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Friday, February 19, 2010

My Sister’s Keeper

My all-time favorite novels are The Time Traveler’s Wife, Marley and Me and A Thousand Splendid Suns.

Joining that list today is, My Sister’s Keeper

 Image from wikipedia


I love love love love love this book. Was reading it until 1am last night. Brought the book to work today to finish the last few chapters (Don't tell the boss ya).


I'm too lazy to write the synopsis, so click here to read the synopsis. Else you can probably skip the rest of this post.

I no longer enjoy books like Sydney Sheldon or Dan Brown who are good at spinning a dramatic storyline, but the moment you finish the book it’s forgotten and done with hardly any memorable quotes.
Now I prefer books that touch the very basics of life. Books that after finishing it, it makes me ponder and think. Books that deliver a message to teach.

My Sister’s Keeper is a good book that makes you think. I hated the mother in the book, but I couldn’t help thinking… what would I do if I were her? I admire Anna’s decision to fight over the right of her own body, but I couldn’t help thinking… is that right so important that she’s willing to let her sister die? Jesse was such a messed up kid, but I also felt so sad for him for always being neglected. I adored the dad and how much he tried to makes things right. And I loved Campbell, the lawyer and Julia, his ex-girlfriend, who sometimes provide comic relief to a very depressing story line.

A wonderful beautiful heart-warming story that leaves you to think… what would you do if you were them? And just like what my sister said, after you finish the book, you’ll turn back to the first page and start wondering.

However, I also kinda guessed how the ending would be, even though I wasn't sure how it would happen. Because of that, I was slightly disappointed with the ending. I still love the book though. :)

And please, if you’re thinking of being lazy and watching the movie instead, the movie has a TOTALLY different ending and some characters were cut out. I always wonder why movie makers almost always change the storyline of a popularly received novel. And if there’s a briefly mentioned love interest in the book, Hollywood makers will blow it up, focus on it and throw in some added sex. Hollywood movies will always be Hollywood movies. Sheshhhh.

Anyone who wants to borrow the book from me, let me know.

7 comments:

Tan Shu-Yin said...

i still prefer sidney sheldon's :)

u finished reading the one i lent to u? if not, then u finish it before saying u "no longer enjoy books like Sydney Sheldon..."
bluekss..

Mindy said...

I used to enjoy those kind of books when I was younger. Now... not so much.

Also, I read one of the books before so kinda could guess the story line.

Mindy said...

Hey, thanks for the link. Out of that list, I read 14 of them and watched 7 of the movie version.

Soo Huey said...

great! try some of the "older" authors. like aldous huxley from early 1900s. i love the insights into how society was then from the way they write things, and it is interesting (sometimes mind-boggling) the "futuristic" things they come up with even back then.

but after wild swans u'll probably want something light n not aldous huxley-ish. he's not heavy, but not light either. i've got a book to recommend, but can't for the life of me remember the title or author!

how's wild swans treating you?

Mindy said...

I've only read one chapter of Wild Swans. But I'm loving it already. Especially since this is not a fictional story. Have you read it?

Lately I've got this huge appetite for reading and reading. Used to be a book for a month. Now depending on how interesting the book is, it's almost like a book a week. I need to find a place where I can borrow books instead of buying them.

I'll definitely be checking out some of the books in that list. I also wanna get Lovely Bones. My sister has been telling that it's a good book.

I've never tried reading classics before. I tried Jane Ere (is that how you spell it?) during my teenage years and I gave up half way.

I think the only "old" book I read was Lord of the Rings. But lately my choice in books have changed and I'm more interested in those more "mature" books. Those with more thoughts and substance to it. ;)

Soo Huey said...

Wild Swans was "terrible" for me. I just kept reading and kept reading and refused to go to sleep at night until I finished it! I was ssooo tired during the day, but at night I kept reading again. And I noticed the "fighting spirit" affected my mood as well. Definitely an absorbing book and made me think about being Chinese and what we know/don't know about Chinese/China too.

I think I would give up on Jane Ere too! Tho I've never tried. Even the older books have different genres. I just wouldn't choose a Jane Ere type of book, regardless of what period it was written. I just think more people should look back at some of the older authors. There's a reason they are still in print! ;)

Mindy said...

LOL, I was reading Wild Swans late last night. One chapter is quite long leh. And I refuse to stop in the middle of a chapter.

Wild Swans is the 2nd book I'm reading about life in China. I read one of Amy Tan's book, and even though that one was fictional, it really made me think about what it means to be Chinese and made me understand why do the older Chinese generation act the way they do. To us younger generation, some of the things they do may seem illogical and sometimes annoying. But after reading about what the older generation used to go through during those days, it makes me understand a little why they act like that. And that we younger ones take a lot of granted, just the basic right of being a free independent woman.

I am glad my great-grandparents chose to migrate here. China is not a country I would want to live in especially during those days.

I'll definitely check out some of the classics as well!