So I'm on this big Jodi Picoult book reading spree. I read "My Sister's Keeper" while I was on vacation in New Jersey. Over the past few days I read "Nineteen Minutes." The first is about a girl who is conceived in order for her to donate her blood, bone marrow, stem cells, etc to her older sister who has cancer. Not very uplifting. The latter is about a school shooting by a boy who has been picked on his entire life. That wasn't very uplifting either. I also just started her book "Handle With Care" about a little girl with a birth defect. Yet again, not uplifting.
Also, today I watched "Extreme Makeover Home Edition" with Britt and it got me thinking. It got me thinking about what makes us feel good about ourselves. Like, the fact that watching shows about other people's misfortunes makes us feel better about our own lives. That reading books about families with sick children makes us sad, but also makes us smile because that's not the way our lives are.
Its so sad to think about life that way... but it is completely true. Whenever we hear about a friends' misfortune, of course we feel bad for them, but we also (unfortunately) think to ourselves "wow, I'm lucky that isn't happening to me."
Jodi Picoult is a wonderful author. If you get a chance to read any of her books, I definitely encourage it. Even though they are sad books, throw you through twists and turns, and may be hard to get through because of some of the emotional issues the characters are dealing with; the books have the potential to change the way you think about life.
Maybe that's an extreme, but in any case, her books are great. You should try one out sometime.
