My Sister's Keeper : A Novel (BOOKRING)

by Jodi Picoult | Literature & Fiction |
ISBN: 0743454537 Global Overview for this book
Registered by KimberleeV of Yorktown, Virginia USA on 6/8/2005
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9 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by KimberleeV from Yorktown, Virginia USA on Wednesday, June 8, 2005
I'm looking forward to reading My Sister's Keeper. I'm taking it on vacation to Cape Hatteras with me this week along with several other books. I hope it's a good one. I picked up this copy at a book swap recently.

Journal Entry 2 by KimberleeV from Yorktown, Virginia USA on Sunday, July 10, 2005
Well I didn't get to this book while I was on vacation, but it was first on my to be read list when I got back home. I realy enjoyed the book, although the ending was not quite what I expected. I would definately recommend it to others.

Journal Entry 3 by KimberleeV from Yorktown, Virginia USA on Tuesday, August 30, 2005
I've decided to start a book ring with this copy of My Sister's Keeper. I really enjoyed the book and I look forward to sharing it with others.

If you're interested in joining the ring, here are the rules:
I'll be limiting the ring to ten bookcrossers. Please PM me with your shipping preference. After the shipping order is determined, I will send the book along to it's first stop. Please be sure to journal it when you receive it, after you've finished it, and once you've shipped it out again. And please don't keep the book any longer than one month. Enjoy!!

Book Description:
Anna is not sick, but she might as well be. By age thirteen, she has undergone countless surgeries, transfusions, and shots so that her older sister, Kate, can somehow fight the leukemia that has plagued her since childhood. The product of preimplantation genetic diagnosis, Anna was conceived as a bone marrow match for Kate -- a life and a role that she has never challenged...until now. Like most teenagers, Anna is beginning to question who she truly is. But unlike most teenagers, she has always been defined in terms of her sister -- and so Anna makes a decision that for most would be unthinkable, a decision that will tear her family apart and have perhaps fatal consequences for the sister she loves.

My Sister's Keeper examines what it means to be a good parent, a good sister, a good person. Is it morally correct to do whatever it takes to save a child's life, even if that means infringing upon the rights of another? Is it worth trying to discover who you really are, if that quest makes you like yourself less? Should you follow your own heart, or let others lead you? Once again, in My Sister's Keeper, Jodi Picoult tackles a controversial real-life subject with grace, wisdom, and sensitivity.

Journal Entry 4 by KimberleeV from Yorktown, Virginia USA on Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Please remember to journal the book when you receive it, after you've finished it, and once you've shipped it on to the next person. Also please don't keep the book any longer than one month. Keep it moving and ENJOY!

Mailing order: (Subject to Change)

Tranq1 - FL - Recvd 09-12-05, Sent 10-11-05
MollyGrue - WA - Recvd 10-19-05, Sent 11-25-05
Silverstarry - CA - Recvd 11-29-05, Sent 12-09-05
Faeriemyst - OH - Recvd 12-15-05, Sent 01-10-06
snowy652 - Canada - Recvd 02-22-06, Sent 03-16-06
boomda181 - Canada - Recvd 03-31-06, Sent 04-18-06
Heaven-Ali - UK - Recvd 05-18-06, Sent 10-08-06
FiBe - UK - Recvd 06-05-06, Sent 10-08-06
Back to KimberleeV - Recvd

Journal Entry 5 by KimberleeV from Yorktown, Virginia USA on Tuesday, September 6, 2005
Sent to Tranq1 in Florida today via Media Mail. Enjoy!

Journal Entry 6 by tranq1 from Tampa, Florida USA on Monday, September 12, 2005
received book as part of a book ring. It will go to the top of my TBR list.

Journal Entry 7 by tranq1 from Tampa, Florida USA on Tuesday, October 11, 2005
I enjoyed this book. It is told from the perspective of each of the characters
of the book in turn. Picoult does a great job of setting the tone for each of them.
I am sending it on to MollyGrue in the book ring. It will go out today.

Journal Entry 8 by MollyGrue from Tacoma, Washington USA on Wednesday, October 19, 2005
I'm really looking forward to reading this. Thanks!

Journal Entry 9 by MollyGrue from Tacoma, Washington USA on Monday, October 24, 2005
Very powerful book; I hated the ending, but I guess it was the only way.

I should get this out soon.

DC# 03022940000169566063

Journal Entry 10 by MollyGrue at In The Mail in Bookring, A Bookring -- Controlled Releases on Friday, November 25, 2005

Released 18 yrs ago (11/25/2005 UTC) at In The Mail in Bookring, A Bookring -- Controlled Releases

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

RELEASE NOTES:

Sent out today. Happy reading!

Journal Entry 11 by silverstarry from Berkeley, California USA on Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Just received this in the mail today - can't wait to read it!

Journal Entry 12 by silverstarry from Berkeley, California USA on Thursday, December 1, 2005
Although this book is a bit longer than the average paperback, I managed to read it in two nights. It's a fast, engrossing read told from several points of view. One of the great things about the book is that although there are six different characters who narrate the story in the first person, each voice is distinct (I've read book that used the same technique and all the characters blended together because their voices and styles were too similar).

Anna was conceived with the intent of being a perfect match for her sister Kate who has a rare form of leukemia. Anna has spent her whole life serving as a harvesting ground for blood and marrow to keep her sister alive. Now Anna is expected to give her sister a kidney. She seeks out a lawyer who will help her become medically emancipated from her parents, claiming that she should be given some say in what is taken from her body. This throws the family into chaos. After sixteen years of Kate's illness, everyone in the family has a role and Anna's lawsuit disrupts their accepted roles and routines. Her parents, Sara and Brian, have almost become strangers, their only connectiont through their children and the crises they face. Her older brother Jesse has become a sullen, dangerous 20 year old who acts out in an effort to be noticed, turning recently to arson. Anna has been denied a normal childhood at her mother's insistence that Anna always be within close proximity in case Kate needs more of Anna's platelets or bone marrow, meaning Anna couldn't go to hockey camp just in case.

Anna's lawsuit is totally justified in my opinion. Anyone undergoing major surgery and giving up an organ deserves the right to make that choice. Although her parents, especially her mother, push Anna and her brother aside to give Kate the majority of their love and attention, it's hard to believe that they don't love all three of their children. Like many people in crisis, Brian and Sara simply react without always stopping to think about the big picture. They are so focused on saving Kate and keeping her alive as long as possible that they don't see what damage they are doing to their other two children, as well as Kate herself. As is the case with most people, Sara and Brian are doing what they feel is best.

At the heart of this story is the question: What would you do for someone you love? How far would you be willing to go? And how far would that person want you to go?

There is a secondary plot regarding Anna's lawyer Campbell and her guardian ad litem, Julia. I found their individual stories interesting but didn't like their drawn out backstory.

The interesting story and characters kept this book from veering into soap opera territory, but the end plowed headfirst into it. In the author interview at the end of the book, Jodi Picoult states that her reason for choosing thie particular conclusion is "this isn't an easy book, and you know from the first page there are no easy answers." I agree with her statement but feel that the ending made it easier than it should have been, and to me it seemed like a cliche Lifetime movie sort of ending.

I loved all the quotes at the beginning of each section. The passages in the book about grief and love were very moving.

Thanks so much to KimberleeV for sharing this book!

Journal Entry 13 by silverstarry from Berkeley, California USA on Friday, December 9, 2005
GreySquirrely received a copy of this book from a friend, so she asked to be skipped. I mailed it to Faeriemyst today:

DC# 0304 1070 0002 4158 5518

Journal Entry 14 by faeriemyst on Thursday, December 15, 2005
Received it today, I'll get started right away. Thanks! :)

Journal Entry 15 by faeriemyst on Friday, January 6, 2006
This had a great premise and for the most part was well-written, if sometimes pretentious. From the beginning I was absorbed in this book and liked how it was written in all the different voices of the characters (although I did wonder why we never ‘heard’ from Kate, but remedied later, and I’m not going to say anymore). I thought everything that happened throughout most of the book was very well done and believable. Until the end. I thought it was too over-the-top and melodramatic to be realistic. Reminded me of what they would write in a soap opera, too contrived. Not the ending of what could have been a great book had it had a fitting ending. While I didn’t expect there to be a happy ending, I at least thought that there would have been one that would make sense in the context of the whole story. It negated all that came before it, at least to me.
Sorry for going on and on about the ending, but the more I think about it, the angrier and more annoyed I get! Strong beginning, very weak ending.

Thanks for sharing though!!

Journal Entry 16 by faeriemyst on Tuesday, January 10, 2006
Sent to snowy652 today. Sadly it was almost as cheap as a Media Mail book I was sending out. :( Well anyway, hope you like it better than me!

Journal Entry 17 by snowy652 from Abbotsford, British Columbia Canada on Wednesday, February 22, 2006
arrived safe and sound today -- I was suprised at how long it took to get here -- I have a few to read before it but will read as soon as I am able -- I will then comment on the book and then pass it on to the next reader.



March 13 ~ started reading today.

March 16 ~ I read this one in three days -- I thought it would take me longer as it is a much longer book. I was intrigued in the beginning and had a hard time putting this book down. The characters were well developed and they all were interesting to me. I enjoyed "hearing" from each one and their own story being told. I wish that I was able to have heard from Kate more than I did. I was a bit disappointed in the ending -- almost feeling let down. It seemed to be more drama than reality -- however much of reality can be pretty dramatic. Overall I was pleased with this work by Picoult -- I have read a few of hers now and they all seem to be different yet at the same time -- the same (if that makes sense).


RELEASE NOTES:

sending to boomda181 -- bookring/ray

safe travels little book.

Journal Entry 19 by boomda181 on Friday, March 31, 2006
The book arrived today! Thanks for the treats Snowy652. It is going to the top of the TBR. I will begin reading it by the end of the week.

April 17th

WOW! I loved this book, it challenged me and my beliefs at times. With certain characters, like Sara, I went from loathing to respecting simply because Picoult allowed me to see the multiple sides to every decision and motive. I went through a myriad of emotions while reading and enjoyed every minute. Thanks for the opportunity to read this book. I will be sending it off in the post tomorrow.


Journal Entry 20 by Heaven-Ali from Birmingham, West Midlands United Kingdom on Thursday, May 18, 2006
Arrived safely, thanks : ) I will start reading later today.

Journal Entry 21 by Heaven-Ali from Birmingham, West Midlands United Kingdom on Monday, May 22, 2006
I suppose if I am really honest I have to say that I don't much like these books. This is the third I have read on rings ( sorry I hate saying I don't like something) I found the plot a bit predictable, and the characters a bit one dimensional, and rather similar to the characters in the other two I read. Having said all that this was the most enjoyable of the three I have read, and the subject matter really fascinating. I thought Picoult dealt with a tricky subject fairly well, and managed to show both sides, although without any real depth. Jodi Picoult writes a good page turner which enabled me to read it very quickly, because I did want to find out what happened.

edit 02/06/06 sent to Fibe 22/05/06

Journal Entry 22 by FiBe from Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire United Kingdom on Monday, June 5, 2006
Sorry for the delay in journalling this book. I can only get to the post office on a weekend as I work out of town so couldn't pick it up until Saturday. I have a few bookrings ahead of it but will get to it as quick as I can!

Journal Entry 23 by FiBe from Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire United Kingdom on Wednesday, August 9, 2006
Hmm not sure how to describe how I feel about this book. It was well written and kept me engrossed throughout although sometimes I didn't enjoy the subject matter.

It certainly gives you food for thought.

I have pm'd WillowSnow for a second time for their address so will hopefully send on its way shortly. Sorry if I've held this book up but thank you for letting me take part.

Journal Entry 24 by FiBe at BookRing in Bookring, A Bookring -- Controlled Releases on Sunday, October 8, 2006

Released 17 yrs ago (10/6/2006 UTC) at BookRing in Bookring, A Bookring -- Controlled Releases

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

RELEASE NOTES:

On its way home now, thanks for letting me take part.

Journal Entry 25 by KimberleeV from Yorktown, Virginia USA on Monday, November 20, 2006
My Sister's Keeper returned home about a month ago. Thanks to all who participated in this book ring. I hope you enjoyed it!!!

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