Jodi Picoult has an impressive list of novels. She is a descriptive writer and does a wonderful job of building up her characters. Her recent books have taken a bit more of a political approach, so they haven’t necessarily been my favorites. Her books written in her earlier years as an author are more my style. They focus on very unique scenarios that peak the reader’s interest quickly. She does a fabulous job of researching each instance: unique diseases, very specialized professions, incredibly intricate hobbies and crafts. She must learn so much with each novel she writes.

Here are 5 of my favorites by Jodi Picoult:

Nineteen Minutes: Jodi Picoult takes an incredibly sensitive issue of a school shooting, and puts a very unique twist on it. She forces the reader to face a harsh reality and leaves you continually wondering what really happened during the shooting. There are twists and turns through the entire novel; leaving us curious until the very end. The book was written several years ago, so it was before some of the more recent school shootings, but it was every bit as relevant then as it is now. It’s emotional, gripping and head scratching.

Handle With Care: This novel is about one of the “unique diseases” I referenced above: osteogenesis imperfecta. The main character is born with this incredibly rare disease, and her parents must grapple with a how to handle this drastic change to their entire lives. Their world is turned upside down and they must bend to this truth of their daughter’s medical condition. As readers, we are able to learn about the condition, feel for those who truthfully do suffer from this in real life and wonder how in the world Jodi learned all she had to learn to write such a heart wrenching novel.

My Sister’s Keeper: This is another one that required some impressive research on a unique disease. I read this book before I saw the movie (before there was a movie), so I knew very little of the story going into the read. There was a bit of a shock factor involved with learning the story of two little girls and how their lives revolved around a horrible sickness for the older sister (Kate). Anna, the little sister, was born to provide bone marrow to Kate and help her survive leukemia. The story reveals Anna’s journey to support her sister, and Kate’s struggle to outlast her illness. True to Jodi’s style, it ends with a huge twist and crazy turn of events. This is another very well written and well researched novel. It was one of the first that I read of Jodi Picoult, and it really brought me into her world and made me look for more of her novels.

Leaving Time: This was a different kind of novel for Jodi. Alice is a middle age woman who is searching for her missing mother. The plot itself is not so eccentric, but rather, some of the things Jodi pulls into the novel felt a bit random. I had mixed emotions about it immediately after reading, but as I look back on it, I think it was a much needed adjustment in her string of novels. Jodi brings in a mixture of ideals I don’t normally feel pair well together in a single novel. It could go wrong fairly easily when trying to tie together psychics, detectives, elephants and missing persons. However, she pulls it together in a charming way. The novel is well written and enticing. Not to mention I learned more about elephants in this novel than I would have imagined! I find them charming and endearing, so it was an interesting part of the read!

Change of Heart: This was a gut wrenching novel – a death row inmate, Shay Bourne, convicted of homicide, decides to donate his heart to the sister of his victim – a little girl who needs a heart transplant. The story is told through multiple points of view, and like most of her novels, each chapter is written from a character narrating their piece of the story. This gives an interesting perspective and helps the reader to engage in both sides (or multiple sides). The concept of this story is a little bit “outside” the realm of something that could happen in real life. So, I do recommend approaching this novel with an open mind. If you do that, you can definitely become swept away with this intriguing read.