Jodi Picoult has written 29 books over her three-decade career and has finally landed on the one she feels destined to write. “I don’t know if I believe in reincarnation,” says the author, 58.

In his book, Old White Man Writing, Seattle resident Joshua Gidding attempts to come to terms with his privilege.Gidding grapples with the rapidly changing cultural norms in 21 st-century America ...