The DIS Book Club Discussion Group: Round 3 - House Rules - CHAT JUNE 8 @ 8 P.M.

[MaryJ]

Once again, I fell into the trap of Jodi Picot - as with My Sister's Keeper, a terrible, terrible let down of an ending. I have to be at work early tomorrow, so I can not post much now, other than to say this will be the absolute last book by her that I read.

As someone who has read all but one of Jodi Picoult's books, I have to say that I am in agreement with you. To this day, my favorite of her books is the first one that I read Plain Truth which was published in 2000. I feel that because of her popularity, she is churning out books as fast as possible, and that her writing has suffered because of it.

I finished House Rules two weeks ago before this discussion even started because I keep wanting to give her another chance to get back to where she was. I will follow this discussion to see what others think.

 

[Camping Griswalds]

Just found this thread. I have a couple of questions about the "Book Club"

Where are the threads from previous discussed books?

How are books chosen?

How far in advance will we know which book? I ask this because I saw several posts in the beginning stating trouble getting the book from the Library, so I was curious!

May I ask why you discuss the books at various points instead of just after reading it all and then discussing?


I'm fascinated by this, love to read, and can't wait to join in the next one!

 

[eeyorelvr09]

I don't know where the previous threads are.

The first 2 were chosen by the moderators. This book was picked via survey. The books are announced and you are given a week to obtain the book. There was a problem with this one because it was her newest one published this year.

I think that we discussed the book in parts because it focuses on the little details per "assignment" if you will. Too many times people focus on the end rather than the book as a whole and many details are looked over.

 

[Camping Griswalds]

Thanks! I will be on the lookout for the next one then. Have you decided on the next one?

 

[eeyorelvr09]

Thanks! I will be on the lookout for the next one then. Have you decided on the next one?

I don't think that it will be chosen until after or around June 9th

 

[DisneySunflower]

I could not believe that they slept together? It just seemed awkward in the timing and placement within the book. I was disappointed and a little turned off.

I could not believe that she ended the book this way, no verdict? no conclusion? Even if it is from Jacob's perspective, we deserve an ending... or will there be a sequel?

I could not figure out the Cases and even after the last case, by Jacob, I didn't get it. Please offer explanantion and insight.

Overall, I thought that it was a good read. I kept wanting to read it and was upset if I was distracted or had to stop. I only wish that there was more on the disciplining of the boys, something about Emma's realization that she was partially responsible for the death by not confronting Theo when she found the Video Game, something about what Rich did with the info about the mug and the mango tea, anything... I guess I was just not ready for it to end.

 

[*NikkiBell*]

I've been swamped with work heck the past few days, but have been following your discussions. I am really enjoying them while reading the book.

I understand that Moms are Moms. They live and die for their kids. I get that. But I don't think that's an excuse for acting irrationally. I don't think it excuses her for ignoring Theo so much. It seems to me that there are many ways that a mother could be a fierce advocate for their child without having the tunnel vision that Emma seems to have.

I personally do not feel that Emma intentionally ignored Theo. Having a child with special needs, especially that of autism and Asperger's, requires an enormous amount of time. I strongly believe that Emma had very good intentions and just wound up ignoring Theo more than she should have due to Jacob's constant needs. This is normal in situations when there is a sick child. Something has to give. Do I feel she could have managed her time differently so as to spend more of it with Theo? Yes. However, I just don't agree that she purposely ignored him and therefore uses it as an excuse.

I did like this book, though I would really love to talk to someone in real life who has a kid or kids with Aspergers to see how realistic they thought the portrayal of Jacob was.

On a side note: I had heard that people were upset when the show Big Bang Theory started because they felt like it was making fun of people with Aspergers in Sheldon's character. Of course, the writers said they aren't. If you watch this show, what do you think? Does Sheldon have Aspergers? Watched last night after having read HR and think that if he does, it's pretty mild. There are definitely similar traits there...

I have had several autistic children in my classroom over the past five years including those with Aspergers. Every case is different. Some have extreme sensitivities to sounds or lights. Others do not. Each child and his triggers are different. I do feel that the portrayal is accurate though and also read that she did quite a bit of research before moving forward with the writing of the text.

I also think Sheldon has mild Asperger's or some other type of social disability. He just presents himself in that manner.

I'm a little confused about Jacob's diagnosis too.

I admit that my knowledge of autism and Asperger's comes from the popular media and whatever I learned from reading The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime and watching Temple Grandin on HBO, but my understanding of Aperger's was that people with the diagnosis are high functioning and didn't have the kind of tantrums and breakdowns that Jacob seems to have all the time.

I thought that people with Asperger's had trouble with social cues and have a tendencey to be more literal than neurotypical people. I didn't think they'd have meltdowns over crumpled paper or orange signs.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that Jacob seems to be more what a layperson like me would think of as "regular autistic" and not an "Aspie". I think because his diagnosis is Asperger's and not striaght up autism I expect more from him? Does that make sense?

Taking Sheldon for example: I know he doesn't like it when people sit in his spot on the couch but he doesn't have to hide under a weighted blanket when they do it either.

Does anyone know if there is an Asperger's spectrum the way there is an autism spectrum?

Asperger's is on one end of the austism spectrum. As a result, it has its own spectrum, so to speak. There are varying degrees of autism, and there are varying degrees of Asperger's. Be sure to check out the informational links I posted on the first page for more info.

Just found this thread. I have a couple of questions about the "Book Club"

Where are the threads from previous discussed books?

How are books chosen?

How far in advance will we know which book? I ask this because I saw several posts in the beginning stating trouble getting the book from the Library, so I was curious!

May I ask why you discuss the books at various points instead of just after reading it all and then discussing?


I'm fascinated by this, love to read, and can't wait to join in the next one!

Here are the threads from our previous two book club discussions.

Pirate Latitudes

The Help

Two of the books have been chosen for the group. Our current selection was voted on by everyone from a list I provided.

This is a club where you read and discuss at your own pace. I have given a few days (usually a week or a bit more) notice before beginning the discussions. This offers everyone enough time to get the book in some form whether that be the novel itself or an online or audio version.

Discussions are focused on small "chunks" of the novel at a time to provide talking points. Most online book clubs give deadlines for sections of a text so that the discussions can focus on a piece at a time and really get detailed in terms of criques. Here, everyone can read at their own pace and, if they go ahead, can type a spoiler warning when sharing thoughts past the read section.

I hope you will join us!

 

[minie_meese]

I have finished the book too and must admit the last half of the book was pretty disappointing to me. I have found that with other Jodi Picoult books. It almost felt to me like someone else was writing the last half of the book and I was not a fan of the ending.

I found myself liking Emma's character less as time went on. I think it was because of the inconsistencies, particularly in the last 1/3 of the book. If you haven't read that far you might not want read on.

The biggest inconsistency in Emma's character to me was her relationship with Oliver. That whole thing just felt ridiculous to me and I found myself laughing out loud in parts at it's absurdity. Every time the two of them were together it felt more and more ridiculous. The thing that really felt most ridiculous was her reaction when she saw her son's lawyer was not at all prepared for his opening statement. Emma's character was lonely and she felt like she missed out but what mother who had dedicated every waking moment of her life to her one son so he could have a normal a life as possible would react that way. This felt totally out of character. Yes, it set some things up for later but the book lost my interest at that point.

Elaine

Oliver's character was ok but for someone who was as inept as he was in the beginning came up to speed way too quickly.

Then the ending just felt like a letdown to me. All of a sudden we are expected to believe that all will be well and they all live happily ever after.

I'm not sorry I read the book because it had its moments and as someone else said it made you think - that is a really good thing - but I'm not anxiously awaiting the next Jodi Picoult novel.

 

[katscradle]

Well I couldn't wait and finished the book.
For me this was the type of book I read every chance I got as I wanted to know what was going to happen.
My personal opinion was the ending was a complete letdown for me.

 

[Lee Disney]

I usually love Jodi Picault books. I'm a big fan of hers and have read everything she has written, however, I wasn't overly impressed with this one. Like several people mentioned, I felt a lot was left with no closure.

Spoiler *I thought Rich would have a greater role in the story since we met him and his daughter at the very begining. I even felt that was who Emma's love interest would be. Why did Jodi give him such an lead role in the begining but not at the end? Why did he talk about the column if he never learned that it was Emma writing them? It did seem the begining of the book was written by a different author than the end of the book and they didn't have the same ideas.

Oliver was trying to use insanity as his defense to free Jacob, but how did he expect to do that when he painted Jacob's mental state so fragile that he "snaps" if things don't go his way? What judge would let a defendent go free if a fragile, hostile, violent, mental state has been determined.*

I thought it was funny when someone mentioned Sheldon cause I too immediately thought of him as more information was provided about aspergers. I had a picture of Sheldon in my mind's eye whenever Jacob was narrating or being discussed.


Although this book wasn't the greatest Picault novel, I will still wait in anticipation for her next novel. It will take more than one not so great one to turn me away from her novels.

 

[disneydreamgirl]

Also enjoyed the book and agree wholeheartedly that there were some major flaws...spoiler: did not like the relationship with Oliver, kept waiting for something to transpire with Rich and would have liked some resolution at the end. I thought Rich would have been really interesting as a fleshed out character. The iPod creeped me out as well and I know I would have put a stop to that in a big way. end spoiler

That all said, this was a page turner for me...I wasn't disappointed completely but really felt that there were themes and characters that could have been explored and would have made for a much better version of this book.

 

[Tinkerkell123]

I really thought Rich was going to be a love interest too. Can't figure out why she makes a point of him reading and wondering about the advice column if it was not going to go somewhere...

 

[*NikkiBell*]

Well, I couldn't help it and finished the novel as well. Thanks to everyone for being so conscious about putting spoiler warnings in their posts. There are many readers who will not finish the novel before our deadline of June 9th, so if you could continue to do that it would be great.

Spoiler

I 100% loved this novel. I fell in love with the writing style of using different characters to narrate the same story. So often in books we want to hear what the other characters are saying and this offers us just that.

Like so many others here, I really thought that Rich was going to be Emma's love interest during the first half of the novel. I'm not quite so sure what made Oliver fill that role, but I didn't have much of a problem with it. I've seen so many movies and read so many other novels where an older woman and younger man come together romantically. However, the fact that he is her son's defense attorney is probably what so many take issue with. I have mixed feelings on that. Perhaps I am just yearning for love at this time in my life, but the scene where they were wrapped in each other's arms on Oliver's couch gave me goosebumps. I just found it as such a wonderful image in my head. He really cared about her and that is why he worked so hard to defend her son in the trial.

I was not overly disappointed in the ending of the novel. What more of a story could be told? Yes, it would have been nice to hear the explicit outcome of the trial, but isn't that already so obvious? Jacob would not be writing in his journal (aka the last case) from jail or a mental institution. This makes me believe that he was found not guilty. As for Theo, I have a feeling that he was also not found to blame and that this was ruled entirely an accident. At the most, I think, like a previous poster already said, he earned probation and maybe even a fine.

As for Emma, I think that her and Oliver continued pursuing a relationship, but I am not entirely sure how long it will last. I believe that Henry made an attempt to get to know his children, but soon fell back into his old ways. Life, as it was before the trial, went back to normal in my head. Theo, though, felt more love towards his brother because of his actions with Jess' death.

Some could argue that Jacob's writing of the last case came before the trial began. In this case, I am not sure what happened to our characters. I still feel that it was done after the trial, and I like that thought. All in all, I feel that this was an incredible book and very different from the norm out there. I am so glad you all joined me on this journey with Jacob.

As a side note, Kevin and I have discussed holding book club chats periodically. Would this be of interest to anyone still? I know it was mentioned at one point. I was thinking we could try it June 8th being that the 9th is podcast chat night. We would be using a different room. Please let me know if this is something that would interest you all.

 

[eeyorelvr09]

I think the chat idea is a good one.

Spoiler

I was so ready to see Rich to be her love interest. I believe one fo my first posts was saying that there is a love story brewing. Although, there was one, I did not like that it was Oliver. He had a conflict of interest and should have been more focused on Jacob than trying to pursue Emma. I think a relationship was the last thing that Emma needed. Yes, it would be nice for her to have some help, but it wouldn't have been benefical. Although, I did like the writing style(cases and point of view), I would have to agree with a previous poster in that it was very inconsistent with the characters knowledge and personalities from the beginning of the book to the end. [end spoiler]

I am looking forward to the next book, but not another Jodi Picoult book.

 

[RutgersAlum]

A little behind in my reading, I'm just starting Case 5, but I am enjoying your commentaries (yes, I am reading the spoilers, can't help it!).

It is already one of those books where I find myself thinking about the characters at odd times of my day--when I'm driving, or in the shower or just in a rare quiet moment--wondering mostly if Jacob did it... So much of this book rings true to me, a mom of a HF autistic youngster, not as severe as Jacob, but issues nonetheless. Ugh, Emma's struggle to balance her boys, when really true balance is just not possible in their situation. I ache for all three of them. These characters are haunting me right now...

Just jumping to say I'm catching up and like this choice!
Michele/RutgersAlum

PS--Edited to add that a chat is a cool idea!

 

[disneydreamgirl]

I also like the idea of a chat night.

 

[kramer222]

I'd do the chat, too. Sounds like fun.

 

[liuzedong]

I found a good fit.

 

[katscradle]

I would love to join in a chat, just let me know!

 

[minie_meese]

Don't know if anyone has a better solution but I just figured out how to read the white spoiler text on my iPhone. It was a bit convoluted but works. I hit "Quote" under one of the posts with spoiler text and scrolled down. The text shows up there. I am on a computer today so no problem today. I can't figure out a way to post text in a different color from my phone so have not been commenting much on posts with spoilers. Love the idea of having a chat.