2024 the best books of 2022 review

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#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the author of Small Great Things and The Book of Two Ways comes “a powerfully evocative story of resilience and the triumph of the human spirit” (Taylor Jenkins Reid, author of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Daisy Jones & The Six)

Look for Jodi Picoult’s new novel, By Any Other Name, available now!

Rights sold to Netflix for adaptation as a feature film • One of She Reads’ Best Books of the Year

Diana O’Toole is perfectly on track. She will be married by thirty, done having kids by thirty-five, and move out to the New York City suburbs, all while climbing the professional ladder in the cutthroat art auction world. She’s an associate specialist at Sotheby’s now, but her boss has hinted at a promotion if she can close a deal with a high-profile client. She’s not engaged just yet, but she knows her boyfriend, Finn, a surgical resident, is about to propose on their romantic getaway to the Galápagos—days before her thirtieth birthday. Right on time.

But then a virus that felt worlds away has appeared in the city, and on the eve of their departure, Finn breaks the news: It’s all hands on deck at the hospital. He has to stay behind. You should still go, he assures her, since it would be a shame for all of their nonrefundable trip to go to waste. And so, reluctantly, she goes.

Almost immediately, Diana’s dream vacation goes awry. Her luggage is lost, the Wi-Fi is nearly nonexistent, and the hotel they’d booked is shut down due to the pandemic. In fact, the whole island is now under quarantine, and she is stranded until the borders reopen. Completely isolated, she must venture beyond her comfort zone. Slowly, she carves out a connection with a local family when a teenager with a secret opens up to Diana, despite her father’s suspicion of outsiders.

In the Galápagos Islands, where Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection was formed, Diana finds herself examining her relationships, her choices, and herself—and wondering if when she goes home, she too will have evolved into someone completely different.

This edition contains a short story, discussion questions, and an excerpt from Jodi Picoult’s next novel.

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Ballantine Books (June 14, 2022)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 400 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1984818430
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1984818430
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.47 x 0.83 x 8.25 inches
Reviewer: jeanius
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Added to my top 5 favorite books!
Review: This book just got bumped up to my top 5 favorite books. I enjoyed it from beginning to end. The first half was engaging in an unfamiliar world, paradise on the Galápagos Islands. It’s like an alternate reality compared to the backdrop of the rest of the world navigating the first months of Covid. I was invested in all the characters. Then a twist occurs and another reality comes to life. In this one I learned so much about alternative psychology and the brain (the author really does her homework). It all felt so very real. I loved the end… even though a little was left to our imagination. Great book! Loved it! What an experience!

Reviewer: Mainer
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Important and interesting book
Review: Jodi Picoult is known for taking current events and making them into interesting and intimate stories. In this book, she covers the Covid pandemic.Diana works at Sotheby's in acquisitions, while her boyfriend Finn is a resident doctor at an NYC hospital. They've planned a trip to the Galapagos Islands when a few cases of Covid hit the city. Finn has to stay but urges Diana to take the non-refundable trip. She arrives only to find she's stranded there on Isabela Island with iffy wi-fi and everything closed down, including her hotel. She's taken in by a lovely lady who only speaks Spanish while Diana doesn't, and the first half of the book is Diana reevaluating her life as she struggles to keep in touch with Finn while acclimating to island life. Then there's a huge twist, but no spoilers.Diana and Finn have been perfect for each other, long-term planners and A-types, so life on the island alone with lost luggage and little money is a big adjustment for Diana. At the same time, she gets periodic emails from Finn describing the progress of the pandemic in his hospital. Most of this is familiar information if you paid attention during the worst of Covid, but it still hits hard, especially contrasted with Diana's hiking and swimming days.The twist halfway through the book changes everything and almost turns this into a different but still interesting story. I enjoyed the vivid descriptions of the Galapagos and, in a different way, the compelling stories of the pandemic. Some political commentary won't please every reader, but I found it factual and well-researched. A very thought-provoking book.

Reviewer: J. C. Sandoval
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Living, existing and life's plans
Review: I powered through and read this very engaging novel and could barely put it down until its completion. The tale is more than just living through the throes of the worst facets of the pandemic, it also touches on life's plans and life's curveballs. From personal experience having worked in healthcare during the pandemic, the atrocities and mental anguish that Finn was experiencing was palpable. To this day, in 2024, I still tell others that the horrors spoken from health care workers were true, and somehow people, although moving forward, have short term memory of life with Covid. Thank you, Jodi Picoult, for memorializing it in such a poignant fashion and without the political strife that accompanied Covid's journey. Covid is the main undertone of the novel, but there is also an alternate reality going on with the consciousness of the main character, Diana, while she (spoil alert!) lay in limbo between life and death in an ICU in NY. As Diana recovers, she reimagines and redefines her life's plan. Although I have not traveled to the Galapagos Islands, the descriptions of a small secluded island without the modern conveniences were vividly described. But life's modern conveniences were incidental when you consider droves of people were dying. The contrast between Finn's narratives and the islands solitude was a wonderful juxtaposition and word crafting. Covid did indeed change the lives of many, if not all of us, in many ways. In some ways clinically or physiologically, for others psychologically, and for all of us who do not have short term memory of the atrocities and tragedies, it changed the way we live and behave as humans and treat ourselves and others. Life's plans changed drastically for Diana and Finn as a fallout from her near death experience. Much appreciated perspective from the eyes of Diana and Finn, as well as Rodney and others.

Reviewer: Florence McReynolds
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Wish You Were Here
Review: I was affected personally by the pandemic as was most of the world. But I have a brother, who was diagnosed in March of 2020 with Covid. He was a very young 60 year old in great shape and with no comorbidities. However, he wound up in the hospital for five weeks. Three of those weeks were spent in ICU and eight of the days he was intubated. He was one of the VERY fortunate few who survived being intubated. At the time he was discharged from the hospital I believe he was the only one who had made it.As a retired Registered Nurse, the description of the horror that the medical personnel and patients were experiencing was so very accurate. Especially since I had a brother who was fighting for his life. Like several of the patients who survived intubation, he experienced several things while intubated that felt very real to him. Some were positive and others were terrifying.This book was an excellent representation of what was happening in hospitals all over the world. This was an historical novel that read like very recent history. I loved the characters who were very well developed. I also liked the twists and turns which are common in Jodi’s novels. I highly recommend this book.

Reviewer: Grace Macalister
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Excellent reading, as usual

Reviewer: Catarí
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Al principio no me gustó, incluso me aburrió, pensé que era una novela americana gastada, lo mismo, lo mismo, hasta la imaginaba en película de Hollywood. Después ya pude ver mejor la intención de la autora y me pareció una interesante forma de rescatar las difíciles experiencias vividas durante la pandemia, de las cuales en lo personal viví y siempre quedé con muchas dudas.

Reviewer: sunset owl
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: I really enjoyed this story. Jodi Picoult at her absolute best in my opinion. Intriguing, fascinating and beautiful. Definitely keeps the reader guessing all the way through. A book well worth reading a second time.

Reviewer: Cathy H.
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: This book took my breath away. The story is so good and complex. Genius. The only one I have ever read of this kind.

Reviewer: Mrittika
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: My first read of 2023 and a fresh plot with a completely new and different twist.Left me wanting for more when the narration ended.A 5star rating from me.