Skip to main content

Book Review: Picking Cotton by Jennifer Thompson-Cannino and Ronald Cotton


In 1984, Jennifer Thompson was asleep in her bed when a man broke in and raped her. She concentrated on his face, trying to notice every detail so she could help the police find him if she were able to get away. She did, and when the police showed her photos and put her in front of a line-up, she identified Ronald Cotton as her rapist. She was positive she had the right man. He was found guilty based on her eyewitness account, and sentenced to life in prison. Eleven years later, a DNA test showed Ronald Cotton was innocent.

Picking Cotton by Jennifer Thompson-Cannino and Ronald Cotton with Erin Torneo tells the story, first from Jennifer's perspective and then from Ron's, of the trials, their lives during Ron's incarceration and the friendship they built after he was released. This was an eye-opening book, showing the flaws inherent in the investigation methods used by the police, and why eyewitnesses may find themselves identifying the wrong person. It sheds light on the fact that there are many others who are currently in jail, or who have even been executed in the past, who were there because of eyewitness accounts that may have been wrong.

This memoir is well written and a very quick read, although I won't call it an easy read because of the subject matter. The rape is described in some detail, and the whole situation is disturbing as we know that an innocent man is in prison ~ although we also know he is eventually freed, so that helps. My book club will be discussing the book later this week, and I think it will make for an interesting discussion.

My Rating: 4/5

For more information about the book, the authors and the issues, visit the Picking Cotton website.

Watch the book trailer:


This review was written based on a copy of Picking Cotton that I acquired through PaperBackSwap.com.
Labels:

Comments

  1. Kritters RamblingsJanuary 19, 2011 at 2:20 PM

    What a book - I was putting it on my list and watched the trailer when I realized that it happened on her college campus, which is where I went to school.

    I am headed out to pick that up to read.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sue JacksonJanuary 19, 2011 at 7:24 PM

    This sounds fascinating. Have you read An Innocent Man by John Grisham? It's a similar nonfiction story about a man on death row who's later proven innocent.

    Sue

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks for stopping by! I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Popular posts from this blog

Getting back to blogging

It seems that blogging has dropped to the bottom of my list for the past year, and was pretty low for the year or two prior to that. I love to read, and am continuing to do so, but as my regular readers know I haven't been around much. My last blog post was almost a year ago!!

There are many things that have taken me away from blogging. Work has been much more challenging and interesting these past few years, but that means I really don't want to get back on the computer when I get home at night - or on the weekends.

Family life has been more busy with kids having multiple activities in the evenings, leaving little time to just hang out and write about the books that I read.

I will admit to a bit of a Facebook addiction, which means way too much time spent scrolling through my newsfeed instead of doing something more productive. This is one of the things I'm working on and hoping that this will free up some time for getting back to the blog.

Overall, life is good. Work is …
Post a Comment
Read more

Book Review: The Bookman's Tale by Charlie Lovett

Peter Byerly is distraught over the loss of his wife nine months ago. He has retreated to their cottage in the English countryside, hoping to return to his love of collecting and restoring rare books. But when he opens a book about Shakespeare forgeries and finds a Victorian watercolor of a woman who looks just like his wife, Peter is soon on a search for the origin of the painting and the truth about Shakespeare's real identity.

The Bookman's Tale: A Novel of Obsession by Charlie Lovett is a wonderful journey for anyone who loves books. It follows Peter's search in 1995, which turns into a bit of a thriller at times. But Lovett also takes the reader back in time a bit so we can learn the story of his relationship with his wife and how he came to be a bookseller. He does a beautiful job of expressing Peter's feelings about the rare books he encounters, and his feelings are contagious.

And then he takes us back even further to the history of one particular volume, whos…
3 comments
Read more

Book Review: The Secret Lake by Karen Inglis

When Stella and Tom move to a new home in London, they are sad to have left their friends behind. But soon they have a mystery to solve. Their neighbor's dog, Harry, keeps disappearing. Where is he going and why is he always wet when he comes home? As they investigate the area in the garden where Harry seems to come and go, they discover a hidden tunnel that takes them back to their garden ... almost 100 years ago.

The Secret Lake by Karen Inglis is a wonderful children's book that reminds me of the adventurous stories I read as a child. I saw other reviewers say something similar. I'm not sure what it is about the way the story is told, but it is reminiscent of children's books from many years ago, yet it will definitely appeal to the kids of today.

Stella and Tom have an adventure in the past that leads to new friends and discoveries. While it's a time travel story, it doesn't have a lot of fantasy elements (although there are some moles that act a bit unusua…
1 comment
Read more