During the summers of 2007/2008 (eeh gads… ten years ago!) I went through a major Jodi Picoult phase. I devoured every book she had written on the very same lawn chair from whence I type today. I loved her CSI approach on topics that were “ripped from the headlines” and how she braided fictional stories around true and life shattering events. During this phase my kids had just started day camp (the same camp where they are now Counselors In Training), so I must have allocated a lot of my suddenly found free time to reading her books. Thank you Jodi for providing these escapism novels that always provided opportunities for reflection and insight into lives that are a whole lot more challenging than mine. Perspective. Thank you for giving me perspective.
I must have overdosed a bit because I went a good decade without a Jodi Picoult book in my reading repertoire. I might still be on a Jodi Picoult respite were it not for her name infiltrating my instagram feed last summer as a fellow “hearter” of Wolfgang2242. Every post I loved… she loved too (along with a gazillion other people) and our mutual love served as a reminder of my dormant love for her and her craft.
By the way, if you are have even a whisper of affection for the furry and four legged among us, there is nothing not to love about Wolfgang2242. This well mannered, engaging, wryly funny man with a heart of gold the size of his charming pet pig Bikini adopts senior dogs (he has nine “mature” canines currently under his care) and some other adorable creatures. He gives them the best, most besotted, and celebrated years of their lives… swoon.
I never skip a post and/or a word of his carefully crafted prose. It is guaranteed to produce a wide smile on my face. This man is a two legged angel tending to the furry angels among us that we get to call our pets. I admire his ability to get in front of reader’s comments by anticipating their judgements before they go off on a rant about something. Unfortunate that he has to do this, but such is the life of an active social media person and he handles it with wisdom and grace.
I humbly beseech you to grab your insta and follow the ever endearing Wolfgang2242 and his glorious tribe of four legged (and a handful of 2 legged) creatures.
Ms. Picoult was braver than I and actually made comments on Wolfgang’s insta and developed a relationship with this exceedingly kind man! Last summer, upon being invited by Steve, the man behind the Wolfgang handle, she went to visit him! You can see her smiling away with his flock here…
So this is a bizzaro, tangential, and light hearted reason to select a book. It is thanks to our mutual affection for Wolfgang2242 and my fondess for her being resurrected in my brain via a simultaneous social media affection that I added Jodi Picoult’s not light hearted and completely relevant book: small great things to my stack when I went on my annual summer book binge at the beloved Book|Hampton bookstore earlier this month.
What makes you grab a book from the busting at the seams shelves of a bookstore (online or otherwise)? What makes you go the extra step to take it home with you and then read it? It is a commitment of time and money. I walked out with 5 books, on my summer book binge, for 5 different reasons.
I am glad Jodi Picoult’s book small great things made my personal cut. It was the first book I tackled. Like all of her books before, Jodi explores an exceedingly tough subject. This time she does so via three wildly divergent viewpoints. The subject and the story that she wraps around it should be required reading by every person in America, particularly people in high ranking leadership positions. The time spent reading this book should also be accompanied with a good amount of time looking in the mirror evaluating one’s stance and perspective on the subject. Interest piqued? Grab this book and read it.
I already know who I am going to gift it to. But I will let that be a surprise for the recipient who may be reading this very post. Hopefully she is Jodi Picoult fan too and if not already, I know she will be soon.
