Books
I used to be pretty good at reading books. I was never fast at reading them, but I’d usually go through one or two a month. And then, life got in the way and I stopped reading. It’s taken a few years to satiate that itch to become a better reader again.
What helped that change was last year when some friends organized a book club. I eagerly jumped on-board, knowing not only would I begin reading interesting books, but I’d have a platform to discuss them with a diverse group of women.
Although that group has since dissolved, I haven’t stopped reading. And recently, I finished reading two books, both of which I’d highly recommend.
The Help by Kathryn Stockett is about racial divides in the deep south in the 1960′s. It follows three women, one white and two black. Each chapter is written from the first-person perspective of one of the three women. The white woman is writing a book about black maids; it takes some time to convince the maids to share their stories and is an endeavor her friends never understand. As someone who spent four years in the south, someone who witnessed a pretty serious racial divide that still exists, I found this book fascinating. And from what I’ve heard from others without that southern connection, they also couldn’t put the book down.
Little Bee by Chris Cleave is another book about women. This time, it involves a Nigerian girl and the editor of a British women’s magazine. The two meet on a Nigerian beach and are reconnected a few years later. Similar to The Help, the narration of each chapter alternates between the two women. By the end of the book, the reader learns why the women met in the first place, what unfolds in the two years until they meet again and what happens after they reunite. Another fascinating read.
Books that draw me in are often fictional tales about people overcoming struggle. Both of these books feature women who are fighting the societies in which they live. These aren’t fairytale books that always end happily. In fact, there are moments in each book when the characters made me feel uncomfortable and even sad about what humans are capable of doing and saying to others. But, the amazing thing about my encounter with these characters is I got a better understanding of the meaning to persevere.
If you’ve read either of these books, what did you think? If not, have you read something riveting lately?
April 8th, 2010 at 5:03 am
I’ve read Little Bee (though here it was called ‘The Other Hand’). I enjoyed Little Bee’s story very much, and thought the beginning was very strong, but it lost its way a bit towards the end, and I stopped finding it believable.
I’ve currently been reading the Stieg Larsson books, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo etc. I loved the first two but am struggling a bit with the third. I do recommend them though. Definite page turners.
April 8th, 2010 at 7:12 am
I actually just got 2 books for my birthday (early since my birthday is not until next week) and I can’t wait to read both of them. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, and Coppola A Pediatric Surgeon in Iraq. Hopefully I will have some free time at some point to read them!
I also have been reading the Percy Jackson series with my 9 year old son (I don’t know if that is what the series is actually called but the one that the lightning thief movie is based on) and we have been loving it. It is definitely aimed more at kids, but it is still sort of interesting for me…but very predictable.
April 8th, 2010 at 7:22 am
I heard about The Help on NPR a while back- it will definitely be a book that I pick up soon.
Little Bee was given to me by a English woman we met while in Mozambique! It was a really good book and I was able to pass it on to one of my friends once I got home.
Right now I am reading the Omnivore’s Dilemma.
April 8th, 2010 at 7:43 am
I’d love to read Little Bee, it sounds great! I’d also love to find a book club -- I’ve gone from reading a few books a month to one every couple of months in the last few years, and it’s not good. Right now I am on The Lovely Bones, and really enjoying it :)
April 8th, 2010 at 7:54 am
I can’t enough of books lately, especially now that its warm out, all I want to do is sit outside and read. Little Bee is on its way to me from the public library. I finished Sarah’s Key the other day and think you would really enjoy it as well. Its told between two points of view (present day and then the past) and towards the end, those two stories collide. (Have I told you all this once, I forget whom I’ve told, I’ve been raving about the book for a few days now.) The book is about the Vel’d'Hiv Roundup in Paris that took place during WWII and how those events impacted so many lives both then and 60 years later.
April 8th, 2010 at 8:13 am
The Help was a great book, it haunted me, it made me think, it made me angry and it still lingers on me after reading it. I can’t recommend this one enough!
I just wrapped up “Testimony” Anita Shreve it is about a modern day sex scandal in a New England Prep school told by all the characters it touched. It took me a while to get into to it but once Iw as hooked I could not put it down.
I am currently reading “the spirit catches you and then you fall down” by Anne Fadiman. It is a true story of a little Hmong girl and the experience of her immigrant parents in the US Health care system in the 80s. Very interesting, thought provoking and heartbreaking.
April 8th, 2010 at 8:48 am
Just finished The Help and I also recommend it. I’ll have to check out Little Bee!
April 8th, 2010 at 8:52 am
I’ve been reading chapters here and there of a few books in my stacks. I’m waiting for a sunny Saturday afternoon to sit in the swing and finish them up. One by one.
April 8th, 2010 at 9:04 am
I couldn’t put “The Help,” down. Such a fantastic read. I laughed, I cried, I cheered. It was just that kind of book!Any sort of book that has to do with civil rights is sure to grab my attention. I gave my Gram the “The Help” for Easter and she read it in less than 24 hours!
Little Bee is on my list; I’m actually borrowing my mom’s copy of it when she’s done so hopefully I’ll get to start it the next week or so :) I’ve heard wonderful things about it from the people who’ve read it so far.
April 8th, 2010 at 9:28 am
I love my book clubs for the same reason. They force me to at least read a book or two a month. I’m an avid reader, but often the time can get away from — especially since I moved to Chicago and no longer take public transportation to work. The NYC subway was such a perfect reading space.
Loved The Help as well. A perfect book club pick. Actually really made me think about friendship in terms of my blog and the idea that friends you meet when you are young can turn into people you would never associate with now. But shared history often has a way of keeping us together despite that (like Skeeter and Hilly). My book club also read The Space Between Us recently which was good. I’m currently reading Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann, which is beautiful.
Oh, and I would agree the Dragon Tattoo books are great page-turners.
April 8th, 2010 at 9:36 am
Thanks for sharing those book titles. They’re put on my reading list.
I have quite a few books that I want to read, but haven’t really had time much lately to pick up a book. Boo :(
A book club would be a really good idea.
How do you make time for reading?
April 8th, 2010 at 9:41 am
The Help is on my book club’s list too!
April 8th, 2010 at 9:50 am
it’s nothing like these books, but i just finished “outlander” by diana gabaldon and HOLY COW was that good. i am absolutely DYING because i don’t have my hands on the next book in the series yet :-)
April 8th, 2010 at 9:50 am
I read The Help recently and liked it very much. This is the second recommendation I’ve seen for Little Bee in as many days. I’ll add it to my library queue!
April 8th, 2010 at 9:53 am
I just finished Little Bee this week and loved it. I got sucked right in right away. It was so difficult to read it at time because it was just so so sad. I think it’s important to read books about difficult/sad events, though. Some of this book reminded me of “What is the What” by David Eggers, which was another incredibly sad book about refugees. Makes you really, really think about the treatment of asylum seekers…
April 8th, 2010 at 10:02 am
I started reading the Help on Christmas day (first purchase on my gifted Kindle) and I really liked it. Now my book club is reading it.
I saw Little Bee at Borders a few weeks ago and have it on my list of “to read,” but first I want to read The Irresistable Henry House. I like having a list to go to…
April 8th, 2010 at 10:22 am
You’re the 2nd person to recommend The Help. So I think I know what I’m spending my birthday gift card on!
Oh, and you MUST read The Book of Negro’s. Or Still Alice.
The book of negro’s is about the slave trade and it is absolutely, totally riveting.
Still Alice is about a woman who is diagnosed with early onset alzeimers. Powerful stuff & so well written.
April 8th, 2010 at 10:34 am
My wife read “The Help” and really liked it. Once I get back into the regular habit of reading books again (i’ve been really bad the last couple of years), I plan to add this one to my list.
April 8th, 2010 at 11:03 am
Lately I’ve been reading a lot of travel books -- memoirs of travels and such. Love them ;)
http://www.margaritareczek.com
April 8th, 2010 at 12:12 pm
i loved “The Help”. Read it each day at the gym and i’d venture to say that it kept me on the bike longer than i would have been reading something else. it was amazing, so well written and so powerful.
April 8th, 2010 at 12:13 pm
I used to read all the time. Then promptly stopped and haven’t really ever gotten back into it. I got a whole bunch of books for Christmas but I haven’t even looked at them yet.
April 8th, 2010 at 1:00 pm
I haven’t read either of those books. Right now I’m in the middle of Don DeLillo’s “White Noise”, which is quite fascinating. The theme of it is the fear of death, or how the knowledge of our own mortality is pervasive and influential in the way we live our lives, without us being conscious of it most of the time. It took a while for the book to grow on me, because there’s quite a lot of dialogue by characters who are annoying academics, but I got past that and now I’m hooked.
April 8th, 2010 at 10:06 pm
I loved The Help but haven’t read Little Bee yet. I’ll have to put that on my reading list. Now that I’m unemployed I haven’t been reading as much. I used to spend my daily commute on the train with my nose in a book. Now I have to find time to read.
The best book I read this year was The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak. It was so different and written so beautifully. Check it out and let me know what you think.
April 9th, 2010 at 1:24 pm
I just read Little Bee and found it just okay. Part of that could have been because it was a library book and it was full of cat hairs which had my eyes all itchy the whole time. Ugh. :/
I have The Help on my bookshelf and I can’t wait to get to it after I get through my stack of library books. I have heard fantastic things about it.
April 10th, 2010 at 10:33 am
I haven’t read it recently, but I did find one of my favorite reads at a thrift store a couple of weeks ago so I just had to buy it so I could read it again. Have you read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon? It’s excellent.
April 12th, 2010 at 12:16 pm
lately, i’ve fallen way, way off the reading road and haven’t been interested in anything. I’ve got a few John Steinbecks laying around I should probably delve into, as they always seem to get me in the adventurous reading mood, but for some reason, I just can’t right now. The itch is gone for now.
May 3rd, 2010 at 10:37 am
I saved this post in my reader because I meant to reply saying, “I’m reading Little Bee right now and so far I love it!” But I’ve put it on hold temporarily, because my book club is reading The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo…and I’m supposed to have it done in ten days, and I’m on page 160 out of over 600. Whoops! Anyway, yay books! :)