Book Reviews
Book Reviews
My Sister?s Keeper
Jodi Picoult
Allen and Unwin
RRP $29.95
On the surface, Anna is a normal thirteen-year-old girl. She loves playing sport, talking about boys and hanging out with her older sister, Kate. But what makes her different, is that she was conceived to be a direct DNA match to help fight her sister?s leukemia. From donating blood, to bone marrow, it is a role that she has taken on with unquestioning acceptance. But when her parents start talking about her donating a kidney, Anna demands that her voice should be heard. This book battles with a controversial and relevant issue. How far do you go to save a person?s life? What permanent impact will trying to save the life of one sick child make on the other children in the family? What does it mean to be a good parent, a good sister, a good person? These are the questions you will ask yourself when you read this book. Told through various eyes, you will see all points of view and sample a taste of the dilemma this family goes through. Just one warning ? keep the tissues close by!
RRP $29.95 but only $26.96 if you buy from the SheSaid Bookshop
Name Dropping: An Incomplete Memoir
Kate Fitzpatrick
Harper Collins Publishers
RRP $32.95
Kate Fitzpatrick seems to have done everything in life. She?s been an actor on screen and stage, she was a cricket commentator, a Liberal Party speechwriter, a world traveller, journalist. And she?s met some of the most famous and desirable men on earth ? Imran Khan, Jack Nicholson, Warren Beatty and Prince Charles to name a few. Ok the last one isn?t desirable but he?s famous? All in all, while reading this book, you can?t help feeling just a little jealous of Kate. And with a title like Name Dropping, you wonder if that?s her intention! But despite all this, it?s entirely fascinating to find out how she managed such a life. She regales us with stories of her life behind the scenes in 18 different countries and how she met personalities such as Germaine Greer, Sam Neill and Brett Whiteley. Even her review is full of namedropping!