Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Devil in the Details by Jennifer Traig - Hysterical account of the childhood of a Jewish girl with OCD. As if OCD isn't restrictive enough, with a multitude of rules and rituals for those afflicted, pair that with the rigid lifestyle of an Orthodox Jew and you have the formula for a knee-slapping memoir. Traig gives the reader a first-hand account of what it's like to be an obsessive-compulsive who is struggling with her religious identity (her mom is Catholic, her dad a wayward Jew). The book only gets funnier as she chooses Judaism and then proceeds (with help from her OCD) to take it MORE seriously than any "real" Jew does. If you are looking for a funny book and like non-fiction, this book is for you.
Mercy by Jodi Picoult - Jodi Picoult is by far one of my favorite authors (My Sister's Keeper, The Pact, et al). Cameron MacDonald has spent his life hemmed-in by duty. As the police chief of a small Massachusetts town that has been home to generations of his Scottish clan, he is bound to the town's residents by blood and honor...and finds that he no longer really wants to be. However, when his cousin Jamie confesses to killing his wife and expects Cam to help him, Cam's loyalties are torn. At the same time, Cam is struggling with his own marriage, and into this confusion comes Mia, a world-traveler stopping over as a florist with Allie, Cam's wife. The book revolves around a few critical questions: What would you do for someone you love? Would you lie? Would you leave? Would you kill? If you like Picoult, you'll like this book!
