Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult

 

I've read this before, and I remembered that I liked it. It's Jodi Picoult, after all, and she's one of my favorite authors.

 

What prompted me to read it again though, was that I stumbled upon a book club video in Youtube.com, a Borders Book Club video, to be exact, that showed the book club members discussing this book together with the author, Jodi Picoult.

 

It was such a great discussion, and they talked about so many things in the book, the issues about school shootings, how and why it happens, who's to blame, how does a parent cope with it, whether their child is the victim, or the shooter, how can we, as a society, prevent a tragedy like this from happening....

 

You can watch part one of the discussion here:

 

 

 

I had forgotten much of what I read, and their discussion made me want to re-read the book and refresh my memory. So I read it again, looking out for the some of the things the book club pointed out in the videos.

 

It's definitely food for thought, and I completely sympathize with all the characters in the book, including the shooter. I don't completely agree with some of the Borders Book Club's thoughts about the book, but that's ok, I think what's important is that it makes us think.

 

And after watching the videos, and how Picoult talks about how she developed the story and the characters, I am absolutely amazed at her understanding and insight into the human psyche.

 

I don't really need to say how good the book is, go and watch the videos, there aren't any spoilers, and I'm sure you'll want to read the book for yourself too, if you haven't already. Or maybe you'll re-read it again, and get more out of it.

 

This book is available for discussion on Betty's Book Chats.

 

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