Monday, July 27, 2009

999 Challenge - July

I have managed to read ten books this month as I have been on holidays. I will only review a select few.
Handle With Care by Jodi Picoult ( General Reading)
Handle With Care is about a family with two daughters the younger being born with Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI) commonly known as brittle bone disease. With the ongoing costs of raising a child with this disease the mother decides to sue for wrongful birth. She feels if digagnosed earlier in the pregnancy it could have been terminated. The conroversy is that the obstetrician is the mother's best friend. The father decides doesn't want to have anything to do with a court case as he doesn't want his daughter to think she wasn't wanted. The older daughter is unintentionally neglected and suffers from bulimia at this time. Sometimes you feel for the mother as she is trying to give her daughter a better future and how overwelmed she is in raising a child with OI but on the other hand to the detriment of the rest of her family. The characters are strong and complicated and of course there are many ethical issues raised. I really enjoyed the book but like all her books of late it seems to go down the same path with a different set health issues and ethical issues.
I recently went to see the film of the book My Sister's Keeper also by Jodi Picoult. I read the book a couple of years ago and was looking forward to seeing the film. It is the story of Anna who sues her parent for the right to make her own medical decisions. Anna was conceived by genetic engineering as a match for her older sister Kate who is suffering from leukemia. The story covers family issues during the trial. The ending was quite a suprise but with the film they completely changed the ending and it was such a let down. My friend who had not read the book loved the film but it left me very disappointed.
The Choice by Nicholas Sparks (General Reading)
The storyline is about a man and woman living next door to each other. Travis the male character in the story is of course perfect in every way, attractive, quick witted, smart, great with children and of course wealthy as he has a venteninary business. New neighbour Gabby bursts through the bushes that divide their houses yelling about his dog getting her dog pregnant. After spending a weekend together they fall in love and of course marry and have the perfect children and marriage. Eleven years along when driving home in a thunderstorm Travis crashes the car. Travis wakes up in hospital but Gabby remains in a coma. After a couple of months Travis is faced with a 'Choice' of a promise he made to Gabby a few years previous that if anything happens to her and she was in a long coma that Travis would turn off the life support. Even though it was a very predictable plot I couldn't put the book down. For a man, Nicholas Sparks writes a very good love story.
The Killing of Caroline Bryne by Robert Wainwright (Crime) This a story of justice and a father's determination of in fnding the truth about his daughter's death. It is also about the testing of the justice system which is taken to the limit. After thirteen years of investigation by police into Caroline's fiancee he was finally bought to justice. Gordon Wood was an arrogant self absorbed man who loved working out in the gym where he met Caroline. Wood chauffered for stock trader Rene Rivkin who at this time was going through a turbulent time himself. The death at the time was treated as a suicide as Caroline was found at the bottom of the Gap a popular place for suicide. The police investigation was botched from the start. Wood's behaviour after Caroline's death was quite bizarre. what finally led to Wood's arrest was science. Scientific test were carried out using police cadets to see if it was possible to jump from a cliff and land nine metres away. It was proved that it couldn't be done. The police thought Wood had an accomplice as Caroline, Woods and another man were seen in Watsons Bay on the day of Caroline's death. Wood was found guilty in November 2008 thirteen years after Caroline's death. Even though I think he did it, it is not without reasonable doubt as there was little hard evidence due to the botched crime scene in the first place. An interesting read. A movie is now in production from this book.
Testimony by Anita Shreve (General reading)
Testimony tells the story of teenage sexuality and the long term ramifications of what happens when a decision is made in the moment.
A video is given to the headmaster of the Avery Acadmey School which features a fourteen year old girl engaging in drunken sexual acts with three senior boys from the basketball team. The scandle shakes this private school to the core and changes the lives those involved forever. Who is to blame was it the boys because of their age taking advantage of the younger girl or was the girl a willing participant? She later claims she was raped. I think that decisions and actions taken in the heat of the moment will change lives forever and there is no going back. I really enjoyed this book a very compelling read.