprehension and permission to let it happen, Picoult expanded your mind. I think that is pretty powerful writing. So pick up a Picoult novel or two and enjoy a creatively written fictional book.