Book Chat (the books I've been meaning to read)

I just found this link up over at Sweet Green Tangerine by reading one of my daily blogs, and thought that the book chat link up was right up my alley. This week is all about those books that we have been wanting to read forever but have yet to, and why. My "to read" list is pretty long, and seems to continue to grow but there are definitely some books I've been wanting to read for quite some time but still haven't gotten to them...

The Books: 

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
I don't actually own this book yet, but I really do want it. When the movie came out, it looked great, but it took forever before I finally saw it. Once I did, I was in love with it. I know that the book is bound to be better than the movie, since it usually does work that way, so I'm eager to eventually pick up my copy.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak 

I bought this book awhile ago when our Borders was going out of business. It was on sale for a great price and it seemed really interesting. Unfortunately, when I got home with it, I put it on my book shelf which is where it has remained since then. I really do look forward to finally reading it, though.

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
I have tried several times to pick up this book and read it, and I really, really want to. I've seen the movie of this one as well and really enjoyed it and had no doubt that the book had to be incredible based on the story line and details. Plus, I always love books that have interesting children as the lead characters (think The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time). I love the way the author changes up the text to go along with the way the character thinks and really hope I'll eventually be able to get through it.

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
This is another book that I don't own yet, but I have heard and read a lot about, and it looks very interesting (though slightly depressing). I know that it has a movie as well, but I have decided to avoid watching it until I have read the book since it's such an intense plot line. I'm sure that I will finally pick it up eventually.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Believe it or not, I have never read anything by Jane Austen. I know, I know, that's horrible! I pride myself on being such a book lover that I feel like I should have already read most of her works. However, I have read the first couple of pages of this one on my E-reader and already struggled with it. I'm planning to eventually force myself to get through it or one of her others though.

These are only five of many books that I would love to eventually pick up and actually read. I have a number of books on my shelf that I have still yet to read (oops!), but will eventually get to them. What about you? Are there any books you have been meaning to read? Have you read any of these and loved/hated them? Any book suggestions? 

 

-Tiffany

Book Club Friday [1]

I would really like to get back into reading some more this summer, and it seems like a good way to use some time since I currently don't have too much going on this summer. So, I've decided to begin doing the Book Club Friday link up. 

This week I'm sharing: 

 

The 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.

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.
-via

My Thoughts:
I know that a lot of people have already read this novel, especially since the movie has been out for awhile. I was one of those people who actually had not heard anything about this book until I saw the previews for the movie, and then I had some serious interest. (I'm a huge fan of Emma Stone, so I figured I would at least see the movie). I decided to see the movie first, worried that if I read the book before it that I wouldn't enjoy the movie at all. I LOVED the movie and own it now, but I was so busy with student teaching and everything that reading for pleasure was not really a possibility. However, now that summer came around I finally had time to pick up the book again after purchasing it shortly after the movie released and I saw it (twice).

Now, I already had no doubt that I would love the book based on the movie and all the positive raves it got, but oh my goodness did I love it. One of the best books I have ever read, I would say. Stockett is an incredible author, and I had no trouble looking in on the lives of the main characters. She made it so historically realistic that I felt sick that our country was like that (and still has so many problems with it). I was worried that the movie would ruin it, but they were both done so well. Things had to be changed of course, but it's hard to fit a whole book into a two hour movie. Anyway, I enjoyed the book immensely and would recommend it to anyone. And that Celia Foote, she's something else!