The Help. Chapters 7 to 12

In these chapters we learn about how Skeeter and Aibileen start the book project. Elaine Stein, from New York, encourages Skeeter to get going with the work; "Before this civil rights thing blows over". Minny seems to be firm about not getting involved. However, something happens that makes her change her mind…

How do you feel about the different characters? Do you have a favorite so far?

The Help. From Jorge

Bonjour a tous! These are my comments to the beginning of the book:

I like quite a lot how the plot is developing so far; I like the characters, (Minny's sharpness, miss Skeeter's independence and will) and the overall story.

I also find this book quite feminine (something that is neither bad nor good). I guess that is normal, being the author a woman, and being, as it seems, somehow an autobiographic book. I find male characters mostly absent but, when they appear they are… let's say, rude. Examples of these are Stuart, Ms Skeeters' date that was drunk after a night talking about sports and other boring things with the other boy, and all the husbands of the ladies that write letters to the newspaper (they are mostly interested in how to get rid of them or how to make them sober). It seems to me that the only positive comment of a male in the book so far, is when Ms Skeeter talks about his father, that she finds him honest.

I think that all these things are interesting as I am seeing the story from a completely different angle that I would expect. As some of you have already said, this is one more reason to join a reading club: you read things that probably you'd never pick yourself.

As many of you have also said, I also find quite shocking to learn that these things were happening just a few decades ago. What I wonder is how the situation is now in Jackson, how these "colored" people are treated now compared to other states or countries. And I ask some questions: Do they still have different toilets in a big, traditional southern house? More generally: Is this a book written to denounce something that happened years ago, or is it a book to denounce something that is still happening?

It is a pleasure to share my thoughts with such an interesting and diverse reading club!

Looking forward to read you too,

Jorge

The Help. From Judy

I find the speech dialects hard to imagine as accurate for the sixties -- even in Mississippi. Yes it is hard to believe folks were treated so badly 50 years ago -- that is until we think about how undocumented persons are treated today. Seems like there is still a long way to go.

Even if "ends justify the means" Aibileen is taking a big risk here but we learn of the important role Minny played in her life. I wonder if her lie to Celia will be her downfall or her ties to Minny her saving or maybe something else all together.

The Help. Chapters 1 to 6

The first chapters of The Help have introduced us to the three powerful characters that will tell us the story. Aibileen, Minny, and Skeeter, with their own different accents, will surely raise different feelings and generate different reactions among us.

For instance, what do you think about what Aibileen did to introduce Minny to Celia Rae Foote?

And the Winner is...

...The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Info about the guiding pace for reading and discussing at the "Book Discussion Schedule" page.

Looking forward to reading and sharing with you!

We have a tie!

In our first ever voting procedure, we got a tie! Not so bad, we have enabled the Tie Breaker poll for one day, so we can decide for a book. Those of you that didn´t vote the first time, do it now! Those of you that did it, try again! We hope to have a selection for the month by tomorrow.

Polls are open!!!!

Find below the books' selections some of you have sent. Even though some of you sent more than one, we have included one suggestion per person per month to allow more people to take part. All of them, wonderful choices. Thanks!

Let's read the reviews, think about it, and vote on the blog! Last day for voting Tuesday, November 2nd (by midnight).

The suggestions are:

Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson, sent by our member Pam 

Mikael Blomkvist, a once-respected financial journalist, watches his professional life rapidly crumble around him. Prospects appear bleak until an unexpected (and unsettling) offer to resurrect his name is extended by an old-school titan of Swedish industry. The catch--and there's always a catch--is that Blomkvist must first spend a year researching a mysterious disappearance that has remained unsolved for nearly four decades. With few other options, he accepts and enlists the help of investigator Lisbeth Salander, a misunderstood genius with a cache of authority issues. (from amazon.com)

The Heaven Tree by Edith Pargeter, sent by Dana.

Beloved author Ellis Peters (Pargeter), creator of Benedictine sleuth Brother Cadfael, penned this superb trilogy under her real name nearly 30 years ago. ( The third book, the Scarlet Seed, is being published in the US for the first time.) The story spans roughly the first third of the 13th century. Pargeter weaves her tale into the politics of medieval England and Wales, and her knowledge of the period is most impressive. The trilogy tells the story of Harry Talvace, nobly born, who has the soul and hands of an artist and mason. The subsequent two books follow the fortunes of another Harry Talvace, son of the first Harry. Pargeter's characters and her settings are vividly etched into the reader's mind. Writing feelingly about the creative genius of the artist and the complex bonds of loyalty that linked medieval men and women, Pargeter illumines a world distant in time and in outlook but makes that world immediate and unforgettable (from Library Journal).

The Help by Kathryn Stockett, sent by Mónica Rivera.

Set during the nascent civil rights movement in Jackson, Miss., where black women were trusted to raise white children but not to polish the household silver. Eugenia Skeeter Phelan is just home from college in 1962, and, anxious to become a writer, is advised to hone her chops by writing about what disturbs you. The budding social activist begins to collect the stories of the black women on whom the country club sets relies and mistrusts enlisting the help of Aibileen, a maid who's raised 17 children, and Aibileen's best friend Minny, who's found herself unemployed more than a few times after mouthing off to her white employers. The book Skeeter puts together based on their stories is scathing and shocking, bringing pride and hope to the black community, while giving Skeeter the courage to break down her personal boundaries and pursue her dreams. Assured and layered, full of heart and history, this one has bestseller written all over it.

Wolf Hall is a historical novel by Hilary Mantel, sent by Rocío.

It won both the Man Booker Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award. Set in the period from 1500 to 1535, Wolf Hall is a fictionalized biography documenting the rapid rise to power of Thomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex in the court of Henry VIII of England.

Amazon Best of the Month, October 2009: No character in the canon has been writ larger than Henry VIII, but that didn't stop Hilary Mantel. She strides through centuries, past acres of novels, histories, biographies, and plays--even past Henry himself--confident in the knowledge that to recast history's most mercurial sovereign, it's not the King she needs to see, but one of the King's most mysterious agents. Enter Thomas Cromwell, a self-made man and remarkable polymath who ascends to the King's right hand. Rigorously pragmatic and forward-thinking, Cromwell has little interest in what motivates his Majesty, and although he makes way for Henry's marriage to the infamous Anne Boleyn, it's the future of a free England that he honors above all else and hopes to secure. Mantel plots with a sleight of hand, making full use of her masterful grasp on the facts without weighing down her prose. 

"Mister Pip" by Lloyd Jones sent by Fenia.

 

The novel is set in a village on the Papua New Guinea island of Bougainville during a brutal civil war there in the 1990s. The only white man left there takes on teaching the children after all teachers have fled, and uses Dickens' Great Expectations. The book fascinates the children; while civil war reaches the village the story intertwines the story of Great Expectations with the actual horrors of civil war faced by the villagers.

Why I'm suggesting this book:
I am not quite sure it is a good book! I've read some moxed reviews. But it seems interesting, and one that provides quite a lot for discussion. Not to mention, I thought it would be nice to start the book club with a book that has the power of reading and literature as one of central themes! 

Vote now!

We have four suggestions!

We have decided to limit to one suggestion per member each time we vote, so we have four suggestions (coming soon!), anyone up for a fifth one?

Let's Choose Our First Book!

How?

1.    Send your book suggestion

Is there a special book you feel like reading and sharing?

Send as an email with “Book Suggestion” as the subject. Include in the message the title of the book and a review, summary, or comment about the book.

Please send your suggestion before Sunday, October 31^st.

2.    Check the blog to learn about the 5 books options

Following the order in which the suggestions are sent, the first 5 books’ titles will be posted on the blog poll for vote.

You will receive an email informing that the poll is open and providing some info about the books.

3.    Make your pick and vote!

By November 2^nd the book that has more votes will be the one. Moment for everybody to get the book and start reading!

An email will be sent then providing info about the reading, posts, and comments’ dynamics. 

Coming Up ...

No Cookies Book Club is getting together
Our first book discussion coming up soon