The Help

I have heard from eight million people that I need to read this book. I'm serious. Even when I was at Target (pre being banned from Target) and I picked it up just to take a peak, two women walked by me at different times and suddenly it was like they were seeing a long lost friend. They stopped to gush about how good it was and how I should buy it immediately. Needless to say, my expectations are exceptionally high. Not just because of the word of mouth notoriety, but also because I haven't actually read a knock-your-socks-off, fantastic book in quite a while. I read a book at the beach and really enjoyed it, but I am assuming that The Help should end up on my top ten list.

Therefore, I bought it against my better judgement. I am pretty sure a few people have mentioned that I could borrow it, but it just seemed necessary to get it right away or I might never read it. Plus, it was 30% off.

I would say I am about halfway through. The problem with getting insanely sucked into a book when you have a kid(s) is that you can't really treat reading the way you would when childless. I can't say to myself "I'm not going to watch Lila for a few hours so I can read" in comparison to the pre-kids mindset of maybe saying "I will not watch TV and read instead" (holy run on). This leads to later than usual nights, lack of sleep, and overall sheer necessity to just get the book read.  I am so immersed in this book thus far that I may pull an all-nighter. Let's just say, you are lucky to be reading a blog post right now.

So far for me, The Help is giving me some insight into what I would imagine my grandmother behaved like once upon a time on a farm in rural south Georgia.  Hmm...

When I'm done reading it I will most likely have a lot to say about it. For now, I am going to give you my top ten (in no particular order). Later it just might change.

I Know This Much Is True - Wally Lamb
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close - Jonathan Safran Foer
The Pact - Jodi Picoult
The Saving Graces - Patricia Gaffney
Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
Water For Elephants - Sara Gruen
Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood - Rebecca Wells
Bridge to Terabithia - Katherine Patterson
Secret Life of Bees - Sue Kidd
Go Ask Alice - anonymous

What would be on your top ten list?