Second Glance by Jodi Piccoult

I have a confession.  I have a strange desire to see a ghost.  I don’t even know if I believe in ghosts, but if they exist, I want to see one.  I don’t know why I think that would be cool, but it would.  My first year back to school (2008) my roommates and I became obsessed with the show Ghost Hunters on the SyFy channel.  Every Wednesday we would order pizza and watch the Ghost Hunters marathon.  I really like that show because I feel like Grant, Jason, and the rest of the team tried their best to disprove things.  They would find alternate explanations for things going on in a house before saying “yes you have a ghost that resides here”.    To me, that made the possibility of ghosts seem a little more realistic.

 

 

The reason I am telling you all this is because the book Second Glance by Jodi Piccoult  is about ghosts.  Okay it’s not STRICTLY about ghosts, but ghosts play a decent part in the story line.  Second Glance is based in Vermont.  The story centers around a supposed Indian burial ground that has been sold to developers.  The local Indian tribe causes a ruckus because they are convinced Indians were buried on the site. When unexplainable events start to occur, the town starts to believe that ghosts of ancient Indians are telling the community that building this shopping center might not be the best idea.   The developers decide to put the rumors to rest by hiring Ross Wakeman, a ghost hunter.  Ross spends a few nights in one of the houses on the property, but doesn’t find anything of significance except a lonely lady name Lia that is in an abusive relationship.  She is desperate to find out if ghosts exist because she wants to know the mother she never had that died while giving birth to her. Ross is determined to build a relationship with Lia, but Lia seems to be an elusive character.  One night while Ross is out ghost hunting, he sees Lia.  He follows her to a gravestone, where she seems to disappear into thin air.  The grave stone Ross sees her near turns out to be HER gravestone.  Yup, Lia is a ghost.  The rest of the story follows the story of Lia and her husband Spencer.  The history on this plot of land is a lot more interesting than anyone in the town thought it would.

As per usual, Jodi Piccoult has written a great page turner.  I loved this book!  What is disturbing about it is how factual some of the events in the story are.  Piccoult always does great research before writing a book, and the facts she brings to light about Vermont in the 20’s and 30’s is pretty shocking.  Another plus for this book: Jodi consulted Jason and Grant from Ghost Hunters to learn more about the science of ghost hunting.  While reading I thought some of the terms sounded like familiar phrases that the use on the show.  My suspicions were confirmed in Piccoult’s acknowledgement page.   I seriously love Ghost Hunters. 

The most recent book I read was a bit out of the norm for me.  I just finished it last night, so hopefully I can get a post up soon.  I’m a bit behind in school work so I need to play some serious catchup, but I want to get caught up on blog posts as well.  YAY being super busy all the time!

Happy Reading!

 

Tara

Harvesting the Heart by Jodic Piccoult

By now I think it’s obvious that one of my favorite authors is Jodi Piccoult.  She has the ability to write the most captivating stories.  I can read her books in a matter of hours if I have the time.  I just LOVE her to pieces.  I just finished 2 of her books, which were both fantastic.

 

 

The first book I read was Harvesting the Heart.  This book tells the story of Paige.  Paige was raised by her father after her mother disappeared when Paige was just 5.  Paige’s father is a very devout Irish Catholic.  When Paige gets pregnant in high school she chooses to abort the baby before her dad finds out about the pregnancy.  After Paige graduates, she leaves her hometown of Chicago.  With no particular destination in mind, she jumps on a bus and heads east.  She ends up in Massachusetts, where she gets a job at a local diner.  While waitressing at the diner, she meets Nick, a young doctor.  Nick and Paige fall in love and quickly get married.  While the first years of their marriage are great, Paige feels pressure to fit into a world that she does not belong.  When Paige finds out she is pregnant, she panics. Nick and she weren’t planning on having children until Nick finished his residency and they had a more dependable income.  When the baby arrives, Paige experiences a bit of post partum depression. She fears that she is an inadequate mother because she didn’t have an example of how a mother should be.  When the baby rolls off of the couch one day and gets a bloody noise, Paige panics. Nick arrives home and sees the blood.  When Nick expresses concern about the accident, Paige feels horrible. She tells Nick she needs some time alone and leaves the house to run a few errands.  The freedom Paige feels while out running errands is so liberating that Paige gets in her car and just keeps driving.  Paige finds herself back in Chicago.  While there, she decides she wants to find her mother.  She hires a PI to help her locate her mother. When Paige finds out that her mother is in North Carolina, she heads out to find some answers as to why her mother left.  When Paige and her mother reconnect, Paige realizes that her mother and her have a lot more in common than Paige initially thought.  After a few months away from Massachusetts, Paige decides to go back home to her husband and baby.  The rest of the book tells the struggle that Paige and Nick face as they try to piece together their lives and marriage.

This story really struck a chord with me.  I think more women suffer from post partum depression than care to admit.  And honestly I don’t blame them. While I haven’t had children yet (and don’t plan to for a few more years) I can imagine that suddenly being completely responsible for another human being can be a stressful experience.  Paige grew up without a mother.  She didn’t have an example for what a mother should be and do.  That must be another overwhelming experience.  I am pretty sure I couldn’t abandon my husband and child for months, but I can understand feeling the need or desire to escape.  While the story of Paige is on the drastic side, I think it is a story that mothers can relate to.  I really enjoyed it. As I was reading I was hoping that Paige would come to her senses and get back to her family. I understood the anger that Nick was feeling towards Paige, but hoped that they would realize why the fell in love with each other and that Nick would take Paige back.  It is another hit for Jodi Piccoult, which really shouldn’t come as a surprise because she is awesome at what she does.

 

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

Well I finally read a book for that book club I joined. . . but ended up not going to the meeting.  Baby steps right?  I actually really enjoyed this book.  I bought it on a Friday during my lunch break and finished it that night. It wasn’t an incredibly long book, so that made it a bit easier to read really quickly, but it also had an awesome story line.

 

 

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion tells the story of Don Tillman.  He is a professor in Australia that is determined to find his wife.  He starts out on “The Wife Project”, which involves a very thorough survey that he posts onto a few dating websites.  He recruits the help of his friend and fellow professor Gene to help him find the best candidates for his wife.  Gene sends Rosie Don’s way.  Don is confused by Gene’s selection of Rosie because she does not meet the qualifications Don has set at all. But Don gives Rosie a chance and takes her out on date.  Rosie reveals to Don that she is trying to locate her biological father.  This is especially interesting to Don because he studies genes and dna in his work.  Don and Rosie begin the Rosie Project, which involves gathering DNA from a list of potential biological fathers.  This project allows for Don and Rosie to spend a lot of time together, including a trip to New York.  Don, who is determined to not have feelings for Rosie because she is everything he doesn’t want in a wife, finds himself falling in love with her.  The rest of the book tells the story of Don and Rosie finding happiness when they seemed complete opposites.

I’m not sure what exactly made this book such a good read.  I found myself really rooting for Don. He is socially awkward and has incredibly high standards, but is definitely someone I think most people can relate to. He faces the same struggles everyone does in the search for love and happiness.  I think that was what really made the story great.  While I didn’t have a lot in common with Don (I found myself relating a bit more to Rosie actually) I was rooting for him to find love.   There are some funny situations that really help propel the story line as well.

This is definitely not a book I would have picked up on my own.  Even when I’m at the book store I tend to gravitate toward the shelves that house the books by my favorite authors.  I might browse around those shelves, but don’t really look around, except at the bargain books.  But I’m very glad I gave this book a try.  I guess that’s the whole point of a book club right?  To read and discover books that you wouldn’t necessarily give a chance on your own.

I have 2 more posts coming before I reveal the next book on my list.  I’ve done a decent amount of reading and no blogging for a while, so please bear with me.

The Constant Princess- Philippa Gregory

It turns out Ashley is great at recommending books!  I really enjoyed reading The Constant Princess.  I wasn’t sure how much I would like it since I’m not HUGE into Medieval history and stuff like that.  I couldn’t even tell how historically accurate this book was.  I assume it was relatively accurate since there was a bunch of notes and references though.  While reading The Constant Princess I found myself wanting to know the real, accurate story of Katherine of Aragon.  When a fiction book inspires me to go to the library to find a biography on a Renaissance queen I know it’s a good book.

The Constant Princess tells the story of Katherine of Aragon (obviously), the youngest daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain.  Katherine has been betrothed to Prince Arthur of England since she was a young girl.  All her life she knew that she was going to be the Princess of Wales and then the Queen of England.  When she turns 16, she weds Arthur.  After a few months of misery and a loveless marriage, Katherine and Arthur fall in love and have a happy marriage.  That all comes to a sudden end when Arthur gets sick and passes away.  Katherine is left a Dowager Princess with no heir to the throne.  On Arthur’s deathbed, Katherine promises Arthur to marry Henry, Arthur’s younger brother, so that the dreams they had for the future of England can still come true.  Katherine has to tell many lies in order for the marriage with Henry to come to fruition. She even has to refuse Arthur’s father’s advances and marriage proposal. Finally Katherine and Henry get married, 7 years later, after Arthur and Henry’s father has passed away.  Katherine and Henry also find happiness and love in their marriage.  Katherine gets pregnant, and then miscarries. Doctors told her that she could still be pregnant with a twin after the miscarriage because of how large she still is.   The news that Katherine might still be carrying a child brings great joy at a time of sadness for Katherine and Henry. Katherine goes into confinement to keep herself and the possible baby safe from any danger. When the expected delivery time comes and no baby is born, Katherine and Henry suffer great sadness, especially since they have been apart for so long with nothing to show for it. Henry feels shamed and Katherine feels like Henry doesn’t love her anymore, or has at least found someone to replace her in his heart.  Katherine learns that while she was in confinement Henry took a lover, Ann Boylen.  She confronts Henry about it, who says it was a moment of weakness, but he is all hers now.  Katherine gets pregnant again a few months later, and gives birth to a little boy.  Both Katherine and Henry are ecstatic that they have given birth to an heir to the throne. Tragedy strikes again when their son dies a few short days later.  This is the beginning of the end for Katherine and Henry.  Eventually we learn that Katherine gives birth to another child, a girl.  Then we learn that Katherine is appearing in court to testify as to whether her and Arthur had every consummated their relationship.  Henry is trying to invalidate their marriage so that he can marry Ann Boylen. Katherine, who had consummated her marriage with Arthur, but had lied about it for years, continues the lie.  The story ends with Katherine vowing to do what she promised Arthur many years ago, no matter what the cost.

Like I said, I didn’t know a bunch about Katherine and Henry VIII, besides the fact that Henry had a bunch of wives.  I found myself exploring Wikipedia to learn more, and, like I said before, I even checked out a biography at the library.  I absolutely loved this book. It was great read. The story progresses well and keeps you turning the page, wanting to know more.  While I knew the gist of what was going to happen from my high school world history classes, the story kept me guessing about the little details.   I know the story isn’t entirely historically accurate, but it was close enough for my liking.  I’m excited to read Phillipa Gregory’s other books about the Tudor Dynasty and all of Henry VIII’s wives. 

I decided to pick up another Jodi Piccoult book for my next read. I can normally read those pretty quickly, so you should be getting another post relatively soon. And my goal is to get the book for this infamous book club I joined forever ago and maybe attempt to read it before the meeting on Saturday.  We’ll see how that goes.  If the books are good I can read both the Piccoult book and the book club book before Saturday.  Fingers crossed!!!

Happy reading!

 

~Tara