The Help
Author: Kathryn Stockett
464 Pages in Hardback
Published: February 10, 2009
Dates Read: January 15-February 7th, 2016
My Rating: 5 Stars
Book Summary from Amazon:
Three ordinary women are about to take one extraordinary step.
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.
My review:
I read the book a few years ago. I highly enjoyed it. This was about the time the movie was released. I borrowed the book from a coworker who also loved it. I had also heard the audio book was very good. My local library had the audio book, so I decided to give it a listen. I am glad I did! When I read the book, I gave it 4 stars, the audio book I give 5 stars too! There are several narrators and they did a fabulous job! Listening to the audio book made me want to watch the movie again, so I borrowed it from the library as well.
The narrators in the audiobook bring the characters to life in a different way from just reading the book. I recommend listening to the audiobook!!!
If You Could Be Mine
Author: Sara Farizan
AUDIOBOOK
Published: August 20, 2013
Dates Read: January 8-14, 2016
My Rating: 3 Stars
Book Summary from Amazon:
This Forbidden Romance Could Cost Them Their Lives
In this stunning debut, a young Iranian American writer pulls back the curtain on one of the most hidden corners of a much-talked-about culture.
Seventeen-year-old Sahar has been in love with her best friend, Nasrin, since they were six. They’ve shared stolen kisses and romantic promises. But Iran is a dangerous place for two girls in love—Sahar and Nasrin could be beaten, imprisoned, even executed if their relationship came to light.
So they carry on in secret—until Nasrin’s parents announce that they’ve arranged for her marriage. Nasrin tries to persuade Sahar that they can go on as they had before, only now with new comforts provided by the decent, well-to-do doctor Nasrin will marry. But Sahar dreams of loving Nasrin exclusively—and openly.
Then Sahar discovers what seems like the perfect solution. In Iran, homosexuality may be a crime, but to be a man trapped in a woman’s body is seen as nature’s mistake, and sex reassignment is legal and accessible. As a man, Sahar could be the one to marry Nasrin. Sahar will never be able to love the one she wants in the body she wants to be loved in without risking her life. Is saving her love worth sacrificing her true self?
My review:
***Some spoilers***
The cover is what first drew me to If You Could Be Mine. It is simple, yet has so much meaning. When I read the premise, it also interested me and I found it a good book. I listened to the audiobook and it was a short 5 discs. The book was more about being gay/lesbian than transsexual in Iran, as Sahar is actually not transgender. I wondered how the book was going to end, and I was happy with the ending. At times Sahar seemed very immature and also quick thinking about the consequences to what she might or might not do. That comes from her being young.
Also, Nasrin was not very likeable. To me it also seemed like she didn’t love Sahar as much as Sahar loved her. So, I wondered as I read the book that if Sahar went through with the change and became a man would Nasrin accept him since Nasrin was already betrothed to another at this point. And why would Sahar not tell Nasrin her plans on having her gender changed? That is one thing I really did not understand through the whole book. If you are planning a change like this- why not tell Nasir to see what she thinks. AND again, she was betrothed to another at this point. To me it seemed like a losing battle for Sahar.
This book does give you an idea of what homosexuals and transgender individuals go through in other countries that are more oppressive than the US. The book is short, about 250 pages. It is a good read for such a short book. I would recommend the book.
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