I thought this book would be of academic interest to me, since I don't actually have an eating disorder but I do have an interest in how the public perceives women's bodies. I was shocked, however, at how close to home much of this book hit. I don't have an eating disorder, but I do spend a lot of mental energy in self-loathing because of my weight. Many of the emotions she described I have felt.
The book was a bit hindered by all of the generalizations she makes without any statistics. Parts of it are a bit trite and/or sappy. But overall, quite interesting and affecting.

An entire book about a cholera epidemic in London sounded really interesting. There was a bunch of really basic stuff about how bacteria evolve and cause disease, which was too basic for me. The most interesting parts were about solving the puzzle of how the disease spreads. The politics of shutting down the pump and renovating the sewer system was appalling and interesting. Amazing how long it took to give up the miasma theory.
When he started comparing the threat of terrorists to cholera and the future of cities, it felt really absurd. Quite a stretch to make it relevant- would have been better to leave it in London, 1800's.

Normally, books about evolution by people who aren't evolutionary biologists, are lacking some rigor. All kinds of assumptions are made, and many assumptions, such as inheritance, are ignored. This one was actually pretty good- the explanations for diseases are sensible hypotheses and are well backed up by data.
An interesting book about disease. I had never really thought about disease perhaps as a beneficial and therefore selected for traits.

I wouldn't have thought that an entire book about prion diseases-diseases caused by incorrectly folding proteins- could be that interesting, but this book surprisingly was. It starts in Italy, with a family with hereditary fatal insomnia, and moves around to cannibalism in Papua New Guinea and mad cow disease in Britain and America. It's also got some personality sketches on the scientists who work on prion diseases. I thought these went on too long and in a bit too much detail and some of the science was lost in them.
I didn't feel that I learned that much about the mechanism behind these diseases, but maybe there really isn't that much to know. An interesting book.

This was my second time reading this book and I still became really interested and involved with the storyline. It is written beautifully and is written from different characters' perspectives.

My Sister's Keeper made me addicted to Jodi Picoult! I love the subject matter of this book and made you question what is morally right.

A riveting novel. I wasn't too keen on the heavy legal scenes; I thought they were a little dry. I didn't see the twist ending coming.

I've just started this book and I already like it alot. I was hesitant to read it because everyone raved about it so much, but curiosity got the better of me. So far, I'm glad.

reading for book club!

The difficult choices a family must make when a child is diagnosed with a serious disease are explored The author writes about the prospect of creating babies for health purposes and the ethical and moral fallout that results.

Kate Fitzgerald has a rare form of leukemia. Her sister, Anna, was conceived to provide a donor match for procedures that become increasingly invasive. At 13, Anna hires a lawyer so that she can sue her parents for the right to make her own decisions about how her body is used when a kidney transplant is planned. Meanwhile, Jesse, the neglected oldest child of the family, is out setting fires, which his firefighter father, Brian, inevitably puts out.

Sara's devotion to Kate is understandable, but her complete lack of sympathy for Anna's predicament until the trial does not ring true, nor could I buy that Sara would dust off her law degree and represent herself in such a complicated case.

It doesn't answer many questions and presents a lot of new ones.

Wonderfully written.
Thoughtful.

This was my first Jodi Picoult book. It was quite an emotional read. The author has an amazing way of getting into people's heads and getting the reader to see things from different POV's. This was really thought-provoking.

Hopefully the full length feature film starring Cameron Diaz won't ruin the true essence of Picoult's most acclaimed novel. This story of family, disease, and loyalty truely makes the reader sympathize with every character, and wish they could help them in any decision that they decide to make. With a truly suprising, and unforseen ending, this novel connects to everyday issues we are all faced with. The way Picoult reveals different parts of the story through each character's eyes is a technique she has mastered in all of her novels. I love being able to see the story through different characters' minds and learn whats truly going on in their thought process or how they are really feeling. A heart-breaking book with a great story, Picoult truly masters the characteristics of the human heart.

What interesting themes. Evoked quite emotional responses in me, reading it as a mother of 3. Just couldn't undestand the mother, and her neglect of her other children, and what she could put one of her children through.

This book is about a young Hawaiian girl who is diagnosed with leprosy in the late 1800s. She is sent to a leper colony on Moloka'i island. Although fiction, this book is based on fact. A sad--but heartwarming---read.

I learned a lot both about Hawaiian history and leprosy from this book. It was terrible how these people were treated, especially once you know that the disease consists of so much less than limbs falling off. This book was extremely interesting, educating, and readable. It exposes a terrible chapter in American history. Hopefully we can learn from it and not repeat with modern fear-inducing diseases like AIDS.