Monday, September 5, 2011

The Help

The Help by Kathryn Stockett


Release Date: February 10, 2009
Publisher: Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam
Pages: Hardcover (451pgs)
Age Group: Adult
Genre: Adult Fiction
Author Website: http://www.kathrynstockett.com
Overall Rating: 5 out of 5 stars


Description: Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter has just returned home after graduating from Ole Miss. She may have a degree, but it is 1962, Mississippi, and her mother will not be happy till Skeeter has a ring on her finger. Skeeter would normally find solace with her beloved maid Constantine, the woman who raised her, but Constantine has disappeared and no one will tell Skeeter where she has gone.

Aibileen is a black maid, a wise, regal woman raising her seventeenth white child. Something has shifted inside her after the loss of her own son, who died while his bosses looked the other way. She is devoted to the little girl she looks after, though she knows both their hearts may be broken.

Minny, Aibileen's best friend, is short, fat, and perhaps the sassiest woman in Mississippi. She can cook like nobody's business, but she can't mind her tongue, so she's lost yet another job. Minny finally finds a position working for someone too new to town to know her reputation. But her new boss has secrets of her own.

Seemingly as different from one another as can be, these women will nonetheless come together for a clandestine project that will put them all at risk. And why? Because they are suffocating within the lines that define their town and their times. And sometimes lines are made to be crossed.

In pitch-perfect voices, Kathryn Stockett creates three extraordinary women whose determination to start a movement of their own forever changes a town, and the way women - mothers, daughters, caregivers, friends - view one another. A deeply moving novel filled with poignancy, humor, and hope, The Help is a timeless and universal story about the lines we abide by, and the ones we don't.

Review: I love going to the movies, and when books are turned into movies, I am the type of person that needs to read the book first. I have seen this book countless of times in the store, but I never picked it up because it just didn't seem interesting. I saw the trailer for the movie, and I just had to read this book. Also, many of my friends said I need to read it. I am so glad I did. This book was amazing. It had me crying, laughing, and in goosebumps the whole time reading it. There was not one dull moment in this book, and I just couldnt put it down. 

All the characters in this book were amazing.The wholesomeness of Aibileen, the sassy mouth on Minny, and the general concern Skeeter had for the help. This book brings to light the way things were in the 60's when segregation was a big part of day to day life. Even though it did sugar coat the reality of what African Americans had to deal with on a day to day basis, it still gave me goosebumps reading about it. 

I would recommend this book to everyone. If you want a good laugh, cry, or a very cute love story, I highly recommend The Help. 

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Fangs for Nothing

Fangs for Nothing by Adrianne Ambrose


Release Date: June 21, 2011
Pages:
 Kindle Editon
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Paranormal

Author Website: 
Overall Rating: 5 out of 5 stars


Description: Grab some garlic and start sharpening your mother's wooden spoons because there are vampires living in the most unlikely of places.

I’ve always wanted to meet a vampire. Not to stake some poor bloodsucker as he sleeps in his coffin or have some sexy vampires bite me on the neck, but just to see a creature so rare and infamous. What can I say? Some people want to sail to Easter Island, others want to fling themselves out of an airplane, I want to shake hands with a vampire. Well, maybe I should prioritize getting a girlfriend first, but a vampire sighting is pretty high up on the list. Trust me, a lot of kids my age dream about it. Like my two best friends, Rini and Xander. We spent half the summer searching the most notorious cities in the United States for the undead, but so far, no luck.

That’s why it came as a total shock to discover a living, breathing vampire in our hometown of Cleveland, Ohio. (Okay, so he’s more undead and not breathing, but you get the picture.) At first we were kind of excited, but then pretty freaked because it turns out our new fanged friend has a hold on the city's teenage population and a specific thirst for their blood. Which, in a word—bites




Review: I really enjoyed reading this book. It was a great easy quick read. This is not your typical vampire story. I read a lot of vampire books and they all pretty much have the same story. This was very different, and it was very funny book. Also in your typical vampire book they suck the life out of their prey. In this book there is a different twist. It is something any girl can relate with.

I related to the main character Sherbie. He is the unpopular friend who is best friends with the most wanted boy in school. Sherbie had me laughing. He doesn't catch on to things right away, and it was funny to read his interaction with girls in the book.