Peacefield Posted January 9, 2010 Share Posted January 9, 2010 Oh yeah, Giles! What was that- Wait did you say coffee?! I can get on a flight to NYC by Sunday at the latest! Can you make it Mac? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mac Posted January 9, 2010 Share Posted January 9, 2010 My bag's already packed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peacefield Posted January 9, 2010 Share Posted January 9, 2010 My bag's already packed! Don't forget to pack your guitar, and some extra coffee! Oh and you should probably bring Beth some decaf she's invited us to stay and all . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Posted January 9, 2010 Share Posted January 9, 2010 I'll bring my guitar as well, we can jam? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted January 9, 2010 Share Posted January 9, 2010 Mmm, Giles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bethany725 Posted January 11, 2010 Author Share Posted January 11, 2010 Hey. I have no hair (I shave it every other day along with me beard!), so where do I go in the line when I'm in NY? I definitely go with Peace.. you can just walk around saying how pretty our new hair-dos look. That's AFTER Kylie makes you all shiny of course! If expert spiking assistance is required, I used to have mine bright pink and punk-looking a few years back... Ben, you're in good hands! Don't forget to pack your guitar, and some extra coffee! Oh and you should probably bring Beth some decaf she's invited us to stay and all . Aww.. Thanks, Peace! Very sweet of you I'll bring my guitar as well, we can jam? Absolutely.. we can tell all my neighbors to shove it when they complain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peacefield Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 I love it! "Hey Bethany's neighbors, shove it!" It's the least we could do to bring you decaf, look at all these people you guys will have milling around your place! After we're done brushing hair, brewing coffee and jamming, I say we all go down to the Met and take a group photo on the steps . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 I'll bring my guitar as well, we can jam? I got lots of tiny plastic instruments in my Christmas bon-bons (a slide whistle, maracas, harmonica and something unidentifiable that clicks a lot when you shake it). Shall I bring those along? We can form a real band and hit the clubs in New York. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bethany725 Posted January 11, 2010 Author Share Posted January 11, 2010 LOL... People will LOVE us.. loud, hair-braiding, group-picturing-taking, ramshackle band members. NYC will never be the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 I cannot believe this thread!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bethany725 Posted January 23, 2010 Author Share Posted January 23, 2010 (edited) Pages: 443Date Started: January 2, 2010Date Completed: January 17, 2010 Synopsis: 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. My Thoughts: Set in Jackson, Mississippi in 1962, at the beginning of the civil rights movement in southern U.S., this story tells a tale of the relationships between white women and their black maids. Words are offered up chapter-style from 3 perspectives: 2 black maids, and 1 white woman who sees things a little differently than most white people in that place, in that time. Aibilene and Minny (the two maids) give a glimpse of daily life working for white women and caring for (and oftentimes actually raising) the white families' children. We're let into their thoughts as they polish silver, iron tablecloths, and use their designated bathrooms, built specifically to keep white people from getting the 'colored's diseases.' The young children love their caretakers, and then as they grow older, they become just like their parents and start believing that having white skin means you're better. Skeeter (or "Ms. Skeeter," as the maids call her) sees things a bit differently. Skeeter's family employed their own maid, Constantine, from the time Skeeter was a baby until Skeeter went off to college. Unlike her other Junior League friends, Skeeter never bought into the stories that being black meant you were less smart, less of a person, or plain old 'dirty.' She loved Constantine dearly, exchanged letters with her through most of her college career, and is determined to find out what happened to Constantine when the letters suddenly stopped. College-educated Skeeter decides to try to use her writing skills to reveal the truths behind these relationships. She works alongside Minny, Aibilene, and a number of other maids to write what really goes on behind closed doors, how the maids are treated, about their own families and own children, and how they really feel about themselves, their families, and the white women for which they work. Skeeter also offeres up some of her own stories, her relationship with her mother, and her struggles that ensue from being an independent thinker and caring more about her education than finding a husband. The stories are sometimes funny, sometimes heart-wrenching, sometimes happy, sometimes sad... but they're all powerful in their own ways. I can't say enough good things about this book. The story is a page-turner, the characters are fully-developed and give vivid color and life to each chapter, and the dialogue is accurate of each characters' position and status in the setting. Minny and Aibilene each speak in their own dialects, and their true voices make you feel like you really know them. I actually missed the characters when I wasn't reading about them.. I missed their stories, their voices, and I couldn't wait to pick up the book again to see what happened next. I'd recommend this book wholeheartedly to most readers, and it's a story I'll not soon forget. My Rating: 10/10 Edited February 5, 2010 by bethany725 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mac Posted January 24, 2010 Share Posted January 24, 2010 I'm going into town today, so might well buy this one as well. What a great review, Bethany. Thanks for this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted January 24, 2010 Share Posted January 24, 2010 I've had my eye on this one for a while. I think I might put it forward for our bookworms group when it's my turn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bethany725 Posted January 24, 2010 Author Share Posted January 24, 2010 I hope you got it if you went after it today, Mac! Let me know And Janet, I think it's a GREAT book for bookclubs.. It offers plenty to talk about, that's for sure! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bethany725 Posted February 1, 2010 Author Share Posted February 1, 2010 Pages: 274 Date Started: January 23, 2010Date Completed: January 31, 2010 Synopsis: January 1946: London is emerging from the shadow of the Second World War, and writer Juliet Ashton is looking for her next book subject. Who could imagine that she would find it in a letter from a man she's never met, a native of the island of Guernsey, who has come across her name written inside a book by Charles Lamb. As Juliet and her new correspondent exchange letters, Juliet is drawn into the world of this man and his friends--and what a wonderfully eccentric world it is. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society--born as a spur-of-the-moment alibi when its members were discovered breaking curfew by the Germans occupying their island--boasts a charming, funny, deeply human cast of characters, from pig farmers to phrenologists, literature lovers all. Juliet begins a remarkable correspondence with the society's members, learning about their island, their taste in books, and the impact the recent German occupation has had on their lives. Captivated by their stories, she sets sail for Guernsey, and what she finds will change her forever. Written with warmth and humor as a series of letters, this novel is a celebration of the written word in all its guises, and of finding connection in the most surprising ways. My Thoughts: I really wanted to love this book. The setting, the story, the books that bring The Literary Society together.. It all seems, on paper, to add up to a story with which I'd fall in love. I've heard great things about the book, have seen it recommended many times, and I really wanted to love it. I think my first clue should have been the lavish recommendation on the backcover given by none other than Elizabeth Gilbert, of "Eay, Pray, Love" fame. I couldn't even finish that book and her story drove me nuts. But I forged ahead, because how could I NOT love this story? I have to say though, after finishing the book, that it just didn't hold the same spark for me as it seems to bring to many other readers. I actually really like the style of the story, with the plot and details and characters all conveyed through a series of letters between book-lovers. Juliet, an author, is tracked down by Dawsey Adams, who's searching for a particular book that is linked back to Juliet. One letter turns into two, which turns into three... and the story of Guerney during the German occupation, and it's Literary Society in particular, is formed. After much correspondence between Juliet, Dawsey, and the other members of this society, Juliet is fascinated with the inhabitants of this tiny Channel island, and sets sail to meet her new friends. She continues corresponding with her friends from back home in London, and through the letters, you can see that her life is being intertwined with her Guernsey friends' lives. Besides liking the setup and style of the story's form, I really liked the writing... The words are carefully chosen, often humorous, and really give the story life. So I liked the set-up, and I liked the writing style... I honestly think it's just the story that I didn't love that much. It SOUNDED like something I would like, but somehow, when it all came together, despite liking the separate pieces that make up the story and book, it didn't hold my attention that well. I didn't rush home all excited to pick up the book and see what happened next... The plot didn't keep me from being able to set it down and take a break... It just didn't all come together in a way that kept me reading. I'm even tempted to say that if this reading wasn't spurred by the fact that this is the selection for next month's book club here, I might would have set it down and not picked it back up. Since it IS the book that will be discussed at the next meeting, I kept going.. and I'm even going to make some attempt to re-read it before the meeting, since I drifted away during points and want to make sure I can contribute something during the discussion. I'm hoping I like it better the second time around?? Not sure I'll make it through the re-read, but we'll see.. I'm definitely going to try. So it was all just okay for me... I liked the idea behind the book, I liked the idea of it all being told through an exchange of letters, and I think Shaffer and Barrows certainly have a way with words... but despite all that, it just didn't become near and dear to my heart. I'm glad so many other readers have enjoyed this book, and were able to find something in it I couldn't. My Rating: 6.5/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 Bethany, so sorry to hear you didn't like this I'm sure you tried to like it and wanted to like it but I guess it just wasn't for you. I can't understand how that is though, but maybe it's just one of those unexplicable things. I hope it wasn't the hype that did it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bethany725 Posted February 2, 2010 Author Share Posted February 2, 2010 I don't think it was the hype... just not sure. Oh well.. I'm reading Firefly Lane now and it's already really good, so I'm not fretting over the last book. We all like different things. Thanks for your note, Frankie! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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