Friday, January 7, 2011

Book Review: The Help



What can I say?  I love this book.  For those of you who know me well, you may think that I'm biased because of the time period in which this book is set.  I am.  I admit it freely and openly.  I love the Civil Rights era of the 1960s, but beyond that, this book is actually wonderful.

One of my favorite things about it was the character development - I absolutely loved the characters in this book, by the end, they were basically my best friends.  Yes, apparently I have fictional imaginary friends.  But they're not figments of my imagination, they are figments of Kathryn Stockett's imagination.  I loved how they grew, developed, and I loved how well I came to know them.  One of the reasons I loved these characters so much was because of their innate contradictions - just like real people.  They had depth and weren't always consistent, and were sometimes good and sometimes not.  Just like me.

Besides the fact that this is a very well written and fascinating story, I loved the ending.  Here's why: I can't stand really sad endings, and I can't stand perfectly-tied-with-a-pretty-pink-bow endings either.  That's why this book was perfect for me - the end left me . . . satisfied - a little happy, a little sad, and better for having read it.

P.S. I read this book several months ago and have been quite delinquent in this book review.

Monday, January 3, 2011

How do I know?

Here's how I know I have the coolest husband ever:


He bought me "George Washington's Rules of Civility" for Christmas!

Now, for some of you, that might rank down there right along blenders, and socks, and vacuum cleaners.

But for me?  Coolest gift ever.

Which probably makes me a nerd.

Oh well.

:)

Side note: I found Kate thumbing through it . . . maybe she thinks I'm not teaching her fast enough?