My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

I'd somehow managed to escape all the hype about this book and the film, but did have the film on my "must watch list". However, I'm glad I didn't watch the film as apparently the ending is completely different to the book and now, having read the book, I would have been conflicted. Yes, a more satisfying end in the film version, but definitely not keeping true to the story or what the author intended.

It's a powerful novel about a family dealing with a child and sibling sick with cancer. Without putting a spoiler in, the ending made me ball my eyes out and throughout the story, I felt myself catching my breath with the depth of emotion portrayed in such brilliant writing.

It deals with the controversial subject of genetic engineering - having a child to save a child - and Picoult writes from the individual perspectives of each family member, plus other central characters to the storyline.

Again, it's an excellently engineered novel with thorough medical research thrown in to give the book credibility. The characters jump off the page as real, living human beings with the same hopes, fears and dreams as any of us. And that's beautiful writing making it a joy to read.