Nineteen Minutes - Jodi Picoult

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
Genre: Adult Fiction
Form: Paperback Book

Sterling is an ordinary New Hampshire town where nothing ever happens - until the day it's complacency is shattered by an act of violence. Josi Cormier, the daughter of the judge sitting on the case, should be the state's best witness, but she can't remember what happened before her very own eyes - or can she? As the trial progresses, fault lines between the high school and the adult community begin to show - destroying the closest of friendships and families. Nineteen Minutes asks what it means to be different in our society, who has the right to judge someone else, and whether anyone is ever really who they seem to be.

I have sort of a love/hate relationship with Jodi Picoult books. Just like the last book I read by her, this one was just a little to close to real life for my taste, but I'm guessing a lot of her books are. I think Jodi's niche must be homing in on those things in life that we don't usually want to think about happening, deal with, or cringe at when we see it on T.V. and hope to God that it will not be us one day. She is an AWESOME author in my opinion. She creates characters and scenes that draw you in from the first page and keep you hooked until the book is finished. Apparently, she's also a big fan of the "twist" ending...not surprise ending, just something a little more and unless you try and guess the entire time you are reading the book (like I did) just something semi-unexpected. I didn't quite come close to guessing this book's ending until almost the very end where I figured it out just before it was revealed in the book. Another good thing is, as I told my husband, she always does wrap the book up with a semi-good ending. Never the ending you want exactly, just sort of bittersweet. Probably more real-to-life.

Despite the fact that I really enjoy reading her books, I will not be picking up one of her books for a little while. This book was not quite as heart wrenching as My Sister's Keeper was, but it was still a little hard for me to read, and I need a break. I read for entertainment and I usually like feel good books. I'll save Jodi for when I'm wanting something a little more serious than fun and light hearted.

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2009 has come upon us, and I have a few goals I have set for myself.

1. I am attempting to read the bible all the way through, with help of one of those New Living Translation One Year Bibles. So far, so good. But then it's only January 6th right now.
2. I want to read/listen to 52 NEW books. I emphasis new, because I'm currently listening to the Twilight Series (yes again) on audiobook.
   
3. I want one of my books to be A Midsummer's Night Dream. I haven't read a play since High School...so this should be interesting.

Some things I'm looking forward to in 2009 include:

1. The release of The Hunger Games Sequel, which I'm only assuming is being released in '09. All I know is The Hunger Games was suppose to be a part of a trilogy...and that was just a rumor I read somewhere.
2. The August release of the next book in the Faeseries by Karen Marie Moning, DreamFever
3. The New Moon movie!
4. I'm especially looking forward to hearing about a new book release by Stephenie Meyer....I'm more hoping than anything. I read in an article that she was writing, and that's enough for me to hope. It doesn't even have to be releasing in '09, I just want to know it's coming!!