Rachael’s Comments (group member since Aug 26, 2012)

Rachael’s comments from the Jodi Picoult Books Reading Group. group.

Phyllis wrote: "I was finally able to start Vanishing Acts at around 4 this morning. Due to the hectic week following hurricane Irma, I wasn't able to do any reading or writing. But now I am on track to do both. I..."

Thanks for joining. I'm glad you made it through Irma. I'm at page 95, so we definetely are not on track with the page numbers, but that is okay.

I haven't read much this week. Hopefully I will read some this weekend.

I have started Vanishing Acts and I have to say that the suspense is killing me. I so badly want to know Andrew's motive. Why did he commit the crime?

Delia Hopkins has led a charmed life. Raised in rural New Hampshire by her widowed father, Andrew, she now has a young daughter, a handsome fiance, and her own search-and-rescue bloodhound, which she uses to find missing persons. But as Delia plans her wedding, she is plagued by flashbacks of a life she can't recall. And then a policeman knocks on her door, revealing a secret that changes the world as she knows it." In shock and confusion, Delia must sift through the truth - even when it jeopardizes her life and the lives of those she loves. What happens when you learn you are not who you thought you were? When the people you've loved and trusted suddenly change before your eyes? When getting your deepest wish means giving up what you've always taken for granted? Vanishing Acts explores how life - as we know it - might not turn out the way we imagined; how doing the right thing could mean doing the wrong thing; how the memory we thought had vanished could return as a threat.


I'm so excited to read this book and I hope you are too. If you have already read the book feel free to join in on the discussion also.

Date/Page Numbers/Discussion Leader
September 1-9 pg 1-108
September 10-16 108-217
September 17-23 pg 217-329
September 24-30 pg 329-418

I have got super behind. Been so busy with teaching that I haven't had much time to read. I pushed back next week's discussion, so essentially there are no pages to read next week, so we can play catch up.

Ashlee you are up for questions this week. I'm going to be playing catch up this week.

She is a really good example of Black people expressing racist attitudes towards white people and I think this is a huge problem today in America. I'm interested in her character and how she will affect the story.

Here's one question I thought of:
What do you think motivated Kennedy to want to get to know Ruth for more than 10 minutes as she would with a typical client?

You are on Ashlee. I will post questions for section 2 if needed and you can post for section 3.

If you were in Ruth's situation when Davis stopped breathing would you have done the same as she did? Do you believe she could have done anything differently?

This is my last questions. If are ready Chelsea you can start posting questions later this week. I'm almost done with section 2 if you would like me to post questions I can move you down to the next section.

Do you think Turk's past gives him any right to judge Ruth before he even knows her?
I think what happened to Turk's family is horrible. I think I would have happened regardless of whether the person was black or white. Here is Ruth a person that has been a L&D nurse for a long time and she is a hard working nice person. He didn't even take the time to get to know her. He judged her off the color or her skin and believed that made her incapable of taking care of his son.

Do you think Ruth acted appropriately to being removed from Davis' case?

I think Ruth was very hurt by the actions of the family and her boss. She felt that she was being unfairly punished when she had done nothing wrong. I think in her case she reacted in a completely normal way.

Why do you think Brit supports her husbands actions?
So far I really don't understand Brit and I slightly wonder if Turk is somewhat abusive in the fact that he makes his wife afraid of him. If she was to go against him in this decision that maybe it would have a negative consequence in her case. I don't know for sure, but I just don't understand Brit and her point of view so far in the story.

Here's the first set of questions!

Do you think Turk's past gives him any right to judge Ruth before he even knows her?
Do you think Ruth acted appropriately to being removed from Davis' case?
Why do you think Brit supports her husbands actions?

I have two more questions, but I will put those on in a couple of days. I will put my answers below.

Lorri wrote: "has anyone read the short story prequel "Shine"?
I just did 46 pages... :)"
Should this be read before or after reading the novel? I did not know it existed.

Hello All I'm so excited to start Small Great Things whether you are done with the book or just starting you are welcome to join the discussion. I want to use the page numbers as a guide, but don't feel like you have to stop at page 104 this week. You can keep going. We will only be discussing up to page 104, so if you feel like something you have to say may be a spoiler for other readers then feel free to hold that thought until next week.

I have my questions ready to go and I will start posting the first couple on Wednesday and we will see where our discussion goes from there.

If you have already finished the book or have started to read the book I would love for you guys to come join the discussion. I will post questions later this week.

Robyn wrote: "Do you know if the page numbers will coincide with the kindle edition of the book?"

Can you tell me does the kindle version have the same page numbers. If only I could see the kindle version without buying it and then I could check.

The first section is at the end of a Turk Chapter

My guess will be no these page numbers will not be the same, but they should be close. I wish there was chapter numbers. I always chose the end of a chapter in the hardcover book.

Chelsea volunteered for the second part. I'm still looking for volunteers for the rest of the book. Excited to start the discussion!

I was trying to figure out the ten circles as well the whole book. I think that is what Laura teaches at college and maybe she was foreshadowing to the ending by talking about the ten circles. Lots of foreshadowing in this book.

We are going to do this discussion a little differently than we have done discussions in the past. I'm planning on the actual discussion starting on October 23rd to give people time to get their copy of the book. If you are unable to participate in the discussion right away it will be available even after the discussion has ended and we would love to hear your opinion.

I'm going to assume the page number in everybody's copy is the same. All pages I chose are at the end of chapters.

October 23-October 29: pg 0- pg 104 Rachael
October 29-November 5th: pg 104- pg 187 Chelsea
November 6th- November 12th:pg 187- pg 271 Ashlee
November 20th- November 26th: pg 271-pg 378
November 28th- December 3rd: pg 379- End pg 458 Lorri

I'm looking for volunteers to come up with discussion questions during this week. You can post your discussion questions for the entire section around Wednesday to Thursday to have time to discussion before we start the next section. As usual you are more than welcome to read ahead just be careful of spoilers. Let me know in the comments if you would like to do discussion questions and which section you would like. There are no chapter numbers in this book, but it does switch between characters.

I have finished it. Did you find the secret message in the comic strips?

I just have no good discussion questions for this book that don't spoil stuff. I'm on page 288, so I'm getting close. I think I will be more ready to discuss the book when I'm finished with it.