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

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

I'm so excited to have more people join. I honestly don't remember why they broke up in the 1st place.

Chelsea the beginning is rough it picks up around page 80 in my version.

Chelsea I'm sitting at around page 200 on the mass market paperback. How far are you? I'm blown away by how intense this book is.

I will be reading it after I finish my current book. It will be my first time reading it.

Fourteen-year-old Trixie Stone is in love for the first time. She's also the light of her father, Daniel's life -- a straight-A student; a pretty, popular freshman in high school; a girl who's always seen her father as a hero. That is, until her world is turned upside down with a single act of violence. Suddenly everything Trixie has believed about her family -- and herself -- seems to be a lie. Could the boyfriend who once made Trixie wild with happiness have been the one to end her childhood forever? She says that he is, and that is all it takes to make Daniel, a seemingly mild-mannered comic book artist with a secret tumultuous past he has hidden even from his family, venture to hell and back to protect his daughter.
With The Tenth Circle, Jodi Picoult offers her most powerful chronicle yet as she explores the unbreakable bond between parent and child, and questions whether you can reinvent yourself in the course of a lifetime -- or if your mistakes are carried forever.

Here is the summary. If you have previously read the book and would like to participate in the discussion I ask that you wait until later in the month so you don't spoil anything. If you already know the ending make sure to label your post. Maybe put I know the ending at the top. Be sure to put what page number of chapter you are on in your post, so people that are not that far know not to read that post.

Spoilers from here.

I remember House Rules being one of my favorites. Nineteen minutes is my top, but House Rules really opened my eyes about Autism and I have now worked with many autistic children as I'm working towards my degree to be a special education teacher.

I want to thank everybody from the bottom of my heart for participating in the Leaving Time discussion. At first I thought this read along was going to be a flop. Our group is not that active anymore and I thought I was only going to get a couple people to comment. So many people have commented and shared their thoughts and insigts on Leaving Time. You guys have explained parts that I didn't pick up on or have forgotten.

Although the official end date of the read along has come you are still welcome to comment on this thread and continue the discussion. I will check back often to talk about Leaving Time with the members. I loved this book and I'm so glad that many of you do also. Jodi Picoult is a great author and one I need to read more often. We will have to do another read along in 2015 of one of her older novels.

Rene wrote: "I finished the book about 1:00am last night. I do have a question about why the little boy at the house Jenna "supposedly" lived saw A girl and her Grandma. She never made it past a toddler so how..."

I think that Jenna and her grandmother were both spirits in the house. The little boy is supposed to be more open to that sort of thing so he could see them while his parents could not.

Anna wrote: "So why do you think Jenna selected Serenity to help her with finishing her journey? and how did she find Serenity?"

I think Jenna heard about Serenity's ability and thought that she would be her chance to find her mother. I remember their first meeting when Serenity was so rude to Jenna and how shocked Jenna was to find out afterward that her primary speciality is missing people. I think for once Serenity was done trying to fool people. She actually wanted to help Jenna. She ended up revealing that she was a fraud to Jenna later and began to put the pieces together about our ending.

Bre wrote: "Amy wrote: "I just finished the book and loved it. The only thing I am confused on is what happenned to Gideon. Can anyone tell me what I missed?"

So this was at the end of the book, when it was ..."

*** spoilers***
Thank you. I must have forgotten that clue. There was so much happening in the ending that it was probably one of the parts I didn't pick up. Now that you mention that I do remember Maura dying, but I don't remember the part about Gideon. Alice basically lost everybody. She lost Jenna, Gideon, and Thomas (to the pysh ward). It is really a very sad story.

More questions for the people that have finished.

What did you think of the ending? Were you shocked or did you see it coming? Which character's actions surprised you the most? Did you have a favorite character by the end of the novel?

***Spoilers***
I have to admit I was shocked by the ending. I sort of saw it coming, but I thought I was wrong and second guessed myself. I have to say that Alice's action surprised me the most. All through the novel I believed her to be a good person, but I didn't understand why she would abandon her daughter. I didn't think of her as a murderer. I think she did it to protect her child even though she still ending up disappearing instead of sticking around to find Jenna's body. My favorite character of Leaving Time was Alice. I really enjoying learning about her story and her research especially with Maura. I didn't always like her actions when it came to her relationship with Thomas, but everybody deals with an abusive relationship differently. Alice stayed because she cared about the elephants, but if Alice found a way out this story may have turned out totally different.

Amy wrote: "I just finished the book and loved it. The only thing I am confused on is what happenned to Gideon. Can anyone tell me what I missed?"

***Spoilers***
You are correct that Gideon's story is not well explained. Jenna finds him at the end at the elephant sanctuary and then after she departs we have no idea what exactly happens to Gideon. My prediction is that he is the only one that gets a short of happy ending in this not so happy story and continues to work around the elephants at the sanctuary.

Melissa wrote: "On page 238.
I'm liking it so far. I get confused with who is who in terms of the elephant names, but sometimes things click into place.
The scene in Thomas' room when he sees the necklace was so..."

Oh my gosh I agree that was so intense. The grief research is fascinating and factual. Jodi Picoult always does her research. I learned so much about elephants through this amazing novel. Please come back and discuss when you are further along.

Linda wrote: "I read her prequel
This summer and just started the novel.
I think that gave me great insight, bet I'll love it."

I haven't read the prequel yet. I should do that.

Bre wrote: "Hi! My favorite Jodi Picoult book is Sing You Home. I am currently reading it for the fourth time :) I have also read every single book she has written, with the exception of Leaving Time, as it ju..."

We just started our Read-Along for Leaving Time also. I hope you will join once you start reading the novel.

I see there has been lots of views on this thread, but no buddy has commented yet? Has anybody begun reading Leaving Time yet? If the answer is yes what do you think so far? Are you finding yourself attached to any particular character so far? Do you have a favorite elephant yet?

Its hard to discuss this novel when I know people are in the middle and have not found out the surprise ending. Please put at the top of your comment what page you are at so people who are not that far can skip over your comment. Since I have finished the book I will give my opinion on these questions vaguely so anybody can read my comment.

***no spoilers***

Obviously I loved Leaving Time. I love Jodi Picoult so it was natural that I fell in love with Leaving Time and spend many late nights and early mornings engrossed in this book. I wish everybody could love this book as much as I did. I would have to say at the beginning of the novel I was really interested in Jenna's character, but eventually I found myself waiting for another Alice chapter to come up. I fell in love with Alice's character for reasons I will discuss later. My favorite elephant was Maura. I kind expect her to be everybody's favorite. I loved Maura's spirit. I think she was a character all on her own in this book. I enjoyed hearing about Maura.

Throughout her blockbuster career, #1 New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult has seamlessly blended nuanced characters, riveting plots, and rich prose, brilliantly creating stories that “not only provoke the mind but touch the flawed souls in all of us” (The Boston Globe). Now, in her highly anticipated new book, she has delivered her most affecting novel yet—and one unlike anything she’s written before.

For more than a decade, Jenna Metcalf has never stopped thinking about her mother, Alice, who mysteriously disappeared in the wake of a tragic accident. Refusing to believe that she would be abandoned as a young child, Jenna searches for her mother regularly online and pores over the pages of Alice’s old journals. A scientist who studied grief among elephants, Alice wrote mostly of her research among the animals she loved, yet Jenna hopes the entries will provide a clue to her mother’s whereabouts.

Desperate to find the truth, Jenna enlists two unlikely allies in her quest. The first is Serenity Jones, a psychic who rose to fame finding missing persons—only to later doubt her gifts. The second is Virgil Stanhope, a jaded private detective who originally investigated Alice’s case along with the strange, possibly linked death of one of her colleagues. As the three work together to uncover what happened to Alice, they realize that in asking hard questions, they’ll have to face even harder answers.

As Jenna’s memories dovetail with the events in her mother’s journals, the story races to a mesmerizing finish. A deeply moving, gripping, and intelligent page-turner, Leaving Time is Jodi Picoult at the height of her powers.


****Spoilers to Follow***** Do Not Read Any Further Until You Have Finished the Book*****

We are going to be having a group read along for Jodi Picoult's new book Leaving Time. I'm going to start the Read-Along on the day the book releases which is October 14th. Since I know it takes time to get your hands on the book/read it this discussion will run through November 30th. That is about a month and a half. Although even after the end date has come and gone this thread will still be open so you are welcome to comment. I will be the most active in this thread through the end date though.

I'm currently in the middle of Leaving Time thanks to the nice people at Ballantine Books I was lucky enough to get an advanced reader's copy so I could lead the discussion with you guys. As usual Jodi Picoult has not failed us. This book keeps me up late at night and I always want to be reading it. I'm excited to find out the ending and sharing this book with you guys.

I want this discussion to be thoughtful. Don't just tell me your general opinion of the book. Ask questions about what other people thought about the book. Who was your favorite character and why? What did you learn about Elephant Grief through this book? etc. I will ask lots of questions also once October 14th comes about. Most of all I want you to include spoilers. I don't want anybody to read this thread until they have read the book.

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Here's the Link to the Storyteller discussion thread. We did a readalong when the book first came out, but I would love for anybody to add their spoiler thoughts to the thread. I will set up a poll next week to pick our July readalong. Looks like the choices right now are Mercy, Second Glance. I'm up to more suggestions. I haven't read either of these and would love to read them with members.

Although I love Jodi Picoult I'm afraid to say I haven't really read a book by her lately. I think her books take a while to read and you need to have time to enjoy them. While I'm managing college and homework I didn't feel as if I had adequate time to read a Jodi Picoult book. I would like to get a couple more read before her new novel Leaving Time comes out. It also gives us a chance to discuss the book as a group and get a couple more people to read books that they haven't read. Leave your suggestions below in the comments of which Jodi Picoult book you would like to read. If you have not read all of her books please suggest one you haven't read already and if you have read all of her books and have one you would like to reread go ahead and suggest it. If there is an overwhelming number of people that want to read the same book there will be no poll necessary, but if lots of people have different suggestions then a poll will be made.

Rules
Each person is only allowed to suggest one book. If you suggest more than one book I will only take your first suggestion.


I would really like to read Mercy. That can start us off.