Avid lifelong readers trace the history of our lives by the books on our shelves. Those books we packed and hauled with us with every move, no matter the distance or stage in life.
There’s the Lord of the Rings trilogy I had to have in junior high and never read. Shame on me! The Outsiders with the worn and torn cover hanging on by a strip of tape. The Martian Chronicles that introduced me to the wonders of Ray Bradbury’s science fiction. All Quiet on the Western Front got me through high school history with a passing grade. The Dead Zone thrill chilled and hooked me on Stephen King.
My collection fills several bookcases, some double shelved. Recent additions reflect what I write and love to read in the literal autumn of my life. The romance of Robyn Carr. Romantic suspense of Nora Roberts. Mystery, suspense and political thrillers by Louise Penney, the latter co-written with Hillary Rodham Clinton. A newfound fascination with historical fiction in faraway lands. India after British rule in The Secret Keeper of Jaipur by Alka Joshi. Wild Women and Blues in the height of the 1920s Jazz Age by Denny S. Bryce.
Rarely, if ever, do I borrow a book from the library, read it and immediately buy a copy for my loaded shelves. Jodi Picoult’s Lone Wolf changed that. My review explains why and is posted below.
Next month, I’ll be in my Iowa hometown visiting family and friends, places I’ve been and wished that I had. Until then, rejoice in the beauty of the season.
Happy Fall, y’all!
WHAT I READ
Lone Wolf
by Jodi Picoult
The parallels, comparisons and intersections of how human and wolf families relate and function, or do not, define, blur and cross in this near-perfect work of literary fiction.
All the elements of plot are here.
Flawed characters. A sister and brother, once close now at odds after the Inciting Incident. A violent collision. Conflict. Their father’s life sustained by medical means his son Edward claims zoologist and life-long researcher of captive and wild wolves Luke Warren would not want. Cara refuses to let her father go. Twists that pull the reader through tribulations that threaten to risk all that could be gained to the crush of in vain. Trials to overcome. Painful decisions to be made. Lessons in healing for the characters to learn and readers to take away.
Jodi Picoult has written a study in human and animal behaviour and a blueprint on the fragility of ecosystems within the framework of exceptional storytelling.
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Thank you! Merci!