A fascinating study of how a life-altering catastrophe for one person is nothing more than a traffic jam for another

Stars are fires that burn for thousands of years. Some of them burn slow and long, like red dwarfs. Others – blue giants – burn their fuel so fast they shine across great distances, and are easy to see. As they start to run out of fuel, they burn helium, grow even hotter, and explode in a supernova. Supernovas, they're brighter than the brightest galaxies. They die, but everyone watches them go.

• Jodi Picoult; My Sister's Keeper (2004)

There are patterns b... read the rest.