Books #5 & #6

My Sister's Keeper, by Jodi Picoult

I have read a few of Jodi Picoult's books before; I was introduced to her work in a book club and I read another after that one because I enjoyed it. She apparently specializes in fictionalized accounts of real life news stories. This one happened in the early part of this century, where a couple had a daughter with a life threatening disease, and they conceive a baby (with the help of reproductive medicine specialists) so they can use the blood from the umbilical cord to help save the daughter. Jodi Picoult picks it up from there, and has the 13 year old donor daughter sue her parents for medical emancipation. I enjoyed the book, it was well written and I liked most of the characters. However, the ending was unforgivable. I won't spoil it for anyone, but it cast a pall over the rest of the book for me.

Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick

I tend to stay away from what everyone else labels as science fiction, so I'm just getting to this. I did read The Man in the High Castle years ago and enjoyed it, but I suppose I didn't consider it to be sci-fi. I knew it had been the basis for Blade Runner, but I haven't seen that either (I plan to now). Rick Deckard is the main character, his job is to retire (kill) androids on what's left of Earth, which was devastated by a nuclear war, which has also wiped out most of the animal species. There are 6 escaped Nexus-6 model androids on Earth, and they are so advanced that they could possibly pass the empathy tests developed to identify them.

I wish I hadn't waited so long to read this, I liked it a lot and finished it very quickly so I could find out what happened. Even if you're not a sci-fi nut, I think you will enjoy this book. I am planning to read more of Philip K. Dick's books, and I will definitely see Blade Runner.

I am currently reading Life Of Pi by Yann Martel, so look for a poorly thought out post for that book soon!