Welcome friend! Today we are going to take a walk down the library bookshelves and peruse Jodi Picoult’s books. Whether you are new to or hoping to return to Jodi Picoult, this article will help you decide which of her titles to explore next. I first read her in 2012 — My Sister’s Keeper was emotional, heartbreaking, and unforgettable. Over the next five years, I kept returning to her books, with Leaving Time becoming my first-ever audiobook. I loved the court cases, family tensions, friendships, and nuanced relationships… These were all from my pre-blogging era, so I’ve never reviewed them on the blog.
One weekend, while Clinton and I were listening to music, he mentioned that a catchy song we liked — “Bumped by Kicks” by Torches (2010) — seems to be about a school shooting. It immediately made me think of Nineteen Minutes, the only book I remember on the topic, and one I’ve been meaning to reread. A quick check at the library showed months of waiting, which sparked my curiosity about Jodi Picoult’s books, their availability, and their popularity. Since TBR Tales is all about my personal reading journey — and the library is such a big part of it — this felt like the perfect way to bring both together.
The Method – Library Shelves as a Mirror
I am a patron of the Strathcona County Public Library that supports readers in Sherwood Park, Fort Saskatchewan, and smaller urban and rural communities in Strathcona County which has a population of over 100,000 people.
I looked at all of Jodi Picoult’s novels in my library, whether available or not. These numbers show point-in-time interest and circulation. She has published some short stories as well but for this article, I have only focussed on novels. Looking at Goodreads, I tried to correlate the titles on hold with the number of ratings on the website.
Libraries reflect living readership, and as a book blogger writing about reading, reader life, and books, they are the perfect place to look for community readers. Availability isn’t a perfect measure of popularity, but it does show what’s circulating in my community — and gives me ideas for both rereads and new picks.
Most Popular Jodi Picoult Books at My Library
My library has 25 books by Jodi Picoult: her latest books By Any Other Name (2024), Mad Honey (2022), and the 2016 release Small Great Things had the longest waitlists. Nineteen Minutes (2007) had a short waitlist while My Sister’s Keeper (2004) was readily available. The Pact (1998), one of my favourite titles, was also available. Other books on hold were Mercy (1996), Salem Falls ( 2001), Perfect Match (2002), The Tenth Circle (2006), and The Storyteller (2016).
I’m surprised about My Sister’s Keeper. It is the most rated book of Picoult’s with 1.26 million ratings on Goodreads. A story about two sisters, one with cancer and the other created to save her, I believe this one is a classic that surely has seasons of being in demand. The library copy is well read.
I have read Small Great Things and its angle on racial discrimination is timeless. It is the third most rated title on Goodreads with 428K ratings. Its popularity at my library supports this. Mad Honey and By Any Other Name are two completely different new releases. While Mad Honey is about a teenage romance and a subsequent court case, By Any Other Name looks at the historical female figure behind Shakespeare. As these are newer titles, maybe it’ll be some years before we really start to gauge their timelessness, but at this point, Mad Honey seems like the title with more appeal. On Goodreads, it has 558K ratings and is Jodi Picoult’s second most read book, compared to By Any Other Name’s 107K ratings.
Picoult writes stories centering around big moral questions and many of her stories are inspired by current events. Nineteen Minutes (2007) was published during a period of rising awareness about school shootings in America. Small Great Things (2016) appears in a moment when Black Lives Matter was already a major cultural force, and the story’s themes of race and justice reflect that context. A Spark of Light (2018) centers on a women’s health clinic and abortion rights. Wish You Were Here is set during COVID. In talking with friends and my own reading tastes, I know the appeal for fiction set in COVID is not as much as it used to be during the pandemic years.
What I Want to Read Next
I hadn’t realized Picoult’s backlist stretched nearly 30 years, with a remarkable pace of almost a book a year. Most of Picoult’s nearly 30-year backlist is still available. I’m interested in Mercy from 1996, a book that fellow library patrons are reading.
Reviewing this list, I’m most drawn to books I’ve read before. But among the newer ones, Mad Honey stands out—it might make an interesting comparison to The Pact, written almost 25 years earlier. Both stories revolve around teenagers who fall in love but only one lives.
Surprising Jodi Picoult Discoveries
Cross-checking my library list with Jodi’s website led to some surprising discoveries.
First of all, Jodi wrote for DC‘s Wonder Woman for some years. Second, she worked on a musical called Over the Moon. Third, there were four books that my library did not have from her. These are Plain Truth (2000), Second Glance (2003), Vanishing Acts (2005), and Handle with Care (2009).
Final Reflections and Invitations
There are many authors whose backlist I want to read and I am grateful for the song my husband and I were listening to dive deep into Jodi Picoult’s list. I love this kind of analysis and discovery even if what stood out most was how strongly I’m pulled back to the titles I first loved.
I’m excited to revisit My Sister’s Keeper, The Pact, and Nineteen Minutes. It’ll be almost a decade since I read them last, and I’m sure that being older and being a mother will bring their own interesting perspective to these stories. It’s too bad I don’t have reviews of these books from before, but that’s all right, I’ll just work with my current experiences.
As I mentioned above, I might end up picking Mad Honey just to see how it compares with The Pact. That would a nice comparative review! I hope to eventually return to Leaving Time, which still remains one of my favourite books by Jodi Picoult.
Tell me in the comments.
- What’s your favourite book by Jodi Picoult?
- Have you read anything recently by her, or are there any old works of hers that you’re interested in reading again?
All of Jodi Picoult’s books are listed on this page on Goodreads.
About TBR Tales
Dive into the world of TBR Tales, where the journey through the to-be-read pile becomes a rich narrative of literary exploration. Join me as I navigate the pages of books, reflecting on the joys, challenges, and unexpected treasures found along the way. From rediscovering old favorites to embracing new genres, TBR Tales is a celebration of the reader’s life. Thank you for reading. 🙂
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