Can't Read Too Gud.

Oh hey.

So, a few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of sitting around with a bunch of smart women, talking about books.  We sat around the living room, with a charming view of corn fields right outside the back deck (NOT patio).  Talking about books is nothing new for me; at work, I often get asked for book recommendations, usually right after I'm asked whether we're going out of business (no, that's Borders, google it and stop calling me) or where the bathroom is (beneath the blue Catch 22 sign . . . And yes, I'm aware that there must be a pun there somewhere but I haven't found it yet.)  Truth is, I HAVE read some good stuff lately.  I've also seen some damn good tv, lest you think I'm one of those elitist snobs who gave up tv and only reads books.  (As if.)  So without further ado, I give you one (maybe two) book recommendations.  The best thing about my book recommendations is that sometimes I forget things and sometimes I misplace memories, so I could be completely wrong about some of the details.  All recommendations come with a disclaimer:  I may or may not be lying.  About all of it.  This ain't Wikipedia, people.  Another caveat:  I'm not cool.  If you think I have some indie rec for some book you haven't heard of, well, you might get lucky on occasion, but most likely I'm going to tell you about something that was released 2+ years ago.  Deal. 

The Help

Everyone has read this book.  If you can't read gud, this is a good starting place for you.  This is a great book to recommend, because the movie, starring my personal favorite Emma Stone, as well as the inimitable Viola Davis, just came out this month.  Which means, if you get halfway through the book and decide I'm full of, ahem, shit pie, I just saved you 12 bucks at the movie theater!  You're welcome!  I haven't actually seen the movie yet (I'm too pretty broke to sit in the dark that long), but I have heard good things.

So what's it all about?  Well, it's set in the mid-20th century in Mississippi and is loosely based on some of the white author's real-life experiences with her black maid.  Skeeter is a wealthy white woman who has come home from university with (gasp!) no husband.  Stuck under her mother's thumb, and with aspirations to be a writer.  She takes the only job she can find, working as a columnist at the local newspaper writing a cleaning Q & A.  Big problem:  she doesn't know how to clean anything.  Enter Aibileen, another family's maid, who has raised nearly 20 white babies.  Aibileen helps Skeeter answer cleaning problems, and eventually they decide to write a book about the secret lives of the maids, aka, the help.  This book has come under some criticism for being just another tale of white folk savin' black folk, a la The Blind Side.  I think it's much more than that.  For starters, Kathryn Stockett is a fantastic storyteller.  Her characters are well-developed and three-dimensional.  I can think of one in particular (Hilly, a snobby debutante with a nasty attitude) who plays a bit like a caricature, but for the most part, these characters are real.  Ultimately, it's a book about a group of women trying to provoke change in a changing world, despite their stagnant little town.  It's a good, quick read, and you're totally missing out if you don't read it.

Okay, I think that's all I can muster for now.  I mean, it's been 5 months since I've blogged and I don't want to pull my brain or something.  But read The Help, and enjoy.  And after you've done it, tell me what you think.  

Someday I'll learn to do fancy sigs like b.cheniful, but for now,

S...