Book Fifty-Two: The Help

Book Fifty-Two: The Help
Finished: October 19
Pages: 451

I am often hesitant to read books that everyone seemed to love. If too many people hype a book up, I am all the more likely to dislike it. Maybe it's just my indie cred sensibilities that make me want to dislike things because they are popular. Maybe it's that books can rarely live up to our expectations of them. In the same way, I don't want to hype up a book here and have people be disappointed in it, but you're just going to have to bear with me here.
I have been meaning to read this book since it came out. I was drawn first by the cover, the three birds and the yellow background is pretty eye-catching. I was just waiting for it to come out in paperback. Let me tell you, I'm glad that I didn't wait, because man, I'd still have several months to go and this book has been out for almost two years.
The story of three women in the divided South, The Help seems to me to be a story of the times. Although this story is told from the perspective of women, and the issues dealt with are almost exclusively in the realm of women, I think that this is a book that could, conceivably, appeal to anyone. The relationship between white and black women, and between the boss (I wish I could come up with a better word here) and the help is complex and perhaps in some ways glossed over in this book. I think that all people hope that, were we to live in the 1960's or 70's, we would be the "good guys" who were all for integration, and never said anything racist or participated in the active exclusion of others because of their differences. I'm no different. I would like to think that I would stand up against injustice regardless of the social ramifications, but I just don't know if that's the case.
I read several uncomplimentary reviews of this book, mostly due to the reader's dissatisfaction with the negative portrayal of white women, and the overly sweet portrayal of the black women as needing the white women to help them, and being understanding and appreciative of that help when they received it. I suppose I can understand this viewpoint because it did seem insincere at times that a white woman would wish the help black women, and maybe it was hard to understand that a white woman at this point in time would not understand the possible consequences of writing down the true stories of black women who worked in white households, and raised white children.
Some of these stories are so horrifying that they could only be true. There is no other option. And let's be honest, I don't have the least idea of what it means to deal with this kind of prejudice, and so I can't say if the struggles faced by these characters are accurate, or genuine. I can say that the characterization felt realistic to me, and I certainly identified with the characters and their actions at different points in the novel.
I'm certainly buying this for a few friends for Christmas, just so I can have more people to talk with about it.

Good Reading,
Caitlin

Book Fifty and Fifty-One: City of Ashes, City of Glass

Book Fifty: City of Ashes
Finished: October 7
Pages: 453

Book Fifty-One: City of Glass
Finished: October 7
Pages: 541

So, I finished this series. I couldn't leave it half done. I needed to know where she was going with the story and characters. I must admit, I do love the world that she created. I like the way that the various fantastic creatures lived and interacted with the "real world" and I also enjoyed the layers of politics. I found many of the characters to be cliched and repetitive. Some of the ends were too neat. I don't really like stories that are happy endings; when there are so few sacrifices on the part of the reader, it doesn't make it easy to stay invested in the story.
I found the two main characters, Clary and Jace, to be pretty obnoxiously into each other, especially since they are supposed to be brother and sister through most of it. Even if it does turn out to be incorrect at the end, I still spent a large portion of the books being totally weirded out.
If you only read one Young Adult series ever, this is not the one to spend your time on, though I think this is definitely better than Twilight. If nothing else, it is a quick read.
Good Reading,
Caitlin

Book Forty-nine: The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake

Book Forty-nine: The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake
Finished: October 1
Pages: 292

I feel sad after finishing this book. I've been told that I should just read Like Water for Chocolate, instead of it's knock-offs, but from what I know of that book, Lemon Cake seems to be quite a bit different.
I was a little disappointed. Things that I wanted to have happen, didn't. Things that I thought wouldn't happen, did. The stuff that I thought needed to be talked about wasn't talked about, and it didn't seem that the more mundane characters really suffered for their mistakes.
The idea of the book is that Rose, our protagonist, can taste the emotions cooked into the foods she eats by the people who make them. She first learns this when she eats the birthday cake that her seemingly perfect and happy mother makes for her. Seems interesting, right? There are even a couple of interesting supporting characters; my favorites are the crazy Grandma who sends the family weird objects from her house, and George, Rose's brother's best friend, who has surprised eye brows.
I don't know if I would really recommend this book to many people. Even now, I just feel depressed. I'm not sure what the point of the book was, or what lesson was learned. I just don't know.
Good Reading,
Caitlin