Summer Book Club #3
Two posts in one day, holy cow!
Today I did the thing all teachers dread around this time of year (and some put off completely), I closed my eyes real tight and turned the calendar from July to... August, dum-dum-duuuuuum. Amongst the gazillion mile long to-do list, I realized I better get a move on blogging about these books I've been reading otherwise my summer book club with you guys will be a bust! So, here ya go...
The Help
Where do I begin... let's just say it's a good thing this book was amazing otherwise it may never have been finished!
The book takes place in the early 1960's and is told through 3 perspectives; two African American "maids" living in Jackson, Mississippi, and one "privileged" college graduate living at home with her parents on their plantation. There are many things that make this book a fascinating read but one I found to be most interesting was the time period. The men in the book are barely present and the sole job of the women is to take care of their children and their home, except its Jackson and "taking care of the home" means hiring "help" because you are too busy with other duties, like being social (it's very similar to Mona Lisa Smile, one of my favorite movies but set in the South).
One of the main character, Skeeter, made it through college without finding a suitor which, in this particular day and age, makes college seem as though it was a waste of time. Skeeter, dreams of being a writer and, although she is interested in men, she is more interested in doing something on her own and making a name for herself. Skeeter, along with the two other maids telling the story embark on a project or sorts which becomes the premise of the book. Although the main storyline is great, the side stories are just as captivating because they describe the families each of the maids work for. There were times I was laughing out loud, couldn't read fast enough, or wanted to chuck the book across the room because of how some of these people were treated. In the midst of it all, I truthfully couldn't put it down. This book motivated me to finish all my other work in a timely matter so I was sure to have time to read it every night. I highly recommend it. One side-note though: it's currently only available in hard cover so you might want to reserve it at the library if you don't want to pay hardcover prices... although it'd totally be worth it... just saying.
Wow, long summary... sorry! Next up is The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightime which I just finished in the car coming home from IL yesterday! I'll wait to write about until next week though so I can get a head start on my next novel. There's been a change in plans, I'm now reading The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo, but plan to read Water for Elephants...
a) if the dragon book becomes too scary as I tend to freak myself out and stop sleeping, even though I love every minute of it (mystery-thrillers are my favorite but I stopped reading them on account of living by myself for 3 years-that'd be a really long time to not sleep, but now I have Mike so I can read them again).
b) before going back to school.
Click on the titles for a link to buy the book and then you can read along with me!
Today I did the thing all teachers dread around this time of year (and some put off completely), I closed my eyes real tight and turned the calendar from July to... August, dum-dum-duuuuuum. Amongst the gazillion mile long to-do list, I realized I better get a move on blogging about these books I've been reading otherwise my summer book club with you guys will be a bust! So, here ya go...
The Help
Where do I begin... let's just say it's a good thing this book was amazing otherwise it may never have been finished!
The book takes place in the early 1960's and is told through 3 perspectives; two African American "maids" living in Jackson, Mississippi, and one "privileged" college graduate living at home with her parents on their plantation. There are many things that make this book a fascinating read but one I found to be most interesting was the time period. The men in the book are barely present and the sole job of the women is to take care of their children and their home, except its Jackson and "taking care of the home" means hiring "help" because you are too busy with other duties, like being social (it's very similar to Mona Lisa Smile, one of my favorite movies but set in the South).
One of the main character, Skeeter, made it through college without finding a suitor which, in this particular day and age, makes college seem as though it was a waste of time. Skeeter, dreams of being a writer and, although she is interested in men, she is more interested in doing something on her own and making a name for herself. Skeeter, along with the two other maids telling the story embark on a project or sorts which becomes the premise of the book. Although the main storyline is great, the side stories are just as captivating because they describe the families each of the maids work for. There were times I was laughing out loud, couldn't read fast enough, or wanted to chuck the book across the room because of how some of these people were treated. In the midst of it all, I truthfully couldn't put it down. This book motivated me to finish all my other work in a timely matter so I was sure to have time to read it every night. I highly recommend it. One side-note though: it's currently only available in hard cover so you might want to reserve it at the library if you don't want to pay hardcover prices... although it'd totally be worth it... just saying.
Wow, long summary... sorry! Next up is The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightime which I just finished in the car coming home from IL yesterday! I'll wait to write about until next week though so I can get a head start on my next novel. There's been a change in plans, I'm now reading The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo, but plan to read Water for Elephants...
a) if the dragon book becomes too scary as I tend to freak myself out and stop sleeping, even though I love every minute of it (mystery-thrillers are my favorite but I stopped reading them on account of living by myself for 3 years-that'd be a really long time to not sleep, but now I have Mike so I can read them again).
b) before going back to school.
Click on the titles for a link to buy the book and then you can read along with me!
I read "The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo" AND "The Girl who Played with Fire" AND am over halfway done with the last of the series "The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest." Awesome!!
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