Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult

Difficult book, difficult subject.  Makes me thankful that I don't have children, but pains me for my friends that do and may deal with the issues of having a bully, a child who is bullied or an innocent bystander.  I found very little empathy for anyone but the parents in this book and I'm not sure why - if it was the character development by the author or simply my own state of mind.  Maybe because most parents do the best they can, but the bottom line is that we are truly responsible for our own selves, our actions and choices.

Surprisingly this book didn't affect me emotionally as many of Jodi's do, and considering the subject matter and that it does hit a little close to home with the Chardon shooting occurring earlier this year.

I came away feeling helpless, because I just don't see a way to resolve the violence that has escalated in our schools.  Not until we all step away from the coldness of technology and social media and see each other as human again will positive change come.

St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves by Karen Russell

I chose this book because I had heard good reviews about it, but I bought it without realizing that it was short stories.  Typically I do not like books comprised of short stories and sadly this collection reinforced that dislike.

The stories were a bit obscure, but more importantly they weren't complete.  They apparently needed to be a little bit longer so that they had an ending.  Yet, the author may just be setting herself up so that she can take all the stories and create novels from them (which is what she did for her novel Swamplandia).

I was really looking forward to reading Swamplandia, as I also heard great things about it, but now I'm a little hesitant.