My Sister's Keeper

Wow. Two book reviews in one week. Can you tell I am done with grad school & have a little more free time? It helps that I am now taking the bus 5 days a week instead of 3-4. Can I just say how much I love public transportation? I bet I get at least an hour of reading done each day!

Anyways, moving on to the book review! I started "My Sister's Keeper" on Sunday night & finished it last night. Here's the odd thing. A little over a month ago, I reviewed "Nineteen Minutes" by Jodi Picoult and was so sure that I had only read one other book by Picoult. Then my cousin commented & said that she was sure that I had read it and recommended it to her. But I had zero recollection of reading it. As soon as I started reading it, the book felt so familiar and I realized that I had, in fact, read this book before. I could remember some of the non-essential details of the book, but not the ending. So I burned through the book so I could get to the conclusion and find out what happens!

The book is about two sisters, Kate and Anna Fitzgerald. Kate suffers from a rare form of Leukemia. The Fitzgerald's older son is not a match for Kate, so they genetically screen embryos until a perfect match is found... and along comes Anna - the perfect match for Kate. Throughout Kate's life, she undergoes multiple procedures from the donation of her umbilical cord to the donation of bone marrow. In the book, we meet Anna at age 13. Kate is in need of a kidney transplant and the Fitzgerald's assume that Anna will willing donate. But Anna decides to file for medical emancipation from her parents so she can make her own decision about whether or not to donate an organ.

I'm pretty sure everyone and their mom has already read this, so I won't say much more. For those who have read it, I have a question. Did you think that the lawyer made a bigger deal about his condition than was necessary? When I found out why he needed the day I was like, 'Huh.' Yes, it's a major condition, but not something he needs to hide... But whatevs. I guess the mystery of his condition added to the plot line of the story.

If you haven't read this book, then I will definitely recommend it. Sometimes Picoult's books are just a little too heavy on the courtroom scenes (which is pretty much what she is known for), but this book had a good balance. Also, the book is being made into a movie - I believe it comes out in June. The trailer looks pretty good - I am a big Abigail Breslin fan, and she plays Anna. I'm a bit suprised that they cast Cameron Diaz as the mom... I don't have anything against her, but she doesn't match the person I envisioned in my head. If I had the chance to cast the mom, I'd choose Toni Collette. Maybe I will be pleasantly surprised by Diaz, though. We'll see.

Oh, and I am still doing well on the 'not buying books' thing. I resisted the urge to buy this book and instead borrowed it from a friend from school. That's major progress for me!!!