Exceedingly Mundane

I finished another library book last night, “Vanishing Acts” by Jodi Picoult. This is the second Picoult book I have read (I finished “Plain Truth” earlier this year) and although I enjoyed it, I did like “Plain Truth” better. I think I liked the Amish aspect of Plain Truth more. This book was very well written, a very good read, but I did get bogged down with a couple of the plotlines that were woven in. Where “Plain Truth” was about the Amish way of life, this book encompassed life in Arizona, including some about the Hopi Indian way of life. More so, it involved a character being in prison and I got very bogged down in her descriptions of prison life – the gangs, the tattoos, the hierarchy, the weapons they fashioned, how things work in a prison. I put the book down for several days when I got mired in that, and then was able to get through it and finish it. I was glad the book ended the way it did – it turned out how I wanted, and I always like that. I hate a book that ends badly.

Having said all that, I did enjoy the book and am glad I read it. Rather than trying to write my own synopsis, I will reference you to Amazon’s 2 reviews of it here, and say that the second, by Bookmarks magazine, is more in line with my feelings on the book. And, in case you want to know more, here is the synopsis from the book’s jacket cover…

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. Once again, Jodi Picoult handles a difficult and timely topic with understanding, insight and compassion.

For the record, that makes #39 so far this year for me. This book was longer than what I normally read, weighing in at 418 pages, so that brings my pages read count to 13,824. Up next for me is another new author, Dorothea Benton Frank, and an older book of hers entitled “Shem Creek”. I hope it is good!