The Book of Two Ways

This book is by Jodi Picoult who also wrote “Wish You Were Here” (see post on October 8).  I enjoyed the first book and found that I could relate to several of the themes of the book.  I wondered if it was a coincidence that the topics were so relevant to me or if the author wrote about topics that are relevant to everyone.  So I decided to read another book by the same author.  She has written 20+ books over the years, so I decided to go to the library, close my eyes and select a random book of hers.  I got to the library and they only had two books by her on the shelves.  So I selected one with my eyes open.  (If I closed my eyes I would be more likely to select a book by another author!)

I have to say that reading this book was a really weird experience.  Not at all what I expected.  I was reading this book during the same period that I was attending the Bend Film Festival.  I saw 5 films (yeah, yeah, I saw 6 films, but one was actually a series of short films, so I’m not counting that one).  Anyway, three of the five films had the main character(s) traveling to another country.  Each film was about the experiences in the new country.  And I did not pick these films. I chose a venue and shifts to volunteer at. These films just happened to be showing during my shifts at this venue.

I randomly picked two books by Jodi Picoult. Both of these books had the main character traveling to another country!  And each book was about the experiences in the new country!  What does this mean?  Is the universe telling me that I need to travel to another country?  Through weird circumstances, the main character travels without his or her partner, Barbara is NOT going to be happy about this. But, what can I do? The universe has spoken. The last thing I want to do is to anger the universe! It would be more dangerous to not go to another country. When Barbara hears this, she will probably demand that I go to some exotic country by myself for a couple of months!

Furthermore, the two books had very similar plots!  What?  I asked my brother and sister-in-law if they had read this author.  My sister-in-law has read one book by the author, but it was a long time ago and she has largely forgotten about the book.  She noted that she had two friends, one who loves the author and one who hates the author.  The one who hates the author said the books followed a certain formula!!  Could this be?  A very popular author, who has written 20+ best sellers uses the same formula for every one of her books?  Crap, now I have to read another book by the same author to see for myself.  Out of 20+ books, two with similar themes wouldn’t be that weird, three or more would be strange.  

Actually I enjoyed reading the books, so it's not that much of a burden.