Thesaurus Thursday & A Nod to BBAW

Happy Thursday, bookworms!  I'd  like to say that this week has been the craziest in quite sometime.  One of my closest friends will be getting married this weekend and the planning never seems to stop.  However, with all that planning comes the reward of an incredibly amazing weekend; It's necessary to send out a big CONGRATULATIONS to Stacy and Paul!

I'm saddened that I haven't been able to participate in the greatly anticipated Book Blogger Appreciation Week that's going on right now.  This event allows so many bloggers to connect and share information, enjoy discussion, earn blogging awards and host fabulous giveaways.  I wasn't able to register, as my blog is very new, but I'm already looking forward to next year.  Instead of churning out a post on BBAW's daily theme, I'd like to take the time to feature some of the book blogs I enjoy most.  And maybe you'll fall in love with them, too!

Boston Book Bums What happens when you get a group of book-loving friends? Boston Book Bums. I really love their honesty when it comes to the group's reviews. Because I feel I have similar likes, I trust their judgment and head to the book shop without a second thought. I especially love their Bookish Intelligent Report, which provides interesting and concise facts about the book world, from around the world! Furthermore, the diversity of the material coverage will make them a must-read for all types of readers.

Alison's Book Marks Again, I've found a blog with reviews I can trust. Not to mention, Alison's Book Marks is a great place to meet fellow book enthusiasts who really enjoy a good discussion. Her entertaining and informative content seems to yield quality participation that other book bloggers hate to lack. Furthermore, Alison's page aesthetic is simplistic, and makes it pleasant to review, as well as find other topics of interest.

The Broke and the Bookish If the name doesn't sum up my current situation, I don't know what would. The Broke and the Bookish have seriously unique and creative content. The site's Top Ten meme is an incredibly fun and informative weekly post. Furthermore, the site encourages followers to share their own list each week, which means that you're getting a lot of valuable content on ONE site! Plus, the responses are often times witty, and I love to laugh! I'm always looking forward to the next list, and I think you will too!

Crazy for Books Jennifer's layout is the first thing I noticed when I started reading her blog, and I note this because the bright layout is indicative of the blogging personality she possesses. Her enthusiasm goes unmatched in my book, and I can always count on a stellar review daily. Jennifer's success is evident in her followers; and I believe that succes has something to do with the fact that her honesty and dedication shine through her work. Crazy for Books is currently featuring various posts, from various authors, on the topic of women's literature, and women in literature.

amused, bemused and confused I love to travel but haven't been able to get out much with the new job and the new responsibilities of blogging and book clubs. However, this site allows me to not only travel without leaving my house, but also gives me all sorts of great literary facts and insight. Teadevotee's travel endeavors to magical literary landmarks really inspire me. Reviews are always honest and entertaining, as well.

There are so many entertaining and intelligent book bloggers out there, these just happen to be some of my favorites!  I'd love to hear some of yours! 

And now... Thesaurus Thursday!

Today's word is: subsume.

Subsume- Verb, 1825. 1. To include or place within something larger or more comprehensive : encompass as a subordinate or component element.

What I would say: Novels may simply be subsumed as fiction; although, there are numerous genres within the realm of fictional literature.

Here's to a wonderful weekend... and Happy Blogging!

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Still a Bestseller: Kathryn Stockett's The Help and Why You Should Read It If You Haven't.

Over a year after its release date I finally received a copy of Kathryn Stockett's The Help. I finished the novel over a week ago and really enjoyed it.  


I mean, I loved it.


I had heard the hype, saw it displayed at every bookstore and realized all my friends had already read it; it was only a matter of time before I did, too.  To be honest, I had no idea what the title The Help alluded to.  It wasn't until I returned from Washington with strict instruction from Q that I must get it, and, subsequently, a visit with my Grandmother who insisted I take her copy because it was something I had to read.  Well, I was sad to see it end.


I'm not here to break down the story line, but to provide a brief overview and then discuss, in the hopes that you've read it, or that this post will encourage you to do so.


The Help focuses on the lives of black maids in the deep Southern state of Mississippi in the 60s, amidst  the growing voices of the Civil Rights Movement.  Stockett provides numerous narrators so that the story flows from several points of view.  First, she provides us with Aibileen, an older woman,  like Minny, her friend, has been working in white households the majority of her life.  Aibileen, unlike Minny, is soft-spoken, and possesses an intense love for the children in the homes she keeps, while grieving the loss of her only son, Treelore.  Minny, on the other hand, has lost more jobs than she can count because of her outspoken nature in the workplace, yet remains submissive and abused by her husband upon returning home most nights.  Obversely, we find Miss Hilly, a snotty twenty-something, who's wealth and status have left her with a husband who is rarely present, two children and a passion for condescension and gossip.  Lastly, we find Skeeter, a privileged white girl who's returned home to her parent's plantation after graduating college, with aspirations to join the ranks of the journalists and writers in New York City.  Skeeter is also one of the only white characters to have a friendly relationship with any of the maids.  When Skeeter is pressed by a New York editor to provide articles of substance, demanding, "Don't waste time on obvious things.  Write about what disturbs you, particularly if it bothers no one else."  After arguments with her friends on the pressing need to equip white homes with separate bathrooms for their help, Skeeter slowly realizes the injustices of a system she has lived in and been apart of for so long.  Aibileen and Skeeter decide to embark on a dangerous task of documenting the accounts of a dozen maids in the white homes they keep.


The novel speaks volumes.  Stockett closely examines the lives of each of the women presented.  The story avoids being convoluted, despite the numerous grave issues the novel exhibits; issues, such as racism in the South, women's submission and violation of male counterparts, and the female status in society during this time period.


The novel deals with, most obviously, the intense racism that was prevalent in this area, at this time period. Public spaces were segregated and never-ending sources of conflict.  Several of the maids are forever changed by violence acted out by white men in their town.  Louvenia, an elderly maid, must work and care for her grandson when he is beaten to the point that he permanently looses his vision for accidentally using a white restroom.  A leading member of the Civil Rights Movement is gunned down in front of his children for participation in the cause.  Stockett examines, through women's stories, the sheer cruelty of mankind in a past not so far off.  The grief is apparent in the dialogue and sends a resounding message of absurdities held as truth.


I admired the way in which Stockett used dialogue and character development to provide unique and honest insight of the individuals presented.  The normalcy of the ideas present, instilled in the characters seems sharply out of place in today's world, and adds a sense of credibility to the story line.  For instance, Minny, a member of the help, looks at a new employer as, "white trash," because Mrs. Foote  doesn't know what's proper in society and eats lunch at the same table as herself.  Minny has a developed system of the way in which she works with the woman whom house she tends.  The details of the way Minny has conceptualized the employer's role, is an emphasis on the ways in which such absurdities are expected and normalized within a society. Furthermore, Skeeter has always loved her help, Constantine, quite possibly more so than her own mother, but has never questioned the quality of the black grocery, compared to her own.  Or the fact that Constantine can't watch after her own children, believing that it's a preference, and not a choice.  


Furthermore, Stockett provides insight into the role of the female during this time.  Minny, a strong-willed and intelligent character, returns home each night to face assaults from her husband.  Minny bears abuse from her employers and her significant other.  The reader witnesses the abuse Minny receives from both her white employers, and her husband, when either is frustrated with their own problems.  Minny is the epitome of an independent woman, in the end, coaching her children to stand up for themselves, and to her employers along the way.  You'll know what I'm talking about if you've read the novel!  On the other hand, the reader witnesses the lives of characters like Miss Anne LeefoltLeefolt are in charge of the maintenance around the home and are certainly expected to procreate.  Many of the white female characters simply sit around their homes all day, attending luncheons to maintain appearances, while their husbands maintain careers.  When Skeeter looks for jobs in a local paper she notes after finding only a few positions for females, "My eyes drift down to HELP WANTED: MALE.  There are at least four columns filled with bank managers, accountants, loan officers, cotton collate operators.  On this side of the page, Percy & Gray, LP, is offering Jr. Stenographers fifty cents more an hour."  


Much of this may seem obvious.  And it is.  But Stockett emphasizes a time unlike anything I've ever known.  Rules and laws of a society that seem so unimaginable, so unthinkable that I am overwhelmed with sadness.  The novel, while entertaining and heartfelt, is so historically political, that it's hard not finding yourself analyzing the wrongs of ideals in the past, and here, in the present.  The novel is thought-provoking and skillfully presented.  I highly recommend The Help, and encourage your thoughts and observations.  

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Thesaurus Thursday

Here's to another Thesaurus Thursday!  I'm sitting here looking through my notebook with all of the words I've noted while finishing up Anthony Doerr's Memory Wall: Stories, and I'm trying to choose a word that would be fitting for a day filled with rain and grey skies. 


So how about infinitesimal? I think I can work with it. 


Infinitesimal- Adjective; Originated around 1710. Meaning: 1. Taking on values arbitrarily close but greater than zero. Or, 2. immeasurably or incalculably small. 
What I might say: Despite the paper's promise of an infinitesimal chance of rain, the sky tells me we'll probably be staying in tonight.


Any other uses?  I'd really enjoy some suggestions. 


Note: The image above can be found here.

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Jonathan Safran Foer To Visit Atlanta

Jonathan Safran Foer, author of: Everything is Illuminated, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, and Eating Animals, is either loved or loathed in many literary circles.  The Gawker sites that Foer's been named one of the most disliked New Yorkers for three of the five years he's been nominated.  Of course, writers may be faced with envy from their contemporaries; however unfortunate, their own egotism can destroy the support they receive from their biggest fans.  Foer's Everything is Illuminated was adapted for the screen years ago, and starred Elijay Wood; furthermore, his wife is none other than the female lit genius, Nicole Krauss, whose novel, The History of Love, became an international best seller. Yeah, they both possess priviledged backgrounds, and, yes, they might live in a $6.75 million dollar brownstone in Brooklyn, but I can't discredit their talent strictly on account of those factors.


I read Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close after I purchased it on a whim a couple of months ago. I had read so many mixed reviews about Everything is Illuminated that I never seriously considered picking up his work. However, after reading (and loving) The History of Love, and finding reviews that expressed his writing bore many similarities; I decided to read it. And I'll admit that I really enjoyed Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, despite the negative attention it received.  I laughed and I cried; it spoke to me on many levels.

So, where am I going with all of this?  Well, I decided to try and participate in more literary events in Atlanta, and while searching I discovered that Foer would be speaking at the Atlanta History Center on Wednesday, September 1st, at 7:00. While I did have second thoughts about attending the event, I've decided I'm going to honor my already purchased reservation and go. 

Here's a Goodreads overview:

Jonathan Safran Foer spent much of his teenage and college years oscillating between carnivore and vegetarian. As he became a husband and a father, he kept returning to two questions: Why do we eat animals? And would we eat them if we knew how they got on our dinner plates? Brilliantly synthesizing philosophy, literature, science, and his own undercover detective work, Eating Animals explores the many fictions we use to justify our eating habits-from folklore to pop culture to family traditions and national myth-and how such tales justify a brutal ignorance. Marked by Foer's profound moral ferocity and unvarying generosity, as well as the vibrant style and creativity that made his previous books, Everything is Illuminated and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, huge bestsellers,Eating Animals is a celebration and a reckoning, a story about the stories we've told--and the stories we now need to tell.

Although I haven't read the book, I am interested to hear (as an ex-vegetarian) what Foer has to say about this moral dilemma, and to see his talent as a non-fiction writer.  Last night while checking my goodreads account, I perused Anthony Doerr's reading list and his review of Foer's book, which he gave four stars.  His review stated that from a reader's perspective, he thought Foer did an excellent job of seeking out information, specifically mentioning how much he enjoyed the interviews and content from average farmers first-hand. Doerr was unimpressed with Foer's own insight, as he felt he approached the topic from a very prerogatived point of view.  This raises many questions because Foer's material encourages everyday citizens to re-think their consumption of animal products on the basis that they are largely unaware of where their food comes from and how it's handled.  I'm interested to see how Foer will address this argument and more, as I have no doubt that it will be brought to his attention. I look forward to providing a full report on the lecture afterwards. 

If you're in the Atlanta area and you're also interested in attending this lecture, you can purchase tickets for $10 dollars here.

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